Thursday 5 December 2013

10 Tips from a Person Who Knew 17 Languages

Kato Lomb, despite holding a chemistry degree, was one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world and could fluently translate into eight languages, and in general knew and worked with 16. It is amazing that in her time there were no audio CDs with the voices of native speakers, Skype tutors, or language schools… So how did she manage to learn so many languages?


In her best-selling book “How I learn languages”, she revealed ten simple rules for language learning:


1. It is necessary to practice a foreign language every day. It is like the gym: if you want to have impressive muscles, train them regularly! Dedicate at least 10-15 minutes a day to reading or repeating new words and phrases.


2. If your desire to learn the language weakens too quickly, create your own lesson algorithm. For example, do some learning and then listen to some music or take a little break for a walk.


3. Context is everything! Never learn single words, but only words in the context. For example, if you memorize the expression «strong wind», the one of the words in your memory will automatically recall the second one.


4. Try writing some ready phrases in the textbooks and use them in dialogues as often as you can.


5. Mentally translate everything that your eye catches - advertising, excerpts of songs, dialogues, the names of newspaper articles. It is so easy and useful!


6. Learn by heart. But you can only learn phrases that are correct for sure or checked by a teacher.


7. Keep in your memory ready phrases and idioms in the first person.


8. A foreign language cannot be studied in isolation, such as quietly doing some exercises in a notebook and listening to the teacher. Watch movies, read books and newspapers in the language you learn and of course communicate with native speakers on the internet.


9. Do not be afraid of mistakes, be afraid of uncorrected mistakes! Never leave anything unchecked.


10. Be sure that no matter what, you will learn the language!


And finally, when the 86-year-old Kato Lomb met her 54-year old friend, she said: “Steve, you’re so young! You have so many years ahead to learn more languages!”


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Learn while you Earn with the Popular Online Degree Programs

Earning and learning is the new success mantra, which goes hand-in-hand for the ambitious, young, and energetic students. The following article emphasizes on the growing concept of earn and learn and suggests some lucrative online degree courses, which let you learn while continuing with your job. 


The new generation is increasingly turning interest to the emerging concept of earn and learn. The reason can vary from being independent, pay own tuition fees, develop job skills, or gain work experience. The increasing desire to learn while you earn has resulted in an upsurge for the demand for online degree courses, which provide the young students with an opportunity to continue their learning along with earning options.


If you are the one who wishes to continue the current job or take up any part-time employment along with studies, going back to the regular courses in colleges in no more mandatory. Thanks to the lucrative degree courses that allow the students with a possibility to learn and earn. Not only students, the experienced professionals busy in their social life and job can pursue these online courses to study further.


Here we discuss some popular courses that can be earned online:


Pursuing a degree course in management studies can ensure great career advancement for you. An online degree in business administration allows you to develop managerial skills in the different specializations such as financial management, accounting, marketing and operations management.


There is no dearth of reputed business schools, which offer online courses in MBA program. A degree in MBA can open up several job avenues in the competitive business world. Moreover, an online MBA degree can develop the skills required in electronic communication, which constitutes the key requirement of the corporate scenario.


If you are good at studies and hold interest in teaching or mentoring the young children, online learning can help you to pursue a career as a high school or elementary school teacher. You can pursue this online course without quitting your current job. The online teaching course gives an added advantage to the candidate as it develops the required skill in online teaching, which holds high demand in today’s online learning system. This allows the candidate to open up several online tutoring opportunities, thus fulfilling the purpose of learning and earning.


Graphic designing is another popular online degree course that allows the aspiring candidate to learn graphic designing skills without quitting his current job. The typical coursework in an online graphic design course includes learning designing techniques, typography and Photoshop. This is one of the best options for you if you possess the natural flair for creative designing. With every field including the applications of online work, online graphic designing can emerge as a stepping stone for your career. The online degree course saves your time in commuting to the college and allows you to utilize the time in any part-time employment.


Thus, for balancing the hectic schedule, family life and the desire for learning along with earning, the young students are turning their interest to the several online learning courses that offer flexibility to earn degree and develop certain skills at the same time.


Undoubtedly, the emerging trend of ‘learn while you earn’ is one of the best available options to develop as a valuable professional and ensure some saving for your future needs. Moreover, several big organizations also consider the candidates with the capability to strike a perfect balance between learning and earning as more adaptable and experienced professionals for their organization.


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Swati Srivastava is an experienced writer with a rich knowledge in writing on the different educational topics like management studies, different career options. The above article highlights the online degrees that can allow the young students to learn and earn.


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What Impact a Good College and Faculty Have on Your Studies

Students start questioning themselves regarding the importance of the college from their high school life, which way to go and what subject to choose, becomes their primary concern and top priority. The role of the college and faculty in a student’s life is inevitable as college is the place which opens doors of new opportunities and prepares you to enter the competitive world of today. Obviously when you are in college, you compete with your fellow students and develop the capabilities to succeed in upcoming ventures and endeavors.


The role of teachers and faculty is perceived by students like a helping hand. Whenever students need help with their projects, assignments and other things like everyday class matters and problems, the faculty is there to help them out. The future success of a student is impartially dependent on teachers and faculty as they are the makers and architects of their minds.


As time and technology both have changed and have put the gadgets in our pockets in forms of Smart phones, tablets and laptops, the typical student-college and student-faculty relationship has transformed into an online college and online tutor engagement. If you are wondering that how this gets done then let me tell you that with the help of online college and online education, you study right from your home without disturbing your daily routines and existing work schedules.
Online college gives you the freedom to study at your own pace without following any strict deadlines and if you are that kind of person who does not like the traditional classroom environment or likes to study at his/her own pace without matching the pace of the whole class then you can enroll in online colleges with the benefit that they are much cheaper than the regular study colleges and if you compare their costs, you’ll see a huge difference by yourself.


In case of online learning, the importance of faculty comes in the terms of online tutors with whom students can discuss their course material and ask them questions about the problems in their coursework. Online tutors, on the other hand, play an important part by helping students to cope up with their studies. The online colleges arrange the tutors for students and give students a platform for communication and discussion.


Now the important thing is the selection of such an online college which gives you good tutors as well as good support whenever needed because the more good the college and tutors will be, the more it will have a positive impact on your studies.


·       Go for accredited courses: First and foremost, look for the accredited courses. There are both accredited and non accredited courses available but non accredited courses don’t hold significant importance that an accredited course from a good online college holds.


·       Level of tutor support: The next important thing to look for is the level of tutor support the college is offering and that can be determined from the feedback of previous students. Search the web thoroughly; you’ll get a no. of reviews which will help you in decision making.


·       Quality of course material: Last important thing is to check whether the college is providing good and relevant course material or not because that is an important part of your curriculum and your communication with the tutor.


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Sana Shoukat is a writer, a graduate in journalism & media studies and a U.S State department selected young leader. She writes for different niches with the top most home learning. Her recent article is about the importance of a good college and faculty and its impact on the life of students.


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What Is the Best Music to Help You Study?

Beethoven once said, “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” As it turns out, music enhances learning, too. According to a College Entrance Exam Board Service study, students involved in musical extracurricular activities scored 51 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT exams and 39 points higher on math on the SAT exams. [1] Through this and other research findings, educators believe that music relaxes, soothes, and helps people concentrate better, making it the perfect study companion to diminish distractions and keep students learning.


In Don Campbell’s book The Mozart Effect, Campbell has condensed research on the topic to enlighten readers about how music affects their brain. According to Campbell, music:

Improves test resultsReduces learning timeHelps you focusReduces errorsEnhances creativity [2]

Yet all music genres aren’t created equal. Loud and more abrasive genres, like rock and metal, might only distract you. Below are some music genres that can help students study and learn:

Classical: While it might not be your thing, many believe that classical music has mind-boosting effects and does wonders for concentration levels. Researchers refer to this as the “Mozart effect,” indicating that listening to classical music—Mozart in particular—can improve people’s ability to think out long-term and figure out abstract solutions to logical problems. [3]Ambient: To keep your brain engaged, consider listening to ambient music, such as waterfalls, rain forests, and so forth, which cultivate an effect similar to meditation, producing a relaxed but alert state of mind. Turn to well-known artists that have made ambient music including Aphex Twin and Brian Eno.Chillout: Discover Chillout, an actual music sub-genre that refers to certain varieties of Intelligent Dance Music (IDM), which encourage people to break, relax, and recover. It stimulates listeners, while encouraging productivity and inspiring creativity. [4]Electronic:  Introduce low-key genre music, including Trip-hop, Jazz, House, Trance, or New Wave, into your study routine to help relax your mind and get your creative juices flowing.

Students can easily access these genres of music on free platforms such as Pandora, Spotify, and other mobile or web apps. Parents and teachers should encourage children and students to listen to music during study and homework periods, potentially reducing learning time and increasing young adults’ memory throughout the process.


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Tiffany Sumner is a freelance writer for eLearners, where she writes articles on a wide range of topics. In her spare time she reads, writes fiction, and watches way too many cat videos online. You can follow her on Google+.


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How to Find Your Way through Career Change

Often, individuals find themselves in a complicated situation about their career. It is normal to feel disoriented and dreadful working with the same career field, and seek career change. While the prospect seems alluring, keep in mind that the grass looks greener on the other side always. It is not easy to undo your education and re-educate yourself with a new professional field. There are a lot of things you need to consider to find your way through a career change.


Ask yourself – do you want to change the career or are you dissatisfied with the present work portfolio in the company? If it’s the second option, you still love your work and it will be good to switch to another company for better job and growth prospects than feel stagnant and disdainful in the present one.


Another option could be to change work sector. For instance, if you are an academician bored with teaching, you could move into the research side of academics. Finally, if you are feeling too stagnant, you can take extended leave from the present job. The point is to think very hard and in detail before deciding to go for a career change.


If the first point is wrong in your case, you really want to have a career change. However, be very positive about it because you don’t want to jump from the frying pan into file. Consider to change career path if one or more of these conditions apply to you: you are no more interested in the subject of your work, you are bored and feel stagnant, you are getting no growth, you are undervalued by the organization or it is your natural stimulus to change more than others. Whatever is the reason, you cannot undo the decision.


Ask yourself – what exactly you want to do in the new career option? Perhaps you want a job where there is less paperwork or there is more outdoor work. Maybe you are more suited with the work from home option or you want to run a department remotely from home.


Before leaving your old career behind, you may want to talk to the present boss and tell about your concerns. Perhaps, things can be adjusted within the present organization to suit you changing work portfolio needs without causing any inconvenience for the company. You can write down few ideas and mention how, if implemented or added to your portfolio, it will benefit the company.


It’s easy to think of a new career option but you have to be mindful of your professional skill set. For instance, if you are a  lecturer in any engineering or medical college, you can go into the writing field smoothly as there won’t be much adjustment necessary. But if you are a college lecturer and you want to go into outdoor marketing, it’s easier said than done because you have to see whether you really have the skills of a marketer. If not, you have to ask yourself whether you have the time and inclination to learn new skills.


Career change is like starting your career for the first time, once again. You have to make adjustments, learn new things, devote more time than before and be open to learning. It’s not an impossible task, though. With proper planning and guidance, you can easily find your way through a career change.


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Diksha is currently a social media examiner in studynation.com. It’s a career oriented website.There are lots of information about courses and universities can be found on study nation. She is also a freelance writer and blog junkie and loves to write on various topics related to education and career.


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Do You Need Art School To Be Successful?

For aspiring artists, the prospect of art school can be daunting.  It’s competitive, it’s expensive – but when you get past that, it can be one of the most life-altering experiences for an artist.  You get special opportunities, you make countless connections (socially and professionally), and you’ll learn about all aspects of art - you’ll get a well-rounded education, including art history, various forms of studio art, and design.  Interested in art school?  Read on:


In the art world, people sometimes assume no degree is needed for success.  That’s not to say it’s advisable – stardom, though tied to talent, almost has more to do with winning the metaphorical lottery.  For most of us, it’s simply not going to happen. 


A bachelors’ degree in fine arts (or, even better a BFA) will definitely give you a leg up.  As each generation becomes increasingly educated, a college degree is quickly becoming vital.  Now, an undergraduate degree is almost the status quo; masters’ degrees, too, have recently become much more popularized.


In art school, you’ll be taking classes with who will presumably be the future leaders in the field -you could be making the connections of a lifetime.  And more than in the strictly practical sense, there’s something wonderful about being thrown together with a group of artistic young people -that’s a breeding ground (in the figurative and literal sense) for creativity.  You’ll be inspired by your peers and instructors, and be pushed to create even better and higher quality work.


And let’s not forget the fact that prestigious art schools are also often visited by art dealers looking for the next hot thing.  Plus, students are also afforded opportunities like public gallery shows.  While employment is by no means guaranteed, you’ll get once-in-a-lifetime networking and professional opportunities.


For many, art school is an important step in building up a respectable portfolio.  Art school gives you more than just experience: when else will you have a four-year block of time set aside exclusively for you to create?  It’s an artist’s dream come true; it’s an opportunity and experience not to be missed.


And think of it a way to incubate your talent: an education in art will give you the chance to explore mediums and techniques you may never have tried on your own.  Maybe you’ll go in as an oil painter and come out a mixed-media sculptor – or maybe you’ll find that you’re actually an extremely talented typographer.


There are lots of reasons to go to art school – be it to learn the top interior design tips, or to become the next Picasso: the possibilities are endless. Art school is not a means to an end – it’s one of those situations where the quote-unquote “journey” is the most important part of all.  Albeit rather corny, it’s true: art school is an experience that you won’t regret.
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Dave Landry is a writer that has contributed to several different education sites. He knows that with the growing costs of education art school might not seem like a viable option but encourages prospective students to look further into the benefits of higher education.


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Expanding Your Mind – Learning For Success

expand mind learningWhen learning, it’s important to broaden your horizons as much as possible; this means reading widely, and learning more about subjects that you might not normally be interested in. It also means making use of the many free and inexpensive resources available to you on and offline, as well as changing how you learn; doing so can help you towards a higher degree of employability, and can also set you up for lifelong learning.


Reading More 


Just taking the time to read more every day can make a big difference to your education; try to read the newspaper online, and cover multiple papers to get a different point of view. It’s also possible to broaden your horizons by reading a wide range of different genres, which can be particularly useful if you’re into the habit of reading the same authors. While it’s not a good idea to force yourself to read things you don’t want to, it’s worth sampling as much as you can. 


Challenging Yourself 


One of the best ways to challenge yourself academically is to focus on one area that you think you’d like to know more about – if, say, you want to improve your knowledge of the Second World War, you can focus on watching documentaries online, and reading more widely than you have before. Similarly, if you have difficulties with some subjects, you may want to try a different approach.


Make Use of Resources 


There are plenty of different resources available to learners; online courses are provided by the Open University for free, while you can download and watch or listen to lectures from iTunes University. Schemes like the Open University’s OpenLearn project also makes it possible to complete free courses online, which can lead to future qualifications.


Change How You Learn 


It’s also important to try to change how you learn by experimenting with different methods; while remembering basic study approaches, you can improve your knowledge and skills by trying to write a diary about what you’re studying, or by joining an online discussion forum. Reading around a subject, for example, different authors before an English A-level exam, is particularly important for showing initiative, and can give you a significant advantage in the future job market.


You can also start to change how you learn by trying memorisation techniques, and by researching writing skills. Getting better at being self aware about what you’re doing is a useful first step to trying to figure out where you may be having problems with some subjects; this means looking more widely at techniques that may not have been provided to you in school.


Outcomes 


Broadening your horizons ultimately means being able to develop improved critical thinking skills, while also making you more confident in tackling subjects that you may not be familiar with. In the same way, learning about a wider range of topics should hopefully feed back into your main studies, and can enable you to stand out for employers – even if you can just bring up your wider interests in an interview, this can make you appear more distinctive.


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Student Loan: Past, Present and Future (Infographic)

The more you learn, the more of a well-rounded person you will be. Looking at life as a continual quest for knowledge, and finding cool new facts in whatever situation you happen to find yourself, makes life a lot more interesting. Those who love learning will usually have a desire to attend a college or a university and this is definitely a good thing! However, they may quickly find out that going to college is very expensive. Tuition really starts adding up. Although it hasn’t always been this way, in recent years, tuition prices are only getting higher, not lower.


To offset the costs of tuition, find out ways to start saving early on. If you know how expensive things can be ahead of time, then it will be easier for you to save and plan. Many students let the fear of debt and loans get to them and they think that college will never be an option for them. This is not the case! If you have a passion for learning, then work hard to pursue this. Money should not get in the way of your desire to be a knowledgeable person, but you need to be aware of the hardships facing current and future college grads, and this infographic by consolidatedcredit.org tells you all you need to know.


 


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4 Tips on Getting a College Scholarship

Many students consider college as the only way to achieve their dreams. While for other students, their only way out of poverty is through a college diploma. But for many, college is just too expensive. Sadly, not every high school graduate can afford the high tuition of a college education. Those who risk applying for loans become too indebted in the system that even after getting their degrees, they still worry about the cost of their college education.


Many try to juggle a part-time job with their studies, and while some manage to do it, others fail in balancing them well. This is why there are many drop-outs, and some students even choose to not go to college at all. It’s a shame since so many bright students deserve to go to college yet their financial situation doesn’t allow them.


However, there’s always a way for students to still pursue their dream, because there’s another way to have a degree. Scholarships are available for those who try hard enough. The problem, however, is that there are thousands trying to get one, so how can they be chosen out of the thousands? No one claims it to be easy, but they can try. Besides getting a Grade Point Average that’s higher than average, other means to boost their chances of getting a scholarship are available for those willing to give it a shot.

Build a good academic background. Getting good grades isn’t the only way to see if they’re a model student. They can also do it by participating well in school. Joining contests, academic and non-academic ones, can show how well-rounded they are. It doesn’t just emphasize their competitiveness but it illustrates that they are capable of training hard to achieve their goals.Emphasize their strengths. If they’re good athletes, they can get into good colleges just by being a sports scholar. If they’re creative, check out colleges that specifically offer arts scholarship. If writing essays is their strength, there are colleges who even specifically look for prolific writers. It’s vital that they know their strengths so they’ll also know which school will offer the best chances for a scholarship. Some universities have talent tests in which one can get in just by proving their talents alone.Consider state colleges and universities. It’s never about settling for less. Most of the prolific colleges are those with high tuition fees, but universities subsidized by the government can offer college education for a really affordable tuition, and sometimes, for free. So basically, a student is possible to be a state scholar.Be a leader. Those people who’ll review scholarship applications don’t only look at how smart the student is, but also how capable they can be. Be part of an organization, and if they can, try to be one of the leaders. If they want to, they can always find in themselves the qualities of a good leader.Try private institutions for scholarship grants. It’s not just schools who give away scholarships. There are also private companies who offer to send students to college. There maybe a corresponding payment such as a contract that they’ll work for them after college for a couple of years. But if it’s the only way they can have a degree, why not?

Universities won’t easily give away scholarships. So as a student, they have to do their part and prove that they deserve to be sent to college.
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Paige Donahue is a copy-editor for rushessay.com. She enjoys writing and hopes to get her collection of essays published someday. She’s currently considering going back to school but needs a little more motivation.


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