Electronically operated machine for learning foreign language vocabulary

• US 4,467,446 A
• Filed: 10/06/1981
• Issued: 08/21/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sakurai, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jerry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fleming, Michael R.
• Application Number:
  US06/309,074
• Time in Patent Office: 1,050 Days
• Field of Search: 364/200, 364/900, 364/419
• US Class Current: 715/236
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/06 Foreign languages with audible presentation of material to be studied G09B5/04
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

An electronically operated machine for learning foreign language vocabulary constructed with a plurality of bits for storing in each of them character informations constituting words; a memory device consisting of a bit to store in it a character determining information indicating whether the words stored in the plurality of bits are to be represented by the capital letter, or not; a retrieving and call-out device to call out the words stored in the memory device; and a discriminating device to determine, by the capital letter determining information stored in the determining bit for the word as called out by the retrieval and call-out device, whether the initial letter of the work starts with the capital, or not.

Claims

1. An electronic dictionary comprising:

word memory means for storing a plurality of words of a given language which words are defined by a plurality of letters, each stored word comprising a train of first code information including code information for the letters of the word and determining information which indicates whether the initial letter of the word is capitol or small;

processing means for converting the first code information for a desired word on the basis of the determining information of said word to a train of second code information which is longer than the first code information, wherein the second code information is character information for each letter and indicative of whether that letter is capital or small;

pattern generating means for generating a character pattern on the basis of the second code information processed by said processing means; and

display means for displaying the character pattern generated by said pattern generating means.

2. An electronic dictionary as set forth in claim 1, wherein said word memory means comprises a read-only memory.

3. An electronic dictionary as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of character keys for entering character information to said dictionary to select the desired word stored in said word memory means and at least one retrieving key for retrieving the desired word stored in said word memory means in accordance with the character information entered by operation of said character keys.

4. An electronic dictionary as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the letters stored in said word memory means comprises code information representing a small letter and wherein the initial letter of a stored word further comprises the determining information which indicates whether the initial letter is capital or small.

5. An electronic dictionary comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of words of a given language, which words are defined by a plurality of letters, each word comprising a train of first code information representing its letters as N bit code information and one bit of determining information which indicates whether the initial letter of the word is capital or small;

processing means for converting the code information for each of the letters of a desired word based on the determining information of the word to (N+1) bits of second code information, the second code information obtained by said conversion being character information for each letter and indicative of whether that letter is capital or small;

pattern generating means for generating a character pattern based on the second code information processed by said processing means; and

display means for displaying the character pattern generated by said pattern generating means.

6. An electronic dictionary comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of words of a given language, which words are defined by a plurality of letters, each stored word comprising a train of first code information including the code information for the letters of the word, and a determining information which indicates whether the initial letter of said word is capital or small;

processing means for converting the first code information for a desired word into a train of second code information by adding a predetermined code information to the first code information;

pattern generating means for generating a character pattern based on the second code information processed by said processing means; and

display means for displaying the character pattern generated by said pattern generating means.

7. An electronic dictionary comprising:

word memory means for storing a plurality of words of a given language which words are defined by a plurality of letters, each stored word comprising a code information train representing said letters by first code information including the letters of the word and a determining information indicating whether the initial letter of said word is capital or small;

input means for entering character information to be an index mark for retrieval of a desired word stored in said memory means;

means for retrieving one of said words stored in said memory means based on character information entered by said input means; and

display control means for converting the first code information for a desired word which has been retrieved from the memory means into a train of second code information which is longer than the first code information, wherein the second code information is character information for each letter and indicative of whether that letter is capital or small, and for controlling the display of character patterns based on the second code information.