Viv's
BON Database (Version 3)
(www.vivquarry.com)
What's new in version3.48?
The same database can now be used for preparation for both the Cambridge First Certificate in English and Cambridge Advanced English examinations. To do this, you'll have to buy the Database Administrator's Key (DBA key), which gives access to the Teacher's options menu - see Viv's web site for details.
For students:
Revising, editing and adding expressions
When you use Viv's BON Database for the first time it will ask you to type in your first name. You only have to do this once as the program will remember your name and use it every time you use your BON Database. There is at least one expression, as an example, in every section. Firstly decide which section you want to add expressions to in your BON database. Click once on this section in the grey section boxes. Write the word or expression and press 'Tab' or 'Enter' (If you're not sure how to add expressions, press the F1 key and the BON Database help for this section will appear. Click on the 'X' in the top right-hand corner to close the help page. Now write the word or expression which you will see when you test yourself and press 'Tab' or 'Enter'. If there's a box for a hint sentence, write one including the word or expression in the first box (sometimes this is automatically copied to the 'Hint' box. When you press 'Enter' or 'Tab' the program will automatically change the word or expression into asterisks, with one asterisk representing each letter. Press 'Enter' or 'Tab' again and repeat the process for as many words or expressions as you want to add to this section, then click on the 'Finished' button. You will then return to the blue 'Add Words' page. Note: You don't have to write a 'hint', but it will be easier to remember the expression if you do this. The first two boxes shouldn't have more than 70 characters and the 'hint sentence' mustn't be longer than 100 characters. You don't need to save anything - the program does this automatically for you.
On the blue 'Add words' page there are also buttons which let you see all your expressions (in alphabetical order) and print out all the words in your BON Database.
To search for a word or expression, press enter until the cursor is in the column you want to search. Now click on the "Look up a word" button at the top right of the screen (or press 'Ctrl + L'). Type the word you want to find in the 'locate' box, then select 'any part of a field' ('qualquer parte do campo' in Portuguese) and press 'Enter'. The program will automatically locate the word or expression you are looking for.
Testing words
If you press 'Enter' when you start the program (or click on the 'Test Yourself' button), you'll go to the green 'Test Words' page. Click on the section you wish to test, or select 'Test all'. Choosing 'All middle of your notebook' or 'All Cambridge exercises' will only test these expressions. Type the expression asked for and press 'Enter'. If you don't know you can press 'Enter' without typing anything. Sometimes the expressions will be in alphabetical order, the program will tell you this. If you are wrong, the following will happen:
The answer is less than 5 letters - you'll get a second try. Either press 'Enter' for a second attempt, or press 'Tab' then 'Enter' or the letter 'N' to go on to the next expression.
You have the wrong number of letters, punctuation marks or spaces - a message will appear telling you how many characters you typed and how many there are in the answer. You will also see what letter the word or expression begins with. Press 'Enter' and you will be asked if you want to try again. Press 'Enter' for a second attempt, or the letter 'N' to go on to the next expression. NOTE! IF YOU KEEP PRESSING ENTER WITHOUT READING WHAT IS ON THE SCREEN, YOUR SCORE WILL GO DOWN A LOT!
You have the right number of letters, punctuation and spaces - the computer will ask you if you want some help. If you select 'Yes' by pressing 'Enter', a box will appear showing you the letters you got correct. The letters you got wrong (but perhaps not all of them!) will be replaced by asterisks (*). If you select this help, your score will be reduced by 5%. If you press the letter 'N' you will be asked if you want to try again, in the same way as in the previous two situations.
When you've finished pay attention to your percentage. If you've scored 60% or over you can either record your test result by pressing 'Enter', or click on the green 'You've finished' button to leave the test page without recording your test result. Scores below 60% are fails and I recommend that after recording your result, you see the words you got wrong and re-test yourself until you pass. When you return to the 'Test Words' page, pressing 'Enter' (or clicking on the green button on the right) will open a list of all the expressions you got incorrect first time (if you got them correct in a second attempt, they will still be in this list). You can use the cursor keys (<- ->) to hide the words on the left and only see the context sentence and your incorrect guesses. You can also print out these words if you have a printer connected to your computer and switched on. To do this, just hold down the 'Ctrl' key and press the letter 'P'. When you've revised the words you got wrong, press 'Escape' (Esc) to return to the 'Test Words' page. Now you can either test words in a different section, or click on the blue 'Revise, Edit or Add' button (or press 'Tab' twice) to add more expressions to your database. If you try to test the expressions in a section you have already tested, first you have to delete your previous guesses. You can do this using the red 'Delete your guesses' button, or from the test page where you will get to the choice of revising the words you got wrong before or automatically removing your previous test guesses.
You can test all the words in your database by selecting the 'Test all words' button, and see your past test results using the button above this.
If you don't have enough time to finish a test, it's no problem. Just select the section on the test page without deleting your previous guesses first. When you see the message "You have to delete your previous guesses before you can test yourself. Do you want to see the words you got wrong last time?" Click on the 'Cancel' button with the mouse and a 'Reverse order testing' button will appear. Click once on this button and the test will continue in reverse order. When you reach the point where you left the test previously, a message will appear saying"You have previous guesses you haven't deleted. Press 'Enter' to continue the test, or 'N' to delete your guesses and start the test again. Continue?". Press 'Enter', then 'Escape'. The computer will tell you if your previous guess was correct or not, then press 'Enter' again and record your test result as usual. When testing 'All Back' or 'All middle' in reverse order, the test score will be recorded with an 'R' to show that reverse order testing took place.
For teachers:
See 'Advanced features for Viv's Vocabulary Database' for how to create a back up copy. To make multiple copies of the database so that each student has their own personal copy, I recommend buying the teacher's version, as this comes with a special version of the program (Microsoft Signed Package) which easily replicates the programs. Then, using Windows Explorer, change the name of the copy of the "Viv's BON Database" in the folder it is stored in, to the name of one of your students (e.g. "Fred's BON Database"). Right click this file and select 'Create shortcut'. A new file of only 1KB with the same name will appear at the bottom. Cut and paste this file onto your desktop. Double clicking on this file will automatically open up the 'Viv's BON Database' program. Change the name to the next student's database and create a new shortcut. Make as many copies as there are students by repeating this process. If you like, you can create personalized shortcuts for each student. If you right click the shortcut on your desktop and select 'properties' you can change the icon (or your students can choose one) for each student, making it easier for students to identify their file. I keep all my students' BON Databases in a folder on the desktop.
I recommend using the program several times with the students before giving them a copy to take home with them. It's essential that if students use this program by themselves, the context sentences are checked for mistakes regularly. This can be done if the students copy the words they add and send them to you as an e-mail attachment (in a Microsoft Word or Excel file) or bring it on a pen drive or re-writable cd-rom (CD-RW). The context sentences are easy to check and edit using the 'See all BON' button on the 'Revise, edit or add' page. You'll find instructions on how to copy words and expressions in the advanced features section.
After testing, I usually check the words students' didn't know, then finish using the program by selecting the 'Finish using Viv's BON Database'. The next time students use the program, I start by reviewing the expressions they got wrong previously by selecting the green button on the 'Test Words' page, then I get the students to delete their previous guesses using the red button. After this, clicking on the blue button takes the student to the 'Add new words' page, where they can add more words and finally test all the expressions in their database. When there lots of words in the various sections, 'Test all (back nb)' may take a long time. In this case, you can revise roughly half the expressions and then test half of them (the total number of questions is listed on the test page). Leave the test half way through and save your score, then next class, you can revise what they got wrong in the previous test, revise the remaining expressions in 'All BON' by working backwards from the bottom of the page, then test in reverse order until you reach the point you got to in the previous test (see the 'Testing words' section above for how to do this). When testing sections, you only need to delete past guesses periodically (when returning to test a section for the second time). In this way words the student didn't know in previous tests of other sections get revised several times before being deleted. You can keep track of your students' scores and the last time they tested a particular section by opening the 'Past test results' page.
Advanced features for Viv's BON Database