Updates

NEW! A completely revised verson of the Tor Verb Browser, with a completely new, clean look and many new features, including the ability for anyone with a little IT knowledge to make their own test data files, is now on sale for an astoundingly low price. It is called ReVerb and comes with an equally revamped version of the program to print verb lists and tests as a bonus.

The individual version on CD is £6.50 delivered and an institution license is just £18.50.

Can it possibly be any good for that money? Have a look at the ReVerb page, read the feature list and watch the movie of ReVerb in action - Jim.

Last update to Das Tor: 4th October 2005.

Recent additions to Das Tor to October 2005:

• Demo Movies are being added to the Demo CD, showing various parts of Das Tor working onscreen with a commentary in my - erm - unique tones. Five movies exist so far. The link is on the main page. You will need a fast internet connection to download them.
• Big Verb Browser has been revised with a Dice button added to provide random testing of the verbs - still, of course, with control over which parts are tested.
• Freizeit and Ferien series of Diceboards has all new original graphics which have more impact, and are clearer, more consistent and more colourful. Phrase repertoire extended to include computer games, online chat, skateboarding. Freizeit 1b now uses both "gern" and "lieber".
• All Diceboard resources updated to give clearer buttons and reduce screen clutter. Where possible, font sizes have been increased and fonts embedded so that "answers" in particular display more boldly and also consistently on all computers.
• Wetter 1a and 1b units have been put together. The single unit offers a choice of word order to practice with.
• Talkshow is a practice utility and timer for GCSE-type Speaking tests. A series of topics are presented and the user has to talk on each one for a (selectable) time. There are various options to control the program. Any of the 20 topics included can be excluded from the practice.
• Screentimer is a count-down timer which can be used with a data projector to give times from 5 seconds up to 99 minutes.
• Goldlöckchen is a cartoon-style program for Keystage 3, which aims to give practice in using "du" and "Sie" when speaking to various persons met in a "fairy-tale forest". Hard to describe, but combines a solid grammatical intent with a whimsical approach and a game scenario. There are Worksheets to match.
• Goldlöckchen Dice is a Diceboard (ie whiteboard randomised display program for speaking prompts) using the graphics of Goldlöckchen. Diceboards are a feature of Das Tor and all work in the same way and are highly controllable.
• TIPP 1 has had a section on Plural Forms added (see also DreiEck below).
• TIPP 13, the latest in the GCSE tutorial revision series, is about Modal Verbs.
• DreiEck 1 & 2 are sorting games which help to revise German plural forms using 195 words taken from GCSE vocabulary. Speed (adjustable) is important. Wrong choices are reported at the end of each short game.
• Hin+Her Dice - after an update to Hin+Her, I made a Diceboard using the same graphics as that and the Worksheets. It can be used to practice the prepositions in (+ Accusative) and aus (+ Dative). Like the other Diceboards, its options make it very controllable.
• Spukhaus 2 is a second, more difficult version of the "haunted house" activity. This time the rooms are in different positions each time it is used, their position needing to be memorised. There are two activities: ghosthunting as before and a memory test involving the use of "floor" vocabulary ("im ersten Stock", etc).
• Spukhaus: five (related) Worksheets.
• Allzeit - a new teaching aid for informal times replaces two old ones. The new one is both a very controllable display clock for data projector use (with two methods of direct teacher control) and a very configurable Diceboard.
• Stadt has been overhauled, graphics improved and a Worksheet added.

Among other resources which have recently been revised are all the Wordfalls (new code, two difficulty levels, changed appearance), Hin+Her 1 (better display of the "answers)" and Spukhaus 1 (sounds added to the vocabulary screen).

November 2005 - E-mail Fakery Still a Problem

Judging by e-mails I have received myself, viruses or worms sent by e-mail which fake the details of the sender are still very common. Various viruses and trojans use addresses found in address books of computers they attack. Other spammers just seem to use harvested e-mail addresses to disguise the real origin of their messages. In other words, if you receive an e-mail with a (virus-laden) attachment which purports to come from me at this site, it definitely does not originate here.

My computer does NOT use Windows. I will not send e-mails with attachments from dastor.org.uk except in special circumstances and by prior arrangement with the recipient.

If you receive a virus- or spam-laden e-mail purporting to come from me - it hasn't!