Operator’s Manual
SINE
Yo! This is Sine. Ever since I got to this country, I have felt welcome. And now I say a big Welcome from me to you, and from Grand Canyon Tourist Orientation Theater Company, too. This is our online story we call “Change of Plans.” My plans changed too. I never expected to be doing this. But, I'm doing it.
And I think maybe this is even more interesting than flying saucer. Aura already told you about read or listen. Click words, you read. Click headphone, you hear. If hearing, you miss links in the text, so you don't know they’re there. But even if just hearing, when you wonder about something, or if something sounds interesting, you can click on the text to read, then scroll to see if there's a link about that. If we don’t talk clear, or you want to check what we say, you can read it in the text. And anybody learning English, like me, can learn better reading text the same time you're hearing it. And if somebody's talking too fast for you (or even too slow), you can change the “Playback speed” in the little black audio box. Just click the column of 3 dots to get to the Playback speed choices. And if I want to learn Spanish sometime, I can open the Spanish site the same time I open the Chinese site, put them side-by-side, and look at the same pages at the same time. (Probably not on my cell phone, though.) BTW, if you're headed somewhere you're not sure there's internet but you want to hear us yak yak anyway, Download is available at that column of 3 dots. I must add: I am still learning internet. So if some lines seem too close or different sizes, or anything looks not as professional as the website of your local bank, no worries. I will fix later.
There are many links in the text. You can even type in the Search box at the top and maybe you find it from there. When you click a link, the link stays red so it's easy to find later. It stays red even if you turn off your computer. So at intermission or at the end, it's easy to find links you clicked. That’s why you can focus on the STORY and enjoy IT, and skip reading the links you made red until later.
Some links play music that we get from youtube. If you get a tiny box that says "Video not available", double click the link that that gave you the tiny box. If the song doesn't start up after a few seconds, open the tiny box that appears at the upper left to click the arrow you'll see. (The little popup window may be covered over by our window by the time you deal with it.) Youtube may present other songs following the song we selected. If this happens, you can choose the setting "autoplay off" in the youtube video window. And if youtube presents ads, you can stop it by signing up for youtube.com/premium which is free for the first month. (Just cancel by the end of the month.) (There are also free ad block services like this.)And if you've clicked an audio link before the prior one ends, close one so they don't play at the same time.
We have a Map also. So for where a place is, or the path somebody explored, see the Map. Links on the Map give more information if you want.
And if you want to share an idea with us or others looking at our site, put it on the Forum.
Link ideas
1) On the Map, click where you are or want go. After you see that place, do you think we are right or wrong about it?
2) Go on tour. If you are coming from the east like me, you can click on my tour from east to Canyon, or on Aura’s or Coronado’s tours from east to Canyon. If at the Canyon now but going east after, you can click our tours going that way. We have many tours, going towards the Canyon or away from it.
3) There is a special link for teachers here. Teachers can click on the click here link in the text for special treatment.
4) Many of the websites you may want to read are in English. You can read them in Mandarin (or other languages) if you copy their web address you see in your browser (google chrome, microsoft edge, or whatever) and paste it into google translate.
Oh! And if you want to know where any photo you see on our site came from, the Photo credits link by the Search box can tell you.
We will be happy if you open your eyes, the same as Aura, Coronado and I opened each others’ eyes.
For now, click Meet up to see the story of how we met.
Happy trails !