The Lesson Menu
The ROBO-SENSEI lesson
menu is linked from Start Lessons! on
the home page. On the lesson menu, you’ll find brief
descriptions about the content (target structures, kinds of
exercises, and
number of exercises), the situation (cultural theme), the writing
system (romaji or kana/kanji version), the level (beginning,
intermediate, or advanced), and the approximate time needed
to finish the lesson.
The Lesson Introductions (Figure 1)
The first page of each lesson provides a brief
introduction to the lesson (in the upper-left-hand window),
including the purpose of the lesson, a conversational
setting, and a cultural theme.
In addition, the first page presents grammar
notes (in the window at the bottom of the screen)
so that you can review the relevant grammatical concepts
before beginning the exercises. The grammar notes for each
lesson are also available in PDF format in the program’s
table of contents so you can print out your own hard copy.
It is very important to read the grammar notes before starting
the exercises. The exercises in the lesson are all based
on the principles explained in the grammar notes. During
the exercises, you receive ongoing, detailed error feedback
whenever your responses violate the grammatical principles.
Doing the lessons with the principles in mind results in
a deeper and more effective form of learning than rote memorization
of particular phrases and grammatical patterns.
Figure 1
Lesson Exercises (Figures 2-3)
Figure 2 illustrates a sentence production exercise from ROBO-SENSEI Honorifics
Lesson 1. On the lower-right side of the screen, there are several
buttons to help you through the exercises (see the button functions
explained on the screen.) The “Sound” button appears
when your answer is correct. If you fail three times to produce a correct answer,
both the “Sound” and “Answer” buttons
appear.
Figure 2
In figure 3, the context of the exercise and
any relevant cultural notes are presented
in the upper-left window. An example of a student
response is in the central window, and the feedback generated
by ROBO-SENSEI appears
in the window just below it. On the screen, you
see that the response contains several errors, and the feedback
messages provide detailed information about each error.
Figure 3
 |
TAKE
A TOUR! 