Vocabulary Building: Free Ap Review

Ap Review: Vocabulary Builders

Being a big nerdy fan of expanding minds, including my vocabulary, I decided to download all the free vocabulary building aps I could have patience for... And then review them in order to choose the one that will sit on my device desktop. And yes, I know I need to hone my grammar.

I am testing not only builders but quiz aps and games, as I am looking for anything to help build vocabulary. I will be rating each on word difficulty and amount, presentation, ease of use, and how well you can learn from the program.


Vocabolistic, iPhone, iPad, iPod
First impression: this was designed for the iPhone, and also designed casually. Advertising lines the bottom of the interface and helps this stay free so it isn't as annoying when that input into perspective. You have gear icons that are the settings, a Home icon on the right for when you want to go back from the word lists and quizzes.
What I like at first use is the fact that you can select words from those you haven't yet read from those you already have read.
It is a basic program but has great word learning value in terms of personal study. There is a quiz function. I am definitely keeping this one.
The amount of words is more than satisfactory, the difficulty too, and can be browsed alphabetically by using the letters on the right side of the word list like a scroller. Easy to use, clean, and simple. You can pick up and use it without tutorials.
The definitions, however, are short and basic. You have the basic definition in a handful of words, then you have antonyms and synonyms.
Oh and I love that you can rate words by difficulty next to the quiz button. Sweet. Then you can access words by your ratings... Hard, medium and easy.



Next, we have Articulate!
Made for the iPhone but compatible with iPad and iPod, rectangle interface.
At first I was enamored with this, but then it stopped working (connectivity issues, saying I wasn't connected to the net.) I will keep an eye on future bug fixes.
If this works for you, I recommend trying it. It is a vocabulary quiz. Multiple choice. Great words, as far as I could tell before it stopped working. I will update this if and when The program works.



Vocabulary Bubble Free, Game, iPad, iPod, iPhone , designed for iPhone by Donoma Games.
Cool game. Easy to use, easy to pick up, colorful. You can even sign up to submit your scores. Competition is great for learning, and so this is definitely a plus.
Here is how you play... you are faced with a definition at the top of the screen (horizontal iPhone format, no gyro) which you must match to words floating about in colorful bubbles. There is a time limit, so you must pick quickly. Correct answers gets you additional time. When you run out of time, a final score will appear. The time limit adds to the learning experience greatly, quickening the mind with a frenzied kick to the bum... So to speak. But it is more memorization than comprehension. As a word builder on it's own you will not get that full-flavored comprehension aspect.
Definitely a great way to quiz if you are fast enough, and even if you aren't, it'll make you faster at recognizing and defining on the spot.. Very useful in conversation.
After using this for only (twenty) minutes my score quadrupled. Impressive little ap.



Next we have AccelaStudy, for iPhone, iPod, iPad. Rectangle format.
100 words in this free version. Satisfactory length of definition, but it also has the great feature of saying the word aloud for pronunciation. This is extensively important when using new words in conversation. How painfully embarrassing mispronouncing a difficult word you are proud of learning! This is something the perfect vocabulary builder would have.
There is also the wonderful context function which gives two sentences in which the word is properly used.
There is a quiz function, very basic and dry, but useful and mature.
You can study the words either through:
Book format: flip thru the hundred words.
Flashcards: you'll hear the word through your speakers and see e definition on the screen, then touching the screen you see the word written. By turning off the pronunciation, this can be a great def to word quiz for yourself. By sliding on the screen you can then get to the next def.
Repetition: including pronunciation spoken by the human male and clear voice, where you get the word then the def after a tapping on screen and are prompted with the def and a prompt asking if you got it right. I really like this function, and it works quite well. Words you get wrong are repeated more often than words you get right. Great.
The difficulty of the words is satisfactory, however a high level diction honing student will not get too excited. The pay version would certainly be something that you should check out.. And so far that is something I am considering, however I want to check out more freebies first for this article.
The presentation is satisfactory but nothing exciting, which isn't that important in a freebie vocal builder review at all. Or a study ap for that matter, however it is nice to have. Clean and well defined, organized.
You can work out a study plan, view your quiz stats, and search for particular words.
Overall this is definitely a good intro to word building, but you will quickly hunger for more.


Next, PrepInteractive's Wordology Lite
There are two versions of this program: Graduate and normal. Graduate being a bit harder, and has no video section. (video section has videos pertaining to SATs) both contain a Facebook that goes directly to their messages, which have vocabulary honing skills, the videos mentioned, and links etc.
Overall presentation is nice, simple, clean. Student theme. Easy to navigate. Clever but not overdone.
The quizzes are twofold. A self test flashcard quiz, on actual flashcard graphics.
The word amount is small but adequate for the function of a demo. Thus you will not be spending hours studying on this. The second test is a multiple choice fill in the blanks, that is, it gives you a sentence and you fill in the blanks with the word that should fit there. I love that test, great learning tool.
Either can be studied on different levels if difficulty.
There is also a clever report card function that displays your scores thus far. It also gives you a grad to either shame you into harder word or to encourage your pride with a high score.
In difficulty, the graduate program has more difficult words than the normal. The words are challenging but not daunting by any stretch. It also is less difficult as the word lists are short enough to memorize in a day easily.
Small but this does it's job of making me want to buy the full program. But first, on with the two last aps I found.

Btw if you have an ap you want to add to this, please leave the name in the comments and I'll get to it asap.

Vocabulous is another iPhone, iPod, iPad compatible ap. It is extremely simple..
You get a word and a definition on different colored screens, an ad at the bottom, and tapping the screen changes word.
The difficulty is easy, although there are some specialization words that aren't difficult.. They are just not used regularly, in conversation or normal vocabulary builders.
Some of the definitions aren't quite on, but for the most part they are, and some of the words leave you wondering why they were included.
Presentation is simple and clean. Big letters.
This isn't what I was looking for but it would be a great tool for grade school or even high school.


Lastly, till I find more, My Vocab Builder by Amy... iPod iPad, and iPhone compatible. Rectangle, no gyro like the rest of the programs I've spoken of I this article.
I like this right away. Big word list, great presentation, and useable as a quiz too, as it is the flashcard style of builder.
There are ads at the bottom, no biggie.
No pronunciation. No records, no games. That is also okay.
In fact, my only issue with this program is that you either have to go thru a letter at a time the full way trough each letter, or remember which word you left on in each letter and go through the scrolling at the bottom till you find it. However, there is also a shuffle button between the bottom scrolling buttons that mixes up the words in the chosen letter.
Word difficulty is all over the place.. Easy to challenging words in every letter category. I find there are a lot of words that could be removed and only the root word remaining.
Word amount is wonderful for a free version, but we must take into account the words doubled through suffix adding that barely changes the definition.

Summary
In my opinion, Vocabolistic is the best out of the free programs. It's not just a demo, it is something you could really use for months and challenge yourself with. I am keeping the Vocabulary Bubble free, and AccelaStudy. The former for the speed training, the latter for pronunciation study.

Sorry if this article was all over the place cohesion wise, but this is a test for myself to see if I could write these often enough to apply to a job reviewing aps I found. The medication I take can make writing a massive challenge.. But I love challenges and I am pleased to try anything to help. I also hope this was helpful

A note on comments..
I enjoy constructive criticism greatly, so feel free to post a comment on my article or suggestions.. But keep in mind I am heavily medicated and I will screw up quite a bit. I strive to at least make some sense.

UPDATED. March 29 2011.

Vocabology: a great new app that features several "word of the day" entries from various sites such as Yahoo Education, Miriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com. It lets you tag words as favorites for later study and even has a quiz feature. There are even Word of the Day entries for: French, Spanish, German, Portugese and Italian. Very cool, will post a note here if I find bugs. -iPhone, iPad, iTouch

Hugs and happy apping!
-Em

Morale Boosting Tip 1

It's not all bitterness. Even with severe pain and symptoms, I am a generally happy, bubbly, and positive person. Sometimes I don't appear so due to facial expressions and stress in my voice - but nine out of ten times I am happy and satisfied with my life.
Every day, and this is perhaps the most bolstering of activities, I make a list of things I have that make me happy and a list if things I am so glad I do not have. Usually I do this in my head, but for the purpose of blogging, imma list it in writing. Also, note that I don't mind if you put fibromyalgia on your list... So please don't get upset if you have one of the diseases on the list. It's not an insult. It's an example of something difficult.

Happy list for September 26, 2010 ( the lists are both usually longer but my hands hurt so I shorten )
- I have a wonderful and perfect boyfriend soulmate that loves me tons
- I have a wonderful family, couldn't ask for better
- I am in a great country with great medical care that makes my life so much less stressful
- I of course have the best dog
- I am in a nice home with my loving family.
- I have a notebook filled with lists like this an inch thick and rarely repeating.. Although some things deserve repeating.
Things I am glad I don't have
- I am debt free
- I do not have MS or ALS
- I do not have cancer, that I know of
- I am not sense impaired
- I do not have Leprosy
- I do not have a flesh eating disease

This is a small list, but I try to do longer mental lists as a bolstering device. Don't make each item too complicated, as you might get stuck on one and get depressed that you can't make either list long enough. Little things are important. Little positive things can do a lot for blue days.

New post!

For a long while I've not written here due to pain at my desktop computer. I have a new interface, so hopefully I will be able to write more. Recently, yet more research has proven that journalling is good for what ails us... Including pain.
I am lost when it comes to where to start, what to do with the blog.. Brainstorm. Fibroventing and info, app reviews, Gordie, life. Sorry this sounds just like a boring regular blog. Maybe it won't, maybe it will.

First, bad. Then good.
Fibromyalgia has done a good job at painting me into a tight corner. Pain and symptoms continue to escalate. The pain scale goes:
0-10. Zero being no pain and ten bring the worst pain imaginable. My imagination for that ten worst possible I can imagine grows further than I am comfortable with. It scares me greatly that the pain keeps getting worse. When I was in high school it made me grumpy, especially since I didn't know I had fibromyalgia.. I always thought I was just a wimp. But as it got worse I started to see doctors about it. Growing pains. Depression. Bad excuses that I knew could not be right. So I started to focus on the most localized pain, the uterine pain. PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids.. Confirmed. But some of the symptoms didn't fit. More doctors, more tests. More pain, and more disabling effects. Fired from two jobs for going to the emergency room more often than they'd like.. Then the diagnosis. So I have it. People around me, not my immediate family, started to say things like "I thought you had endometriosis... Not fibromyalgia" and "so why is it disabling now and not in highschool?"and "if you're in so much pain, why aren't you screaming?" and "you must be exaggerating or faking because you don't look sick or in pain."
Of course there was much more stupidity in quotes, but I want to continue.
This infuriated me, of course, especially coming from people close to me. I was blessed with wonderful parents, and they always knew the truth of my pain because they saw the effects every minute they were around me. Others judged upon their experience, their thoughts, their ignorant crap. People I respected, or at least tried to. Long story of course.
I had two friends that mostly understood what I went thru, one that really really understood out of those two. One I thought did wholly but turned out there was a lot missing. Both very nice people and deserving of happiness, but of course you saw the past tense there in the first sentence of this paragraph. As the illness grew thicker and deeper roots, became worse exponentially, I became less and less relatable, and so did they. I changed into something alien. More misunderstandings lead to more fights, and they needed things of me I could not supply.
Thus as things withered, my heart ached and hardened to what was to come. The last respective straws loaded on my back and I was not able to support it anymore.
Next.
Another person was so obviously disgusted and doubtful of my condition that it came to harsh situations I would rather not get into. It continues, I think, but no longer am I getting words about it. To this person... I am a liar, lazy, slobbish, and just plain wimpy. I should toughen up! I should work full time! I should be stronger and tough it out. This is a painful thing for me, but there is nothing i can do.
For anyone who has an invisible illness, this is a fact of life: some people will be disgusted with you, distrustful, and disappointed. Why?
Why!
That question haunted me for quite some time, but along the way I have discovered aspects of the possible answer.
People that are disgusted and disappointed in people with invisible illness are usually people that try too hard in life, sacrificers, and work their butts off to less result than they expect. Working too hard in life means they put in more effort than is physically and mentally safe, and they do not achieve balance. They start getting seriously diminishing returns for the heavy workload they impose upon themselves and they see that as unfair. They work for the approval they think you should also seek from them. These people are prone to frustration filled panic attacks or even nervous breakdowns. Every time, these people have a distorted self image in intellect or body or personal value or spirit. I have met many, and they all carry a sick heavy burden. They fill their lives with "achievements" and other things to casually boast about to bolster their broken self image. Compliments do not easily work on these people and are usually seen as a jealous or sarcastic thing. It is scary to see how many people are exactly the same. Insults also have a weird response in that they are seen by these people as compliments most of the time and depending on the insult obviously. Insults mean the person is painfully jealous of this skewed person, hurting in envy, and therefore the philosophy of this person is strengthened... Although I don't insult these people I have heard their reactions to others' insults.
The biggest point here is that analysis is so much healthier than letting these people further sicken you with their hurtful reactions to you. You have the power to disable THEM. But also pity their sadness and sickness so as not to get too bitter.

Bitterness is something invisible illness will create.

I have a great deal of bitterness towards many groups. For instance, smokers who smoke around me. I have asthma which is brought on mostly by smoke. Yeah people have the right to live freely, but do they not also have the right not to have a fucking asthma attack every time they wanna leave the house cause some asshole is exercising their right to slowly kill themselves? ( Overdose is better, as lung cancer is one of the most painful and horrible ways to go.) I don't care if people smoke in their own houses, farms, or apartments, whatever. Smoking sections are a great idea! People who have asthma or people who just don't want to increase their chance of lung cancer would know exactly where to avoid. But every time I want to walk outside or open my window I run a great risk of having an asthma attack that can be terrifying on it's own without having a flare of fibromyalgia pain which always follows even minor asthma attacks. And having to put steroids in my body where otherwise I would not have to. Crack, heroine, coke, whatever people do I don't care so long as it just hurts the smoker, shooter, or drinker, snort-er.. smoking hurts everyone around you, people that have their freedoms buttfucked just so you can look cool and feel less withdrawal.. Oh and get that nicotine rush. You know you can get liquid nicotine? I hear it lasts longer and feels "deeper".. Although you have to watch the dosage, it can be fatal. Liquid nicotine also doesn't have tar and arsenic as far as I know.. Smokers really get screwed getting hooked on these things with the concoction of crap the smoke company is putting into cigarets. It's like they wanna see what people will tolerate before quitting. I think nicotine in safer forms should be used therapeutically. It is indeed used in this way, bow ever not as often as perhaps it should due to the cigaret stigma. And of course regularly used causes withdrawal when not taken properly. Imagine being able to have your buzz without withdrawal and addiction? There won't be a research company with enough bodyguards and brass balls to research how to take the withdrawal out of smokes.
I know withdrawal very well. I have to deal with it. It's part of pain management and stupid laws that come from people who abuse painkillers for kicks. Another bitterness.
Anyways, if you are a smoker and hate what I just said, think about it I depth. I can't open my window because my neighbors smoke outside near my window. I can't walk around securely outside my own home due to the smoke, without the inhaler of steroids I have to take mainly due to smokers. Expensive inhaler. Hundreds of dollars a year I have to pay for. The steroids cause side effects like weight gain. Which leads to my favorite point smokers reply when they read or hear a smoke rant..
That smoking is equal to over eating!
The most retarded comeback.
I don't care if you smoke. I care that it makes ME sick. Overeating makes the person overeating sick, not everyone around them.
Common retort: sure overeating hurts people around them.. Like parents teaching kids to overeat. That isn't a result of over eating, that is a result of one of several things, complexity too hard to explain in one article. Briefly, I think most smokers reach for this argument trying to say how it is different from smoking without understanding it is a commonality of the issues. Any bad habit you have will be emulated by your children, and continually if you do nothing to discourage it. From working too much, eating disorders, chemical vices, to nail biting. Overeating and smoking are no different in this respect, however they differ in the overall effect of the habit. Differ, but both are still very detrimental to health.
This is not a discussion about which is worse for the individual, this is what is worse for the people around you health wise.
Full adults usually won't adopt overeating from hanging out with over eaters. It's not healthy for people prone to any addiction to hang out witheach other while the addiction is being satisfied. An inherent overeating or addiction disorder has to be in place, as healthy adults who are well adjusted do not usually just get hypnotized into addiction. Addiction is a monster, an illness to many.
The second retort, usually in a socialist health care system is that over eating drains as much money from the system as smoking... But is that true? Not only are the health ramifications of the smoker to be considered, but also the peripheral sicknesses from those within the area of the smoker when the smoking is taking place. Then the progeny of both. Then, most intriguingly, the effect of nicotine and other pollutants from those butts thrown haphazardly or even properly disposed of in landfill. Very interesting research is readily google-able.
My point, also, has nothing to do with righteousness on my part. I do many polluting things, as most of us do, I have vices, I am fallible and inconsistent at times. My point, which usually is twisted in conversation due to angry people, is that: I am tired of having to go out of my way to avoid on a daily basis smoke that could be fatal or at the very least terrifying and extremely uncomfortable.. Either way I experience side effects from the med I have to take daily due to it.
Wouldn't you be mad? Or would you take it up the butt (pun intended) so as not to upset the crankiest demographic? Well maybe second.. I won't be drawing any religious cartoons any time soon.
Also, the point is that I am not for abolishing smoking.. I actually think there should still be smoking areas for those who smoke. Smart areas that are contained and properly furnished for comfort. I am also for smoking bars, where all people including serving staff and management are fine with it.
Reasonable, no?

Anyways I know this entry lacks cohesion but I have to write in sessions as not to worsen my condition. Frustrating, but tolerable indeed.

If you haven't already seen it.. you should - at least once. I saw it on Attack of the Show and required myself to spread it.

Egg-scavation: Turtle Eggs Part Two!

After consideration and study - the turtles were in a bad place. Foot traffic, possibly car traffic - dogs off leash, egg predators - and a massive colony of ants.

Excavating the eggs is a careful process. You can't just go with a shovel or small garden spade. Nope. The eggs are fragile, easily perforated. They are also required to stay in the same position, as the fetus is attached to the egg's skin. Detatchment.. well, is bad. The turtle will most likely die if you do that. So - here is what I did. First, I excavated a thin layer of soil - as well as weeds and grass that had grown over the site. The picture directly below shows the site after I did this. The white isn't an egg (bottom of pic) it's the plastic spoon I was using. It wasn't sharp so there would be less danger involved.

Next, I dug carefully with the spoon, wiping away with a large paintbrush - bristles about 2x2 inches and 0.5 inches thickness. Slow and steady, turtle style! I admit, I was getting discouraged, I felt the eggs were close but I wasn't finding any! I was finding LOTS of ants and dead roots, however - which tipped me off. The dead roots had been uprooted by the mother, so I dug more in the dead root area. After forty minutes of diggin - I gasped. I could see three little eggs...

I marked each one by one - with a nontoxic marker. An X on each egg. I carefully excavated the area around each egg with the paintbrush and my fingers. (Make sure you wash your hands before and after this procedure - should you need to do it.) Remember, the eggs absorb things - (air, water, etc) you don't want to use poisonous substances in this process. Below, you can see one of the eggs, marked with an X - and a few roots around it. The roots were hard to get through, but of course worth every minute of it.I carefully removed each egg. Keeping it X side up, gently scooping it up with the spoon and my fingers. I had made little nest-like holes in some potting soil I poured into a plastic container. Each egg was nestled in its own little nook. You'll get to see this in the next post I write about the eggs in my home.

In one of the photographs - you can actually see an ant egg. You see the photo above this text? It's in the top left quadrant near the edge. There were dozens of them around the broken egg. Out of 9 eggs, only one was broken and being feasted on by the large colony of ants. It was humbling to see the ants heaving the eggs to safety as I used a paint brush and plastic spoon to excavate the nest. They rushed them to a nearby hole, disappearing one by one in beautiful order. I left the broken egg to the ants after making sure there wasn't a turtle in it. A bit of fact-finding. Are these eggs fertilized? We'll see.

Part three coming soon!

Turtle Saga!

1. Tooga towards the end of her laying...

This is Tooga, an Eastern Painted Turtle (to my untrained eye and googling), she came to the yard in front of my home and laid eggs in late May. This is a photo of her laying her eggs - she didn't like it when I went around her, so I stayed on this end, further away, so that I could get a shot without bugging her too much. It took quite a while for her to lay her 9 eggs in a fairly deep hole in the yard. It was on a patch that hadn't taken to grass - mainly clover as you can see in the photos. I am posting about it now because, as usual, I've been struggling the epic battle of freakishly severe fibromyalgia.

Anyways, the scene was beautiful - a sunset, soft breeze on a nice warm Spring day.. All quiet and almost no one noticed me sitting with a sketchbook on the ground - sketching Tooga as she did her thing. I made sure no neighborhood dogs got to her - which was a little scary. We live next to a "no leash" park.. which don't get me started on it.. I'm so bitter at people who don't care if their dogs bite human children or adults. I would never let my dog out of my control unless I knew 100% that I had control over him not to do harm to anyone.

Anyways - here is Tooga towards the end of her laying..

It took her a couple of hours, then she rested on our lawn under a pine tree all night - and my Mom escorted her safely out of the way of the street.

Tooga was not seen again, and we left the eggs alone. Many dangers began to show themselves over the next month, and so something had to be done if these eggs were going to make it. Urban sites next to roads and no-leash parks... I wanted to give them a better chance.. and good thing I did..

Next: Egg Excavation!

Earthquake in Ottawa June 23rd 2010

Update #2: 5.0 - 5.7 now - bedrock spreads the energy further - I've heard that several US states felt it - and of course Ottawa and Quebec. I've heard two accounts of the epicentre now: the St. Laurent River - and Chelsea, Quebec - North of Ottawa.
So far no injuries. Except the pride of a certain NDP conference - the same image of the conference being interrupted over and over again - same dude looking confused and trying not to look panicky.

Update - it was a 5.5 Surface Earthquake 11 miles down Epicentre near Ottawa - From Montreal to Toronto. So the news say, however they didn't talk about the width - although I know it went at least to North Bay and was still powerful there. Mainly I wanted to post as I couldn't find anything about this online - and the news was all about Obama's speech.. So just in case you're wondering sort of thing.
Many people in Ottawa and Toronto were worried about bombings, terrorists - or protestors going too far due to the G8 and G20. Some were caught in elevators! Can you imagine??


Yep, that was an earthquake.. big and long and reached at least to North Bay, Ontario only at most a minute after it hit Ottawa - around 1:50pm. I was on the phone with my Dad while he was there, he called not knowing about it - just to tell me he'd reached his destination - and as soon as I told him about it, it hit him and I could hear my grandmother scared.
I'm trying to find news on what that was on the scale, and trying to pick up all the stuff that's fallen off the shelves and walls in the house.
Weird thing was, my pain has been bad since 3am - I wonder if there is a connection? I can predict weather with insane accuracy due to my fibromyalgia but what about tension in the Earth's crust? Probably not, but it'll be interesting to see if the huge pain increases happen again before the next quake.