Frequently Asked Questions
1. What kind of website is this ?
This is primarily a website for french readers wanting to learn foreign languages, mainly for beginners. There are many documents and MP3 files that can be freely downloaded. A few documents are written in Chinese-English and so can also be used by English readers.
2. Do you intend to have other documents available in English ?
Yes I do. But this depends both on demand and workload. Please contact me if you are interested in.
3. Why Mementos Langues ?
Mementos and Langues are French equivalent names respectively for Memos or Handbooks and Languages. So we may think of "Mementos Langues" as "Memos for learning Languages". For more information on memos, see LesMementosDeLangues.
4. What is the basic idea behind this name ?
These memos may be considered as filling a gap between personal hand-written notes and textbooks.
When I began learning Arabic, I found that I spent a long time writing memos full with alphabets, declensions, verbs, grammar rules and so on.Then I decided to type in some text in Arabic using my PC word processor and have it printed on a few 4x6 in. photo cards. This was just for ease of quickly retrieving information and have it ready to look up when needed.
I soon realized that usable memos should be limited in size and that long sentences should be avoided otherwise you end up with dictionary-like documents, which are not that easy to deal with.
I also found that there is no unique document size able to fit all needs and that the initial 4x6 in. size was only a good starting point.
5. Why three websites ?
The first website is http://pagesperso-orange.fr/mementoslangues/. It is hosted by Orange. The online space size limit was 100 MB, which soon happened to be too low. This is the reason why another site was needed.
This second website is http://mementoslangues.com/. It is freely hosted by Microsoft (Office Live Basics).The online space size and download bandwidth limits are 500 MB and 10 GB/month respectively .
This means that a maximum of 10 000 files of 1 MB size can be downloaded per month.
This is very interesting, but this space size of 500 MB is now nearly exceeded.
The third website is http://www.mementoslangues.fr/. It is hosted by STRATO. The online space size and download bandwidth are 1.5 GB and 100 GB/month respectively.
This means that a maximum of 100,000 files of 1 MB size can be downloaded per month.
I hope the 1.5 GB space size will not be exceeded too soon...
This last website has a Windows Explorer-like structure. Using the built-in Web File Explorer module, it is then easy to select and download individual files.
6. What should I do when download bandwidth is exceeded ?
In that case, file downloading is no longer possible until the end of the current month. So, you have to be patient and wait until the beginning of the following month or try to download from one of the two other websites.
7. How can I manage downloading many files ?
Due to the above mentioned limitations, the websites have not been designed as file servers. Normally, users download files one by one by simply clicking a file link.
8. What is really new, compared to other similar websites ?
Up to now, I haven't found many websites from which we can freely download these kinds of memos. It seems that this idea does sound new, but does it really ?
Here are some interesting tricks that may make a difference:
- 4-colour (tonal) code for learning chinese characters
- special "flash-cards" for learning many languages (not only Chinese)
- documents that are ready to be printed
- tables that are re-usable from business card size up to A3+ size
- A3+ posters that are suitable for revising
- MemoBuros that stand nicely on your desk, and
- useful sets of bookmarks
For more information on learning Chinese, see BienDebuterEnChinois. See also the following bookmarks examples:
- MarquePageArabe (Arabic)
- MarquePageJoursCouleursCardinauxChinois (Chinese)
- MarquePageHiraganaKatakana (Japanese)
- MarquePageRusse (Russian)
9. Why so many document sizes ?
There is truly a need to read documents on portable devices such as PDAs or SmartPhones. This is why some "flashcards-like" small-size documents have been made available.They can also be printed on credit card size paper (86x54 mm) or on business card size paper (90x50 mm or 91x55 mm). These packs of small footprint cards can be printed on most inkjet or laserjet printers on the market. When binded together, these cards can also be used as handy memos and kept in your pocket for further use.
Other paper sizes such as 4x6in., A6, A5, A4, Legal US, A3, A3+, 1/2A2, 1/2A1 and 1/2A0 are also available to fit all needs.
The Legal US paper size is the maximum paper size than can be printed on using A4 printers. See the following examples:
- PaysCapitalesDrapeauxARCHRU-LegalUS (Arabic-Chinese-Russian)
- TableSpecificatifs-LegalUS (Chinese)
The 1/2A2 paper size is obtained by cutting an A2 sheeet of paper in two (210x594 mm) sheets. Then we can use these sheets as leaflets that can be printed on using Canon A4 inkjet printers. There is a trick however because four passes are needed to print both sides instead of two for simple A4 pages. See the following examples:
- HamzaAlphabet-A2 (Arabic)
- TableSinogrammesMotsNouveauxMILECT1-A2 (Chinese)
- NombresRusses-A2 (Russian)
The A3+ paper size is particularly interesting because documents using this size are mainly used for revising or as posters. A special kind of small footprint and low cost pedestal has been designed for carrying A3+ documents on you desk. Then you can have a look at more than 400 chinese characters (with Pinyin) at a glance or learn the 33 cursive letters of the russian alphabet…
For more information, see SupportUniverselPourPostersEtDocuments.
As all documents are based on tables, a great attention has been (painstakingly-but this is experience) paid to some essential details such as Table sizes. I had to design a minimum number of table sizes that could fit into columns for most standardized paper sizes available in France.
Then I found that with only two table sizes, it was possible to design a full set of documents ranging from credit card up to A3+ sizes. New documents could then be created simply by copying tables from an existing one and pasting them into a new one, without bothering with paper sizes.
This is definitively not a trivial detail when you think that a document such as "Cent Verbes Russes" (100 Russian Verbs) contains 420 tables, that means a total of 1680 tables for the set of all 4 documents dealing with Russian Verbs ! For those who are interested in numbers, the first table width has been chosen to be 82 mm and the second one 138 mm.
10. Why so many documents ?
A fit-for-all single "jumbo" document is probably not a good solution. It is better to have a collection of dedicated documents that can be worked on independently. For example, there are separate documents for Simple and Derived Verbs in Arabic and for Verbs of Movement and Usual Verbs in Russian.
11. What about errors ?
Most documents in Arabic, Chinese, German, Japanese and Russian have been revised and corrected by native teachers to whom I am very indebted for taking up so much of their time.
There are certainly still some errors left behind and I would be very pleased if these could be reported by users. If some were to be found by a user, please contact me and I will correct them.
12. Are Microsoft Word documents available ?
Yes they are. If you need original Word files for copying, modifying or tailoring contents to your needs, please contact me and I will send you some selected files by e-mail.
13. Why are PDF files the only documents available ?
All documents have been edited using Microsoft Office Word and converted from DOC to PDF using Adobe Acrobat Professional Edition. But due to website size limitations, only PDF files have been made available for download because they need less space size than DOC files.
Moreover, using Adobe Reader, which is available free from Adobe.com, you can easily read, copy, print, convert and automatically scroll documents.
For more information see BienUtiliserAdobeReader8.
14. What about fonts ?
Fonts are normally incorporated into PDF files. But for those cases where they would'nt, links for downloading some missing fonts have been added to Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian pages.
Here is a list of additional fonts thare are not available with Microsoft Office (French version). These are used in some documents:
- Han Ding (Chinese, hand-writing style)
- Kyoukashotai (Japanese, textbook style)
- Propisi (Russian, cursive style)
I think it is very important for a beginner to be able to read and write characters or letters that are as close as possible to hand-writing text. This is the reason why these fonts have been used.
For more information on:
- Hand Ding writing style, see GrilleEcriture400SinogrammesMILECT1
- Japanese typefaces, see JapaneseTypefaces
- Russian cursive letters, see ApprendreEcrireRusse.
15. Where can I find grammar rules ?
There are seven sets of documents dealing with grammar rules, one set per language. I recommend using 4x5in. document size for displaying grammar rules when available. Other sizes are also available, namely A6, A5 and A4.
See the following documents:
- GrammaireAllemande (German)
- GrammaireArabe (Arabic)
- GrammaireChinoise (Chinese)
- GrammaireCroate (Croatian)
- GrammaireJaponaiseWikipedia (Japanese)
- GrammaireRusse (Russian)
- GrammaireSerbe (Serbian)
16. Why documents on stars and constellations ?
When I began learning Arabic, I read that more than 70% of star names where from arabic origin. Then I thought that by simply observing the sky at night and trying to recognize stars and constellations by their arabic names could be great for helping to memorize more arabic words. If you already know star names in your own language, then it is not too difficult to remember its arabic name.
The same trick applies also for learning Chinese and Russian.
See (4x6 in.) documents:
- ConstellationsArabes (Arabic)
- ConstellationsChinoises (Chinese)
- ConstellationsRusses (Russian)
This is an example of what can be gained by learning thematic words from a topic you already know or from your favorite hobby. Remember that Strong Motivation is essential for learning languages...
For example, if you are interested in Astronomy, Flags or Piloting Airplanes, see the following documents:
- SignesZodiaquePlanetes-A3Plus (Chinese)
- PaysCapitalesDrapeauxARCHRU-LegalUS (Arabic Chinese Russian)
- AlphabetInternationalCodeMORSE-A3Plus (Chinese)
- EnAvionEnArabeEnRusse (Arabic and Russian)
17. Why only printed flashcards ?
There are already many good websites where we can practice Chinese or Japanese using "electronic" flashcards. OK that's great. But now you need a (connected) computer or at least a PDA.
Since the beginning, one of my objectives was to design rugged, low-cost and "small footprint" printed flashcards that could be used everywhere and at any time, especially when traveling abroad. These "credit card" size cards can be binded together and one pack of cards can easily fit into your pocket.
For years East-Asian youngsters have been using electronic or printed flashcards to help memorizing non-alphabetic characters.
And it has been working for years...
Why not use the same concept for other languages and/or for other purposes ?
This is why printed flashcards have been designed for alphabetic languages such as Arabic, Greek, Malay and Russian and I hope this will work...
See the following flashcards examples:
- VerbesArabesSimples-MC1 (Arabic)
- GuideDeConversationAnglaisChinoisBBC-MC2 (English-Chinese)
- GuideDeConversationAnglaisGrecBBC-MC2 (English-Greek)
- SyllabaireHiragana-MC1 (Japanese)
- GuideDeConversationAnglaisMalais-MC2 (English-Malay)
- CentVerbesRusses-MC1 (Russian)
18. How do we use these flashcards ?
There are four flascard types which are basically:
-MC: 10 detachable cards per printed A4 sheet
-MC1: there are simple-click links to cards on the first and last pages
-MC2: each card can be printed separately and pages are numbered
-MC3: 10 detachable cards per printed A4 sheet
So, MC, MC2 and MC3 types may be printed out and MC1 type is used solely for displaying selected cards.
For more information on flashcards, see MemoCartes.
19. Why do I need A3/A3+ posters ?
OK, flashcards sound good for learning characters or verbs one by one. But now if you want to revise a complete set of characters or verbs and test your memory on what you are supposed to know, it is better to use A3/A3+ posters.
Links to some examples of A3+ posters for learning to write characters are shown below:
- OrdreTraceTraitsCaracteresChinois-A3Plus (Chinese)
- OrdreTraceTraitsHiraganaKatakana-A3Plus (Japanese)
- AlphabetRusseAzbuka-A3Plus (Russian)
There are 30 cards per A3+ sheet and the trick is now to try to read or understand each card on the first side of the sheet and infer what is on the other side. When in doubt, a quick look at the other side should give the right response. Each of the 30 cards can then be read in a random manner until all content has been actually memorized. I think this is a very effective way of learning languages.
For more information, see BienMemoriserLesCaracteresChinois.
20. Are documents copyright protected ? No. All documents can be freely copied, printed or modified but no commercial use can be made from them.They can be posted on other websites provided that a reference or a link to my website are made. Well, I guess these are normal Web rules for free stuff.
21. Are these documents really free ?
Yes they are. But I would be very pleased to receive error reports...or a few ideas to improve documents.
22. Cube design
For those interesting in NxNxN cube design, including the ubiquitous Rubik's Cube, many design documents can be freeely downloaded from sub-directory 'CubeDesign' at:
http://www.mementoslangues.fr/
Applets of animated calendar and picture cubes can also be downloaded from:
http://www.randelshofer.ch/rubik/virtualcubes/virtual_rubik_en.html
These include animated calendar cubes designed for displaying the date of the day in many languages and animated clock cubes designed for displaying the time of the day.