# The &kwordquiz; Handbook

Peter
Hedlund

    peter@peterandlinda.com

2003
2004
Peter B. Hedlund
&FDLNotice;
2004-03-06
0.5

&kwordquiz; is a flashcard and vocabulary learning program for &kde;.

KDE
kdenonbeta
KWordQuiz
flashcard
vocabulary
language
education
school
college
university

## Introduction

&kwordquiz; is a tool that gives you a powerful way to master new vocabularies. It may be a language or any other kind of terminology.

### Easy to use

With &kwordquiz; you build your own vocabulary documents in a simple and intuitive way. The basic layout is a two-column spreadsheet where you type vocabulary entries in one form that you know and in another form that you want to learn. You change the titles of the columns to reflect what you are practicing.

#### Practice modes

Before you start a quiz you select how you want to practice. &kwordquiz; offers five different modes to make practicing more efficient. The different modes make it possible to have the quiz go through your vocabulary in sequential or random order in one or both directions.

#### Quiz types

When you have entered your vocabulary and selected a mode you are ready to start a quiz. The vocabulary document is hidden during the quiz so you can't cheat. Maybe you want to start with a flashcard session, then you can move on to a multiple choice quiz or do the powerful question and answer quiz. You get instant feedback on correct and incorrect answers and you have the option to repeat any errors, further improving your learning efficiency. If you need a little extra help you can use the hint function.

#### Vocabulary documents

&kwordquiz; can open several types of vocabulary data. Supported are .kvtml used by other KDE programs such as KVocTrain, .wql used by WordQuiz for Windows, .csv files with comma-separated text, and .xml.gz files created by Pauker (http://pauker.sourceforge.net). You can automatically combine several documents to one large list if you need to practice for e. g. a final exam.

&kwordquiz; can save your vocabulary documents several different formats. The default is the .kvtml format used by other KDE programs. Other available options are the .wql format used by WordQuiz for Windows allowing exchange with Windows users, .csv, and .html.

You can have several files open at the same time and easily copy or move entries between files.

## Command Reference

### The File Menu

&Ctrl;N File New

  New creates a new blank vocabulary document

&Ctrl;O File Open

  Open one or more existing vocabulary documents. Several documents can be combined to one larger list.

File Open Recent

  Open a recently used vocabulary document

&Ctrl;S File Save

  Save the active vocabulary document to disk

File Save As

  Save the active vocabulary document with a new name

&Ctrl;P File Print

  Print the active vocabulary document. &kwordquiz; provides several options for printing your vocabularies.

&Ctrl;W File Close

  Close the active vocabulary document

&Ctrl;Q File Quit

  Quit &kwordquiz;

### The Edit Menu

&Ctrl;Z Edit Undo

  Undo the last command. The name of this item will change to reflect what will be undone.

&Ctrl;X Edit Cut

  Cut the current selection and place it on the clipboard

&Ctrl;C Edit Copy

  Copy the current selection and place it on the clipboard

&Ctrl;V Edit Paste

  Paste the content of the clipboard to the current selection. If only one cell is selected &kwordquiz; will activate smart pasting and calculate the space required for pasting and add rows if necessary.

Edit Clear

  Clear the current selection

&Ctrl;I Edit Insert

  Insert a new row at the current selection. If the selection extends over more than one row, an equal number of rows will be inserted.

&Ctrl;K Edit Delete

  Delete the selected row. If the selection extends over more than one row, all selected rows will be deleted.

&Ctrl;M Edit Mark Blank

  Mark Blank marks selected text (or the word where the caret is) as a blank for a 'Fill-in-the-blank' quiz, i.e. it's enclosed in brackets. Only available if Fill-in-the-blank is enabled.

Edit Unmark Blank

  Unmark Blank clears previously assigned blanks, i.e. brackets are removed. Only available if Fill-in-the-blank is enabled.

### The Go to Menu

F6 Go to Editor

  Activate the vocabulary editor

F7 Go to Flashcard

  Start a flashcard session

F8 Go to Multiple Choice

  Start a multiple choice quiz

F9 Go to Question & Answer

  Start a question & answer quiz

### The Vocabulary Menu

&Ctrl;L Vocabulary Column Titles...

  Define the titles of the two columns in the vocabulary. Displays a dialog.

Vocabulary Font...

  Change the font used to display the vocabulary. If you are in flashcard session the font used to diplay the card will be changed. Displays the standard KDE font dialog.

Vocabulary Rows/Columns...

  Specify the number of rows in the vocabulary, or define the height of selected rows or the width of selected columns. Displays a dialog.

Vocabulary Sort...

  Sort the vocabulary entries. Displays a dialog.

Vocabulary Shuffle

  Shuffle the vocabulary entries in a random order

### The Mode Menu

The menu provides five different modes for the quiz.

Note that the menu names will change to reflect the column titles of the currently active vocabulary document. The mode must be selected before a quiz is started. The selected mode will apply to Flashcard, Multiple Choice and Question & Answer.

Mode Column 1 -> Column 2 in order

  During the quiz you will be given the entries of Column 1 and asked to provide the corresponding Column 2 entries. This will be done in the order the entries appear in the vocabulary document.

Mode Column 2 -> Column 1 in order

  During the quiz you will be given the entries of Column 2 and asked to provide the corresponding Column 1 entries. This will be done in the order the entries appear in the vocabulary document.

Mode Column 1 -> Column 2 randomly

  During the quiz you will be given the entries of Column 1 and asked to provide the corresponding Column 2 entries. This will be done in a random order, but each entry will be asked once.

Mode Column 2 -> Column 1 randomly

  During the quiz you will be given the entries of Column 2 and asked to provide the corresponding Column 1 entries. This will be done in random order, but each entry will be asked once.

Mode Column 1 <-> Column 2 randomly

  During the quiz you will be given an entry of either Column 1 or Column 2 and asked to provide the corresponding entry in the other column. This will be done in a random order for both column and entry. Each possible combination will be asked once.

### The Quiz Menu

Return Quiz Check

  Check if your answer is correct

K Quiz I Know

  Count as correct during a flashcard session.

D Quiz I Don't Know

  Count as error during a flashcard session. You can later repeat these cards by selecting Quiz Repeat Errors.

&Ctrl;H Quiz Hint

  Get the next correct letter during a Question & Answer session.

&Ctrl;R Quiz Restart

  Restart the quiz session from the beginning. Will reset the scores.

&Ctrl;E Quiz Repeat Errors

  Repeat any questions you answered incorrectly. Becomes available once you have answered all questions once.

### The Settings Menu

Settings Toolbars Show Main

  Toggle the Main Toolbar

Settings Toolbars Show Go to

  Toggle the Go to Toolbar

Settings Toolbars Show Quiz

  Toggle the Quiz Toolbar

Settings Show Status bar

  Toggle the Status bar

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

  Configure the keyboard keys you use to access the different actions.

Settings Configure Toolbars...

  Configure the items you want to put in the toolbar

Settings Configure Notifications...

  Configure notifications for certain events in &kwordquiz;

Settings Configure &kwordquiz;...

  Configure preferences for the vocabulary editor and the quizzes. Displays a dialog.

### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

## The Vocabulary Editor

The vocabulary document area has the appearance of a spreadsheet-like grid. The grid consists of cells organized in two columns and a number of rows. Each column and row has a header. The column headers are used to specify the titles of the vocabulary document. They can be set by selecting Vocabulary Column Titles.... The row headers number the rows consecutively.

You can click in a cell of the grid to make it the active cell. You can select several cells for copying or other editing by dragging over them with the left mouse button down. To select entire rows or columns click in the headers.

The Vocabulary Editor
The Vocabulary Editor

In the document you build a vocabulary of pair-wise entries in the two columns. You can enter text into the active cell simply by starting to type. The cell will now be in edit mode and you can select all or part of the text. You can also edit a cell by double-clicking it or pressing F2 and make changes directly in the cell.

When you have finished typing one entry, press the return key and the next cell will automatically become active. Hence, it's easy to quickly type several entries. You can customize this behavior by selecting Settings Configure &kwordquiz;.... When you reach the bottom row of the grid, a new row will be added as you press return, so you can just continue to type. When a new window is created it has 50 rows, but there is really no limit to the number of rows you can have in a document.

## Flashcard Session

Select Go to Flashcard to start a flashcard session on the entries of the active vocabulary document. The mode selected in the Mode menu will be used. If you change mode during a session, the session will be restarted.

If you are working with long expressions the window can be resized to make more space available. The font size will also influence how much will fit in the different parts of the window. By selecting Vocabulary Font you can specify the font used for the flashcards.

Flashcard Session
Flashcard Session

Initially the front of the card is displayed. Use Quiz Check to see the other side.

To move on to the next card either select Quiz I Know to count the card as correct or Quiz I Don't Know to count the card as incorrect.

Select Quiz Repeat Errors to repeat the cards you have counted as incorrect.

Select Quiz Restart to start the session from the beginning again. If you are using a random mode the cards will be reshuffled.

The score sections at the bottom of the screen shows the number of cards, the number of cards you have seen, the number of cards counted as correct, and the number counted as incorrect.

All items on the Quiz menu are available on the Quiz toolbar that is displayed on the right by default.

## Multiple Choice Session

Select Go to Multiple Choice to start a multiple choice quiz on the entries in the active vocabulary document. The mode selected in the Mode menu will be used. If you change mode during a session, the session will be restarted.

If you are working with long expressions the window can be resized to make more room. The font size (selected for the editor) will also influence how much will fit in the different parts of the window.

In the example below the user gave an incorrect answer to the previous question. He/she is now about to answer the next question.

Multiple Choice Session
Multiple Choice Session

Your choices are shown on the top left. Select the one you think is correct. Use Quiz Check to see if the answer is correct. If you have activated the automatic mode in Settings Configure &kwordquiz;... your selection is checked immediately.

The previous question is shown below the current. The answer you gave is also displayed. If you answered incorrectly the correct answer is shown.

Select Quiz Repeat Errors to repeat the questions you answered incorrectly.

Select Quiz Restart to start the session from the beginning again. If you are using a random mode the questions will be reshuffled.

The score sections at the bottom of the screen shows the number of questions, the number of questions you have answered, the number of correct answers, and the number of incorrect answers.

All items on the Quiz menu are available on the Quiz toolbar that is displayed on the right by default.

## Question & Answer Session

Select Go to Question & Answer to start a question & answer session on the entries in the active vocabulary. The mode selected in the Mode menu will be used. If you change mode during a session, the session will be restarted.

If you are working with long expressions the window can be resized to make more room. The font size (selected for the editor) will also influence how much will fit in the different parts of the window.

In the example below the user gave a correct answer to the previous question (to see how incorrect answers are handled, see the Multiple Choice chapter). He/she is now about to answer the next question.

Question & Answer Session
Question & Answer Session

Your question is shown on the top left. Type your answer in the edit field. Use Quiz Check or Enter to see if the answer is correct.

The previous question is shown below the current. The answer you gave is also displayed. If you answered incorrectly the correct answer is shown.

Select Quiz Hint to get the next correct letter of the answer. In Settings Configure &kwordquiz;... you can select that questions where you use the hint function are always counted as incorrect.

Select Quiz Repeat Errors to repeat the questions you answered incorrectly.

Select Quiz Restart to start the session from the beginning again. If you are using a random mode the questions will be reshuffled.

The score sections at the bottom of the screen shows the number of questions, the number of questions you have answered, the number of correct answers, and the number of incorrect answers.

All items on the Quiz menu are available on the Quiz toolbar that is displayed on the right by default.

## Fill-in-the-blank

'Fill-in-the-blank' is a powerful way to practice in &kwordquiz;. It is a special kind of question and answer quiz that needs to be described in more detail.

Consider the following table. It could be a vocabulary in &kwordquiz;:

| English | German
--- | --- | ---
1 | We own a computer | Wir besitzen einen Computer
2 | We own a computer | Wir [besitzen] einen Computer
3 | We own a computer | Wir [besitzen einen] Computer
4 | We own a computer | Wir [besitzen] einen [Computer]

The important thing to note is the placement of the brackets. They tell &kwordquiz; how the quiz should be performed.

In 1. there are no brackets. Assuming English is the question and German the answer you have to give the entire expression 'Wir besitzen einen Computer' for a correct answer.

In 2. &kwordquiz; would display the question but also 'Wir ........ einen Computer'. For a correct answer it is sufficient to write 'besitzen'.

3. shows that a blank can consist of more than one word. The correct answer is 'besitzen einen'.

In 4. there are two separate blanks. To specify that in the answer you have to write 'besitzen; Computer', i.e separate the blanks with a semicolon in order to get a correct answer.

Marked blanks are only of relevance if they appear in the answer. Otherwise the brackets are ignored. Furthermore, brackets have no effect in multiple choice quizzes. To simplify the creation of 'Fill-in-the-blank' vocabularies there are toolbar and menu commands to mark and unmark blanks. Of course you can also just type the brackets. &kwordquiz; checks the syntax. If the text appears in red there is something wrong with the brackets and a quiz can not be started.

The 'Fill-in-the-blank' features can be turned on and off in the Options dialog. Turning them of will make it possible to use fonts that map other characters to the positions of the brackets. It will also speed up performance slightly.

## Printing

&kwordquiz; provides the ability to print vocabulary documents in several different ways. When selecting File Print... you are presented with the standard KDE print dialog. In order to get access to the special &kwordquiz; features you need to click on the Expand to see the Vocabulary Options tab. On this tab you can select to print the document as a vocabulary list (i.e as displayed in the editor), a vocabulary exam, or as flashcards.

Vocabulary Printing Options
Vocabulary Printing Options

### Vocabulary list

The vocabulary will be printed as displayed in the editor. This includes font, row heights, and column widths. Make sure that the columns are narrow enough to fit on the page.

Print Vocabulary List
Print Vocabulary List

### Vocabulary exam

The vocabulary will be printed as displayed in the editor, except that the right column will be left empty and a third column for scoring is added. Settings used include font, row heights, and column widths. Make sure that the columns are narrow enough to fit on the page.

Print Vocabulary Exam
Print Vocabulary Exam

### Flashcard

Two 3" x 5" cards per page. The cards will always be printed in landscape.

Print Flashcards
Print Flashcards

## Dialogs

### Configure Editor

Configure Editor
Configure Editor

You can configure the behavior of the Enter key when working in the editor.

You can also select if the functions for Fill-in-the-blank should be activated. Turning them off will speed up performance a little.

Select Default to restore all settings to predefined defaults. Select Apply to make your changes without closing the dialog. Select OK to make your changes and close the dialog. Select Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes.

### Configure Quiz

Configure Quiz
Configure Quiz

For flashcard sessions you can select if the cards should be flipped automatically, and if they should be counted as correct or incorrect. Enter a time delay in seconds for the automatic flipping.

For multiple choice sessions you can select if your choice should be checked immediately or if you have to select Quiz Check first.

For question & answer sessions you can select if questions where you use Quiz Hint should be counted as incorrect.

For all sessions you can select if the scores should be displayed as percent instead of absolute numbers.

Select Default to restore all settings to predefined defaults. Select Apply to make your changes without closing the dialog. Select OK to make your changes and close the dialog. Select Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes.

### Configure Special Characters

Configure Special Characters
Configure Special Characters

Nine configurable actions are available for insertion of special characters into the vocabulary. Select one of the actions in the list and then click the Character... button to select a character for that action. A larger preview of the current character is displayed.

Changing the keyboard shortcut associated with each action can be done by selecting Settings Configure Shortcuts....

Select Default to restore all settings to predefined defaults. Select Apply to make your changes without closing the dialog. Select OK to make your changes and close the dialog. Select Cancel to close the dialog without making any changes.

### Column Titles

Column Titles
Column Titles

Use this dialog to define the column titles of the vocabulary. Select OK to make your changes or Cancel to discard any changes.

### Special Characters

Special Characters
Special Characters

Use this dialog to select any special character you want to associate with the current special character action.

### Rows/Columns

Rows/Columns
Rows/Columns

Use this dialog to specify the number of rows you want in the vocabulary. You can also adjust the width (in pixels) of the selected columns and the height (in pixels) of the selected rows. Select OK to make your changes or Cancel to discard any changes.

Specifying a number of rows lower than what currently is in the vocabulary may lead to loss of data.

### Sort

Sort
Sort

Use this dialog to sort the vocabulary alphabetically. You can specify if the sort should be based on the left (French in this example) or right (English in this example) column and if it should be in ascending or descending order. Select OK to do the sort or Cancel to leave the vocabulary unchanged.

## Questions and Answers

&reporting.bugs; &updating.documentation;

Can I combine several vocabularies to one.

Yes, when you select File Open... you can highlight more than one file in the dialog. By default they will be opened in separate windows, but if you select the checkbox Join selected files into one list, then the data in all files will be combined into one new list.

## Credits and License

&kwordquiz;

Program copyright 2003-2004 Peter B. Hedlund peter AT peterandlinda DOT com

Documentation copyright 2003-2004 Peter B. Hedlund peter AT peterandlinda DOT com

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &kwordquiz;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Compilation and installation

&install.compile.documentation;

&documentation.index;