REPACKAGED IN 2024 WITH FIXES AND EXTRAS v1.1.0.0 2019.11.28
de-db (Deutsch-Database / Deutsch-Datenbank) is a "Microsoft Windows desktop-but-tablet-oriented program" to build, learn and study your own German language database. Its focus is to exploit your visual memory by associating a word with a color and a corresponding image. Complementarily it has built-in voice synthetizer functionality to help your audio memory. It was designed with the idea of you getting yourself a tablet, then sitting in your most comfortable place and then finally with the help of your thumbs only you scroll through your words database while watching and hearing its properties.
The program is tablet-touch oriented (hence you will find big buttons) but it was conceived using desktop class technology and hence can be of course used by any desktop computer more than comfortably.
The program accepts a German-to-all languages model. This means that you can learn German in any language you want, switching from one language to another quickly. You can add any language to the program, even Klingon or the black speech of Mordor. Independently, the user interface is limited to a few languages and could increase depending on contributors willing to do the translations (contact me if you want to contribute to the project. The program uses resource files plus language plugins, making very easy the integration of UI languages).
"All your database are belong to us", just kidding, the database is yours! You can manage a single database or create as many databases as you want! This could be useful to segregate databases into specific contexts such as, for example: "Database for words from German course X", "Database for words from level A1 only", "Database not including bad words", ... is up to your own limits. The program uses the SQLite engine for local databases so you can access the databases with external programs and export to Microsoft Excel format or do whatever you want with them. If you are a programmer then you could integrate the databases to your own programs.
Remote database services are being designed plus database plugins are into consideration for arbitrary datasource extensibility.
By default, no database is provided "on purpose". The idea is that as part of your learning process you have to grow your database together with your own knowledge and skills. You will have to create a new database on your first run. I wish you a great journey!
The program was created with the Microsoft .NET Framework (v4.6). The only requirement is to install the .NET v4.6 Framework runtime and (optionally) the Microsoft Speech Platform plus language packs in case you want the "Text-to-speech" functionality.
It also runs on Linux! With working TTS (female voice only). Tested under Debian 12 with Xfce desktop environment. Setup instructions are located in the "Extras\Linux" subfolder.
The current version supports nouns and verbs but the whole project is overthought to support (in the future): Adverbs and adjectives. Oh! there is also a "anything-to-speech" module where you can write anything and hear how it sounds in German...of course if you write something in German is going to sound perfectly but if you write something in your own mother language it is going to sound like a German tourist!
"A German army knife".
...and there is more already available...and even more yet to come...
