Help
UPDATED: Problems with writing activity ('museum')
If you have trouble with accents not appearing and the delete key not working, please update your Flash plugin to the latest version.
It won't work on my machine!
The activities require a v4+ browser, with Flash 6+ installed. This is most modern systems. It should work equally well on Windows or Macintosh systems.
Nothing happens when I click 'launch'
If no small window appears when you click 'blast off' you do not have a Javascript enabled browser. You could try clicking here, or upgrading your browser.
If you do not have the correct version of Flash installed, it should try and download automatically. If this fails, or all you see is a blue screen, you probably don't have Flash 6 - visit macromedia.com and follow the instructions to download.
It runs slowly
Alien Language uses complex interaction and animation features for the activities - this requires a fairly high powered machine, with fast processor and plenty of memory. It is recommended to have at least a 700Mhz processor, and 128Mb RAM.
It takes a long time to download
Due to large amounts of graphics, sounds and interaction, Alien Language currently requires a large download time. This should be around 2-3 minutes on a standard modem. If you are accessing from a school network, you may find download speed increases if you access all the activities before a lesson. This usually has the effect of 'caching' the activities on your school's network.
Alternatively, you may download a special version for installation on your local network or machines. See the download page. Remember to check back regularly to make sure you have the latest version.
You don't cover X language
The site was constructed in such a way that it is easy to add further languages easily. If you wish to contribute by helping me to translate the text into another language, please contact me.
I don't understand
If you do not understand an instruction, or the meaning of a word, hold down your CTRL key - and it will be translated while you hold it down. (Although it won't work on 'Who Wants to be a Winner' questions - that wouldn't be fair, would it?!)