This year, Beginning French, Beginning and Intermediate Japanese, and Intermediate Spanish courses are pioneering the use of digital audio instead of cassettes for listening homework. The digital audio uses a version of the RealAudio files which can be played under either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. To use the player and download the files, you must have:
Please send your feedback on the instructions in this handout and on your experiences with digital audio as well as your questions to fletcher@nadn.navy.mil.
If you already have RealPlayer installed, run it and click "Help > About" to determine if you have version 5.0, G2, or higher. If so, jump here. Ensure that you have at least 10 MB free space on your hard drive. If you do
Go to the RealPlayer G2 Download Page (Windows 3.1 users must download the older RealPlayer 5.0 ) and choose "Download Free Player".
Fill in information on your computer, operating system, and internet connection, and give your name and email address. If you have an ethernet connect, specify "T1". If you connect to the internet via and ACU prompt, choose "28.8 kbps modem".
Click on "Download FREE RealPlayer".
Click on any connection in the Seattle or SF Bay Area.
When connection is established, your
browser will prompt you to specify where and under what
name to save the RealPlayer installation file to disk.
Choose a destination directory where you will be able
find the file after download.
If connection fails or takes too long, try a
different download link -- traffic at the site you chose
may be too heavy.
After download is complete (2-3 minutes ethernet, up to 45 minutes via ACU) exit all programs and install the RealPlayer. Using File Manager (Win 3.1, class of 99) or Explorer (Win 95/98, classes of 00-02), go to the directory where you saved the installation file and double-click on it to launch installation.
Under our license agreements with the publishers, these audio files are for use at USNA only!
With Windows Explorer (Win 95/98) or File Manager (Win 3.1), create a new folder for your audio files. Make sure that you remember its name and location. (Win95 users may wish to create a folder on the desktop: right-click anywhere on the desktop, select "New > Folder" from the pop-up context menu, and name the folder appropriately.) Check whether there is sufficient space on the drive for the files you need to download (10 MB will be sufficient). Win95 users: you must empty the Recycle Bin to free up the space from files you have deleted.
From the Language Studies Course Files Page, go to the Digital Media page for your course. You may wish to create a shortcut or bookmark to this page for rapid access in the future.
Download the files for the lessons you need by right-clicking on the link to the file (i.e. click and hold down the right-hand mouse button) and choosing "Save Link / Target as..." from the context menu.
Make sure you save the file in the folder you made in step 1. The browser will first "suggest" you use its default folder. Switch to your digital file folder before clicking "Save" or "Ok".
Download takes less than a minute via ethernet connection. For ACU users download lasts "real time", i.e. about the same length of time as the clip plays. During download you can use your computer for other things. To save time, you also can launch download of several clips simultaneously.
To listen to a file, double-click on its icon to launch RealPlayer (or to load a different clip into RealPlayer). Notice that you have the following features available to simplify playing back audio clips:
Play/Pause button to start and pause playback
Stop button to unload the current clip
Rewind / Fast Forward buttons to jump back / ahead in clip in 2 second increments, useful for repeating last few words.
Slider to move around in clip rapidly
Volume Control
Digital readout of position within the clip, and total clip length.
You may also play back a file directly from the web page by clicking on its link. Disadvantages: you must fetch the file again each time you want to use it, and you do not have immediate access to all parts of the clip.
You will receive email from me about any future required software updates, at a price even a midshipman can afford: free! You can expect an index to help you find you place in the clips more easily. In development is a program will download sound clips for you automatically and allow you to access them exercise by exercise.
Send your suggestions for future improvements to fletcher@nadn.navy.mil.
EDITED BY: AssocProf William H. Fletcher, Language Studies Dept.,
US Naval Academy
REVISION: 7 Jan 99
URL: http://www.usna.navy.mil/LangStudy/RealMedia.html