Weboword is a blog in which words are explained visually (with cartoons), reinforced by follow-up practice (e.g. crosswords). You can also subscribe to their daily dose of visual vocab.
My opinion/0.2 cents:
It’s a good idea although some of the cartoons aren’t clear enough or don’t convey the exact meaning (too vague). I would include a link to pronunciation sites such as Forvo rather than just the textual transcription (if a drawing helps to understand the meaning of a given word, a sound file does also help to better understand how a word should be pronounced). Plus: Limited or non-existent ways to look up words, i.e. where’s the Search box? no categories or tags (semantic families)? no alphabetic search?
Users can contribute with their own definitions and/or scribbles (you can also use online tools such as Imagination Cubed or SUMO Paint).
PS1: Mmmm…What about an initiative such as the global social dictionary, mixed up with this Weboword approach to visual vocabularies…but with a social + integrative interface such as SUMO’s?
[via @felipemorales]
PS2: I picked up the following word, dedicated to a dear friend of mine who just had an “incident/accident” hopping down a flight of stairs…
3 Comments
“Limited or non-existent ways to look up words, i.e. where’s the Search box? no categories or tags (semantic families)? no alphabetic search?”
Fixed to a large degree.
Regarding your point about incorporating the audio pronunciation, we faced several issues with regard to difference in the way English is spoken across the world. The tonal quality, the accent, make a major impact in learning and if not dealt with accurately, may cause confusion among the learners.
The textual transcription, in our opinion helped to address those issues.
What are your thoughts about that?
We are working on creating the “Global Social Visual Dictionary”.
And assure you that you’d be the first person to be informed as soon as it is launched. However, we shall be leaving the drawing tools for the time being, since they are plenty available apart from Paper & Pencil.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and ideas and hope to interact with you further in this regard.
Warm regards,
WeboWord
Hi,
Thanks for the comment.
I still think it isnt’ fixed “to a large” degree. The search box is there, ok, but that kind of search doesn’t allow serendipity and it doesn’t foster “discoverability”, i.e. when you are just curious to find what’s under A or D, or when you plunge into a tag cloud.
My thoughts about the textual transcription? Textual transcription only works when the learners share the mother tongue…so if I write “teibol”, Spaniards will pronounce that as ‘table’ (more or less)…but “ei”, for instance in German is pronounced as “ai”….so textual transcription takes for granted that we all read the same way, when we don’t…That’s why nothing can beat a sound file. Besides, people should get used to the fact that there might be different ways to pronounce “vase” for instance…That’s part of learning a real language. (And forget about IPA symbols, language learners don’t know them…unfortunately).
Yours is a great initiative and I’m sure it takes a lot of time and effort, but I was envisioning an enginet here, with APIs from other apps to trigger direct user participation and generation of content. If you’re interested in knowing more about the idea, do not hesitate to contact me (contact form, for instance or via Twitter).
Best,
Elena
Would be getting in touch with you right away!
Thanks so much.
Warm regards,
WeboWord
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