How to Use Algor and Concept Maps to Study Languages

Revolutionize your language learning with algor education's text-to-speech synthesis tool

One of the simplest and most widely used features on Algor Education is the text-to-speech synthesis from any text of your choice. The tool, primarily designed as a compensatory tool for dyslexic students, allows for digital reading aloud, helping to overcome a frequently slippery obstacle for those with a specific learning disorder (SLD). This difficulty is often further amplified when studying foreign languages, also due to the lack of familiarity with basic vocabulary. 

Using the automatic reading feature allows for easier deciphering of a text in a foreign language, also enabling the activation of auditory memory for concept memorization. The text-to-speech synthesis is available – in addition to Italian – in English, German, Spanish, and French, providing students with the correct pronunciation of study materials always at hand.

Thanks to the karaoke function with synchronized underlining and the ability to adjust playback speed, learning rhythms can be fully customized, allowing for an individualized learning experience based on each person's needs. This is how the possibilities to enhance reading, listening, and comprehension skills in a foreign language multiply, replicating the experience of listening to study materials even outside the classroom walls.

A fast and customizable study tool for english, spanish, german, and french

The use of automatic concept maps is particularly helpful when it comes to assimilating content in different languages, transferring all the classic benefits of photo, text, and image features into four languages (English, Spanish, German, and French). With this tool, you can insert content on the Algor Education platform and obtain fast and intuitive study tools that are also completely customizable.

The automation applied to the educational process will not only facilitate the initial approach to the text, but also make the concepts to be fixed stimulating for the visual memory. This process is particularly useful when studying elements of literature or historical-cultural knowledge of the countries studied, allowing you to highlight essential connections and practice the use of logical connectors to create a solid knowledge base.

Try this engaging exercise for improving spelling, pronunciation, and assimilation!

An interesting exercise to practice foreign languages using Algor's automatic features could be:

1. Take the source text and upload it to the platform, generating both the summary and the concept map or mind map, depending on which term is more commonly used in English;‍
2. Read the results out loud or with text-to-speech, trying to memorize and assimilate them;‍
3. Delete the content of some of the nodes in the map, leaving them empty but not completely removing them;‍
4. Print the map using the print functionality, which also allows customization of the layout and graphic style. For practical examples, you can refer to our dedicated article;‍
5. Complete the map without looking at the original one, perhaps after some time has passed since the assimilation of the concepts;‍
6. Check if the information entered is correct, using Algor as a sort of self-assessment of the level achieved.

This exercise, in addition to facilitating the assimilation of content, will also help to verify and improve spelling and pronunciation skills – which are often two of the biggest obstacles for those studying a foreign language.

Enhance your language skills with algor education's quick concept maps in multiple languages

Various features of Algor Education will also allow you to test the knowledge you have already acquired, both in terms of content and linguistic and lexical aspects. Thanks to the quick concept or phrase maps, you can indeed obtain various automatic connections in English, German, French, and Spanish, building a discourse by expanding each of the displayed nodes.

Experiment with quick features and create concept maps in a snap!

This way, you can have fun experimenting with various quick features, using the little robot Algor icon as a reliable study companion. A particularly useful exercise could be, for example:‍

1. ‍Change the language settings to the desired language;‍
2. Enter the title of the map starting from a simple concept;
3. Create a map using the automatic suggestions, which propose five basic questions;‍
4. Try to answer the proposed questions. You can choose whether to do it orally or in writing, depending on the specific skill you want to develop;‍
5. Check the individual answers using the automatic functionality again, possibly integrating your answers with those proposed by artificial intelligence.

If you want to use other automatic features for studying foreign languages, you can rely on maps from photos and text. An exercise idea could be:

1. Take the content to study and highlight the most important concepts for you, underlining or circling the logical connectors that allow the text to be organic in a different way;‍
2. Create your concept map or mind map without using automatic tools, trying to be concise but comprehensive;
3. Then insert the text you started with on the Algor platform, which you can also do using the map from photo feature. Proceed to the display of the automatic map;‍
4. Compare the two concept maps or mind maps you have obtained. Pay attention: it is not necessarily true that the automatically created one is more correct; the important thing is to try to have a critical thinking and understand which organization of information can be more suitable for your educational needs.

The trick of changing your electronic devices settings

One of the most common ways to become familiar with a foreign language is to try to incorporate it into your electronic devices. This trick is often used for smartphone settings or computer settings, as well as the languages of various social applications. The rationale is to be exposed to the language daily that you are learning, trying to use your skills and consolidating your familiarity with a wide range of vocabulary.

The trick of changing the application's language is also available on the Algor Education App, which is fully translated into both English and Spanish. By modifying the general settings, it will be easy for you to challenge yourself day after day without even realizing it. Forcing yourself to practice a foreign language will thus become a way to exercise even while studying something else, keeping both the practice and the neural connections involved in switching from your native language to a foreign one alive.