My Language Notebook

My Language Notebook is a fantastic little tool for language learners. I was asked to review the software and after a few days of playing around with it, I feel I should recommend it to anyone who enjoys making notes when learning from a textbook or online course. I created a few “projects” earlier this week using news articles from the BBC Chinese website. The notes feature was particularly handy for explaining unknown characters and giving certain background information on political figures or places mentioned in the articles.

The software is very simple to use and has a user-friendly interface. I have to admit that I was a little confused about categories and entries when I first started using the software but you’ll soon get the hang of it if you play around with the features or check out the Help section. Entries can be added and edited easily and the software seems to support most languages and scripts so it’s certainly not limited to languages using the Roman alphabet (I’ve used similar software in the past which did not have support for Chinese or Japanese text). You can also add audio files if you so wish (I didn’t use this feature as I don’t have a microphone for this laptop).

Here’s a screenshot of the “new entry” screen. I had to copy this from the My Language Notebook website as I’m currently having problems with my image editing software. As you can see, it’s extremely easy to add an entry with accompanying translation and notes. If you aren’t copy/pasting text from another source, you have the option to type everything in. You can choose from various character input sets, including Arabic, Georgian and Tibetan (personally, I found it much easier and quicker to use the Microsoft IMEs I normally use).  Editing entries is also very straightforward.

One final feature I wanted to mention is the option to download and share projects with other MLN users. You need to create an account if you want to share any of your projects online but anyone can download projects from the website. There aren’t very many projects available on the website at present but you can find resources for some of the less-commonly studied languages, such as Manx and Breton.

If you would like to test the software for yourself, you can download it for free from the website. Please note that free downloads are for home use only.