Invigorate Your Vocabulary – 3 Simple Tips

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If you spend all day e-mailing your pals, you may not need a large vocabulary.

But if you are working and socializing in the real world, a good vocabulary is a priceless asset. And if you like to solve word puzzles and games, a good vocabulary is essential. Here are some simple ways you can boost yours.

1. Don’t Dumb Down–Stretch Up

If you are reading this article, you are already thinking that your vocabulary could use a boost. That means you should expose yourself to new words from new sources. If you are currently reading Nancy Drew mysteries, for example, step up to Agatha Christie. If you read only the soap opera updates in the newspaper, try reading some editorial columns.

Try reading short articles, stories and books that are just a bit intimidating. Then keep a dictionary nearby or stay connected to an online dictionary as you read. And remember, just because you haven’t seen a word before does not mean you can’t figure out its meaning. If you reread the word in context, you can often discover its meaning from the words around it.

2. Don’t Be Afraid of Intellectuals

Just as you may need to stretch yourself on reading materials, it may also be helpful to stretch yourself in conversations with people who have great vocabularies. As you hear others correctly use new words, you will gain confidence in how to use them yourself.

If one of your friends has an amazing command of language, he/she really won’t mind if you ask, “What was that word again? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.” Then ask him/her to expound on it. You will learn something helpful, and your friend will bask in the glow of knowing something that another person values.

3. Don’t Discount the Value of Word Games

  • Reader’s Digest’s quintessential column, Word Power, has run for decades. It provides challenging words on a single theme, along with answers and explanations. If you don’t subscribe the magazine, visit their website or browse through a copy the next time you visit the doctor’s office.
  • Crossword puzzles and other clue-based word games are a great way to increase and practice vocabulary. Sometimes you will learn new meanings for words you already know. While word search puzzles can be fun for some, they usually don’t include word meanings, so their benefit is minimal at best.
  • A great online activity can be found at www.FreeRice.com. Under “options” you can pick a starting level. You are given a vocabulary word with 4 choices of definitions. If you get an answer wrong, you can choose the option to be given the same word again a bit later until you get it right. For every correct definition you choose, the site donates 20 grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Program to help end hunger.

So cogitate on how best to magnify your lexicon, and soon your confidantes and colleagues will be utterly astounded!

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12 Helpful Tips to Pass the CELTA or TEFL Teaching Preparation Course

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As a Trinity College of London post-graduate diploma holder in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) when a co-worker seriously queried me on the rigors and requirements of taking a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification course for teaching English, I recommended an upcoming CELTA (Certification in English Language Teaching) teacher training certification program at the British Council. After several conversations with him I thought,

“Why not give the prospective CELTA trainee some advice right from a proven source?”

Having such teaching certification opens doors internationally for English teaching positions, enabling certificate holders to work in scores if not hundreds of countries worldwide. But the more reputable and highly-regarded 120+ hour programs are intensive, stressful and difficult regardless of the experience and amount of preparation trainees may have.

So, I contacted Nathan Jones, a CELTA graduate I knew and asked, “Look, can you do something for me? I’m tutoring someone to enter the CELTA training course like the one you did. Would you please give him some insight as to course requirements, the schedule, themes, difficulties, etc.? You’ll be able to provide this prospective CELTA trainee with some idea of what he’s in for this summer if he takes the CELTA.”

Sure enough, Nathan, the CELTA grad, offered some insights as to what might be in store for a CELTA trainee during the five-week intensive regimen. With my insight also included, here’s what our advice consisted of:

We offer you these tips for preparing to take the CELTA or other TESOL certification program. Try to remember these valuable key points:

1. Read everything you are given thoroughly.

This includes handouts, course outlines and requirements, etc.

2. Use your peers to assist you in every aspect of your

training. Get to know your directors, teachers,

administrators, and other personnel on the course

program

3. Complete every course program project on time – or early, if

possible.

4. Be open to being challenged and mentally exasperated, take

copious notes, and share them freely with other trainees.

5. Find another trainee or a small study group you can gel and

work well with.

6. Seek out the person(s) who have had friends or family

previously in the course, because they will likely have a

head start in completing course program tasks.

7. Get lots of sleep. You’ll need it. Don’t fall asleep in

class or get “burned out from stress and exhaustion. Take

some “relax” time daily.

8. Practice your teaching techniques regularly, whether

assigned or not.

9. Try to learn from the students you will be teaching.

10. Follow the required texts, books and materials explicitly –

ask questions if you doubt or don’t fully understand

anything. Make sure you understand the processes of what

you will be learning. This is crucial to your success.

11. Do everything in organized steps or stages and be

consistently persistent.

12. A few final Key Points:

o Ask questions – even the “stupid” ones

o pay rapt attention – everything is important

o follow directions explicitly

o listen carefully at all times

o study regularly, plan your time well – resist the urge

to “goof off”

o prepare well daily for each class or input session

o practice what you learn – that’s what your partner / study

group is for

o get help wherever and whenever you can – don’t allow yourself

to fall behind

Be sure to enjoy the experience and have fun. These people will be your friends for life. Remember that a course alone, while preparing you to enter an EFL / ESL (English as a Foreign Language / English as a Second Language) teaching career, does not in itself make you a teacher. Continue to grow, develop and learn throughout your TEFL teaching career.

Good Luck

How to Learn German – Helpful Advice

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• The first task we must assign ourselves id to learn the proper pronunciation of the alphabet, including the letters that are peculiar to German such as “ä”, “ö”, “ü” and “ß”(es-tzet). The best way to do this is to listen to a professor or watch a video where such letters and their respective sounds are dealt with in detail.

• We must be able to organize our time. It is advisable to set a schedule or time-table and devote daily at least some minutes to this learning process. The choice of an adequate place or “spot” is also advisable.

• With the help of audiovisual material we will be acquiring and enlarging our vocabulary. It is very important to listen and to see simultaneously the corresponding images in order to associate them with their German meaning. If at the same time we see the images, we learn the words that correspond to them, thus making this learning process more effective.

• Grammar also requires concentration and study. We must learn the declinations of the articles that affect the adjectives and nouns.

• In German, the first letter in a noun is written with a capital letter.

• It is a good idea to register in the library of some German school or Institute. There we can have a better and more intimate contact with this country’s culture and also get to know people who are also learning this language.

• It would be great if we have the opportunity to do a course in Germany itself. There is no better way to learn a language than in the country where it is spoken.

• Finally, reading is also an excellent way to learn a language. Of course, in order to read it, one must have at least the basic principles. In order to obtain the utmost benefit we should search out the best in literature, well-known authors, thus we shall form a solid knowledge basis.

Tips for Pronunciation of the Swedish Vowels

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The most famous parody of the Swedish accent is probably the Swedish chef in The Muppet Show, but also more recently a sketch in The Catherine Tate show called Interpreter. What both these parodies have picked up, is the sing-song element of Swedish, and also the fact that the Swedish language is relatively vowel-rich. The pronunciation of these vowels can prove a challenge when you are learning Swedish. This article goes through all Swedish vowels and gives some tips on how to pronounce them, according to the Swedish alphabet.

A

The thing to remember with A is that it is very long. For English speakers, it usually helps to make the same sound as when saying the English letter ‘r’, but to remove the ‘r-sound’ in the end and only keep the long ‘ah’. Another way can be to visualize the sound you have to make if a doctor examines your mouth and throat. The doctor usually places a spatula on your tongue, and asks you to say ‘ah’. Finally, it is important to remember to drop your jaw properly, which makes the A deep and long.

E

This vowel can be tricky because for an English speaker, the natural instinct is to treat it like the English ‘ee’ (like in for example ‘bumble-bee’). But the Swedish E is lower, and finishes off with a slight A-sound in the very end (at least the accents found around Stockholm and Uppsala on the East coast). The best way to find the right sound, is to say the English word ‘ear’, but to remove the ‘r-sound’ in the end: ‘ea’.

I

This vowel unfortunately adds another layer to the confusion around the Swedish vowel E. This is because the Swedish pronunciation of the letter I is just like the English ‘ee’. In other words, a very wide and smiley ‘ee-sound’. The only consolation is that Swedish speakers have exactly the same problem when learning English, just the other way around!

O

The letter O can be hard to pronounce, because it is a bit more extreme than the English ‘oh-sound’. The ‘oh-sound’ in English requires fairly relaxed lips, and also a relaxed tongue. The Swedish O requires a very tense mouth and hard lips pressed together, like when you are whistling a tune, or sucking a straw. The tongue is pulled right back in the throat, like you do if you eat something that is too hot and you try to protect your tongue.

U

This is perhaps the hardest one to explain, out of all Swedish vowels. When you say the vowel U, your lips should be relaxed, your tongue touching the bottom-row of your front teeth, and your jaw should be slightly pushed forward. It sounds a little bit like the disgusted expression “Eew”, but more like the end-part than the first.

Y

The vowel Y tends to be hard to get right, but I have found a way to describe it that seems to be helpful. Firstly, say the Swedish I (or the English ‘ee’) and analyse what your tongue is doing. Secondly, keep that tongue position absolutely still, but move your lips from a wide smile to a trumpet-like shape (i.e. push your lips forward, quite aggressively). So when going from I to Y, your tongue position should be exactly the same, and the only thing changing is your lips – going from a wide smile, to a trumpet-shape.

Å

Here is the first one of the three extra vowels in Swedish (they come in the end of the alphabet by the way, in this order: å, ä, ö). The challenge is to really distinguish them as separate vowels, and not just muddled versions of A and O. The Å can be thought of as the ‘au’ sound in ‘Paul’. Indeed, some Swedish Pauls actually spell their names Pål. The sound is long, as in a long ‘Påål’.

Ä

This letter can be thought of as the English ‘ai’ in ‘pair’, or ‘hair’. The only thing to remember is that the mouth is actually quite wide, a bit more of a smile than when saying ‘pair’.

Ö

Finally, the Ö is similar to the English sound ‘i’ in the word ‘bird’. Or ‘u’ in the word ‘fur’. Or ‘ea’ in the word ‘heard’. The lips are fairly rounded, but also slightly trumpet-shaped.

And finally, the graduation test is to fully master the following Swedish tongue twister: Flyg fula fluga flyg, och den fula flugan flög (Fly away you ugly fly, and the ugly fly flew away).

That’s it – good luck!

Tips For Getting The Gender Of Spanish Nouns Always Right

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Getting the gender of basic Spanish nouns wrong is not only frustrating, but also highly de-motivating. In this article I give you an insight into what causes this problem and I help you overcome it from today.

My fifteen years teaching Spanish have shown me that learning and reviewing vocabulary the wrong way is what leads to those mistakes.

You may be wondering, then, if there is a way of learning new Spanish nouns that will allow you to get the gender always right. The answer, without any doubt, is ‘yes’. Here are the two steps you need to follow:

1. Avoid learning nouns without ‘el’ or ‘la’, and the same goes for reviewing.

2. Always learn new nouns with audio material, preferably audio flashcards recorded by native speakers.

Learning Spanish vocabulary through this method is fast, efficient and a great time-saver.

It takes the same effort to learn Spanish nouns with and without their articles. Learning them with ‘el’ or ‘la’ will save you valuable time and disappointment. As an example, remember to avoid learning that:

‘flor’ means ‘flower’

Make sure you learn that:

the Spanish noun ‘la flor’ means ‘the flower’

This simple step will help you link the word ‘flor’ to ‘la’ every time, the same way that Spanish speakers link them.

Vocabulary audio flashcards are those that give you a list of Spanish words said by native speakers, and they also give you their English translation.

The task of learning new Spanish vocabulary becomes significantly easier with audio flashcards. They are an essential tool for acquiring a good Spanish accent, and a powerful resource for reviewing efficiently.

Briefly, learning new vocabulary following the two steps I’ve described in this article is not only more efficient in the short, medium and long-term, but also much more enjoyable.

Teach English in Colombia: Grappling with Grammar, Gold, Guns, and Guayaba

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Americans avoid Colombia for good reasons. A virtual civil war has been waged for nearly 40 years. Rates of crime and violence are among the world’s highest. And then there’s the “drug problem.” Why would anyone consider coming here to teach English?

“I came because a friend who was working in Cali liked it here and recommended it,” says Glenn Yates, a teacher now in his second year at a bilingual school. Tired of Canada’s frigid winters, he fled to a land of year-round warm weather and an even warmer welcome.

Colin Jacobs, weary of gloomy days and drizzle, found his way to teaching English in Cali from his native England more than 20 years ago and hasn’t left since. “I don’t think I could live in London again,” he says. “After adjusting to the near-perfect weather, the food, and the easy-going lifestyle here, I’m not really keen to go back. I’m spoiled for life.”

So am I. Hundreds of varieties of flowers perfume the air, even in winter. Pantries abound with exotic fruits like Guayaba and Carambolo. The year-long growing season allows papayas to reach nearly the size of watermelons; mangoes can weigh up to two pounds each. Colombia’s strong, black coffee, considered the world’s richest, is served everywhere.

But Is It Safe?

There are problems, yes, but not of “run-screaming-to-the-hills” intensity. Most conflicts occur in the countryside. While this can make inter-city travel risky at times, residents inside major cities like Bogota, Cali, and Medellin feel little impact and live quite normally. Adjusting to power failures, phone or water outages, and rainy season flooding is more of a nuisance than life-threatening. Larger cities are reasonably well policed and usually safe, if you’re careful.

Drugs? Most illicit production is for export, so, except for warring drug factions in the coca-growing areas, there’s not much everyday impact. During major holidays the government steps up military patrols of principal highways and vacation resort areas to insure protection and safer travel for vacationers.

Quality of Life

Cali, with two million residents, is known as the “Salsa capital of the world,” rivaling Cuba. The two largest shopping malls house multi-cinema complexes featuring first-run U.S. films in English with Spanish subtitles. English publications are readily available at bookstores and newsstands. Material in English can be borrowed free from the Universidad Santiago de Cali and for a $3 annual fee from the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano. The Municipal Theatre, Tertulia Arts Complex, and Jorge Isaacs Theatre offer regular productions in Spanish. Ethnic restaurants specializing in Latin American and Mediterranean cuisines continually tempt Caleño palettes. Holiday celebrations take place year-round. Check them out online at [http://www.holiday] festival.com/ Colombia.html. You will never be bored in Cali.

Jobs

Native-speaking English teachers are scarce here. Salaries reflect the high demand. Most teaching positions require an applicant to be a native speaker of English and have a university degree. A teaching certificate and some experience are a definite plus. Work is available at bilingual colegios, language institutes, and universities. Sending out a dozen or so resumes in English should land you half that number of interviews, culminating in several on-the-spot job offers.

No hablas español? Interviews are typically in English, but as a working resident you’ll likely want to pick up more than just tourist Spanish. The Universidad Santiago de Cali and the Pontifica Universitaria Javeriana have Spanish programs for foreigners. Berlitz (www.berlitz.com) has offices in Cali with Spanish classes. A private tutor is fairly easy to come by.

“It hasn’t been a problem to find someone to help me when I need something done in Spanish,” said Glen Yates, who, with his limited Spanish, has found Colombians to be very friendly and sociable.

So, don’t worry needlessly about the news reports. Call, write, or email the schools and institutes to get a feel for their needs and requirements. Check out the web sites. Assemble your diplomas, certificates, and reference letters. Don’t forget to collect materials like maps, postcards, flyers, magazines, and memorabilia from your hometown. These will be invaluable for your conversations with students.

I Am Failing Spanish – 4 Tips to Help You Improve Your Grade!

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What do you do when you think that you are failing Spanish, about to fail Spanish or that you are just not making any progress?

I know how you feel because I used to get that feeling in Math. I used to feel as though I was never any good at it. Nothing ever made sense except the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. That was it! As far as I was concerned that is all I needed to get by in the real world, so who cares about anything else? Forget algebra and anything else that I would not be using on a daily basis.

But the point I am making is that not all parts of Math were challenging. I simply found some sections and topics more challenging than others so I had to find a way to overcome my challenges in those areas in order to pass it.

But bringing this back to Spanish, I found parts of Spanish challenging as well particularly Spanish listening; learning to speak the language fluently and having a wide vocabulary. Because of this I had to come up with ways to deal with the challenges I was facing.

That was the only way I was going to pass.

So if you are failing Spanish or you think that you are in danger of failing Spanish, I would advise that you do the following:

1. Identify the parts of Spanish in your Spanish course that you are having difficulty with. What do you find to be most challenging about learning Spanish? Is it the vocabulary; verb conjugation; speaking; listening; reading or writing?

2. When you have done that, try to come up with specific tips that will help you to improve in the area in which you are having difficulty. So if you are fairly good at reading, then don’t spend more time on reading Spanish. Spend time on the parts that you find most challenging.

3. Spend an extra 15 minutes a day on those areas. And you are not going to be slaving away at these areas for those for 15 minutes either. You are going to find fun ways of improving in those areas. There are already quite few tips on my blog that will help to keep you more connected to the language and more engaged with it.

Anyone who feels that they are failing something will start to feel disconnected from it, for obvious reasons so you have to find inspiration to keep you engaged and wanting to improve. When you are having fun with something, it stops feeling like work or studying and you just learn or pick up things at record speed. That’s when you start making progress.

4. Be consistent in working to overcome your challenges. If there is one thing that you will hear me say over and over is be consistent whatever your approach at improving. Rome was not built in a day. A little bit of effort over time is what will help you to pass Spanish and get a good grade!

You will not fail Spanish and I assure you that if you start now, you will see an improvement in as little as two weeks because I have seen it happen time and again.

So now that you know what to do, get cracking on it now!

If you want an A in Spanish, click on the link below and visit my blog!

Memory Tips For Memorizing Spanish Vocabulary

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First of all, you have to have a source for vocabulary Spanish websites, newspapers and magazines can give you tons of new words and phrases to use, so that’s a great start, and you’ll get even more. I also suggest getting a dictionary; this will obviously help when you need to translate an idea from your language, or have heard a new word in Spanish that you don’t know, and want to look it up. If you have already found a good dictionary and are using it, that is great. Keep it up.

Now, the next step is to consider getting your hands on a Spanish-Spanish dictionary, rather than a translation one. You have enough of a base vocabulary now that you can start to use the same dictionary that a Spanish speaker would use. Don’t go get a big doorstop of a dictionary at first; try to get a student one, and remember that a Spanish picture dictionary is an easy way to start. You will probably want to hang on to your translation one for a while, but try using a Spanish-Spanish one now too. Es mas autentico, and is a great way to challenge yourself to increase your vocabulary.

So, there you have it; awesome resources to find much of the vocabulary that you will need to speak Spanish like a native (with a nice little accent). But, what techniques should you use to learn quickly and effectively? Well, your best learning styles, of course:

Are you a visual learner? Flash cards are an excellent way to learn and remember your vocabulary words. Challenge yourself to read a Spanish newspaper in your free time, or keep it in your bag or car to take out and read when you have time. This type of constant, repeated input is great for visual learners.

Are you an audio learner? No problema; try getting hold of some Spanish music onto your MP3 player and listen to it as you work, work out, or drive along in your car.

Are you more of a kin aesthetic learner? Well, your teachers probably knew what was best for you; writing lines! This means writing vocabulary lists, with translations, perhaps putting down each word three times. The movement involved in reading and writing, and repeating this action, is a very good way for learners like you to remember information.

And a fabuloso way to learn vocabulary for all types of learners, in a first or second language? Read! Seeing the vocabulary being used within a context and it in its different forms is a very real way to approach it and you will learn even more by doing this.

Of course, you can also find Spanish articles, books and information written about topics you enjoy, too, and this is a great way to use your own motivation to help you practice. As I mentioned before, children’s books are also excelente, because they are simple, and often are stories that you know. So many possibilities!

And lastly, of course the very best way to learn vocabulary is to combine all of your senses, use every learning style, and use your Spanish. Use it to speak to others, listen to others, sing along with others or write to others. Using Spanish in real situations will naturally increase your word power, and enjoyment. And that is what it’s all about!

Tip: Have you tried watching television yet, to help you improve your listening, vocabulary and general understanding of Spanish? Try telenovas. These are Spanish soap operas, and are very popular throughout the Spanish speaking world. The language is usually pretty simple, and it’s a fun way to increase understanding. You can find some on most cable networks.

Tips For Choosing A Professional Translation Company

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Planning to develop your business in different geographical locations? While it may give you a great sense of satisfaction to see your business expand, you must be prepared to face the challenges that come with this as well. One of the first and foremost challenges that you need to face is language. For example, if you want to establish your site or business in a particular country, you should ensure that your values, objectives, and mission are clearly understood by the people living there so that they trust you. To ensure that your values go out in different languages in the most undiluted form, you need the services of a professional translation company. Choose these service providers with care, because a mistake that they make will directly influence your credibility. Keep the following points in mind when you choose professional translation services.

1. Techniques used

Choose a translation company based on the techniques that they use. The company should have sophisticated linguistics softwares that complement human linguists so that the output quality is good. Technology gives suggestions on vocabulary, correct usage of terms, points out errors and offers suggestions to make the content better. If you want your business values to be translated without any deviations, you have to choose an agency that makes the best use of human and machine power. Gone are the days when humans were enough to do the translation job. Not anymore, though!

2. Subject matter experts

If your business is related to finance, choose a translation service provider who has experience in translating finance projects before. This will ensure that you and your agency are on the same page when it comes to delivering quality content that has the same meaning as that of the original language. Never choose generic language translation services, even though they offer you good deals on their packages. This is because, by doing so, you will compromise on quality that will eventually hit your credibility greatly. Domain-specific knowledge is a must for your service provider to do justice to your content.

3. Turn around Time

Choose a translation agency that offers you a good TAT (Turnaround Time). A professional language translation service provider would not only translate the work quickly but would also do it with high-accuracy. They employ translators all over the world and the difference in time zones among these geographies will ensure that you get high-quality and timely delivery always. When an agency falls behind its timelines for the first time, you should avoid it completely. The translated content becomes trash if you are not able to use it at the right time.

Apart from these check for other factors like the reputation of the translation agency, requesting for test translation scripts, understanding requirements, stringency of quality control processes, cost structure, confidentiality, flexibility, customer service and the like. Do a complete analysis to understand the mode of operation of your translation service provider and check for reviews on the internet posted by businesses that have availed its services earlier. All of these demand a lot of your time and effort; however, it is worth every second, because you are entrusting the credibility of your business with these agencies!

Tips to Improve Your Spoken English

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A lot of my students ask me what is it that they should do to improve their Spoken English. So here is a post to tell them what I feel can improve their English skills.

I stated thinking about it and realized that I was lucky to be born in a family where, despite being Indians, English was the language of choice. Since my father rarely spoke Marathi and my mother only ever used Gujrati to discipline me in public, I only ever heard them speak to each other and me in English. Hence fluency in the language just came naturally to me. I only picked up Hindi once I started schooling.

A lot of people don’t have such a family environment. The first language they learn is their mother tongue. The next will be Hindi, if they are based in North India. Then when they reach school they finally learn English as the third language. In South India the second language is English, which is the reason why despite accent trouble they are much more comfortable speaking in English.

As a result, here are a few tips that I have collected to help improve Spoken English.

Tip No # 1 Get comfortable with the language. Read for 20 minutes in English. It can be a newspaper, a short story, a poem, or even a novel.

Tip No # 2 Develop your written language. If you don’t have the requisite vocabulary you won’t be able to communicate.

Tip No # 3 Start Speaking. Try out your spoken English on anyone who will be able to respond to you. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

Tip No # 4 Keep your ears open for the accent. Watch the English news on Television. Watch BBC for the British Accent, CNN for the American Accent and NDTV 24/7 for the urban Indian Accent.

Tip No # 5 Record yourself. Listen to your voice and catch your pronunciation mistakes. Make a deliberate effort to avoid them.

Tip No # 6 Grammar is important. The parts of speech, tenses, form of verb, articles and modals all contribute to fluency. Make an effort to learn them.

Tip No # 7 Make the Dictionary your best friend. To date I head for it when confronted with a new word. Familiarize yourself with its meaning and use it in a sentence that very day.

Tip No # 8 Have someone proficient read aloud to you. A storybook or a newspaper article will do. Watch how they move their lips while pronouncing certain words.

Tip No # 9 Learn one new word a day. To increase your active vocabulary start memorizing the meaning of a word you had heard but were not sure of. Use it regularly to absorb it into your vocabulary.

Tip No # 10 Start writing a Diary. It will allow you to practice the language in a totally non threatening environment. Write one entry of at least 100 words everyday.

Consequently your Spoken English will improve, but not if you are lacking in commitment. It’s all very well to be pumped up today about learning the language and forgetting all about it tomorrow.

Always remember the skills involved in any language are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Any single one can’t be developed in isolation