The special language lab software on the computers in Turlington 1341 is called Sanako Student, and Sanako Tutor for the instructor station. It has a number of special features, most importantly that you can play a “master” file while making a “student” recording of yourself repeating the words or answering the questions, or even translating the “master” as it plays.
Sanako Student pops up when you log in, but if you need to open it, you will see an icon (a stylized person in blue) on the desktop.
If you will need to save your recording as an .mp3 file (recommended), please ask the lab assistant to be sure that the instructor station is logged in and has the Sanako Tutor station open.
If you are recording a dialogue or conversation among two or more people, use the Turlington 1341 lab at a time when no class is in session. Sit in the front row, and ask the lab assistant to link your computer stations from the console. Each linked station can make a recording of all the dialogue spoken in the headsets on all the computers, provided Sanako Student is open on all of them.
You are welcome to save the file to the desktop and email it to yourself or upload it to the course online. The file will remain on the computer after you log off, but the only user who will see it is you, if you log on to that particular computer again.
Some instructors want files saved in a folder on the shared Crossroads directory. You should see a link to Crossroads on your desktop. If it does not appear, ask the lab assistant for help.
To record:
- Click the red “speak” button on the Sanako Student and let it record you until you have finished. Then press the square “stop” button.
- You can play the audio back by using the green “play” button.
If you are pleased with the first part of the recording, but you want to re-record the rest, you can place the slider at the point where you want to re-record and then press the red “speak” button to finish.
If you want to try a whole new recording, you can start a new one by going to the File menu and selecting “New.”
To save your file:
- Go to the File menu, and select “save as.”
- The default place to save is in a Sanako folder. Find the appropriate place to save the file, on the Desktop or in the Crossroads directory accessed via your desktop.
- Choose the file format. Do not choose .mff (which can only be opened in a Sanako player). The .mp3 format is the best, producing a small but high-quality file; .wmv is similar but may not play in every media player. Your instructor may ask you to save as .wav for certain purposes (e.g. a .wav file can be used in the Praat program for phonetic analysis).
- Name the file. Give it a name that is not too long. Be sure it is a name your instructor will recognize.
- When the file saves, you will see a little box that says ENCODING. Do not use the computer while the file is encoding.
- Check to be sure the file is where you put it, that it is the correct format, and that it looks like the right size for an audio file.
If the file is not in the right format, you can re-save it. If you realize later on that the file is in the wrong format, you can re-open it in Sanako Student and save it as the desired file type. Note: when the file is opened from the desktop or another source, it becomes a “master” file and you need to be sure to save the “master track.”