Using Video Plus — Help

There are two sorts of help you might need.

First, you may need help with the program — finding your way round, which buttons to press, and so on — so there is a help facility which you can call up at any time. Most people don't bother with this kind of help unless they think they really need to, and so long as software is well-designed, it shouldn't be necessary. However it's best practice to read up what you need to know, or use the help facility, before you start using the software for the first time: it will alert you to features which you might otherwise miss.

Second, you may need help with the language in order to understand the clip and to do the exercises. Because Video Plus is a computer package, specific excerpts from the video can be called up quickly and concisely whenever they are needed. This contrasts sharply with the use of video tape or even an ordinary DVD for detailed language exercises where a lot of fast forwarding and rewinding is required to find particular points in a clip. It's a task so awkward and time-consuming that for intensive language learning purposes like this, it's largely impractical. The ability to call up concise segments of video is something that currently only computer software can do, and this, along with subtitles and glossary information available as the clip is playing, is why the package is called Video Plus — you are getting the video clips plus the ability to use them for study in a uniquely flexible way.

Help with the Program — The Help Facility

To turn on the help facility, click the question mark at the bottom left of the program window. A separate window appears alongside the main program, and you can consult it while you work. There are normally two sections you can select. One is 'What to do', and it contains a description of how to do the exercise or use the window you are looking at. The other, 'Navigation Buttons', is a quick summary of what each button does.

Help with the Language — Video, Subtitles and Glossary

The key to the Video Plus software is the way it uses video: it makes the most of the computer's ability to play small extracts of video quickly and efficiently. The opening page of each unit allows you to view and control the clip a bit like you would normally watch a video tape or DVD. But when you start work on the exercises, there are special video play buttons for you to use, usually (but not always) given alongside each question. The idea is that you use these video buttons to see a short extract from the clip which helps you answer the question: they automatically play the portion of the clip you need, without you having to forward, rewind, and hunt for the right place. In some cases, you may not need this help, but often using the button will remind you of the answer, or give you some material to listen to and think about as you work it out.

So while the Help Facility concentrates on how to use the program, the video play buttons along with the subtitles and glossary information provide the language help you need. You can press the button to see and hear the extract as often as you need to. It's a bit like asking someone to repeat what they've said because you didn't hear or didn't understand.

Of course, real people can slow down their speech or re-phrase what they want to say when someone listening is having problems, something which can't normally be done with a video recording. By way of compensation, though, if you need help to understand what is being said, the software lets you see same-language subtitles. To turn the subtitles on and off, click the 'Untertitel an/AUS button at the foot of the screen. To see if the subtitles are on or not look at this button: if 'AN' is in capitals ('Untertitel AN/aus'), then they're on; if 'AUS' is in capitals ('Untertitel an/AUS'), they're off. When you turn the subtitles on, every time the video plays, subtitles appear beneath the picture, showing the words as they are being spoken. The idea is that, since we are so used to reading, seeing the words written while they're being spoken can help us understand what is being said. They are especially useful when we're confronted with 'real' language for the first time; seeing a fast stream of language transcribed at the instant it's being spoken can help us to get to grips with the way people really speak.

The video play buttons and the same-language subtitles are a big help — but sometimes you may need more. It may be that you can hear the words and see the subtitles, but still not know what some of the words mean. In such cases you can use the glossary information. It works in the same way as the subtitles — click the 'Glossar an/AUS' button to control it — but instead of transcriptions appearing beneath the pictures, you get concise dictionary-like translations of key words and phrases. It's a bit like having a dictionary which displays a definition for you at the exact moment a word or phrase is being used. We've tried to include all the words you might need information about, but there is still a chance that you'll need further help or clarification: if this happens, don't hesitate to consult an ordinary dictionary, or ask your teacher for help.

What with subtitles and glossary information flashing up on screen quite quickly as a video extract is playing, you may not have time to take it all in, especially if rapid speech or complicated expressions are being used. To help in such situations, you can pause the video to give yourself time to look at the information provided, and take notes if you want to. To do this, look out for the small pause button which appears along the bottom of the screen while a video play button extract is playing with subtitles or glossary turned on, and click it to pause (and restart) the clip. In the introductory page of each unit, where you view the clip in full, a pause button is provided on the screen controls, just below the video screen.

By default, the subtitles and glossary are turned off; whenever you start a new exercise, the video you use will be shown without them, until you turn them on. Remember that your goal is to learn to understand spoken language, both formal and informal: use the subtitles and glossary in a way which helps you do that rather than always relying on them from the start. Test yourself a bit: that's how to gain confidence.

One last point: a type of computer video known as 'streaming video' has become very popular because of the World Wide Web. Live broadcasts and recorded programmes can be viewed via the web, and consequently we as language learners have access to all kinds of helpful material from many countries round the world. However streaming video acts a bit like an old-fashioned tape; it's trying to send a continuous stream of video over the network as quickly as possible, and the emphasis on efficient transmission over wide distances has an adverse effect on the way it can be used locally — it's not yet as easy and effective to program streaming video for short excerpts and near-instantaneous use. That's why, for now, Video Plus uses hard disk, CD-ROM, or local network drive, where the video source is ready and waiting to be used rather than requiring a pause for downloading to take place, rather than the Internet and the World Wide Web. Eventually, if network bandwidth allows, and as developers remember the lessons originally provided by experiences with the videodisk, the difference between the two approaches should disappear.