TENSELAND

TENSELAND is a small, non-directive practice environment. Nobody is scored and nothing is marked “wrong”. Every inhabitant above is shown doing something that has nothing to do with their job — that picture, not this text, is the evidence for whatever you ask about. You can:

• Ask about them — What is Susan?, What does Bob do for a living?, Who is watching TV?, Is Maria playing the guitar?, Does Bob paint?, What is Jim's surname?
• Tell it things — Bob is singing. — and it will remember what you said (prefixed with “YOU THINK”, since it is only taking your word for it)
• Give commands — Show me Bob. or Show me Mr Matthews.
• Type ASK ME SOMETHING (or press the button) to have the machine ask you a question instead
• Leave the box empty and press Enter to watch the machine hold a disjointed conversation with itself
• I don't know is always a perfectly good answer — the machine has no idea whether it is “right”

The parser only understands simple English built from what it already knows, plus whatever new verbs you teach it. If it doesn't understand a word, it will say so plainly rather than guess.