Spelling School, Oxford

Universal Spell - seventh and the last part of Fohandnag’s Spelling Course for teachers, parents or students of any age who are able to follow simple instructions to create personalised tests.

  • allows you to create your own spelling lists or interactive spelling courses. Excellent for participants in spelling bee competitions.
  • you may wish to master spelling for specific areas (medical, legal, technical, commercial etc.)
  • create a spelling list for specific needs (your address, name, simple words for dyslexic children)
  • very easy to use, just follow the instructions thoroughly and you will achieve your goal.

As a teacher you may wish to help your students learn new vocabulary, improve or test grammar or create an aid to master pronunciation of difficult words or sentences or you may wish to create quizzes both on individual subjects and general knowledge.
As a spelling bee competitor you may wish to master words which are not covered by any spelling program as there are more than a million English words.

All you will need to do when programming is to fill in Questions and Answers boxes or record a voice if you wish your question to be heard. Look at some examples of the many different tests which can be created using the Universal Spell program.

1) Learning French Vocabulary. Of course you can translate from any language to any other like German to Spanish or Spanish to Italian etc.
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: mister
Answer 01: monsieur
Question 02: thank you
Answer 02: merci

Now when students run the test they will see the English word "mister" and they will know that they need to type in the French equivalent "monsieur". If they type it correctly the program will show them the next question, but if they type it incorrectly the program will show the correct answer for two seconds and then allow them to type it again. The misspelled answer will be bookmarked and can be re-examined later.

2) Learning Grammar
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: Identify the verb in the following sentence:
The fox jumped over the ditch.
a) fox b) ditch c) jumped d) over
Answer 01: c
Question 02: What is the correct preposition in the sentence:
We jumped ___ the lake.
a) on b) in c) over d) down
Answer 02: b
When using this test students will choose the correct answer and type in just one letter a, b, c, or d and then press the Enter button to hear the next question. However, if the answer is incorrect the program will show the correct answer and allow them to type it again. In the same way as in learning vocabulary, wrongly answered questions will be bookmarked allowing students to concentrate on them later on.

3) Learning Pronunciation
To teach pronunciation you will have to record sentences and type them in the question section so that when students see the sentence it is also read to them. Because there isn't any answer for pronunciation you don't need to type a specific answer there. Instead of that you will have to type the letter n which stands for Next.
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: I've been prescribed painkillers.
Answer 01: n
Question 02: These drugs are only available on prescription.
Answer 02: n
Now once you have mastered pronunciation of that sentence press the letter "n" and the Enter button to hear the next sentence. If you wish to try it later press any other letter and press Enter. This way that question will be added to the list of bookmarks enabling you to study them again later on.

4) Learning to Spell
To teach spelling you will have to record words which need to be mastered and type them to the answer section. The Question section can be left blank or you can type a definition of the word.
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: an animal kept by people as a pet or to hunt (type definition or leave it blank)
Answer 01: dog
VoiceOver001.wav (record dog and save it as file on the left)
Question 02: a building which people live in
Answer 02: house
VoiceOver002.wav (record house and save it as file on the left)

Now, when students run the program they can hear the word which they need to type in and they will see the definition of that word. Students will have to type in the word they hear and press Enter to hear the next word. If the word is spelled incorrectly the program will show the correct spelling for two seconds and allow them to type it again and of course incorrectly spelled words will be bookmarked for later study.

How to benefit fully from Universal Spell when learning to spell
Universal Spell was created primarily as a follow up to Logic Spell to enable dyslexic students to master spelling skills. Universal Spell contains 10 tests which can be individually customised to follow the pattern of Logic Spell where words are grouped into 10 chapters as follow:

Chapter 01 contains words with a second letter "a"
Chapter 02 contains words with a second letter "e"
Chapter 03 contains words with a second letter "i"
Chapter 04 contains words with a second letter "o"
Chapter 05 contains words with a second letter "u"
Chapter 06 contains words with a second letter "r"
Chapter 07 contains words with a second letter "x, v or y"
Chapter 08 contains words with a second letter "n, h or l"
Chapter 09 contains words with a second letter "c, p, t or w"

Chapter 10 contains words with all the other letters in the second place.
If you memorise this arrangement it will help you segregate all English words into 10 groups (tests). So, if you make a mistake with a word which has the second letter "a" then you would add this word to test 01, and if, for example, the misspelled word has "y" as its second letter it will go to test 07.
In this way you will be able to master spelling of all troublesome words using Fohandnag's System, as by grouping them together it will be easer for you to memorise them quickly.

5) Learning Maths
Use this test to teach the times table or any other mind calculation.
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: 8 x 12 = ?
a) 84 b) 94 c) 96 d) 108
Answer 01: c
Question 02: 53 - 12 = ?
a) 12 b) 43 c) 72 d) 41
Answer 02: d

6) Learning General Knowledge
This test is suitable if the answer is one word or number.
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: What is the capital of England?
Answer 01: London
Question 02: In what year did Wold War II begin?
Answer 02: 1939

7) Learning or answering complex quizzes
Look at the programming example below:
Question 01: What does the word collagen mean?
a) a protein found in the joints b) a place for specialised education c) people who work together d) a picture in which various objects are stuck onto a large surface
Answer 01: a
Question 02: What is the name of London's main shopping street?
a) Oxford Street b) Brighton Street c) Manchester Street d) Liverpool Street
Answer 02: a
 

Have a look at screenshots of Logic Spell

Click on the picture to enlarge

Universal Spell 01  Universal Spell 02  Universal Spell 03  Universal Spell 04

Universal Spell 05  Universal Spell 10  Universal Spell 07  Universal Spell 08

Click on the link Universal Spell Instructions to read all details how to install and use our software

 
     
 
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