Tell Me More

Tell Me More (TMM) is a program that can only be accessed from the Language Resource Center (LRC). Because the program uses speech recognition, we request that you only use the speaking room, room 113 (to the left/east of the main desk) when using this program in order to contain the level of disturbance to other students as much as possible.

Login

You must create a username and password when using this program for the first time.  Enter your first name, space, your last name as your username and your student ID number with preceding 0 as your password.  It is important that you only create one username and password, otherwise any work you do on any other usernames you might have created will not be accessible by your instructor.

Opening/Navigating within the Program

To open TMM, click on Start/Tell Me More.  After logging in with your username and password, you will see a room with several objects in it.  To choose a lesson, click on the clothing rack.  Make sure that the language (represented by a flag) is the correct one. If you are working with Chinese or Japanese, you will need to get a CD at the main desk. The individual lessons will be shown in a circle in the middle of the screen.  Click on one to begin working in that lesson.  You can choose a more/less advanced level by clicking on the left and right arrows at the bottom of the screen.  You can click on the director’s chair at any time to return to the main menu.  Click on the door on the right side of the screen to exit the program.

Speech Recognition Level and Background Noise Elimination

Before beginning your work, you should click to the control panel icon (a mixing board).  On the right-hand side are several tabs.  Click on the middle one and set your desired level of speech recognition (the program will grade your pronunciation harder the higher this level is).  Click the Test Background Noise button.  It will recognize the amount of background noise and filter this out when you are doing the lessons.  It is important that you click this button every time you use the program, since the level of background noise will presumably be different every time you are in the lab.
 

Activities

There are four types of activities.  Each is briefly explained here.

1. Pronunciation – Click on the headphone icon.  You can choose between individual words or phrases.  You will here a native speaker say the word or phrase, and you will be prompted by a light in the upper right hand corner to repeat the word or phrase.  BE CAREFUL: if you don’t click the pause button, the program will continue to repeat the word or phrase, and will grade you poorly if you do not respond in time.
2. Video – Click on the projector icon.  You will watch a video, with or without script (this can be set in the control panel).  Afterwards click on the icon in the middle of the screen for a set of multiple choice questions.
3. Dialogue – The program will have ask you a question.  When the light in the upper right corner turns green, say one of the responses shown on the screen.  It generally does not matter which response you choose, all are equally applicable to the context of the question.
4. Exercises – There are 11 different exercise types.  Some will require you to speak your answers, some you will have to type, and some are point and click.