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How to Prepare For College Success

If you are getting ready to start college or go back to school then congratulations. A little planning can make your college experience much better. A lack of planning can lead to lower grades, unproductive use of time, as well as the possibility of not completing school.

1. Have a study plan. Do you know how to study or have you just gotten by to this point? You need to get serious about studying if you want to be successful. Set aside time and places to study. Decide how you learn best and what your method of studying will be. Perhaps you need to form a study group or tape your lecture to listen to them at a later time. Creating flashcards is very useful for some students while others prefer mind maps. You need to decide what works best for you. The most important thing is to have a method of studying and a time to study set aside and stick to it.

2. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Not everyone is a star basketball player, a good speller or knows history or current events like the back of their hand. It is important to know what areas you will be seeking help with before you are faced with an exam or a assignment the tests your weaknesses. It as also important to know your strengths as this will help point you to an appropriate major. If you can not do simple arithmetic then a math and science major should probably not be your first choice. If writing is your strength you may be able to help another student by editing their papers and they could help you with your math homework.

3. Know your resources. Most schools have some sort of tutoring available. It is important to know what is available once again before it is too late. Find out if there is a writing or math lab and if there is help in the library for research. Also, do not forget your professor probably has office hours where you can get help. If you do not understand something be sure to visit him/her early in the semester. Knowing what is available is important, but will only help you if you utilize these resources in a timely manner.

4. Learn to manage your time. Waiting to the last minute to do anything is a bad idea, this is especially true in college. It is much better to study every day than to panic the night before the exam. Set up a schedule for everything from your classes, time for studying and assignments as well as work and socializing. No schedule is ever perfect, but an imperfect schedule will still help keep you on track as well as force you to think out the tasks you need to complete.

5. Have a budget. School is stressful enough without having to worry about money. But being hungry because you can not afford to eat is not acceptable and neither is dropping out of school to get a job. You need to allocate money for tuition, books, as well as housing, food, transportation, etc. Take time to do this NOW. While you can cram the night before a test (I do not recommend it) you can not just stay up all night and have money for the rent in the morning.

6. Keep things in perspective. School is important, but so are family and friends and your mental health. If things get to stressful, speak to a counselor. Make time for family and try to do something fun at least once a week that doesn’t have anything to do with school. Be sure to exercise and eat right. No matter how important an exam or assignment seems there are people out there that never went to school that are loved and living productive lives. Yes, the exam is important, but it to will pass.

Gene writes for the college success website. It offers college study skills, information on preparing for college, and test taking strategies.

College Essay — How To Write An Essay Fast

Writing an essay is the most dreaded assignment possible for many college students. Whether your grammar or punctuation is poor, you don’t know how to spell or you just can not get the words flowing, writing an essay is one of your least favorite activities. You are not alone. A whole industry exists for both ethical and unethical ways to help you with your essay writing. This article will explore a few ideas on making your essay writing experience less painful while still creating a quality paper.

If you write like you talk you will end up with a very unprofessional paper. However, if you are among the people that can not get started this is exactly what you need to do. Just start writing with out regards to quality. Then after you have twice as many paragraphs as needed cherry pick the best and rewrite them in an academic manner.

Another technique for getting started is the Question and Answer method. Simply write down ten questions about the subject and then research and answer them. It is important to know your audience. The questions need to include a definition of the subject itself to make sure all the readers are up to speed. Of course, when you are done it is necessary to put them in the format needed for the assignment.

A great method to get started fast is to use another essay as a template. The trick here is to use an essay on another topic, but the same style. For example, if you are doing a biography of Abraham Lincoln an essay on Benjamin Franklyn may make a good template. It is important not to use the same topic as that would lend itself to plagiarism. This technique can be used with compare and contrast essays, classification essays, etc.

Choosing the right subject or the right angle on the subject can really speed up your research. The ideal subject is not to broad in scope ( “dogs” to broad — “dogs at work” better) and with plenty of information available. If a subject is to broad you may have a hard time deciding what to include in your essay and the reader may feel it is incomplete. A narrow subject will tend to write itself as there is only so much to say. It is important that you find plenty of information on the subject so that you can choose the best sources to quote. Do a Google search. If you do not find what you want on the first page of your first search, change you topic.

The second part of speeding up research for your essay is to limit your searches to reliable resources. You need to make sure any source you site is respected and accurate. One way to do this when doing internet research is to limit your searches to .gov, .edu and journal articles. This will remove a lot of the less desirable search results.

Spelling, Grammar. Style and Punctuation.

Here is the hard truth, if you are in college and still struggle with this you probably always will. I do recommend taking a remedial writing course if you believe it may help. There is another option. Ask for help or pay for help. There are plenty of people that can proofread and edit your paper. It is important that the people that edit your work have strong writing skills.

In conclusion, writing essays is like everything else, it gets easier with practice. Remember to try and learn from each essay you write. Keep your completed essays for reference and to use as future templates. Good luck with your next writing assignment.

Gene offers tools and lessons on essay writing including the Essay Writer-O-Matic as well as other college tips.

How to Pick Up a Foreign Language Naturally Without Difficulties

When studying a foreign language, it’s natural to run into bouts of frustration. Even with the most dynamic language learning software, the difficulty of understanding the rules of grammar and memorizing the vocabulary does get to you at one time or another.

During these times, it might actually benefit you to take a short break from active studying and look for ways to pick up the language naturally. Instead of following a course, just begin immersing yourself into it more. Try these activities on for size:

Converse in it every chance you get. Try to get into as much conversations using the vernacular as you can. If you don’t come across a lot of folks who speak the language, intentionally seek them out. Find a local community of people who speak it (if you’re practicing Hindu, for instance, find a local Indian community) and patronize their businesses (restaurants, groceries, etc), practicing your skills whenever you come in. Most will appreciate your learning efforts and help you out.

Watch movies and TV shows in that language. Instead of watching another cat video on YouTube, why not spend the afternoon watching entertainment clips in the vernacular you’re trying to learn? You might even chance upon something you like.

Immersion can feel a lot less like studying and more about enjoying yourself. Most of the time, it’s got a social component that makes it even more interesting. As such, it usually feels less restricting and more open, possibly re-igniting your fire in learning the new language.

What’s the hardest language to learn?

According to a report by the British Foreign Office, based on a study of British diplomats and embassy staff who have undegrone language training, students had the most difficult time with Hungarian, followed closely by Japanese. By no means does it imply they the most complicated languages in existence (although they are pretty daunting). For the most part, it’s an indication that the British form of English is so far removed from those two that it requires a whole redefinition of their language map in order to achieve any form of proficiency.

Chinese speakers, for instance, will probably have an easier time with learning Japanese, since that language uses a number of Chinese characters in its own alphabet, along with sharing some similar constructs. Yet, it doesn’t make Japanese the easiest language to learn in the world, either. Your native tongue’s proximity to the language you want to study is well beyond your control. As such, there is no point focusing on a language’s difficulty when it comes to its relationship with another.

Natural aptitude is often cited as a factor in language learning. While this may have some merit, aptitude also plays a huge part in learning computer science, the arts and pretty much every field of study. Like the relationship of your language to another, your inborn talents are not exactly under your command.

As with most fields of education, it’s important to focus your language learning on factors that you actually have a hand in, such as the amount of practice you put in and the quality of the instruction that you get. So what’s the hardest language to learn? It’s whatever language that doesn’t interest you enough to put in the effort. As long as you’re willing to study a subject, after all (whether you do it in a classroom or on your own with a language software), and give it the attention it deserves, you’ll eventually find success.

There is only one important factor in language learning and that is you.

Discover “The Most Popular Language Learning Software” For Fun, Fast and Easy Language Learning At LanguageSoftware.net! Read more 1 Read more 2

Important Writing Facts - How to Use Sentence Transformation and Build Complex Sentences

When learning English or any other language for that matter, one good exercise is to perform sentence transformations. In a nutshell, this is the process of taking one sentence and rewriting it using a different grammar construct.

Essentially, you will look to express the exact same idea. However, you will be presenting it in a different way. If you need an example, look at these following sentences:

Example 1:

This is my first time in the US.

I am here in the US for the first time.

Example 2:

The course I finished took me over 3 years to complete.

It took me three years to finish the course that I took.

Notice that while the two sentences on each example are differently constructed, they say essentially the same thing.

Language Tests

The ability to rewrite sentences in such a way that they have the same meaning as the original is a major sign of your progress in learning a new language. In fact, almost all major ESL and EFL examps include this as part of their tests, a major testament to its importance.

Practicing

If you want to practice on this end and don’t have an instructor to grade you, try using a language software to help you out. Open your favorite English blog, for instance, and copy several sentences off it, rewriting them one by one. Then, run a grammar software to find out the correctness of your rewrite.

For many English learners, getting to a point where you’re stringing complex sentences typically signals a major advancement in your mastery of the language. Spouting simple sentences, for the most part, is a dead giveaway that you’re new to the vernacular, while complex sentences easily make you sound like a native speaker - whether you’re still only a quarter of the way in your language software or not.

From Simple Sentences To Complex

“I owned a camel. His name was Hank. That animal ate more food than my pig.”

While there is nothing grammatically wrong with the above series of sentences (even your grammar software might approve), they have one distinct problem: they don’t sound natural. People, during actual interactions, don’t pause after expressing each of those ideas in that manner. If you want your text to sound well, try turning it into a complex sentence, such as the following:

“I owned a camel named Hank who ate more food than my pig.”

Basic Rules

When combining simple sentences to form complex ones, always follow the following guidelines for an easier time:

1. Add or change words to connect each idea. In the above example, we used “name” as a verb instead of a “noun” as in the original. Similarly, we introduced the word “who” to connect the last idea with the rest of the statements.

2. Eliminate duplicate ideas. If two sentences express the same idea, ditch one of them when combining into a complex sentence.

3. Avoid repeating words. Words repeated across consecutive sentences sound bad enough (though, sometimes unavoidable). Repeating them in the same sentence sounds even less ideal - avoid it, if you can.

Discover “The Most Popular Language Writing Software” To Avoid Embarrassing Grammar and Writing Errors at LanguageSoftware.net! Read more 1 Read more 2

Translation Software, Critical Business Documents and Your Business Card

Here’s an important tip when using translation software: when your business’ success hinges on 100% accurate translation AND interpretation, always have a dependable consultant go over the results.

Translation software, for all its major advancements, just doesn’t have the full set of tools required to transform complex documents into 100% accurate form. As such, trusting one without consulting a native speaker can lead you down a road of regret.

Say, you’re selling a beauty product on the web using a landing page in English and want to expand your market to a country like Germany. Since a professional translator is very expensive, you opt to use a language translation software that converts the copy automatically.

If you use a good translation application, there’s no doubt that the copy will be readable, albeit not perfect. Chances are, there will be some poor grammar constructs here and there. Now, think back to how well your English landing page will convert if it features the same grammar errors. Will customers take you seriously? Will people be willing to hand you over their money?

A solution many have used is to run the translation software as a first draft. After getting the results, they bring it to a consultant for cleaning up and correcting. Since the initial version has already been done, it drastically reduces the amount of work a professional consultant will need to do, reflecting on lower costs. You will save some money compared to having the copy translated from scratch, while still getting a good result.

What to look after when translating your business card:

When you’re dealing with foreign language associates, it’s usually fine to give them your regular business card. However, offering them one in their native language would do well to help them remember you more.

Personally, I never considered translated business cards as mandatory. However, they’re the type of thing that can only benefit you over the long haul.

Here are a few guidelines when translating your business cards:

* Since it’s a short document with very few words, you can either use your language software or hire a professional to translate it for you. Chances are, neither the final cost nor the quality of translation will vary all that much.

* Print only on one side of the business card. While two-sided designs are common in the US and other Western countries, many cultures use the back side for other purposes, such as writing notes to remember you by.

* Keep your business card simple. Put the necessities and nothing more. What’s cool or funny in your culture, after all, may be lame or offensive in another. If you want to get creative, research the nuances that make a business card attractive in that culture and use that instead.

* Don’t translate the address. All that will come from it is to allow the receiver to correctly pronounce it. When they try to send you something in the mail using the translated address, it will likely just confuse the postal company.

The business card continues to be an integral part of business networking. Make sure you do it right, whatever language you decide to print it with.

Discover “The Most Popular Translation Software” For Critical Business Documents Translation at LanguageSoftware.net! Read more 1 Read more 2

How to Affect Your Bottom Line by Improving Your English Writing Skills

“If writing had secrets, then writers’ sons would all be writers.” - Lu Xun

Are there really “secrets” to writing, as all those books and articles continually promise? Or is developing English writing skills just a function of experience?

While there are particular skills and techniques that can help you turn out better copy, they’re not secret. In fact, they’re freely available from here and other sites that frequently discuss language training.

To become a better English writer, there are three things you need to do:

1. Read widely

2. Write often

3. Improve on one area at a time

That’s it and none of those things are secret. If you become a wide reader, you can see further and deeper into topics. You gain familiarity with a greater amount of vocabulary, along with specific writing styles and ways of expression. Most of the time, you end inheriting many of the traits of the materials you peruse, developing both the quality of your thoughts and your artistic temperament.

When you write often, you train your mind to work through the craft, the same way runners train their bodies by putting themselves through the pace. Just as you developing singing talent partaking in the activity, you train your writing instincts by engaging in it.

If you write enough times, it’s not unusual to improve naturally. However, making the conscious decision to see gains in a particular area usually serves to speed up the process. As such, be open to criticism, learn from them and always strive to improve a facet of your overall ability. Similarly, don’t shy away from using tools, such as language software, to help you on your path.

Your Use Of English Affects Your Bottom Line

Whether you’re an American company that use English as your main vernacular or a foreign organization who needs to communicate with the rest of the world, a good grasp of the English language will affect your bottom line. Regardless of your feelings about it, English remains as the international language of business. As such, making sure that your business is well-equipped to communicate in it can create massive improvements in your year-end numbers.

1. Good English can increase sales. All businesses need a regular influx of new customers to remain competitive. If your marketing strategy includes producing English materials in any shape or form, your pitch will need to be written well enough to be able to persuade. The better your writing is, the stronger the connection you can potentially foster with your prospects, eventually leading to higher sales.

2. Good English boosts your business’ credibility. Businesses will need to always put their best foot forward in order to maintain their credibility. When you foster clear communication with your customers and the industry at large, it enhances your image in a way that will leave an indelible impression on people. It announces that you pay attention even to the littlest detail and you strive for excellence in all facets of your business.

Any organization that needs to use English, whether for internal or external purposes, should take the time to equip their employees with the necessary skill to communicate with it at a professional level. That means providing them with opportunities to train (e.g. grammar classes, language learning software) as well as equipping them with necessary tools (e.g. grammar checkers) to help them achieve proficiency.

Discover “The Most Popular Language Learning Software” For Fun, Fast and Easy Language Learning At LanguageSoftware.net! Read more 1 Read more 2

4 Tips to Make Electric Guitar Shredding Easier

Teachig yourself how to play electric guitar is very difficult for most people. Making it to the next level and shredding on your guitar is a goal that many striving guitarists fall short of. It doesn’t have to be this way though. There are a few simple tips that can help anyone master the art of shredding.

Repetition - Tip # 1

The single best way to increase your speed is to use a metronome or drum machine. Start by playing the lead, solo or lick slow and cleanly. Little by little, increase the tempo using your metronome or drum machine. Remember to be patient. This process will take days or even weeks to learn and play the piece of music perfectly at tempo. Remember, this is repetition and it could take hundreds or possibly thousands of times for you to master it at full speed and still play it cleanly.

Fingering - Tip # 2

No matter what speed you play guitar, your fret hand fingering is important. But, it becomes absolutely crucial when you are shredding. A guitarist can usually get by with sloppy or even bizarre fingering positions when playing slowly. If you try to increase the speed of the song using that same sloppy or bizarre fingering, you will no doubt run into problems. You will always reach the limit of your speed very quickly.

Now it is time to study your fret hand fingering choices and make some adjustments. To shred, you must be efficient with your frethand fingering decisions. You will probably have to relearn the lick or phrase applying these new options, because it changes how your subconscious mind performs the lick.

Picking Technique - Tip # 3

If you really want to shred, the music you are learning will have to be analyzed for the most effecient way to pick the notes. This can include alternate picking, hammers and pulls, sweep arpeggios along with many other techniques. The main thing is effeciency. Minimize the movement of the pick as much as you possibly can.

Definitely do not flick the pick when attempting to shred. Shredding requires an extremely effecient motion, almost machine like in nature. When you are shredding, the emotion is conveyed through the choice of notes, not the way you play the notes. It is very different from playing the blues or jazz which requires more subtle nuances.

Teaching the Subconscious - Tip # 4

This is going to be a very important part of you learning to shred. You have to be capable of playing a lick, lead or phrase without consciously thinking about the choice of notes. A great way to accomplish this is to distract your conscious mind by viewing TV or something else while repeating the lick over and over with a metronome or drum machine. An even better test is if you can read a book or magazine, and comprehend what you’re reading while playing along to a metronome. This will no doubt be difficult at first. But, once you get the lick firmly embedded in your subconscious, the dividends you reap will be well worth the time and effort.

Try implimenting all of these techniques and you will be amazed how quickly you will progress as a guitarist and shredder.

Auggie Hill is multi-instrumentalist that plays in praise/worship bands. To learn more techniques and improve your guitar playing check out his web site —>> http://www.howtoplayelectricguitar.org

CLIP - Colegio Luso Internacional Do Porto - Artur Victoria Thoughts

Our civilization differs markedly from its predecessor.

The civilization of the 19th century, which continued through the first half of the 20th, was essentially an urban civilization, founded on the characteristics of the city. The industrial revolution and the emergence of large business enterprises, when equated with the available technology, promoted the development of vast urban centers able to move people from home to the working place with great efficiency.

The situation today is quite different. The ability to communicate instantly makes possible, for the first time, the concept of a business where its objectives can be practically accomplished without the physical presence of large segments of manpower in the working place. In addition, the ever increasing knowledge of the most diverse peoples, the proliferation of informational services, and the all but elimination of distance as a barrier, have significantly reduced the proportions of our reality. Thus the world is like a village, a global village, where people live as neighbors, who know each other well, where doors are generally made for access, and survival depends upon mutual help.

These circumstances force the members of the community to accept each other. There are not many avenues for escape If acceptance is, however, the general norm, understanding is not so common. How often do we accept each other solely because there is no other way. And if the obvious and patent hate and discrimination may not be today as obvious and as patent, passivity and indifference are more and more frequently the refuge of our resignation. In this way, we see our neighborhoods and our streets, our stores and our factories, our schools and our social institutions invaded by foreign people, who look different, eat unusual things, are hard to understand, spoil our language, and who, on top of everything, pays, how often, our salaries, directly or indirectly. Thus, we begin to feel increasingly less like ourselves.

Some see a new form of colonialism in this invasion.

Others define this phenomenon as an irreversible process of advanced communication brought about by the technological revolution of the last decades. It is obvious, however, that small countries and regions with few resources see themselves overwhelmed by the cultural movements of the great centers. And amidst this inexorable and feared sorcery, structures that have endured millennia become watered down, along with many inherent qualities of the social genetics.

There are those who react to this conjuncture with a certain resigned realism, searching for their children a way of turning them into images of the foreigner, by sending them to schools where the curriculum, the teacher, and the language are those of the supposed invader. As the Americans say with all their candor and pragmatism: if you cannot beat them, join them! The typical, and we could say, natural reaction is, however, to scurry to the barricades, to decree the purity of the language and culture, and to punish severely any assault upon the established standards. These mechanisms of self-defense are manifested daily, and reflect the great anxiety fomented by the dizzy rhythm of today’s socio-political evolution.

This phenomenon and this anxiety, however, are not confined to the small regions and countries. Colossuses, like the United states, are experiencing similar disquietude and frustration. The “meat and potatoes” of American Puritanism, the “motherhood and apple-pie” of its patriotic creed, have been severely tested by the resurgence of European vitality and creative expression, and by the increasing and almost irresistible trade power of the countries of the Pacific basin. Neither economic power, nor a rush to be barricades can sustain this tide, we could say, this tsunami of change.

There seems to be no doubt, as Drucker said, that we are not prepared. The rules of the game have changed. The very game is so different that we often no longer have the ability to understand its objectives. The logical solution resides in the in-depth analysis and study of the new situations, in the conceptualization of new paradigms capable of explaining the emerging realities. Hence, the primacy of education as a way to beset fears and to illuminate the new paths to be tread.

An educational process capable of attaining these objectives must be founded on a vision of the world as a whole entity, on the equanimous acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity, on the affirmation of the duly recognized value of the culture of each individual and group, on the conception of the human being and of the social aggregate as organisms in continuous development. This new concept of education has appeared in many forms, some more complete than others, such as multicultural and multilinguistic education, or as international education. International education, for many, may at first seem to be no more than a good language program, or for others it may consist in the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of geography; for some of us, Portuguese, international education may be the effort to maintain those virtues of cordiality and hospitality toward other people with which we like to associate ourselves.

International education may appear still to others as the search for knowledge about the world, the development of a good plan of contemporary studies. For some it may be like a great a Noah’s ark, where students from the most diverse backgrounds may be gathered to be taught history and geography, mathematics and physics, in all languages, or in a pre-determined lingua franca. It may be for others, to provide an adequate education to the ever increasing number of marginal students: the returned emigrant child incapable of functioning in Portuguese, the son or daughter of the businessman or business woman, eurobureaucrat, or foreign diplomat that establishes residence here. It may be still for others the concretization of the urbs, cosmopolitan and conscious of the variety and richness inherent in people from many lands.

All of these points of view, although partially valid, are not sufficient to resolve the problems, anxieties, and challenges which are repeatedly thrown on our path. The lack of preparedness characteristic of our tentative answer to the exigencies of today’s world is reflected in the fears and terrors mentioned , which so often provoke the emergence of the dark side of our frail humanity: dehumanizing racism, paralyzing complexes of superiority or of inferiority, purposeless chauvinism that lacerate the ephemeral temporality of our existence.

The reacquisition of control over our reality includes a dynamic educational process that prepares men and women for a society where the hierarchies may be less and less hierarchies of power over, and more and more hierarchies of cooperation: where differences may cease to foster discrimination, but may become catalysts for development; where the concept of unity may not be an absolute synonym of uniformity. The metaphor of the global village appears, thus, to be quite appropriate.

A village is not characterized by persons - clones of each other. Rather, each villager, each member of the community, has a unique physiognomy, occupies a well defined place, possesses a personality that is simultaneously distinct and socially viable. The village, contrary to the city, collaborates more than competes, and its progress is generally the result of common effort. Are we saying that the world of the future will be the New Jerusalem, the civitas Dei, the utopian society revisited? Of course not.

What is certain is the fact that the world as we used to know it, is no more. In its place we have something different that, in the making of history, we have created. This act of creation, if authentic, apparently is not well understood.

And why?

The paradigmatic vision that, in the last three hundred years has served as the perceptional instrument of reality, is highly impersonal and mechanistic. The fundamental problem of the 17th century was characterized by the preoccupation with the notion of order, intellectual and social. The world was perceived as a complex of competing forces, thus requiring the establishment of order necessary to harmony and as the fomenter of progress. This paradigm, whose revealing metaphor is the notion of the machine, is called by Joanna Macy “patriarchal,” by Don Oliver “modernity,” and by Richard Katz “the scarcity paradigm.” It also includes the concept of singular cause – singular effect, with the result that all human relationships are perceived as occurring in a linear progression of cause and effect. This paradigm influenced not only the social sciences, but until very recently informed the methodology of modern sciences. Seth Kreisberg, in a brilliant analysis of this Subject, says the following:

The view of reality as made up of separate and competing entities reinforces, or perhaps creates, the view that power means strong defenses, invulnerability, inflexibility, in short, domination. Power consists of separate entities struggling amongst one another for strength, control, superiority and their separate interests.

This concept of power, which has been called power-over. defined in the modern era by Hobbes and continued by Max Weber, Bertrand Russell and others, seems related to less developed forms of human relationships, and has served as moral justification for many acts of social and political aggression. In the mechanistic model any attempt to prevent disorder, or to restore order, is considered “good”, since such effort is exerted to achieve the ultimate good of the community. The ultimate good of the community is not, however, the result of a consensus established by a dynamic society. In the mechanistic model, the ultimate good of society is a static and prescribed concept.

Our schools still function in accordance with this model. The educational process is conceived as a cluster of distinct elements: teachers who know and teach, students who know nothing and learn, administrators who know more than anybody else and control. The curriculum, prescribed and untouchable, is passed from the teacher to the student as a biblical testament to be dictated, received, and reproduced letter by letter, dot by dot. Any deviation from this norm is considered as a more or less subversive act, deserving of correction and punishment.

Teachers and students are thus considered as competing entities to be mediated by the curriculum. Reform in the traditional school thus means, above all, a curricular revision, or at most, a revision of the hierarchy.

The analysis of the relationships among the different entities is rarely conceived in horizontal terms: in this model the pyramid remains as the graphic image of those relationships.

The influence of the mechanistic model in international education is reflected in the notion that ethnic or multicultural studies can be reduced to the examination of exotic or minority cultures. The majority, or dominant, culture is rarely included in the same plane as the others, and the notion that it can be influenced by the minority or dependent cultures receives little or no consideration. We speak of the Portuguese influence in Africa and in Asia more frequently than we speak of the extent to which our culture was transformed by that association. similar parallels could be established for linguistic relations among peoples.

The man and the woman of today’s world have ever greater difficulty in understanding all the aspects of their reality in accordance with the precepts of the mechanistic model.

The easy access to information and the effort spent in mass education begot a popUlation qualified to understand their own interests more fully, and to be increasingly more conscious of their rights of participation in the decisions which may affect their lives.

If, on the one hand, the pressures exerted by a society aware of its multicultural or multilinguistic distinctions demand a fully international school, the enterprise of commerce, of industry, and of public administration exacts the formation of young people competent to function effectively in a world in continuous and vertiginous mutation. It is no longer sufficient to instruct students in the specific skills of the different professions, for the current technological revolution today reduces to obsolescence what yesterday was novelty. On the other hand, the office and the factory are undergoing profound alterations.

http://sites.google.com/site/arturvictoria/ http://sites.google.com/site/cliparturvictoria/

Financial Education - A Global Perspective

Continuing social, economic and political change over the last five years has meant that the need for financial capability in young people is even more pressing. In many western counties issues surrounding increasing levels of personal debt, crashing markets and their effect on pensions mean that there is a greater need for individuals to take a more active and informed interest in their own financial future.

This article looks at various initiatives for teaching children about money around the world.

In South Africa, Teach Children to Save (TCTS) is a one-day initiative designed to spotlight the importance of teaching the country’s youth about saving money. The objectives of the project include:

To raise awareness about the benefits of savings, financial planning and foster a culture of saving. To demonstrate the important role that the financial services sector can play in creating a financially literate nation. To initiate a national program that encourages a collaborative, industry-wide effort to increase financial literacy.

Teach Children to Save South Africa (TCTS SA) was launched during July Savings Month on the 25th July 2008. On this day, volunteer bankers and financial professionals became teachers for a day and delivered a one hour savings lesson to learners in grades 4 to 7. This pilot initiative laid the groundwork for an annual event that spotlights the important role that financial service providers can play in educating the nation’s youth about saving. While modelled on the U.S. program, TCTS SA was customized to align with South African culture, financial education needs and the school curriculum especially Economic Management Science.

Scotland was the first part of the UK to publish guidance for schools in this area, back in 1999 Learning and Teaching Scotland, published Financial Education in Scottish Schools – A Statement of Position. This document describes managing money is “one of the most important and challenging features of everyday living” while outlining a minimum entitlement within the school curriculum. Their aims are for young people to understand key financial and economic ideas; be skilled in managing their financial affairs; recognise the importance of using financial resources responsibly and be able to operate in a confident and enterprising manner.

The Scottish programme as part of the 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence is under-pinned by the expectation that every teacher is a teacher of Numeracy, Literacy and Health and Well-being. A thematic / topic framework is suggested which schools may adapt to their particular needs. The four main elements of Financial Education in Scotland include: Financial Understanding, Financial Competence, Financial Responsibility and Financial Enterprise

An Australian report, ‘Financial Literacy - Australians Understanding Money’, found that young people are particularly interested in learning more about issues such as budgeting, saving, managing debt and avoiding financial scams.

Australian schools have introduced a nationally agreed Framework that provides an integrated cross- curriculum approach for all students from Kindergarten to Year 10.

Consumer and financial literacy will be integrated in programs across English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities - (Business, Commerce, Economics, Technology and Enterprise) Civics and Citizenship and ICT. This will allow all Australian students in their compulsory years of schooling to develop knowledge and understanding, skills and values in consumer and financial literacy.

An example of a Chinese approach to financial education is a theatre program for children aged between 8 and 12 years old in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The program is based on a comic book, entitled “Agent Penny and Will Power in Operation Finance”. Scenes are based on stories of daily life and present students with commonly-used financial tools and concepts, including budgeting and compound interest, as well as the formation of healthy financial habits.

According to schedules of the program, the Cheeky Monkey Theatre, presenting itself as the world’s first ‘Chinglish’ Theatre Company, will visit between 40 and 50 schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen over the next ten months, and this play is expected to be seen by around 20,000 children.

In summary, financial literacy is regarded in many countries as a key life skill. The financial world is characterised by a wide range of choices and often high complexity, and as consumers we all need to take advantage of this dynamic environment. Young people are being targeted as consumers at an increasingly early age and may face complex financial choices. As 18 year olds, they are likely to have access to credit and loans in a way that would have been unheard of 20 years ago. Providing young people with good financial literacy skills helps to establish responsible attitudes and good habits from an early age. It helps foster an attitude to managing money that can enhance their long-term financial security and lifestyle.

Daniel Britton is a writer and educator specialising in financial literacy and enterprise. His latest book of Financial Fairy Tales teaches children about money through fun and engaging stories with positive messages about money and life. Please visit his website Live2Learn for more information.

Why Should You Take the TOEFL Test?

TOEFL, or the Test of English as a Foreign Language, is a test that measures your ability to speak, read, and write in English at a college or university level. This test is one of the best measures of whether or not you are ready to attend college at an English-speaking school. Even though you may think that you speak and write English well, doing so on the college level is entirely different, especially if you have learned it as a foreign language.

What Is Contained in the TOEFL?

The test is either Internet-based or paper-based. Both test the same things, but in a slightly different format. These assessments test your ability to read, listen to, speak, and write English. You will be asked to read passages and then answer questions on them. You will also be asked to listen to a lecture that is a college-level lecture, followed by more questions. A few tasks will require a verbal answer, and you will be asked to write two passages. The lectures, reading passages, and questions are all designed to reflect the types of tasks you would be asked to perform at the college level.

Who Needs the TOEFL?

Students who wish to attend an English speaking university or college but have learned English as a foreign language should take the TOEFL before applying to their chosen school. Many schools require the scores from this test for admission. Even if your school does not require it, having a good score can help you have an advantage over other applicants if there are limited openings available.

Outside of the admission requirements, the TOEFL will help you assess whether or not you have the skills necessary to deal with academic situations in your chosen school. You will need to be able to hear lectures, write papers, and communicate verbally with teachers and classmates. The TOEFL will show you whether or not you have attained this level of English fluency. If you need more practice, preparing for the test will give you that practice.

Benefits of the TOEFL

The TOEFL is the English language fluency assessment accepted by over 6,000 institutions. You might assume that all of these are in America or the United Kingdom, but they are actually spread across the world in 110 countries. Almost every university in the major English speaking countries, such as the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, use TOEFL scores to determine whether or not non-English speakers can be admitted to their programs, receive scholarships, or enter graduate school.

Another benefit of the TOEFL over other English proficiency tests is the fact that there are over 4,000 test centers you can use. If you do have to travel, you will save time and money because the test can be completed in just one day.

Finally, this test gives you an unbiased measure of your English speaking ability. Tests are scored anonymously, and no interviews are included as part of the process. If you know English well, you will score well, plain and simple. The TOEFL is the best measure of your ability to succeed in an English speaking college program.

Speaking more that one language is very common these days. Use our online English dictionary to help you learn English. We provide free English lessons, resume cover lettering writing skills and resume format techniques.

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