INTRODUCING THE SPANISH TUTOR
The Spanish Tutor language learning-aid comprises a control program and a series of selfcontained
lessons. The control program is recorded as the fist item on side 1 of the cassette.
The remainder of the cassette contains 16 sequentially recorded lessons. Each lesson covers a
different subject, a full list of which appears in paragraph 12 of the operating instructions.
Individual lessons consists of lists of words or phrases up to a maximum of 250 entries per
lesson. Each entry consists of the English text, Spanish text and gender if appropriate. The
English and Spanish texts for each entry can be just a single word or a three-line phrase up to
59 characters long.
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
1. LOADING AND STARTING THE PROGRAM
The control program should be loaded using the command:
 LOAD 'SPANISH"
On successful loading, a colourful display results showing the program title and a list of
available facilities. this is known as the COMMAND MENU. At the bottom of the screen the
flashing message LESSON STORE EMPTY will be seen. The LESSON STORE is actually
the part of the computer's memory in which the Spanish Tutor stores a lesson. A pre-recorded
lesson can be loaded into the lesson store using the method decribed in paragraph 3, or a new
lesson created as described in paragraph 5. The Spanish Tutor will only allow one lesson to
occupy the lesson store at any time, this is referred to as "the current lesson".
2. PROGRAM FACILITIES
The facilities listed in paragraphs 3 to 11 are available whenever the screen shows the
command menu. Individual program facilities are requested simply by keying the appropriate
letter. The command menu will then be replaced by a request for further information. The
program will ignore any invalid or illegal commands. For example it is not possible to Run a
lesson without having first Loaded the lesson from cassette.
3. LOADING A LESSON FROM CASSETTE (Key L)
Enter the cassette filename of the required lesson, followed by ENTER key. If ENTER is
pressed without first entering a filename, the next sequential lesson recorded on the cassette
will be loaded into the lesson store. A list of lesson filenames is given in paragraph 12. If
loading fails see paragraph 14
When the required lesson has been loaded into the lesson store, the screen indicates the lesson
title and the number of entries contained in that lesson.
4. RUNNING A LESSON (Key R)
Initially the screen shows a questionnaire requesting four items of information. End each
answer with the ENTER key.
Display times for the Spanish and English texts need to be separately specified in seconds.
Values may be 0.1 seconds upwards. For the first lesson tried it is suggested that 2 seconds is
specified for both the Spanish and English display times. Other values can be tried later. If a
value of 0 seconds is entered this will suppress display in that language altogether. This is
particularly useful for self-testing.
Key S or E to specify which of the Spanish or English texts should appear first on the screen. 
The final question asks if the lesson is to be automatically repeated or not. If Y for Yes is
keyed the lesson will cycle repeatedly until terminated by pressing the space bar and keying
X.
For lessons containing verb conjugations it is recommended that the display times are entered
as Spanish = 0.1 seconds, English = 5 seconds, Display Spanish or English first = S.
Once the questions have been answered the lesson will automatically start. At any time during
the lesson the current display can be "frozen" by pressing the space bar; the lesson may
optionally be re-continued (by keying space) or terminated (by keying X).
5. CREATING A NEW LESSON (Key C)
Enter Spanish text on the dotted lines. Specify gender - when asked (the program
automatically allocates gender when "el, la, los, las, un or una" is detected at the start of the
Spanish text). Enter English text on the dotted lines. The Spanish text, gender and English text
combine to form one "entry" in the lesson store. It is permissible to enter Spanish words in
both the Spanish and English text positions; this is particularly useful for entering verb
conjugations.
When entering Spanish and English texts the > key moves the cursor to the next line, the
ENTER key terminates the text. Spanish accents are entered immediately after (and on the
same line as) the character to which they apply using the keys listed in paragraph 13. For
example, ¿"Por qué?" is entered as "@Por que/?" This will appear correctly during lesson
displays.
Mistakes in entering text can be corrected with the DELETE key provided the ENTER key
has not been pressed, or by keying X (ENTER) as the first character of the English text or as
the gender. If the Spanish text has no particular gender the ENTER key should be pressed in
answer to the question "M or F?", otherwise key M (ENTER) for masculine words, or F
(ENTER) for feminine. Lesson entries can be repeatedly keyed into the lesson store up to a
maximum of 250. Lesson creation can be ended at any time before this however, simply by
keying END (ENTER) at the start of line 1 of the Spanish text. Having created a new lesson
the command menu will prompt the Saving of this lesson by flashing the Save command (see
paragraph 6).
6. SAVING A LESSON ON CASSETTE (Key S)
This facility is only used when a permanent copy is required of a newly created lesson or of a
previous lesson which has been modified.
Enter a filename for a lesson (up to 8 characters).
Enter a title for the lesson (up to 24 characters). Switch the cassette player to the record mode
when the program issues the "Start Tape, press any key" message. On completion of the
recording the tape should be rewound and the Verify facility requested (see paragraph 7).
The Save facility does not affect the lesson held in the lesson store in any way.
7. VERIFY A SAVED LESSON (Key V)
This facility should ALWAYS be used to check that a newly saved lesson has been
successfully recorded.
The Verify command will flash in the command menu until a newly saved lesson has been
verified.
Enter the filename of the lesson to be verified before switching on the cassette player. If
ENTER is pressed without first entering a filename, the next lesson recorded on the cassette
will be verified. 
The program confirms that the verification is successful by printing "Lesson verified O.K". If
verification fails, follow the procedure given in paragraph 14 to return to the COMMAND
MENU then SAVE the lesson again.
The Verify facility does not affect the lesson held in the lesson store in any way.
8. ADD TO CURRENT LESSON (Key A)
This facility enables further entries to be added onto a lesson which is already held in the
lesson store.
Instructions for using the Add facility are identical to those for the Create facility (see
paragraph 5).
9. DELETE ENTRY FROM LESSON (Key D)
This allows a single entry to be deleted from the lesson currently occupying the lesson store.
It may be used to correct keying errors noticed in newly created lessons in conjunction with
the Insert facility (see paragraph 10).
Key in the entry number of the entry to be deleted. Entry numbers are displayed whilst
running a lesson (see paragraph 4) whenever the display is frozen by pressing the space bar.
10. INSERT NEW ENTRY (Key I)
This allows a single new entry to be inserted into the lesson currently occupying the lesson
store.
First of all it is necessary to specify the point of insertion required, this results in a display of
the entry currently occupying that position. If this is the correct place fo the insertion, key "Y"
(ENTER) then enter the Spanish, gender and English for the new entry.
11. TEST LESSON (Key T)
The test facility may be used with any lesson which has been loaded from cassette of newly
created in the lesson store. In operation, the program displays a word or phrase in one
language only; the translation must then be keyed in, this will appear on the screen one
character at a time. Each time a wrong key is pressed the computer emits a "beep", and the
character is not displayed. At any time during the test help is available by pressing the > key.
Each time > is pressed the next character of the translation appears on the screen. At the end
of the test a performance summary is displayed.
12. LESSON FILENAMES
Level A Cassette
Filename Title
L 1 Family
L 2 The dwelling
L 3 Furniture
L 4 Household items
L 5 Foods
L 6 Vegetables and fruits
L 7 Shops and trading
L 8 Living creatures
L 9 Vehicles
L 10 Clothes
L 11 Parts of the body
L 12 Substances
L 13 Countryside 
L 14 Weather
L 15 Numbers
L 16 Days months and seasons
Level B Cassette
L 17 Colours
L 18 Pastimes
L 19 Tools
L 20 Countries
L 21 Medical
L 22 Verb infinitives
L 23 Adverbs
L 24 Adjectives
L 25 Conjunctions and prepositions
L 26 Phrases
L 27 Verbs - Present tense
L 28 Verbs - Imperfect tense
L 29 Verbs - Future tense
L 30 Verbs - Conditional tense
L 31 Verbs - Preterit tense
L 32 Verbs - Present perfect tense
13. ACCENTS & SPECIAL CHARACTERS
The following keys are used for entering Spanish accents and special characters.
Accents should be entered immediately after (and on the same line as) the character to which
they apply.
Spanish Keyboard
Character Character
 ' /
 ~ ↑
 ¨ <
 ¿ @
 ¡ *
14. STOPPING OR RESTARTING THE PROGRAM
On occasions it may be necessary to stop the Spanish Tutor program to recover from awkward
situations, for example when the Spectrum cannot find the lesson on tape that you are trying
to Load or Verify! If this is necessary press BREAK followed by GOTO | ENTER. This
procedure should also be used to restart following tape loading errors detected by the
Spectrum.
© Keith Spence 1983
KOSMOS Software
1 Pilgrims Close, Harlington, Beds. LU5 6LX
 Made in England