Learning English through online tutoring

Learning English through online tutoring

The demand for the English language is here to stay. So, if you are about to take up an English learning course, you had better not delay it any more.

There are two ways in which you can learn English : onsite courses and online courses. Onsite courses are generally handled by reputed language experts who will impart all the necessary skills to students. They hold regular listening, speaking and writing assessments and provide timely feedback that enable students to improve their skills. The onsite environment also provides students with ample opportunities for testing their newly acquired language skills. However, onsite English tutoring courses are very expensive. That is one of the reasons why may people prefer to give these classes a miss. Then, there is also the hassle of finding the time to attend classes regularly. Keep in mind that most people who opt for English tutoring are college students who are still studying or part time employees who want to get a better job. These are busy people who may find it impossible to attend classes regularly.

It is the overriding demand for viable alternatives that led to the development of online English tutoring courses. These courses have a number of advantages. Firstly, they are quite inexpensive when compared to their on-site counterparts. They are also very flexible in nature, thus allowing students to follow their studies at a steady pace of their own.

In some cases, the online variety is the only mode of learning open to a student. For instance, if you have enrolled for a speaking and listening course, your only option is to take it online. The onsite variety may be non-existent in your place of stay or may simply be economically non-viable.

The proliferation of online English tutoring courses may make it difficult for you to spot the right tutor. Here are some tips to help you wade through the sea of internet tutors wisely: Experience: This is the litmus test as far as quality of tutoring is concerned. If the service provider can show references and testimonials from satisfied customers, then, their services are worth taking up. Price: Is the price too good to be true, or too steep to be realistic? Avoid both. A quick web search will give you a good idea of the going rates. Do not fall for rates that are significantly higher or lesser, no matter what they say. Qualified professionals: Use an English tutoring service that employs qualified professionals only. Individual teachers who post online ads may be phony degree holders. Before you take up the offer, find out where the English tutoring service is located. Choose a service that is located in a country where English is spoken natively.

Keep in mind that the internet can be a rich resource or a booby trap. It all depends on how much research you put into finding the service provider who will give you maximum ROI.

Accomplishment

Accomplishment

Learning Mandarin can be a enjoyable and can be a very beneficial skill. In the flourishing ecomomy, it is very vital to understand and learn Chinese language. Chinese has been playing an influential role in world business and culture as almost 900 million people are speaking chinese in the world.

It is very important to learn chinese because it will give extra options for the imployment in various induatries including manufacturing as well as in teaching, translation, interpreting, and the growing travel industry. In the United States or other Western countries with great Chinese communities it can also lead to an increase connection with Chinese employees that may be learning English or with contacts in companies abroad . As this is the reason,people who study chinese will have more probability to get succeed in the westren job markets. More over, learning chinese is more fun too.

The people who are travelling to china repeatedly must learn chinese because most of the sign boards are in chinese language. It will positively help while speaking with taxi drivers and order foods .

Studying Chinese is one step to joining the ranks of the businesses elite oriented toward the growing China market. Chinese is one of the elevated languages of the world. Chinese Language becomes a world class language in the westren countries

We will have several professional ways to learn chinese language wherein it takes more investment and time. So its important to vary your income to insure that you maximize your language learning experience. Chinese is most toughest language for most of the english speaking people.

Choosing the right methodology is of course crucial and that can make learning the language a relative cake walk or much more complicated. Much importance should be given to the accent and pronunciations while learning Chinese

Chinese tutors are not mush costly as you think. So you want to be sensible not to end up paying more money than is obligatory. Learning Chinese will take more time and it is an evolving process. While you can’t learn the language overnight, you can discover resources that may give you an edge time wise and easily the amount of effort you exert .

A critical challenge to memorize is that of vocabulary. Having used innumerable books and courses to learn to read Chinese I found several including the Pimsleur Method to be of benefit . The most valuable ones were those who made sure to present new vocabulary first. In the case of Mandarin, the most time will likely be spent on the script. Then a story using this new vocabulary in conjunction with earlier learned vocabulary was presented. In terms of audio only programs, a mixture of exceptional courses are existing.

Drop These 5 False Friends And Quickly Improve Your Spanish

Drop These 5 False Friends And Quickly Improve Your Spanish

I bet this has happened to you. You’re merrily chatting away in Spanish when suddenly, the listener’s reaction tells you that you’ve either said something silly or worse, put your foot right in it! God knows how many times it’s happened to me during my time here in beautiful Barcelona, so if you’ve ever been left bemused and in red-faced embarrassment because your listener is in fits of laughter or down-right offended, then let me help you.

Here’s 5 common “false friends”, betrayers that cause all sorts of uncomfortable and embarrassing moments as they confuse, amuse and occasionally offend native speakers. I’ve had all sorts of trouble with false friends and here’s some of my best howlers to help you polish up your Spanish and give you a giggle or two as you go!

One summer evening, I was enjoying a quiet drink in one of my favorite bars when a local and his little dog sit at the table next to mine. Although strangers, we exchange pleasantries, something I love about life here. His little dog was sitting next to him and he’s patting it and making a real fuss. It’s obvious he loves his dog so ever eager to chat in Spanish I confidently say:

“Tú das mucho afección a tu perro.” - You give your dog lots of affection. Well that’s what I thought I was saying…not quite!

He gives me a puzzled look and although it took a while for me to understand his explanation as it was all in Spanish, it turns out that I’d actually said:

“You’re giving a medical condition to your dog.”

I was betrayed by a false friend - affección. The correct word is: Afecto. Affección is actually “complaint” or “condition”. Woof! Down boy!

There’s some really great places to shop here but my favorite is my local grocery store. It’s run by a lovely family who have made me feel very welcome right from my first visit. No matter how busy they are, they always find time to chat with me and and this has really helped me with my Spanish. All of them speak fluent English too! One day we’re having a good chin-wag and I’m explaining why I think it’s so important for me to speak Spanish, even though I could easily get by just speaking English as many ex-pats do.

“Creo que si se vive en España, se habla en Español. Si se vive en Inglaterra, se habla en Inglés.”

“Estoy de acuerdo hombre, es un cuestión de respeto.”

“En absoluto.”

Oskar starts laughing and says to me in English: “Why are you disagreeing with me? Oh I forgot. You’re a guiri!” And he’s chuckling away as I stood beside the ripe red tomatoes, blending in with them nicely.

Eventually he explains that “en absoluto” means “absolutely not” and not “absolutely.” A better response would’ve been “claro” or “tienes razón” or even “venga” or “vale”. Still amused he says:

“¡Debes de aprender español, bobo!” - You should learn Spanish, idiot!

I’ll refrain from sharing my reply…let’s just say it involved one finger and a well-known Spanish expletive!

This next one is a classic. My good friend Edu is going steady with a beautiful Mexican chica. I hadn’t known him for long and we’re talking about relationships and he’s telling me how much he loves her. He then says:

“Ella es muy bella, por cierto, pero también, una zorra.” - She’s very beautiful for sure, but also, a fox.

My jaw dropped and I went bright red! At this point, Señor Guiri here thought the word “zorra” had two meanings: One for a female fox, a vixen. The second is pejorative and means a woman of loose virtue, who, ahem, “enjoys the company of men” a lot!

As Edu is fluent I explained this to him in English and he said between bursts of laughter that I was right but that “zorra” also has another meaning: Cunning, astute, smart.

“Menos mal tío, ¡me diste un susto por un momento!” Oh, in such situations you aren’t “embrazada” you’re “avergonzada”. The first means “pregnant” the second “embarrassed”. I expect you already know this false friend but it’s here as a reminder for you anyway.

Here’s another cracker for you! I’d been here about 3 months and I’m talking to someone who is now a good friend of mine, Kiki, a proud Catalan. He doesn’t speak a word of English so communicating with him back then was quite difficult for me. One of the problems here - and it isn’t THAT much of a problem - is being pestered by beggars on the streets. One particular street near our local bar is notorious for them. We’re talking about this one night and Kiki says:

“Mi esposa está a las narices con los mendigos. Siempre ellos la molestan en esa calle.” - My wife is up to here with the beggars, they’re always bothering her on that street.

Except brain of Barcelona here, having not heard the verb “molestar” up to this point, puts two and two together, makes seven, and asks:

“¿Ellos la tocan sexualmente?” - They touch her sexually? Thinking that los mendigos have been molesting her. Well you would think this wouldn’t you?

But Kiki is looking at me like I’ve gone mad and by the look on his face I know I’ve said something iffy. Staring right into my eyes he says menacingly:

“¿Qué dices?”

Luckily, Wanda, the bar owner who is fluent in Spanish, Portugese and English has heard our conversation and she explains the problem to us. To my horror, it turns out that molestar doesn’t mean “to molest” it means “to bother”. Doh! This is now a standing joke with us. I’ll go in the bar and he’ll say:

“¿Te han tocado los mendigos recientemente?” - Have the beggars “touched” you recently? And I’ll say:

“No porque ¡ellos están demasiado ocupados molestando tu esposa!” - No because they’re too busy bothering your wife! You can be sure I won’t use tocar in my reply, Kiki is an amateur boxer!

Finally, a delightful “moment” for yours truly. About 6 months ago, I met a gorgeous Spanish chica, Sylvia, who I fancied like crazy! I’m trying my best to impress her by chatting her up in Spanish. I’m doing fine until she asks me what I like to do, you know, the usual stuff. I confidently reply:

“Toco la guitarra, me encanta cocinar y me gusta relajarme con compañía buena y conversación interesante. Soy sólo un tipo ordinario guapa.” - I play the guitar, I love to cook and I like to relax with good company and interesting conversation. I’m just an ordinary guy love.

She starts laughing, I’m looking like I’ve been asked to explain Quantum Physics and this just adds to her amusement! Eventually she explains:

“What kind of girl do you think I am, I would never go out with a stupid thug!”

“¿Qué?”

“Mira hombre, ordinario doesn’t mean you’re “ordinary” it means you’re a lout, a slob and a simpleton. ¡Qué burro!”

Never did get anywhere with her for some strange reason, can’t think what. Oh and if you want to say you’re just an ordinary guy or girl just use “normal” - “Soy un(a) tipo normal”. Why didn’t I think of that?

Venga, watch out for all of these betrayers, learn from my experiences and you”ll avoid being told you’re a dumb donkey by someone you had the hots for!

How to choose the right college major: Ivy League admissions advice

How to choose the right college major: Ivy League admissions advice

While this site focuses primarily on elite college admissions, I’ve occasionally posted on broader topics, including how to choose the right college. These were pretty well received judging by the emails I received, so I’ve decided to continue writing more about the college life.

A topic of huge importance to incoming freshman is how to select the right major/degree. It has many future implications that most high school students simply don’t know.

The wrong major can:

-Drastically limit your career options and career choices (try going into finance with an English degree) -Drastically restrict your flexibility with choosing different courses that you are personally interested in

Most of all, IT CAN BE BORING! You may not like the classes, the professors, the students…and then spend the next 10 years of your life regretting not choosing that really cool-sounding major back in freshman year.

Now on to picking the right major. Here’s what you should seriously think about.

It’s important to discuss these things with your parents too. Most of what they say has a lot of value, even if you don’t realize that yet.

1. Think about what kind of JOB you want to have

If you want a career in business…choose a social science major (eg, economics) or engineering major (eg, computer science)

If you want a career in engineering…choose an engineering major (duh)

If you want a career in medicine or research…choose a science major

If you want a career in journalism and writing…choose a liberal arts major

Some of these are obvious. The point is to think beyond 4 college years to the rest of your life.

What job would make you happy? What career would fulfill you? What do you love to do now, that can be translated into a paying job?

2. Think about what type of personality you have

Are you outgoing? Computer science may not be for you…

Are you detail oriented? Engineering, math, and economics might be great majors…

Are you artsy/creative? Try creating your own major, or try an interdisciplinary major

The point is to think about how you work best. If you like numbers, gravitate towards an analytical major. If you like writing, gravitate towards a humanities/social sciences major.

Focus on your strengths - the last thing you want is to be in a major you’re not very good at, which will only make you more miserable.

3. Plan out the next 4 years and create a LIST OF GOALS

Some of you already have. Some of you may think that’s ridiculous and too much work. I don’t care - you should do it if you want to be smart.

Do you want to study in Italy/France/China? Pick a major that gives you flexibility to do that

Do you want to minor in Art History or Photography? Pick a major that overlaps with those or gives you room to take extra classes

Do you want to spend a summer working as an investment banker? Pick a major that helps you with recruiting and marketability for those types of jobs at Goldman Sachs

The point here is that beyond your major, you have other goals in college. Think about what those goals are, and figure out the majors that will allow you the room, time, support, and skills to achieve them!

Remedial

Remedial Reading: Is It The Definition Of Insanity?

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again always expecting a different result! Whoever said practice makes perfect was definitely not trying to teach a child with learning disabilities to read, write or spell! It suddenly struck me how true this definition is of traditional methods of remedial reading.

Now please don’t misunderstand, I am not accusing reading teachers of being insane (although if you spend long enough trying to teach a child with learning disabilities to read you may inch closer to it). Teaching children with learning disabilities is a noble and often painstaking profession. It takes a lot of time, energy, patience and skill to do the job well. Of all these, possibly patience is the most difficult to come by, because as you go over the same principles and reading texts again and again, teachers, parent and the children themselves become very frustrated, and very discouraged.
Surely There Must Be A Better Way!

Doing something over and over again can be beneficial if the person involved has the ability to change and learn rapidly. But what happens if practice doesn’t make perfect, it just makes huge amount of frustration? What happens if the child continues to make the same mistakes page after page, day after day, month after month. They’re trying hard, the teacher or parent is trying hard, but the only progress they’re making is destroying their relationship!

What if there was something you could do that would INCREASE the child’s ability to LEARN TO READ? Something that was not as painful as reading, something that you could see and measure progress in and something that the child could walk away from saying, “I can do this!”

Train The Right Things

The old story of the two axeman is applicable here. Remember the story of how one kept chopping wood, kept trying longer and longer and yet day after day he chopped less trees. The other took some time out of his busy day to sharpen his axe, and managed to chop more wood than his colleague. So perhaps it is time to take a break and sharpen your child’s axe!

The great news is that, as a practitioner working in the filed of learning disabilities for over 20 years, I have had enormous success caring for children with learning disabilities in my community. What has brought such success and stopped the painful remedial reading syndrome? Training the skills that are needed to do the job.

Vision is the dominant sense, with over 80% of all information in the classroom coming in through the visual system. So, it makes sense that, if we train these skills to be more effective, we can make the process of learning to read far easier.

This training goes beyond the simple ability to see: It involves eye coordination, focus, visual memory, sequencing, whole body development, left-right awareness and a whole host of visually related skills. All of these can be improved, usually very substantially, by doing the right therapies, and thus reading can be improved as a consequence.

How Can This Be Done?

Until recently this form of training has only ever been available directly from the practitioner. So, if you did not have a Behavioral Optometrist in your area, you could not help your child in this way. But I have spent the last year modifying my therapy program so you can do it in your own home for a fraction of what you would pay a qualified practitioner, anywhere in the world. It takes only 20 minute a day, it has clear and concise instructions and you will see your child improving within 6 months if you follow the therapies correctly.

The Best 20 Minutes In Your Day