Karaoke Conversation is a Hypercard template that allows learners to listen to a dialog, hear it line by line, record and play back their voices, and read the corresponding lines of text.

The student chooses a character from the dialog and records it. When the entire dialog is played back, the learner's voice is substituted for that role only - thus simulating a "real" conversation with other native speakers. There is also the option of reading and listening to the original dialog for comparison.

Teachers can create different conversations by changing the dialogue, the text of the lines and the name of the actors. By adding or deleting buttons, text fields, and sounds, the number of characters can be changed to 2, 4 or 5.

Download the HyperCard stack from: http://www.edvista.com/claire/hypercard/templates.html#kar
Creating and editing lessons with "Karaoke Conversation" requires the full version of HyperCard, from Apple Computer, Inc. See: http://www.apple.com/hypercard. Running the lesson requires only the free HyperCard Player, available at: ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/HyperCard/HyperCard_Player_2.4.1.smi.bin

REMEMBER to make a copy of each stack BEFORE you open it. When you have finished working with HyperCard and leave the program, all of the changes you made are automatically saved. So, it is a good idea to always begin by making a copy of the original stack. Then you can work on the copy without worrying about altering the original.

1. Write down a short dialog between 2 persons that include two lines for each person:

eg: Anne-Marie: Bonjour, ça va?

- ____________:

- ____________:

- ____________:

- ____________:

2. Open Karaoke (Opening Karaoke will also open Hypercard) and Click "Go to the Conversation".
3. Record and save each part of the dialog with the name of the person and the line number (eg: Jean1), making it easier to organize them afterwards.

To start recording, choose "Audio…" from the "Edit" menu and the recording tool will appear:



When done, click the square in the top left corner of the recording tool.

 

4. Click and drag the toolbox from the tools menu:



Click the button tool in the toolbox:



Delete all the buttons that were created when recording by clicking on each and then pressing the "delete" key:







5. Put your dialog together. Choose the button tool from the toolbox and double click the speaker button. After "Click here to listen to the conversation:", you should get the following screen:



6. Click the "script" button and you should get the following dialog box.



Replace all the names and line numbers with the ones from your own dialog. When done, click the top left square of the scripting window and click OK to "save changes to script?"

7. Check your conversation by choosing the browse button (Pointed finger) from the toolbox and clicking the speaker button.
   Replace the name of the people to fit the people in your dialog by simply clicking the text and editing.
8. Go to the next card by clicking the right arrow at the bottom of the screen.
9. Change the name of the people on the buttons to reflect your dialog by choosing the button tool from the toolbox and double clicking the button.



Changes are made in the "Button Name" field.
When done, delete unnecessary buttons, click the browse tool (Pointed finger) and go to the next card by clicking the arrow at the bottom.

10. Change the name on the card by simply clicking on the name and editing:




11. Create the exercise. Choose the button tool and double click on the first button that is named "play Sam's line 1" and you should get the following screen:



Change the button name to fit the name of your first speaker (eg: Play Jean's line 1) and click the script option. You should get the following dialog box:




Replace the name of the person and the line number so the button will play the first line of that person in the dialog. Close the scripting window by clicking the square in the upper left corner of the window and click OK to the dialog box asking you if you want to: "Save changes to Script?"

 

12. Setup student's recording by double clicking the microphone button:
    

    
    

Click the script button and you will get the following screen:





Replace the name in the script from "samstudent1" to your speaker's name (eg: Jeanstudent1"). Close the scripting window by clicking the square in the upper left corner and click OK to "Save changes to script?"

13. Double click the "listen to your line 1" button:





Replace the script with the same name and number that you put in the record button so it plays back what your student records.

14. Repeat the operation for the other line and delete the third line.
15. Change the script for the buttons at the bottom of the screen that play back the conversation:




16. Double click the button for "Click here to listen to your dialog" and click the script. Replace the script with the appropriate one for you, using the original line from the other speaker and the student's recording for the speaker whose lines they are practicing.
17. Double click the button for listening to the original dialog and change its script so both parts are the original ones.
18. Choose the browse tool and test your card by trying out the functions. When done, go to the next card and repeat.