Frequently asked questions about Advanced English 97

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This list was started on Feb 5, 1998. Last modified:

Advanced English 2002 vs. Advanced English 97
(Tomasz.Olszewski, Poland, Wednesday, October 02, 2002 1:36 PM)
Question:
I am an owner of Advanced English 97. What are the differences between my version and recently released Advanced English 2002?
Answer:
The list of major differences between Advanced English 2002 and the previous releases goes as follows:

  1. it corrects errors found by users from all over the world,
  2. it updates the lexicographic material with newly emerging language constructs and popular phrases,
  3. it extends some sections with completely new material,
  4. it removes the out-dated material no longer used in contemporary English,
  5. it integrates the sections for testing pronunciation, spelling, and the alphabet
  6. it improves the sequence of learning new items.

You can learn elements that belong to a given branch or category
(Magdalena R., Poland, Friday, October 04, 2002 11:37 AM)
Question:
I have recently purchased Advanced English. I am mostly interested in business English. How could I learn the vocabulary related to business?
Answer:
In Advanced English, all specialist terminology is organized in categories. The category for business English is called Business and Economics. If you would like to learn from this category, do what follows:

  1. Press the Contents button in the element window (or press Alt+C)
  2. Expand Advanced English 2002, Advanced English, Economics, Law, and Political Sciences categories in turn
  3. Select the Business and Economics category
  4. Press the Learn button at the bottom of the contents window (the second from the left)

Upgrading Advanced English 97 to Advanced English 2002
(Chris B., Tuesday, October 22, 2002 6:16 PM)
Question:
I have Advanced English 97 and would like to use Advanced English 2002. How should the upgrade be performed (technically)?
Answer:
This is the procedure in SuperMemo 2002: 

  1. If you use Advanced English 97 in an older SuperMemo, upgrade it to SuperMemo 2002 first
  2. Use File : Tools : Export : Learning process to export your learning process from Advanced English 97 
  3. Install and open Advanced English 2002 
  4. Use File : Tools : Import : Learning process to import the text file exported earlier

Ignore all import errors. There will be many! These result from changes in the contents of Advanced English and have no impact on the learning process. Some elements have been deleted. Do not restore these. Those elements are either duplicated, or outdated or include an error. There is no need to sort the pending queue. New elements inserted with lower ordinals will automatically be scheduled at the beginning of the queue. If you have added comments in the text of Advanced English, you will have to scan the error report as these will, naturally, be lost in the new version. You will have to reintroduce them manually

You can configure Advanced English 2002 to play sounds from Advanced English CD-ROM #2
(Tomasz.Olszewski, Poland, Wednesday, October 02, 2002 1:36 PM)
Question:
I am an owner of Advanced English 97. I have noticed, the newest Advanced English 2002 is only available as text-only. Can I configure it to play sounds from the CD-ROM #2 of my Advanced English 97 package?
Answer:
Select Tools : Options from the main menu, click the Access tab, and change the Secondary Store to your CD-ROM drive letter

(Marcin Piekarniak, Poland, Dec 2, 1997)
Question:
How to easily back up Advanced English 97? In Advanced English 94 the entire system could be compressed to a 1.4 MB file!
Answer:
Only SuperMemo 8.4 or later solves this problem nicely. You can backup the learning process only. This way only the data pertaining to items in the learning process will be stored (not items themselves). For example, in SupeMemo 15, use File : Export : Learning process to export the data. Later, upon reinstalling Advanced English 97, you can restore the learning process with File : Import : Learning process : Text file

(Pawel Brzozowski, Poland, Mar 11, 1998)
Question:
How can I remove pictures from Advanced English?
Answer:
You can delete ELEMENTS subdirectory. This will eliminate all multimedia files from your hard drive. Only sounds will be unaffected. Those are kept on Advanced English #2 CD-ROM.
Alternatively, you could use Process branch : Template : Merge with template on the Contents window's menu to apply a new template to the entire Advanced English. If your template does not have an image component, all images will be removed

(Bobby Faulkner, US, Jan 4, 1998)
Question:
Although I am a native speaker, in reading about Advanced English at your web site I thought it would be beneficial to try, not only for me, but for my two teen-agers as well. My daughter will be attending the University of Washington in 1999 and is interested in journalism. While I don't know the contents of Advanced English as yet and based on what I have seen on the SuperMemo demo, I believe I will be satisfied! Would you agree with me?
Answer:
 We went through some of the material with native Americans and they used to have problems with over 50% of the items. They all agreed that learning Advanced English would be beneficial to their language skills! Advanced English indeed contains lots of advanced vocabulary, specialized terminology (technology, medicine, business, etc.), proverbs, idioms, etc. that are worth knowing. Additionally it is "GRE rich", i.e. it contains full lists of vocabulary required for GRE tests. There are two problems however:

  1. the material is sorted for difficulty, and items in the first 2000 might simply be of too little challenge. This could be solved by:
    1. scrambling the pending queue (Tools : Randomize : Pending), or
    2. learning individual sections only, e.g. Idioms, Loanwords, etc.
  2. non-natives enjoy every single item with direct benefit to their language skills. They often get "addicted". The material has a cross-word puzzle nature and could be fun but ... will a native speaker find enough motivation to go through it regularly?

You can memorize individual words or phrases in Advanced English
(Simon Jacques, Tuesday, October 29, 2002 7:04 AM)
Question:
In Advanced English: How can I learn words that I come across in reading rather than having to learn fixed sets from the whole database?
Answer:
You can try the following: 

  1. Use Ctrl+F (Find elements) to search for a given word 
  2. Review the words, phrases and examples in the browser (Up and Down arrows) 
  3. Press Ctrl+M (Remember) on the item that you would like to remember 

For example, you could search for "hermetic" and press Ctrl+M on these items: 

Q: tech: such that does not let air through (e.g. about the door of a gas chamber) 
A: airtight/hermetic 

Q: a hermetic chamber that is used to expose objects or people to high or low pressure 
A: pressure chamber 

Q: med: a hermetic glass container for medicines used in injections 
A: ampule

Advanced English is no dictionary
(Monika, Poland, Aug 14, 2003)
Question:
I am learning the geometry section of Advanced English, and I see that many definitions are very imprecise. For example: 

Q: geom: a semicircular instrument for measuring angles (or drawing angles) 
A: protractor 

Protractor does not have to be semicircular. Some protractors are circular. 

Q: geom: a right-angled quadrilateral 
A: rectangle 

A square is also a right-angled quadrilateral. What should I do if I answer "square"? I am sorry to say, but this is a problem occurring throughout Advanced English. I hope you will review this whole material and plug those holes in future releases
Answer:
The #1 misunderstanding about Advanced English is the belief that it corresponds to a dictionary of English. While dictionaries serve the function of listing all meanings of a given word, and providing precise definitions of individual meanings, Advanced English is a learning material honed for SuperMemo. 

There are two basic differences: 

  1. only one meaning of a word is permitted in a single item (see: 20 rules)
  2. there is no bidirectional semantic correspondence between the question and the answer 

One meaning per item is a direct consequence of minimum-information principle. While unidirectional semantic link is a consequence of active recall principle (i.e. you are never presented with the answer in order to provide the question). You are right that protractors can be circular. However, all Advanced English needs to do is generate a semantic image of a concept (e.g. semicircular protractor) and ask you to name the concept. It might add a separate item asking about circular instrument for measuring angles. If it does not, it only comes from the limited size of the entire collection that is supposed to be memorizable within 4 years at 1 hour/day effort. 
You are also right that a square is a right-angled quadrilateral. However, in this case you should grade yourself Fail. In Advanced English, you are not supposed to provide just any answer that fits the question. Neither are you supposed to provide all answers that fit the question. You are supposed to precisely name the concept delineated in the definition. As the definition does not say a word about the length of the sides, the only correct answer is rectangle. 

Please keep on sending your ideas for improving this material; however, keep in mind the fact that Advanced English has never been and will never be a dictionary. That would undermine its function as an effective learning tool

Wrong definitions in Advanced English
(Tomasz S., Apr 29, 2006)
Question:
I found many errors in Advanced English. For example: 

Q: to desex (an animal) 
A: sterilize 

I would say "spay" and get a 0. This is a typical problem with definition-word items throughout the database.

Answer:
The purpose of such questions is to ask for the meaning of the word desex (here in the animal context). In other words, this is a passive recognition test. It does not matter what your actual answer is as long as you correctly recall the meaning of the word desex. 

If you answer spay, your grading will depend on your learning criteria and may range from Null to Bright. 

Here are the three most typical actions you should take in the context of this item: 

  1. accept that spay is a satisfactory approximation of the correct answer and grade yourself Pass or more 
  2. add the answers you consider satisfactory to the answer field, e.g. 
    A: sterilize/spay/emasculate/castrate/neuter/unsex 
    (even if those answers are not exact semantic equivalents of the question) 
  3. require that the clear distinction between "desex = remove the ability to reproduce" and "spay = remove ovaries" be made and grade yourself Fail or less

What is the meaning of slash with two spaces in Advanced English?
(Michael H., Jul 23, 2008, 13:20:05)
Question:
After all those years learning Advanced English, I am not sure why you sometimes use ' / ' and not '/'.
Answer:
Slash without spaces indicates word alternatives. Slash with spaces indicates phrase alternatives. For example: "power failure / blackout" means that two answers are acceptable "power failure" or "blackout". Without spaces, "power failure/blackout" would mean that "power failure" and "power blackout" were acceptable, while "blackout" was not.

Rarely used words in Advanced English
(Arne Hansen, Denmark, 06-05-2004)
Question:
I found words in Advanced English that are not in common use. For example, "to toggle" is not an official word you cannot find it in Concise Oxford Dictionary
Answer:
Advanced English often goes into specialist terminology, e.g. as used in electronics or computer science. For that reason, it may include specialist or colloquial terms that cannot be found in concise dictionaries. Nevertheless, we appreciate your efforts to suggest items that could be eliminated. As for "toggle", it should probably stay (see: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=toggle)

Question:
How can I upgrade my Advanced English 97 installation to SuperMemo 15?
Answer:
Run sm15inst.exe, locate SM15.EXE in the SuperMemo directory, and copy the new SM15.EXE into the installation directory chosen for Advanced English at installation. Note that first time you run Advanced English, the upgrade will be done automatically. You can input your registration password in the same way as specified in the instructions you received when registering SuperMemo 15

There are two stages for downloading Advanced English Audio
(sorlov, 2003/06/23 Mon PM 08:16:01 EDT)
Question:
After I got my 2 files (SuperMemo 2002 + Advanced English 2002 and History Mix) I am missing sound files of Advanced English. The file size with sound files is 216 MB while mine is 12 MB.
Answer:
Because of the fact that audio files are so large (over 200 MB), you are granted an access code only upon completing your order. This may take up to two business days. The files are later downloaded from a separate server (chosen for better transfer rate and lower transfer costs). Please see http://www.super-memo.com/ae2002app.html (Stage 2) for details of the procedure. In the meantime, you can use soundless Advanced English. All newly learned material will return for repetition in the next couple of days.

(Jan Gromadzki, Poland, Jul 11, 1998)
Question:
I bought Advanced English 97 and I cannot pass through the introduction. There are arrows pointing to icons that ... do not exist. What is wrong?
Answer:
You need a sound board installed in your computer (this is listed among minimum requirements!). Some script commands do not work without a sound board and the introduction part is largely run by scripts. If you want to use Advanced English without sound do the following:

  • press Ctrl+P (to run Options dialog box)
  • choose Data access tab
  • check Full Access radio button (this will turn the access mode to Full as opposed to Read-Only that is set at the beginning of the introduction)
  • uncheck Hide Navigation (to show the element navigation toolbar that is otherwise turned on by scripts after introducing the user to other complexities of the program)
  • delete the path showed in Secondary storage (this path shows where to look for sound files used by Advanced English; without a sound board those files are useless and deleting the path will speed up the program)

(Jorge Adam Cleto Cohn, Brazil, Nov 5, 1998)
Question:
Is English Grammar collection of Advanced English based on exercises only or is there a review of grammar theory?
Answer:
There are no theoretical reviews. All items are based on practical examples

Question:
How do I add a recorder component to my items (as it is done in Advanced English 97)?
Answer:
Add a sound component and check Sound : Panel : Recorder on its pop-up menu.

(Adam Salamon, Poland, Nov 4, 1997)
Question:
Over the last year, I have memorized 10,000 items in Advanced English 94. Can I now upgrade my learning results to Advanced English 97?
Answer:
Unfortunately there isn't any simple way!. You might try one of the following solutions:

  • stop learning new material in Advanced English 94, start learning with Advanced English 97, continue repetitions with AE94 and gradually delete duplicated material from AE94 (recommended for large number of memorized items)
  • turn off sound in AE94, import memorized items of AE94 to a separate branch in AE97 and make repetitions in AE97 only (the sounds of AE94 will be lost). This will need lots of hard disk space!
  • give up Advanced English 94 entirely (in case the number of memorized items is less than 2000-3000)

(Anatolyi Lipatov, Ukraine, Jul 12, 1998)
Question:
I am using Advanced English to enhance my English and business English. Now I am registering for CFA examination (that is Chartered Financial Analyst program of Association of Investment Management and Research). There are several organizations developing and distributing methodological stuff for preparing to the exam. A lot of things should be memorized for passing the exam. What do you think the best way to fit SuperMemo for memorization is and what approach should I use to prepare my own knowledge base for memorizing the material. Is special programming knowledge needed for it?
Answer:
No specialist knowledge is needed to prepare simple knowledge collections in SuperMemo. With Add new you get the core functionality! All advanced editing options can be worked around by an appropriate questions-and-answer approach. Perhaps it would be useful yet to learn how to add images to your items (see help for details). To learn more about effectively structuring knowledge in SuperMemo you might want to read Knowledge Structuring and Representation; however, nothing works better as learning on one's own mistakes in formulating knowledge for learning with SuperMemo.

(Michal Grodzki, Poland, Aug 20, 1998)
Question:
You advice the users of Advanced English 97 to make back-up copies with File : Export : Learning process. However, this does not back up the material introduced by the user. What is the best solution in a case when I want to add lots of my own items to Advanced English?
Answer:
You might try one of the following:

  1. Keep your own material in a separate collection. You can back up such a collection by compressing the <system name>.kno file and the <system name> directory into a single archive (e.g. with WinZip)
  2. If you prefer to add your items to Advanced English (e.g. in order to be able to search all material in one go), you might back up the contents of a single branch by transferring it into an empty system with Export : Transfer elements on the contents menu or by exporting it as text with Export : Source code (also on the contents menu). You can later restore your back-up after reinstalling Advanced English with Export : Transfer elements in the opposite direction or with File : Import : Learning process : Text file in the latter case

(Dr Faust Malnig, Germany, May 1, 1997)
Question:
Why does not SuperMemo World license a professional English dictionary instead of developing proprietary material for Advanced English?
Answer:
No dictionary is adapted for specific SuperMemo purposes. Definitions in Advanced English are created with the view to easiness of remembering, brevity and univocality. This is a unique material that cannot be licensed from any source.

(E.Kubala, Denmark, Dec 17, 1998)
Question:
Will Advanced English work in Danish Windows? Will I get translations in Polish?
Answer:
Yes. Advanced English will work in Danish Windows as well as in any other Windows version. You will be able to display translations in Polish. It may be necessary, though, to choose the appropriate Polish font from Tools : Options : Language : Translation font (system font is used by default which in Danish Windows does not include Polish diacritical characters)

(Artur Osadowski, Poland, Sep 5, 1998)
Question:
Does the setting of Access Mode in Tools : Options : Access affect the accessibility of sounds on CD-ROM?
Answer:
No. To make sure SuperMemo correctly reads sounds from CD-ROM, you only have to provide the correct path in Tools : Options : Access : Secondary storage

(Wojciech Gawrys, Poland, Feb 21, 1998)
Question:
I am a network administrator. Can I install only one copy of Advanced English and let a number of students use it simultaneously?
Answer:
No. SuperMemo 8 or later does not provide multi-access option. For large student groups, it would be best to extract first 500-1000 items from Advanced English and provide each student with his own copy

(Markus Fahݼ/font>, Germany, Oct 24, 1998)
Question:
Does it make sense to order English Pronunciation from SuperMemo Library if I already own Advanced English and only want to use the phonetic transcription registry?
Answer:
No. It is enough you upgrade your Advanced English to SuperMemo 98 or later and use the phonetic transcription registry from Advanced English. You can select it in all your collections for learning English and have IPA phonetic transcription available

(Mu Huang, Taiwan, Oct 26, 1998)
Question:
I am studying for GRE. What product do you recommend?
Answer:
Advanced English. There is also a GRE Vocabulary List in the freeware section in SuperMemo Library

(Jiri Pik, Czech Republic, Oct 28, 1998)
Question:
I add my own items to Advanced English but I notice that adding new material goes slower and slower!
Answer:
Advanced English has a high Children limit (per branch). If you reduce this number in Tools : Options : Appending/SuperMemo, the performance should improve. The items you have already added can be arranged in branches with Tools : Arrange in folders in the contents window

(Tomasz Szkopek, Poland, Oct 29, 1998)
Question:
I am using both Advanced English and Deine Chancen. This means I have to swap CD-ROMs twice per day. I worry about wear-and-tear. I bought a large hard disk and plan to transfer all sound files there. How can I best do it?
Answer:

  1. You should not worry about wear-and-tear. Probably there has not yet been a user that would ask for CD-ROM replacement due to prolonged use
  2. If you lose access to a single sound file, you can always disconnect it with Links : Delete registry link on the component menu and continue working
  3. You can always count on CD-ROM replacement if the damage was not of your fault
  4. To copy all files to the hard disk you should open the collections on the CD-ROM and use File : Organize : Copy to transfer them to your hard disk. Remember to turn off read-only attribute on all files

(Lili Belsak, Slovenia, Feb 10, 1999)
Question:
I would like to use Advanced English on two computers. What is the easiest way to keep my learning process updated?
Answer:
This method will probably work best (you need SuperMemo 98 or later to use Export/Import: Learning process):

  1. Install Advanced English on both computers
  2. Make repetitions on Computer A
  3. When you want to move to Computer B, use File : (Tools :) Export : Learning process on Computer A and copy the generated files to Computer B
  4. On Computer B use File : (Tools :) Import : Learning process and import the file exported in Step 3
  5. Make repetitions on Computer B
  6. When you want to move back to Computer A, use Steps 3 to 5 analogously

Note that this method only transfers the learning process. If you want to edit the material, you would better introduce the corrections only on one of the computers. This way you will be able to avoid the need to copy all collection files between computers

Question:

What is the best way to upgrade Advanced English 97 to SuperMemo 15?
Answer:
This is the procedure:
  1. install Advanced English 97
  2. go through the introduction: just press Start and read instructions on the screen (the introduction includes about 100 items; including the material for learning English vocabulary)
  3. delete sm8.exe (SuperMemo 8) and put sm15.exe (SuperMemo 15) in its place
  4. open Advanced English (adveng.kno) in SuperMemo 15 with File : Open collection (the upgrade may take several minutes)
  5. if you would like to use the lexicon, you will yet need to run File : Repair collection with Rebuild lexicon checked

(Vit Usela, Czech Republic, Mar 23, 1999)
Question:
I have used SuperMemo 7 for a couple of years and would like to import my collections to Advanced English 97. However, I am afraid I will lose the easy control of the spelling exercises. Can you help?
Answer:
In new versions of SuperMemo, you cannot globally switch from standard repetitions to spelling exercises. At the moment of creating the material you must decide if it is best drilled as questions and answers or if the answer should be typed in from the keyboard. If you choose the latter, it is enough to define an appropriate template before you import from SuperMemo 7. In your template, instead of the answer component, you must simply create a SpellPad component

(Karlheinz Schlottbom, Germany, Apr 22, 1999)
Question:
I use a notebook and was disappointed to see that Advanced English comes on two CD-ROMs. If you used sound compression, the material would fit a single CD-ROM and could be run directly from the CD
Answer:
Advanced English only installs about 40 MBs of the first CD-ROM and all sound files are stored on the second CD-ROM. This way, you can use Advanced English by keeping only CD-ROM #2 in your CD-ROM drive. Optionally, you can delete the elements directory in the adveng subdirectory to save further 15 MB. This subfolder holds images and accessory sound files that are not critical for the learning process (e.g. background images used in all items, music, etc.)

(Karlheinz Schlottbom, Germany, Apr 22, 1999)
Question:
Where can I find electronic documentation for Advanced English on the CD-ROM?
Answer:
Advanced English was built to be self-explanatory and by passing the introduction (delivered by SuperMemo), you will be able to effectively use the material. The documentation for SuperMemo is available with F1 from within SuperMemo. This documentation also includes some basic hints&tips for using Advanced English

(Tomasz Szkopek, Nov 15, 1999)
Question:
I upgraded Advanced English 97 to SuperMemo 99 and received the following error: Collection files access error ! Wrong A-Factor distribution. Is it dangerous?
Answer:
 No. This is a harmless warning.
After upgrading all collections to SuperMemo 99, you will always need to run File : Repair collection with Basic recovery checked. This is needed to calculate new values of A-Factors as the interpretation of A-Factors has changed slightly in SuperMemo 99

(Tomasz Popielarz, USA, Nov 22, 1999)
Question:
I have memorized 4500 words in Advanced English and moved abroad taking only the CD-ROMs. I had a six-month-long break in learning. What files should my family send me to be able to restore my learning process? 
Answer:
 Here are some solutions from easiest to hardest with decreasing loss to the learning process:

  1. Automatically, memorize the first 4500 items and reschedule them at random with 50-150 items/day. After 30-90 days of hardship, your learning process will not look much different than before the break. Forgotten items will naturally reenter the learning process with short intervals and those which are still remembered will be sent to deservedly long intervals
  2. Ask your family to send you only the subset file with all memorized items and proceed like in Point 1 (this way all items memorized with find&remember, etc. will not be skipped)
  3. Ask your family to run File : (Tools :) Export : Learning process and send you the resulting files. After reinstalling Advanced English, use File : (Tools :) Import : Learning process. You will still need Tools : Mercy to reschedule the outstanding items with a manageable number of repetitions per day

(Marjolein Hoekstra, the Netherlands, Nov 2, 1999)
Question:
I ordered SuperMemo 99, MegaMix 99 and Advanced English 97. I would like to learn Advanced English in optimum configuration. Can you advise?
Answer:
The optimum sequence is this:

  1. Install MegaMix and choose Advanced English 98 during the installation (this will provide you with the newest version of Advanced English texts)
  2. Delete sm98.exe and put sm99.exe in its place (this will make sure you use the newest version of SuperMemo). All collections will be upgraded automatically when you open them
  3. Open the collection ae98.kno (Advanced English 98), insert Disk #2 of Advanced English 97 to a CD-ROM drive and in Tools : Options : Data Access : Secondary storage provide the CD-ROM letter (this will connect Advanced English 98 with the CD-ROM #2 of Advanced English 97, which stores 27,000 sound files of this collection)

(Przemek S, Poland, June 8, 2000)
Question:
I used to regularly back up my Advanced English on a second hard disk. Today I tried to restore my backup and ... it looks as it is empty! Only one element inside! Help!!!
Answer:
There is a frequent mistake users make. To backup a collection, you need to copy both the kno file and the associated folder (e.g. file ae.kno and the folder [ae])(see: Collection files). Some inexperienced users copy only the kno file which is just 20KB of data! If you try to open an orphaned kno file, SuperMemo will reconstruct an empty folder structure. 

To avoid this problem: Always back up collections with File : Copy collection in SuperMemo. Do not use external tools unless you understand Windows, files, folders and SuperMemo very well!

To resolve the problem: it is possible the original folder associated with the kno file still exists on the hard disk! You can search for some files characteristic for SuperMemo (e.g. burden.dat or sm8opt.dat). Make an inventory of all kno files (search for *.kno) and all SuperMemo collection folders (search for burden.dat) on your hard disk. Once the inventory is made, try to carefully match up knos and folders and copy kno files to match the folders. Chances are that File : Open collection on one of these files will restore the lost backup. Note that you can easily find empty collections by checking the size of burden.dat. This file contains repetitions and is zero-sized on collections with no learning process

Question:

I would like to improve my English. I see that Advanced English CD-ROM includes only the old SuperMemo 8. What do you recommend: Advanced English CD-ROM or SuperMemo 15 download?
Answer:
If you want to creatively add your own vocabulary, learn scientific or medical English or other specialist subject, you could choose SuperMemo 15 download (it is cheaper and better suited for self-instruction), and later complement it with your own material.
On the other hand, if you just want to quickly learn large vocabulary with American pronunciation, you could choose Advanced English. This is a ready-made material, mostly vocabulary, grammar and phrases, and includes the American pronunciation of some 25,000 words and phrases. If you choose SuperMemo 15, you can later order Advanced English Upgrade. If you choose Advanced English, you can later order SuperMemo 15 Upgrade

Advanced English can be used with SuperMemo 15
Question:
Can I use Advanced English 97 CD-ROM with SuperMemo 15?
Answer:
Yes. Except for minor incompatibilities of "Introduction to Advanced English", you can upgrade Advanced English from SuperMemo 8 to SuperMemo 15. The best strategy is to install Advanced English, pass the introduction, and simply delete sm8.exe file and put sm15.exe in its place

You can use phonetic transcription of Advanced English in SuperMemo 15
Question:
I imported the *.kno file of Advanced English to SuperMemo 15. This process took long time, and I was not able to get the phonetic transcription (the icon was gray/disabled). Do you recommend that I run Advanced English under SuperMemo 8 or SuperMemo 15?
Answer:
SuperMemo 15 provides enhanced functionality and is a better choice for running Advanced English. The simplest upgrade procedure is to delete SM8.exe file and replace it with SM15.exe file. The most likely reason for unavailability of phonetic transcription is that you created separate folders for SuperMemo 8 and SuperMemo 15, and you did not copy transcription files to the SuperMemo 15 folder. These files are not part of Advanced English collections. For the phonetic transcription to work, make sure that the folder from which SM15.exe runs includes a subfolder PHONETIC with English language phonetic transcription registry files (English1.reg, English2.reg, etc.). For example, quit SuperMemo, and copy these files from your SM8 folder to your SM15 folder. Then run SuperMemo 15 and select English transcription in Options : Language

Advanced English covers all areas of English prioritized with an average intelligent man in mind
(claudia, Germany, Wed, Jul 18, 2001 5:46 AM)
Question:
I deliberated to download collection from SuperMemo Library. However, my impression was that the most of them concentrate on one special topic like English Biology, English irregular verb forms, etc. I would prefer to choose one with mixed knowledge: verbs and nouns which you often come across in books, films etc.
Answer:
Probably Advanced English will fulfill your needs in that respect. It covers all fields of knowledge, all aspects of language (including pronunciation, spelling, grammar, word use, proverbs, quotations, etc.). All this material is sorted for its applicability to an average intelligent man. This means that frequent or important words and phrases come first, and specialist terminology comes much later. If you already have SuperMemo, you can obtain this collection at an upgrade price

You do not need SuperMemo 15 to effectively use Advanced English
Question:

Can I order a SuperMemo 15 Upgrade together with Advanced English even though I do not yet know my registration number?
Answer:
Yes. Note, however, that you do not need SuperMemo 15 to effectively use Advanced English

Cannot access Statistics in Advanced English
(Beta, 19/4/2002)
Question:
I am trying to see the statistics of my Advanced English collection but both the keyboard shortcut and Tools : Statistics don't work (the menu is dimmed)
Answer:
The Statistics menu will not be available if you are in Read-Only mode. Change that to Full-Access in Options. Advanced English initially starts in Read-Only mode to prevent beginners from editing (read: messing up) the learning material

Registration codes propagate between collections
(Dominik Flejter, Poland, Sun, Nov 18, 2001 1:51 AM)
Question:
I purchased MegaMix and upgraded my Advanced English 97 to SuperMemo 98. Why does SuperMemo ask me to register?
Answer:
It should be enough to open any collection from MegaMix to propagate the registration code to your Advanced English collection. Open the registered collection first and then open the unregistered collection. For more see: Unlocking SuperMemo 

Advanced English does not auto-run
(Dr Ephrem Habyarimana, Italy, Wed, Jan 16, 2002 7:59 AM)
Question:
None of the CDs of Advanced English auto-run on my computer. I am using Windows XP Home Edition
Answer:
The installation program is located on CD #1 of Advanced English. It is named INSTALL.EXE. If you run this program, the rest of the installation process should be easy. You can run the installer by typing <CD Drive Letter>:\Install in Start : Run (in Windows). <CD Drive Letter> stands for your CD-ROM drive letter. For example, if your CD-ROM is denoted E:, type E:\INSTALL

"Wrong CD" when installing Advanced English
(Raquel Keshishian, Uruguay, Thu, Jun 27, 2002 4:01)
Question:
I went to install Advanced English and when the system asked me for the CD #2, I changed the CD and the message was "Wrong CD"
Answer:
Probably you did not wait until the CD-ROM drive had a chance to recognize the Advanced English CD-ROM #2. See if your collections play sound correctly. If so, you do not need to worry about CD-ROMs integrity

Advanced English 2002 Upgrade is the option for users of the previous versions of the collection
(Tomasz.Olszewski, Poland, Wednesday, October 02, 2002 1:36 PM)
Question:
What is the difference between Advanced English 2002 and Advanced English 2002 Upgrade available from SuperMemo Store?
Answer:
Advanced English 2002 is for users who do not own any previous releases of the collection, Advanced English 2002 Upgrade is the purchasing option for users who have bought the collection in the past

Advanced English CD-ROM #2 is not necessary for Advanced English to work fine
(Magdalena R., Poland, Friday, October 04, 2002 11:37 AM)
Question:
Do I have to insert the Advanced English CD-ROM #2 in order for Advanced English to be functional? I am using it at home and at work and carrying the CD-ROM between the places is troublesome.
Answer:
Advanced English CD-ROM #2 contains the audio material for Advanced English comprising 27,000 recordings. If you do not insert the CD-ROM #2 into your CD-ROM drive, you will be able to learn with the collection, however, you will be crippled of the audio pronunciation

Phonetic transcription can be seen with Alt+Y
(Jiri Pik, Germany, 05.06.2002)
Question:
Phonetic transcription shown when moving the mouse does not work in SuperMemo 2002 or later
Answer:
On mouse move transcription works with plain text components; however, it does not apply to HTML components. You can still transcribe these with a keyboard shortcut Alt+Y

Gaps in sound recordings of Advanced English 1997
(Arne Hansen, Denmark, 10-12-2003)
Question:
The sound track in Advanced English 2002 for Element: 65743 is "widower" but it should be "widow" because it is a women that we are talking about
Answer:
Advanced English downloadable from the Internet still uses the collection of sounds from Advanced English 97 CD-ROM. This collection could not be complete for various reasons (only 27,000 recordings). Advanced English 2002 often uses sound illustrations that are similar or related, but do not match the item literally. New recordings, matching Advanced English 2000, are currently only available as a collection of four CD-ROMs recently released in Poland (soon to be available worldwide)

IPA font in Advanced English
(Paul Gephart, Thursday, April 22, 2004 2:26 AM)
Question:
When I move the mouse pointer over the word, they turn into a non-recognizable foreign language. I assume it is supposed to be Phonetic English
Answer:
Yes. SuperMemo should have installed SuperMemo_IPA.ttf font for you. This should make phonetic transcription display as IPA. If you are sure, your display is not IPA, check the following: 

  • if you have SuperMemo IPA font installed (Start : Settings : Control Panel : Fonts) 
  • if you have the phonetic registry installed (in SuperMemo: Search : Other registries : Pronunciation by word) 
  • if you have English phonetic transcription selected (in SuperMemo: Tools : Options : Language : Phonetic transcription)

Missing filespace slot in Advanced English
(simon jacques, Jun 08, 2004, 20:41:21)
Question:
I get many errors like these in Advanced English: 
       ERROR #1 Missing filespace slot #1 
                        at: G:\elements\1.wav 
                        Sound #1: "joke"
Answer:
SuperMemo cannot access CD-ROM sound files. Make sure CD-ROM #2 is accessible in drive G:\ (or change the Secondary Storage setting in Options to point to another drive)

Is Advanced English 2002 Text-only enough to upgrade from Advanced English 97 + SuperMemo 2002
(Simon Jacques, Fri, 23 Apr 2004 14:00:39 +0100)
Question:
I want to buy Advanced English 2002. I already have SuperMemo 2002 and Advanced English 97 on CD-ROM. Can I buy just Advanced English 2002 text-only and use the AE '97 CD for the sound?
Answer:
Yes. All you need to do is to point Advanced English 2002 Secondary Storage to your Advanced English 97 CD-ROM (Disk 2). However, you may also want to preserve your learning process, which is a bit trickier. You will need to use File : Tools : Export : Learning process on SuperMemo menu in your AE 97 collection. Then you will need to import the file thus generated with File : Tools : Import : Learning process. You will lose all manual changes introduced to Advanced English 97, however, you will receive a text file with a report on text differences between both versions. By going through the report file, you can reintroduce manual changes to Advanced English 2002 one by one

Advanced English is 10MB without sound and around 1 GB with sound and extras
(Lheureux, Louis, Canada, Tuesday, July 09, 2002 9:44 AM)
Question:
Why is Advanced English on 2 CD-ROMs if it is only 10 MB?
Answer:
Advanced English 2002 available from Super Memory Store is a 10 MB file that includes compressed collection without sounds. Advanced English 97 CD-ROM includes a sound-only CD-ROM which contains 650MBs of sound. You can reuse Advanced English 97 CD-ROM #2 with Advanced English 2002 to animate it with sounds

Using phonetic transcription outside Advanced English
(Huang Fei, New Zealand, Sunday, July 28, 2002 1:45 PM)
Question:
I have Advanced English. To display International Phonetic Alphabet in SuperMemo for Windows, I have to install a special font. Please tell me how
Answer:
It is enough you copy your phonetic transcription folder (\phonetic) from Advanced English folder to your SuperMemo folder. This folder includes the registry and the font. Then you need to choose Tools : Options : Language : Phonetic transcription : English in your SuperMemo collection

Advanced English is narrated by an American
(Carlos Augusto, Brazil, Saturday, July 27, 2002 7:15 PM)
Question:
Does Advanced English 97 use American or British English?
Answer:
Both American and British English are covered. However, the speaker who recorded the sound files is a female native American with a degree in literature

Adding sound to Advanced English 2002
(Huang Fei, New Zealand, Sunday, July 28, 2002 1:45 PM)
Question:
I upgraded Advanced English 97 to Advanced English 2002. However, the download doesn't include the audio files
Answer:
Advanced English 2002 upgrade does not include new sound files. Use Tools : Options : Data access : Secondary Storage to point to CD #2 of Advanced English 97 (e.g. type D:\ if the CD-ROM is placed in drive D:)

The order of items in Advanced English in not accidental
(Magdalena R., Poland, Friday, October 04, 2002 11:37 AM)
Question:
Have any principles been applied to the order of elements in Advanced English or are elements thrown at a user in a completely random manner?
Answer:
In SuperMemo, the order of learning new elements is determined by the pending queue (i.e. queue of elements that are awaiting memorization). Basically, the queue can be sorted for:
(1) ordinals (with lower ordinals first),
(2) the position of individual elements in the knowledge tree (in the contents window).
In developing Advanced English, a special attention has been devoted to the order of elements, which would ensure the maximum speed of learning in mastering the learning material, and gives the learner a chance to improve his understanding of SuperMemo and his own memory before he is thrown in at the deep end

Some data may be lost during the upgrade to the newest Advanced English
(Advanced English user, Monday, November 04, 2002 12:56 AM)
Question:
Will I lose any data if I upgrade from Advanced English 97 to Advanced English 2002?
Answer:
Yes, you will. Advanced English 2002 has been extensively reviewed with a view to updating the collection with language constructs, vocabulary and phrases that are used in the contemporary English. As a result, it removes outdated lexicographic material. Furthermore, if you have added your own English material to the collection, you will not be able to continue your learning with it unless you transfer those elements to the newest Advanced English. If you have also been using translations, some of them may be lost due to the fact that certain elements have been reformulated to maximize recall

Merging many collections with Advanced English
Question:
I would like to compile all collections concerning languages into one and all collections concerning other topics into another one. Will I be able to avail of sounds which are normally located on the Advanced English CD?
Answer:
There is only one limitation: you cannot use more than one CD-ROM per collection. 
In your case: 

  1. backup all your learning material 
  2. place your core Advanced English collection in the target folder (e.g. c:\sm15\systems) 
  3. open the first unimported language collection 
  4. use File : Merge collection to transfer this material to Advanced English 
  5. if you still have some collections not imported, go to 3 

Advanced English was chosen here as the import target due to its huge size. That will save you time in merging collections. This will also make it possible to retain element numbers that can be used to easily update your Advanced English when the new releases become available

Advanced English keeps growing
(Simon Jacques, Jun 02, 2004, 20:25:39)
Question:
Does Advanced English 2002 have fewer words than Advanced English 97? I could not find some words
Answer:
No. Every year, there are quite a number of new words added to Advanced English. Some are added on advice of users who claim that some basic words are not basic enough to be skipped. New words also come from progress of sciences and technology, as well as "language fashion". In a similar way, we try to remove words that became outdated or are extremely rare, but the net result is a constant growth of Advanced English.

The word ONE is used to indicate the point of reference in Advanced English
(MH, Oct 20, 2004, 08:55:54)
Question:
I have problems with the following item in Advanced English: "a female child from an earlier marriage of one's step-parent". It is not clear from whose perspective you are writing: of a child, or a parent. The answer could then be: step-sister (child's perspective) or step-daughter (parent's perspective)
Answer:
Throughout Advanced English, "one's" is used to indicate the student as the point of reference. "One's step-parent" indicates the child's perspective. For parent's perspective, "one's spouse" would have been used: " a female child from an earlier marriage of one's new spouse"

To upgrade Advanced English, open it with new SuperMemo
Question:
I've got SuperMemo 2002 with Advanced English 2002 (including wav-files). What I need to do to use this collection further, with SuperMemo 15?
Answer:
If you have Advanced English 2002 installed and SuperMemo 15 installed, all you need to do is to choose File : Open collection and open Advanced English 2002 with the new SuperMemo. It is still recommended you create a backup of Advanced English files before the upgrade (you do not need to back up sound files as they are not affected by the upgrade)

New Advanced English
(Ondrej Cervinka, Czech Republic, Sep 22, 2004, 11:29:07)
Question:
I have read that new sound recordings are being made for Advanced English. I want to ask you if these new recordings are already included in Advanced English 2002?
Answer:
No. The new recordings are to be released on Advanced English DVD (expected end of 2004). Advanced English 2002 still uses the old recordings (from Advanced English 97 CD-ROM)

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