User Guide

LingoGO! is a desktop app for university students who use English as their first language and are trying to learn a new language. Founded on the widely established learning technique of spaced-repetition, LingoGO! takes all the benefits of pen-and-paper flashcards in learning, and brings them to the next level with our powerful indexing and sharing features – without the hassle of managing actual physical ones. Coupled with our unique Command Line Interface (CLI) and an elegant Graphical User Interface (GUI) to accompany it, LingoGO! is sure to delight you, and empower you on your journey in mastering the new language you have always wanted.

LingoGO! currently supports all languages that can be represented on your computer and has the following main features:

• Addition, deletion, and editing of flashcards.
• Finding and filtering of flashcards by keywords and conditions.
• Importing and exporting of flashcards to be shared with others.
• Testing your knowledge in a questionnaire of flashcards.

Detailed information about these features can be found under the Modes and Commands sections in this user guide.

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Table of Contents

• Purpose of the user guide
• How to use the user guide
• Quick start
• Modes
  • List mode
  • Slideshow mode
• Commands
  • Adding a flashcard: add
  • Answering a flashcard : answer
  • Clearing all flashcards : clear
  • Deleting a flashcard : delete
  • Editing a flashcard : edit
  • Exiting LingoGO! : exit
  • Exporting flashcards : export
  • Filtering flashcards by condition(s): filter
  • Locating flashcards by keyword(s): find
  • Viewing help : help
  • Importing flashcards : import
  • Listing all flashcards : list [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS]
  • Moving to the next flashcard in slideshow mode : next
  • Moving to the previous flashcard in slideshow mode : previous
  • Testing with a set of flashcards : slideshow
  • Exiting slideshow mode: stop
• Data
  • Saving the data
  • Editing the data file
• Glossary
  • CSV
  • File paths
• FAQ
• Command summary

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Purpose of the user guide

This user guide aims to help users familiarise themselves with the commands of LingoGO! and use the application effectively.

How to use the user guide

• A Table of Contents with clickable links can be found above to help with navigating across the user guide quickly.
• New users can refer to the Quick Start guide for a quick set-up tutorial.
• New users can also refer to Modes to start understanding how to use LingoGO!.
• A detailed outline of the commands can be found under Commands.
• Experienced users can refer to the Command Summary for a quick overview of all the commands in LingoGo!.
• A Glossary is provided to help explain certain important terms used in this guide.

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Quick start

1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed in your Computer (you may download Java from here).

2. Download the latest lingogo.jar from here.

3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for LingoGO!.

4. Double-click the file to start the app. The following GUI should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.

   

   Below is an overview of the GUI, with the corresponding number label:

   1. Menu
      • A clickable menu bar.
   2. Command box
      • Type a command into the command box and press Enter to execute it.
      • Some example commands you can try (refer to the Commands section below for a full list of commands and their details):
      • list : Lists all flashcards.
      • add l/Chinese e/Good Morning f/早安 : Adds a flashcard with the Chinese language, English phrase Good Morning, and corresponding foreign phrase 早安.
      • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd flashcard shown in the current displayed list.
      • find e/Good Morning : Finds flashcard(s) with the matching English phrase Good Morning.
      • filter l/Chinese : Shows only the flashcard(s) with the Chinese language in the current displayed list.
   3. Command result
      • Shows a message after you execute a command.
   4. Displayed flashcard list
      • Shows a list of your flashcards.

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Modes

Before diving into the specific commands, let’s have an overview of the different modes in LingoGO!.

LingoGO! has two main modes, List mode and Slideshow mode, through which users can interact with the application. At a high level, List mode provides an intuitive table overview to manage flashcards with our powerful and flexible indexing features. In contrast, Slideshow mode allows users to test their knowledge on selected flashcards one by one in a questionnaire-style interface while retaining the feel and look of traditional flashcards.

The following two sections will describe these modes in further detail.

List mode

Below is an example of what LingoGO! looks like in list mode.

LingoGO! always starts in list mode and displays all of your flashcards.

List mode lets you add, delete, edit, import, and export flashcards.

List mode also lets you choose what flashcards to display. The displayed flashcards will be the flashcards you get tested on when you switch to slideshow mode. You can use the list, filter, or find command to choose which flashcards to display.

Slideshow mode

Below is an example of what LingoGO! looks like in slideshow mode.

Slideshow mode tests your knowledge by showing you flashcards one at a time. The flashcards shown to you are the ones displayed in list mode.

To enter and exit slideshow mode, use the slideshow and stop commands respectively.

In slideshow mode, you can:

• Move to next or previous flashcards
• Enter an answer for a flashcard

Commands

The following section gives an indepth overview of each command in the application, and provides some examples on their usages.

Adding a flashcard: add

Adds a flashcard to LingoGO!.

• The flashcard will be added to the bottom of the displayed flashcard list in list mode.

Format: add l/LANGUAGE e/ENGLISH_PHRASE f/FOREIGN_PHRASE

Examples:

• add l/Chinese e/Good Morning f/早安

Answering a flashcard : answer

Checks whether the English phrase of a flashcard matches the phrase you provide.

Format: answer e/ENGLISH_PHRASE

• Checks the English phrase of the displayed flashcard against the ENGLISH_PHRASE you provide.
• The app will then show the correct English phrase and tell you whether you got it right.
• ENGLISH_PHRASE is not case-sensitive (e.g. “HeLLo” matches “hello”).
• You can only answer a flashcard in slideshow mode, and you can only answer it once.

Examples:

• answer e/hello checks the English phrase of the flashcard on display to see if hello matches it.

Clearing all flashcards : clear

Clears all flashcards from LingoGO!.

Format: clear

Deleting a flashcard : delete

Deletes the specified flashcard from LingoGO!.

Format: delete INDEX

• Deletes the flashcard at the specified INDEX.
• INDEX refers to the index number of the flashcard shown in list mode.
• INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …

Examples:

• list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd flashcard in LingoGO!.
• find Hello followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st flashcard from the results of the find command.

Editing a flashcard : edit

Edits an existing flashcard in LingoGO!.

Format: edit INDEX [l/LANGUAGE] [e/ENGLISH_PHRASE] [f/FOREIGN_PHRASE]

• Edits the flashcard at the specified INDEX.
• INDEX refers to the index number of the flashcard shown in list mode.
• INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided.

Examples:

• edit 1 l/German Edits the language of the 1st flashcard to be German.
• edit 1 e/Good Morning Edits the English phrase of the 1st flashcard to be Good Morning.
• edit 2 f/Guten Morgen Edits the foreign phrase of the 2nd flashcard to be Guten Morgen.
• edit 2 l/German e/Good Morning f/Guten Morgen Edits the language, English phrase, and foreign phrase of the 2nd flashcard to be German, Good Morning, and Guten Morgen respectively.

Exiting LingoGO! : exit

Exits the app.

Format: exit

Exporting flashcards : export

Exports the currently displayed flashcards in list mode to a CSV file.

Format: export CSV_FILE_NAME

• Provides a file name with a .csv extension in which the flashcards will be stored and exported.
• The exported file will be added to the data folder (located in the same folder as the lingogo.jar file).
• The CSV file will have 3 columns in this order from left to right:
  1. Language
  2. Foreign phrase
  3. English phrase

Examples:

• export myCards.csv will save all cards in LingoGO! to a CSV file named myCards.csv.

Filtering flashcards by condition(s): filter

Filters flashcards based on the specified condition(s).

Format: filter [l/LANGUAGE] [i/INDEX_LIST] [r/INDEX_RANGE]

• LANGUAGE is not case-sensitive (e.g. “Chinese” matches “CHINESE”).
• INDEX_LIST is a list of space separated indices, that refer to the indices shown in the current displayed list.
• INDEX_RANGE is a pair of space separated indices, that refer to the indices shown in the current displayed list. The given range is inclusive, that is 1 3 would refer to the flashcards at indices 1, 2 and 3. Also the first given index must be smaller or equal to the second given index. e.g. 1 2, 3 14 are accepted but not 1 2 3 nor 3 1.
• The indices must be positive integers 1, 2, 3, …

Examples:

• filter l/Chinese returns all flashcards with the Chinese language like e/Good Morning f/早安.
• filter i/1 2 3 returns the flashcards in list mode indexed at 1, 2 and 3.
• filter r/2 4 returns all the flashcards in list mode indexed from 2 to 4.
• filter i/1 3 6 l/Tamil returns all the flashcards in list mode indexed at 1, 3 and 6 with the Tamil language.
• filter l/Chinese r/1 4 returns all the flashcards in list mode indexed from 1 to 4 with the Chinese language.

Locating flashcards by keyword(s): find

Finds flashcards based on the keyword(s) specified.

Format: find [e/ENGLISH_KEYWORDS] [f/FOREIGN_KEYWORDS]

• The search is not case-sensitive, e.g HELLO will match Hello.
• The order of the keywords does not matter, e.g. Good morning will match Morning good.
• Only full words will be matched for English keywords, e.g. Hello will not match Helloooo.
• Non-full words match will be accepted for foreign keywords, e.g. 早 with match 早安.
• Flashcard(s) matching at least one keyword will be displayed.
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided.

Examples:

• find e/HELLO returns e/Hello f/你好
• find f/早 returns e/Good Morning f/早安 and e/Morning f/早晨

• find e/Hello f/早 returns e/Hello f/你好, e/Good Morning f/早安 and e/Morning f/早晨

  
  

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page, as well as dropdowns with brief explanations for each command.

Format: help

Importing flashcards : import

Imports flashcards from a CSV file and adds them to the existing list in LingoGO! (instead of replacing the current list)

Format: import CSV_FILE_NAME

• Place the CSV file that you wish to import in the data folder (located in the same folder as the lingogo.jar file).
• The CSV file must have exact headers “Language, Foreign, English”. (as shown in the below example)
• The CSV file must have 3 columns in this order from left to right:
  1. Language
  2. Foreign phrase
  3. English phrase

Below is an example of how the CSV file might look like.

Examples:

• import dictionary.csv will add all flashcards stored in the CSV file dictionary.csv to LingoGO!.

Listing all flashcards : list [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS]

Shows a list of flashcards in LingoGO!.

Format: list [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS]

• Lists all flashcards in LingoGO! if [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS] is not provided
• Randomly select [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS] flashcards to be shown in the list mode
• The [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS] must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …

Examples:

• list returns all flashcards in LingoGO!.
• list 3 returns 3 randomly selected flashcards in LingoGO!

Moving to the next flashcard in slideshow mode : next

Goes forward to the next flashcard (if there is one) in slideshow mode.

Format: next

Moving to the previous flashcard in slideshow mode : previous

Goes back to the previous flashcard (if there is one) in slideshow mode.

Format: previous

Testing with a set of flashcards : slideshow

Switches to slideshow mode for you to test yourself using the flashcards shown in list mode.

Format: slideshow

Exiting slideshow mode: stop

Exits slideshow mode and returns to list mode.

Format: stop

Data

Saving the data

LingoGO!’s data is saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes its data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

LingoGO!’s data is saved as a JSON file at {JAR file location}/data/lingogo.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

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Glossary

CSV

A CSV file, short for comma-separated values, is a special text file that uses commas for formatting.

File paths

File paths specify the location of a file on the computer, telling the computer how to find a specific file. An absolute file path tells the computer how to find the file from the root folder. A relative file path tells the computer how to find a file from the current folder that it is in. For more on file paths, you may want to visit here.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?
A: Install the app in the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous LingoGO! home folder.

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Command summary

Action	Format	Example
Add	add l/LANGUAGE e/ENGLISH_PHRASE f/FOREIGN_PHRASE	add l/Chinese e/Good Morning f/早安
Answer	answer e/ENGLISH_PHRASE	answer e/hello
Clear	clear	clear
Delete	delete INDEX	delete 3
Edit	edit INDEX [l/LANGUAGE] [e/ENGLISH_PHRASE] [f/FOREIGN_PHRASE]	edit 2 f/Guten Morgen
Exit	exit	exit
Export	export FILE_NAME	export myCards.csv
Filter	filter [l/LANGUAGE] [i/INDEX_LIST] [r/INDEX_RANGE]	filter l/Chinese r/1 4 i/1 2 3
Find	find [e/ENGLISH_KEYWORDS] [f/FOREIGN_KEYWORDS]	find e/Hello f/早
Help	help	help
Import	import CSV_FILE_PATH	import dictionary.csv
List	list [NUMBER_OF_FLASHCARDS]	list 4
Next	next	next
Previous	previous	previous
Slideshow	slideshow	slideshow
Stop	stop	stop