Monday, September 4, 2000		Kids Chat

Guess the word before Snowman melts

Fluppy: Hi pals!

Windy: Hey, what’s this change from friends to pals?

Cliparti: In fact, Fluppy has been making pen pals all this week. So he is having this ‘pal’ fever now.

Windy: Ha, ha! That’s good. So how it is going. How many pals did you make?

Fluppy: Oh! Many. They are from Germany, France and England. My only problem is that I don’t know their languages. Though we chat in English, at times when they use words from their own language I am at loss.

Cliparti: You need not worry about that. At www.zapavov.surespace.com, you will find a multilingual dictionary and the most efficient speaking-software for learning foreign languages. It has a unique set of functions for learning words and guide to their pronunciation. Microsoft animated characters (Genie, Robby, Peedy or Merlin) will pop out and read the words in different languages to you. You may translate words from any language to any languages installed on the computer, using recursive translation.

Windy: That’s a good download. But, by the time he will memorise and learn words from different languages, I am sure Fluppy’s friends will leave him. Fluppy is such a slow learner.

Cliparti: Don’t get disheartened, Fluppy. There are various software that even help you in memorising. Easy mem is one of them. It is an educational software tool that helps one make the learning process of any subject quicker and easier, reducing efforts and improving memory. http://home.att.net/~d.r.joseph/index.html is also a memory-enhancing program designed to help anyone who wants to increase his or her ability to memorise and recall information instantly. It has some unique memory techniques and one of a kind memory-test program. You can download Easy mem from http://www.easymem.com

Fluppy: That’s really nice. Now I can hope to make more pen pals.

Windy: You know there is a wonderful game named Snowman. At http://www.abc-ware.de you will find this enchanting word game for one to four children. The object is to guess the word before you melt the snowman. This would also check your memory. You choose your letters from the colourful arrangement hanging from the clothesline, with sound effects to accompany the placement of letters. If kids tire of the Snowman, they can switch over to an apple tree, which sheds apples and leaves for every wrong letter or a drying ocean or a bird that loses its colours.

Fluppy: So that takes care of my learning different languages and learning them fast too. But, while chatting I take a long time to type on the keyboard. My speed is so slow that the person on the other end gets tired of waiting.

Cliparti: Oh! Even that can be taken care of. I know two such games which you can download and increase your typing skills.

Windy: I’ll tell you of this award-winning, space invaders style arcade game. You must type words correctly to defeat incoming ships and monsters. You score one point for every correct letter, but you lose four points for every mistake. You will have so much fun typing your way through galaxies that you won’t even know you are advancing through the keyboard at the same time. You can download this game from http://www.zoogma.com

Cliparti: Wow! That must be learning with fun. I can tell you of Fastype for windows at http://www.trendtech.com It is a typing tutorial version 5.3.2. It teaches the necessary skills for touch-typing on PC’s running Microsoft Windows. It will help you type without looking at the keyboard, increase your speed and accuracy. This is used not only by kids but also by professional and businesspersons. The other site is a fun and challenging game. Here you are given six lives, and you must survive up to level 20, otherwise quit. This is at http://joelesoftware.hypermart.net

Fluppy: So that takes care of all my problems.

Windy : Fluppy, I noticed that you were talking of pals from foreign countries. How come you don’t have pals in India?

Fluppy: Actually, you see my general knowledge is very poor. But pals from foreign don’t seem to mind it even if I am not aware of their customs and countries. But I’ll really be ashamed if I sound unawareness of places of our own country in front of my own country friend.

Cliparti: There is no need to feel ashamed. You have the courage to confess. Our country is so diverse that at times it can be difficult to know everything about it.

Windy: However, from http://www.subasia.com, you can learn about all our states. You can find thousands of facts about the states on this site.

Fluppy: Okay, thanks & bye. I am going to surf this site and make loads of pen pals from U.P., West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu...

— Ira Verma