October 7, 2005

Language Learning Software

Sometimes when learning a language you don’t want just the Listen & Repeat CDs or tapes because there are limitations to simply learning a language on audio. You can’t see the words you’re saying which limits your understanding of how spelling informs the pronunciation of the language. You can’t read or write the language at all with audio language programs and that can be important when you’re in a European city trying to read all those signs. And interactive language learning software can be a lot of fun since there’s so many entertaining tests, exercises, and games you can play to learn the language instead of just memorizing it through listening and repeating.

So in the case you’re interested in obtaining CD-ROM or online software for language learning you should check out our recently added publisher pages for Rosetta Stone and Transparent Language. You can check them out by going to:

www.learnoutloud.com/transparent
www.learnoutloud.com/rosetta

Rosetta Stone offers software in 29 languages with Level 1 & Level 2 programs that you can buy on CD-ROM or access through their monthly online subscription which costs $49.95 per month. Level 1 programs provide 92 interactive lessons and Level 2 programs include 118 lessons. Through these lessons you’ll learn through 4 methods:

1. Listening to native speakers speak their everyday language
2. Speaking the language and making sure your pronunciation is right through speech recognition that compares your voice to native speakers
3. Reading exercises that link written language to real-life objects
4. Writing exercises that check your spelling, syntax and punctuation

Transparent Language has a more extensive offering of languages with over 100 different languages to learn through their 7 product lines that are available on CD-ROM with some of their titles available as online software that you can download. These product lines are all described in detail on their publisher page but basically they are an interactive mulitmedia immersion into a foreign language teaching you how to comprehend, converse, pronounce, read, and write a language. Their Complete Suites include three of their software programs along with Linguaphone’s PDQ Talk which has 4 audio CDs and a translation dictionary.

Demos of their products are available online. For the online demo of Rosetta Stone click here. To download Transparent Language’s free trial software click here. We feature most of Rosetta Stone’s titles and Transparent Language’s titles on our site so check them out.

October 7, 2005

Cure for the Common Commute

It’s starting to catch on. People are awakening to the fact that their morning commute doesn’t have to be this dreaded, boring, tedious activity. Driving to work can be the one time during your day when you get to be selfish. You get to listen to what you want to listen to and learn about the things you might not normally have the time for. It’s a great way to learn and develop personally and professionally.

Kudos to the gang over at Simply Audiobooks for helping spread the gospel of audio learning. They’ve launched a campaign called “Cure for the Common Commute” which is both catchy and apropos.

The common cold and the “common commute” have a lot in common. Many people deal with both and both are very annoying. There are some common-sense ways to prevent the common cold and likewise, there are some easy ways to prevent frustrating commutes. We can think of over 8,000 of them in our Catalog. 🙂 (Speaking of which, we added over 1,500 new titles to our catalog this week. Check it out!)

One day we might figure out the cure for the common cold. In the meantime, finding the cure for the common commute seems a little easier.

October 5, 2005

ThinkArete: The Podcast

I’m proud to announce that we’ve got an exclusive new podcast up on LearnOutLoud.com. It’s called ThinkArete: The Podcast and I think you’ll really enjoy it. It’s a daily podcast done by Brian Johnson, CEO and Philosopher and CEO over at Zaadz, Inc. For those who’ve never heard the word “arete” before (I hadn’t until I met Brian), here’s a brief description:

The classic Greek philosophers had a word for the process of self-actualizing and striving to reach your highest potential. They called it ‘Areté.’ (pronounced ar-uh-tay) In fact, Areté was one of the most important values in classic Greek culture. Guys like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle tell us that the meaning of life is happiness and that the way to achieve happiness is to live with areté (aka excellence, striving to reach your highest potential). By looking at the universal truths taught by philosophers, religions, and current psychological research, I think we can find the keys to self-actualizing and happiness; hence, my desire to get you to “ThinkAreté.”

Good stuff… I’ve listened to the first dozen episodes or so and I can tell you that you’re in for a real treat. You’ll be exposed to some new quotes, teachers and concepts. Brian starts off the series with a special rendition of his ThinkArete manifesto. Then each day (if you’re subscribed) you’ll get a short (3-5 minutes) dose of his daily wisdom. It’s a great way to kick off your morning. Highly, highly, highly recommended!

To subscribe to ThinkArete: The Podcast, go to https://www.learnoutloud.com/thinkarete or search the iTunes podcast directory for “Brian Johnson”. You can also use that URL to download individual episodes or stream the podcast (and if you simply need more info on podcasting, please check out our Introduction to Podcasting article).

We’re going to be putting up some more of Brian’s stuff in the next week so you also may want to bookmark https://www.learnoutloud.com/Resources/Authors-and-Narrators/Brian-Johnson/5292.

We’re excited about bringing you this new podcast and welcome any suggestions you might have about new audio content that you would love to see here at LearnOutLoud.com!

October 5, 2005

Headphones for the Long Run

Well it’s official. I’m running the OC Marathon in January. It’ll be my third marathon and I’m definitely looking forward to it. My goal is to better the time my brother ran at the San Francisco Marathon in July…3:33. It isn’t going to be easy and I realize that I’ll need to train hard.

Part of the nice thing about running an “audio learning company” is that I can actually work during my workout. I review a number of podcasts and audio books every week and my run is a perfect time to listen to them. There’s something about being in motion and getting the ol’ heart rate up that makes listening to these even more enjoyable. It’s definitely something I look forward to.

Lately I have realized the need for some better headphones to use while I’m doing my runs. The white earbud headphones that come with the iPod have never worked for me while working out as they fall out way too easily. I got some cheap earbud headphones that wrap around the ears but those aren’t much better. I figured it was time to invest in something a little better.

I spent an hour or so reviewing posts over on the iLounge forums. It’s amazing how much discussion there has been about the best headphones for running! I probably combed through at least four dozen threads and while there wasn’t a consensus, a couple of favorites emerged.

It really depends on whether you want noise-cancelling or not. The upside of noise-cancelling headphones is that they drown out sounds around you. While this can often be a positive (such as while flying) it can sometimes be a negative while running as it would suck to get hit by a bus that you never heard coming…

In the end I decided to get both a pair of cheaper, non-noise cancelling headphones (the Sony MDR-A34L) and a slightly more expensive pair of noise-cancelling headphones (the Shure E2c). I’m excited to try them both out and see how they stack up against each other. My guess is that I’ll use the Sonys whenever there is traffic around and the Shures when there isn’t. Regardless of what I do, I’ll report back here.

October 4, 2005

LearnOutLoud.com E-Newsletter #4

The new E-Newsletter has been posted to the site here. Dead Time Learning, Free Audio Books and a whole lot more! Check it out and if you’re not subscribed to our E-Magazine yet please do so by going here.

October 4, 2005

Choices

I’m listening to Wayne Dyer’s old Nightingale-Contant program How to Be a No-Limit Person right now (Note: Unfortunately it’s out of print so your best hope of finding it is probably eBay. We do have a ton of other Wayne Dyer audio though!). In it, he talks about how we always have choices about how we can perceive the world. He specifically mentions our choice about how we respond when we’re faced with a traffic jam.

Many people decide to let the situation control how they feel. They’ll start to feel mad or frustrated or bored because of their external situation. Dyer makes the point that letting external conditions impact your internal emotions is very disempowering. Rather than get angry about the way the world is you should instead look for ways to make the best of whatever situation you’re given. His recommendation for traffic jams? Audio learning! He tells the audience (it’s a live recording) that you can learn French in a couple of years of sitting in traffic jams without ever having to set foot inside a classroom. How right he is…

It all boils down to choices. When you drive to work tomorrow morning you’ll have an endless array of choices of things to listen to. Some will educate you, fulfill you or uplift you. Others won’t. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always (or sometimes even often…) make the best choices. But I don’t think that being perfect is the goal. I tihnk the goal is to continue to strive to make better choices.

That’s one of the main reasons we started LearnOutLoud.com. We want to give you better choices for your morning commute and for any other time of the day when you can listen to something or watch something. There is SO much good stuff out there and we’re only scratching the surface with our website. Having said that we do hope that we can help you to find some alternatives and that before long, like Wayne Dyer, you’ll look forward to sitting in traffic.

OK, this rant is over.