Ways to Build Students' Self-Esteem

One of the most difficult tasks for any teacher, whether beginner or experienced, is building self-esteem in students who clearly show a low level of confidence. The older the student, the more we struggle to build up his/her self-esteem, since we have to overcome several years of low personal opinion. The factors which cause low self-esteem are numerous and probably known to all of us: negative family atmosphere, absence of role models, taunting by peers, and lack of opportunities to demonstrate one's real skills.

The components of self-esteem are four: what he/she thinks of their personal value, the kind of work they do and its consequences, personal achievements or lack thereof, and, most importantly, what they believe other people think of them. Simply talking to the students with positive words will never be sufficient; the task requires the following from all teachers:

Observe and Evaluate

Pay attention to each child's demeanor. Their non-verbal language almost always reveals their attitude towards themselves. Are they slouching, keeping their head down, not looking at you in the eye, isolated, very few or no friends, or are they defiant, strutting with an apparently superior attitude?

The defiant child has not learned to trust adults, sometimes with good reasons. The isolated (from all other students) child may have been abused, or severely taunted as inferior, as dumb, as unskilled, by previous teachers (it happens, unfortunately) and by peers.

Regaining Trust

Your task as a teacher is to gain their trust, an arduous task indeed. Allow me the recent example of a diffident student who finally granted me his trust. I met Javier (not his name) approximately 2 years ago in my high school where he arrived as a shy, timorous freshman. After observing him for 3 months, I noticed that he occasionally wore the shirt of a famous Mexican soccer team. Since I am a former player, I thought I had found the key to his mental door of trust.

I started making conversation with him, after helping him out with his English essay, and discovered that the team he really admired was the Spanish Barcelona. I began mentioning some of the key players and how well the team had played that Sunday. Little by little, he opened up to me, until I discovered that he felt neglected in his family because he was the "sandwich" brother. He now confides in me by retelling almost every incident about his personal life. His grades are going up at the same time he accepts who he is and what he can and cannot do.

Successful Tasks, The Key To Self-Esteem

Any student can experience success in school, even when their low level of intelligence presents serious obstacles. Some of the disabled children (Learning Disabled, Health Impairments, Physical Disabilities, etc.) are especially susceptible to low self-esteem. They even believe that they incapable of learning. "I am dumb," is an expression that I have heard too often.

We, the teachers, have the mission to devise tasks that less gifted children can perform successfully. If these accomplishments are followed by congratulations (sincere and genuine), the student's self-esteem will shoot up immediately. Too often, schools and teachers devise lesson plans that expect the same from every child. That is a very serious mistake. We must differentiate not only in the way we present the material, but also adapt it to the time some students take to finish.

See Them Outside Of School

All children love physical and/or artistic activity and schools provide them with multiple opportunities. Take the time to go to their games or activities after school. You have no idea how happy they are to see their teacher on the sideline or in the audience. Talk to the parents and tell them how much progress Adrian has made in the last few weeks. They in turn will mention this to the student who will feel elated that his/her teacher talked to their parents in such a positive manner.

Patience and Time, Time and Patience

Yes, the task is arduous; do not expect immediate results. Do not even expect positive results in every case. Some children may have been damaged too much and need expert help (psychological). For every student for whom you have made a difference, there are many others who need your attention, your patience, and your time. Isn't teaching wonderful?

J.C. Sprenger has been teaching at a local high school for 6 years as a special education (inclusion) teacher. Before that, he was a university professor in Mexico (10 years) teaching English to Mexican students. He has a B.A. in psychology and a Master's in Education. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, he now makes his home in Brownsville, Texas. He has been a freelance writer for 15 years in newspapers and recently on the Internet.

For more information on becoming a teacher in Texas and teacher jobs, check out http://www.TexasTeachers.org.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J.C._Sprenger

Self Esteem - 10 Tips to Building Superior Confidence For Success

A lot of people, including me, have struggled with low self - esteem at one stage of their lives or another. That lack of confidence can cause a person to perform below standard, even whilst doing the things that he is good at. The reason could be a low self - evaluation or thoughts of not being good enough or that somebody else can do it better. Lack of confidence results in failed examinations, interviews or even auditions. The best candidate does not always win. The modestly - gifted one may take the cup home if he faces a less - confident opposition. I wish to share ten things from some of my experiences that helped me in building my confidence.

1. I have learned that whatever I do I must do it badly with enthusiasm until I have learned how to do it well. Then I proceed with confidence to do far much better.

2. Self - esteem does not come from positive self- talk only but it also derives from taking positive action that is contrary to what others may believe to be true about you.

3. I refer to a time when I was in high school and I loved to sing but I would always do a terrible job and I'd be criticized, laughed at and mocked by my peers. I discovered many years later that it was not the lack of talent but a lack of confidence.

4. I always strive to be a top performer in any domain or activity I choose to participate. Over the years I have refused to allow anyone to classify me, define me or compare me to somebody else. I have gained confidence through experience and there is no replacement for a tough mental attitude and experience that comes through repetition.

5. Popular talent shows that are beamed on television worldwide may be responsible for exposing the talent of exceptionally gifted young people, but it is my opinion that they have destroyed others in the process, who lacked in confidence. Some of the criticism does nothing to edify or encourage the one who has more passion than talent and needs an extra "push".

6. You need courage to be confident. Courageous, daring people did not become like that overnight. They risked being made a fool of a number of times by doing what nobody else had done and continued to do what they believed in. The great inventors of our time were not confident neither were they sure that they were going to succeed, but they had the wherewithal to withstand criticism and forge ahead until they succeeded.

7. The fact that I write and speak doesn't mean that I had all the confidence I have when I began my career, but I invested time and energy and sacrifice working on my charisma, proficiency and presentation and seeking the advice of wiser men and women and now I walk with confidence in my step and boldness.

8. The most intimidating thing about being a salesperson is rejection from customers. Some people are so negative that they have to say "no" seven times before they say yes so you keep asking for the order. When you have built your confidence levels you will be able to understand that you are not the object of their rejection but it is the product or proposition that is being thrown out.

9. Knowing who I am in the grand scheme of things as a child of God has given me the knowledge that there is a place of assignment for me in the world and I have discovered it and I occupy it with confidence.

10. Building superior confidence is not about esteeming yourself more highly than you ought but it means you are secure enough in who you are to humble yourself and love your neighbor as yourself.

I believe you have what it takes to build superior confidence for your success.

Fitzgerald Mujuru is an author motivational speaker, marketing consultant and musician. He is the author of soon to be published book, "Power Thought For Today" motivational series. He is the pioneer of Jeduthun Music which has been recording and doing live shows in the last ten years. You can visit him on http://powerthought4today.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fitzgerald_Mujuru

Building An Online Community Team: The 5 Roles You Need To Fill by Richard Millingtonl

An online community manager plays five roles. Friend, recruiter, editor, enforcer and entrepreneur.

1.The friend: engages people individually. He participates in an online community, he messages lots of people to get them involved, he takes the time to cultivate loosely interested members into regulars.
2.The recruiter: persuades people to join the online community. He finds people that have something to contribute and builds relationships with them to join and invite others to do the same. He ensures steady supply of members to replace those that leave.
3.The enforcer: The enforcer keeps things clean. He removes the naughty posts, scolds the bad members and ensures nothing gets in the way of members participating in the online community.
4.The editor: Implements much of the community strategy. He solicits content, decides who/what matters. He has the power to shine a spotlight on members of the community and reward positive actions. Whenever you want the community to do something, he motivates them to do it.
5.The entrepreneur: is to an online community what a business development manager is to a business. He looks for opportunities to add value to the community. Creates alliances, advocates on behalf of the community and generates the income.
If you’re community is growing and you need to recruit more people, it makes sense to split these roles. Let the editors focus on content, the entrepreneurs focus on business development and the recruiter recruit.


http://www.feverbee.com/2010/07/onlinecommunityteam.html

Spanish Vs English

In a test carried out to find out which language would be easier for a computer to learn, Spanish came out to be the easiest, by far. These results shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Spanish is a well structured and fully matured language, with roots deeply attached into Latin, arguably the best structured language ever. The Spanish language has been developed over many centuries, the work of many scholars and educational institutions and has been enriched with contributions from a wide selection of cultures from all over the world.

Although as far as foreign contributions goes, English is richer, although its lack of logical structure makes it a language where exceptions are the rule and rules are exceptions.

Trebor Jung once said that:


"English is essentially bad Frisian, old French, Latin, and Greek, with a grammar that pretends to be like Latin but is really like Chinese or very dumbed-down Germanic (depending on how you look at it)."
I pretty much agree with those statements.

English as spoken by a native British person sounds kind of harsh to foreigners and even without understanding what they're saying, some aura of preposterousness can still be detected, specially in the way they end the sentences. American English sounds friendlier, at least to me, and although is not music to the ears either, is more melodic and easier to understand.

Don't get me wrong. I love the English language. I like its directness, its flexibility and its pragmatic attitude when dealing with new concepts. And as the international language of choice for about every citizen from every country on Earth, it has none or very few and far behind competitors.

What I like most is its ability to create new words to deal with new situations, in a simple but effective way. In that sense of simplicity, English is far richer, because it's able to convey a whole concept into a single word on its own right.

It is impossible, for example to translate any of the meanings of the word "Spam" into just one Spanish word.

In Spanish every word must be approved first from some kind of out-of-touch-with-reality linguistic authority before it can be officially used. And it can take years before that happens, if ever.

In my uneducated opinion, that attitude is just not practical in today's world and slows down the development of languages. However it doesn't get as ridiculous as in France, for example, where the Wise Men pretended that people used a expression that sounded something like "international spider web of computers" in French instead of the already implanted "Internet".

As an European who was fascinated with the American Way before actually going to the United States, I had always held this idea of American people as being a smart bunch of entrepreneurs who had the magic formula to make lots of money through innovation and multicultural contributions.

But once you get there, you start to understand that maybe that was some characteristic of past generations, but far from today's reality.

One of the things that struck me the most was the marginalization of the Spanish language in the States. While the rest of the world is increasingly learning Spanish, the United States of America have chosen to ignore a world language already implanted in their country since Day 1 and currently spoken as a first language by over 20% of its population.

Countries like Switzerland have their kids learn 2-3 languages at very early ages. This policy has created a large pool of people capable to travel and make business with the rest of the world. Any other nation would pay a fortune for having such a large share of its population speaking a second language, which incidentally happens to be the one language understood by all people South of its border.

As of 2007, Spanish has 325,529,636 first language speakers. That makes it the second most popular language spoken worldwide, after Mandarin Chinese with 882,475,389 speakers and ahead of English with 311,992,760.

So, why all this animadversion towards anything that smells of Spanish? Why are all those ignorant law-makers trying to erase a language and a culture that is so intrinsically rooted into the foundations of their own country?

It's a non-sensical mystery that can not be be unraveled without taking into account the power of the media serving private interests.

Spanish is considered to be a second-class language in the States and that's due to some recent historical misconceptions.

It is often forgotten that Spain was the country that backed up the American Revolution, providing military and financial support. It did so, clearly not so much because of its love for Freedom, but rather because of its historical vendetta with Britain.

But still, the facts are the facts, and what it is today the first power on Earth, owes its birth largely to Spain. So much so, that without Spain's help, it just could have not happened, and the world today would play in a different scenario, maybe better, maybe worse, but surely different.

Spain provided financial avail and paid for many expenses generated during the first years of the new-born United States of America. This is proven by the fact that Gavez, the governor of Spanish Louisiana, in recognition of his work and help to the American cause, was taken by George Washington to his right in the parade of July 4th.

Furthermore, more than half of the US. territory belonged to Spain, and except Puerto Rico, that was taken by military force together with Cuba and the Philippines at the end of the 19th century, the rest was amiably transferred or interchanged for some amounts of money (a million dollars for the whole of Florida's peninsula is what I call a bargain).

By the way the symbol for the dollar ($) originates from the Plus Ultra drawing depicting two columns and a waving ribbon representing Spain's overseas colonies.

Up to the Spanish-American War, relations between the two countries had been most friendly, but after the campaign against Spanish interests orchestrated by William Randolph Hearst, the press tycoon who was a personal friend of Roosevelt, the idea of Spanish as enemies took hold.

Hearst's New York City paper, the New York Morning Journal, became known for sensationalist writing and for its agitation in favor of the Spanish-American War, and the term yellow journalism (a pejorative reference to scandal-mongering, sensationalism, jingoism and similar practices) was derived from the Journal's color comic strip, "The Yellow Kid."

That twisted perception has dragged over the years up to today, and it's about time that the United States comes to realize what its real roots are and starts to take advantage of its Hispanic resources.

Bilingualism makes people smarter and more tolerant to other cultures, and frankly, those are two traits that the largest part of today's American society is in need of.

It's a win-win situation that only the most ignorant and stupid would fail to realize in its full potential and take proper advantage of it.

Besides Spanish is the language of the future. Ask any computer about it if you don't believe me.

Original Post and Discussion at:
Google Groups.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rafael_Minuesa

Language Learning - Three Ways Learning a Foreign Language Can Improve Your Life

With people all over the world learning English and most countries requiring a reasonable level of proficiency in their school students, why should an anglophone bother to learn a foreign language?

First, learning a foreign language broadens the way we view the world and shatters our cultural arrogance. As you struggle to learn the way people express a familiar idea in a different language you see new relationships through the words and phrases that are used, and sometimes come to see that familiar idea in a whole new way. Even at the early stages of your learning you can experience these 'aha' moments which fuel enthusiasm. Words are powerful things and the realisation that there are other ways of expressing ideas, and the difficulty of learning to express them accurately in a foreign tongue helps us to overcome our tendency to arrogance to those who do not agree with us.

Second, learning a foreign language may open up an opportunity to help others. On an informal level this can be done through providing directions or translation help to strangers whom you encounter casually, but you can also formally volunteer to serve foreign migrants in your own country who may need help settling in, or whose children may need help with their schoolwork. If you are travelling, even a slight knowledge of the language will often give you a chance to help others by asking directions or reading signs for them, and it will certainly make your own travel more enjoyable.

Third, trying to express yourself in a foreign language is a most effective antidote to pride as you struggle to understand the other speaker, and to get your mind and mouth around the words to respond, but, as you progress in your language learning you will gain confidence in your ability to communicate in the language and sense your achievement. At the same time, you will quickly realize how much there still is to learn which will help you to persist in your study and hopefully find real enjoyment in learning and seeing progress.

No matter what language you learn or what method you use to learn it, language learning takes effort but the benefit of even a basic level of competence are amazing. If you find yourself bored, depressed, or simply in search of a challenge there are few pursuits more rewarding than language learning and the internet makes it possible to choose almost any language for study and find helpful courses and materials.

Find some useful resources for foreign language study at http://www.mosteffectivelanguagelearning.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Hoplite

A Good Way to Find a Language Teacher Or Student Online

Today, there are many people around the world want to learn one or more foreign languages; also there are the same many people who want to teach them. But how would a "potential student" find a "potential teacher", or vise versa? Internet offers us a great solution.

Bailing English is a collection of online ads focusing on foreign language tutoring services. For people who want to learn a foreign language, they could post their interest by specifying what kind of teacher they prefer: their age, gender, price, nativeity, special expertise such as medical, business, verbal or writing; then they will have a chance to put a detail description about their preference. User will also need to leave their email addresses so they could then be contacted if anyone who sees their postings wants to contact them. For people who want to teach foreign language, they could do exactly the same thing by posting their expertise and experience onto Bailing English to find some students.

Bailing English also offers some great features to help users find a match quickly and precisely. It uses some criteria such as language, age, gender, price, and special expertise to match teacher and students automatically. Users can save a lot of time from this auto- searching function. Furthermore, for users in different countries, to get a sense of how much the other party is asking for the service could be hard too; so Bailing English offers a tool to help users calculate currencies. Users only need to enter their desired amount in local currency, the system will calculate and convert it to another currency in just a click. While Bailing English is built as an English website, it does put into its consideration to make posting and searching convenient for all non-English-speaking users. It offers an auto-language tool to quickly convert its entire website from English to any major languages used around the world. This feature will greatly benefit people who speak very little English. Everybody, now, can find a good match easily and quickly. Our world can finally talk.

http://www.bailingenglish.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Du

Content Marketing for Facebook

Content marketing on Facebook is gaining popularity for many reasons, including the amazing tools at your disposal and the ease of marketing to a wide audience quickly. To make sure that you are using the site to its full potential, there are a few ways to make sure that you are effectively using the site for marketing without chasing away potential customers.

Make Your Marketing Personal

One powerful way that Facebook works for marketing is that it offers a personal glimpse at the person or business doing the marketing. People don't read marketing pieces on Facebook to get a cold and impersonal sales pitch. They like the site because it feels like a personal dialogue with the various people and companies that they follow. Businesses that cultivate this personal aspect of the site make it more inviting for users who are deciding who to follow.

No matter what you are selling, your content marketing on Facebook should make people interested in you as a marketer as well as in what you are selling. Without that personal aspect, your marketing items are simply commercials, and commercials are easily turned off without another thought. A compelling marketer with plenty of interesting content, however, is intriguing and worth another read.

Don't Flood Your Followers

To keep a regular readership on Facebook, you do need to keep updating it with new and interesting content. Status updates, your Twitter messages, interesting links, video and other marketing items are useful for making your content marketing multi-faceted and up to date. However, if you update with new content every hour, filling your pages with hundreds of links, pictures, 1000-word articles and more, you will overwhelm your readers with too much in too little time.

Most Facebook users do spend considerable time on the site, but they don't want to do it all on your pages. To get the most followers possible without scaring them away with a bombardment of advertising, strike a balance between new content and networking with other Facebook members. Going out and networking with others will help with cultivating a following more than filling your pages with as much as possible.

Remember Your Readers

One important thing to remember about content marketing on Facebook is to remember the readers. They aren't on Facebook to work- they are there for a little recreation. Your message doesn't necessarily have to be light or humorous, but it is important to make sure that you can see it from the perspective of a reader. If you were cruising Facebook and stumbled upon your pages, what would tempt you into reading further? Is your information difficult to navigate? Does it give readers any reason to pay attention to what you have to say? If not, consider what you enjoy reading on Facebook. Think about what it would take to keep you engaged and interested in the content you read.

Some marketers add contests, informational videos or other items to their Facebook pages to keep them interesting. If you can surprise and engage readers with personal, interesting content, you have the tools to market effectively.

Darren Olander is dedicated to teaching others how to create a success online through internet network marketing strategies. He is a site owner, article writer, coach & marketing consultant enjoying the benefits of working full time from home. You can learn more about him at DarrenOlander.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_Olander

Using Social Media to Grow Your Business - How to Use Social Media Sites As a Marketing Strategy

Social media connects people in the online world to form relationships for personal and business purposes. Online marketers use media sites to build communities, discuss business issues, share expertise and build their brand and to establish themselves as experts. Social networking sites enable a marketer to advertise freely, expand market and to text marketing messages. Therefore to maximize the use of social media as a marketing strategy, you need to know how to use it effectively and efficiently.

How to use social media sites

1. Target your audience and choose your networking sites

What social networks are your clients visiting? What social media website is specific to your industry? Not all media sites will be good for your business. Choose the appropriate site and go to where your audience is and start conversation.

2. Set goals

Now that you know your audience and where to market to them, you need to set your goals. Is it to drive traffic to your website or to generate leads for your business? Or is it just to get your company's name out there for brand recognition? Your goal determines what you do with the social networking sites. Remember that your goals should be realistic and achievable.

3. Social media tools

There are tools that surround social networking like blogging, RSS feeds, viral video, etc. Choose the tools that you can combine with your social networking comfortably and will also enhance your business. Learn how to use them and incorporate them.

4. Create profiles

Create profiles on the social media sites you have chosen. Include a photo for people to closely identify with you. Talk about yourself and your business. People want to know more about you and your business before they buy whatever you are selling.

5. Success factors

To succeed with social networking campaign, you need to be transparent, honest, and relevant, committed and value minded. You need to build trust and loyalty with your audience. Offer suggestions, provide feedback and answer specific questions. Furthermore, do not always try to sell to them. Try to understand the need of the consumer instead of forcing yourself on your customer.

6. Remain active

Stay active in your media sites and relevant communities. Monitor and engage in conversations regularly and appropriately. Do not allow your networking presence to lie dormant. Make your audience to look forward to reading your next posts and to hearing what next you have to say.

Using social media as a marketing strategy enables you to achieve much within a short time but it requires time, consistency and perseverance in order for you to grow your business with it. Be patient for the results; wait for the fruit to ripe. Remember if it works for others, it will surely work for you.

Ngozi Nwoke is a business and marketing coach. MLM home-based business is easy on-line. Want more information on how to grow your business? check http://www.ngozinwoke.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ngozi_Nwoke

Holiday Season Specials!!!

Holiday Season Specials!!! I'm offering private online English and Spanish classes at only $5usd per class untill the end of 2010. FOR NEW STUDENTS ONLY!
Hurry....contact me, and take advantage of these special Holiday rates.

eckates@aol.com
skype: enrique.kates

Social Networking: The Future by Mark Suster

Social Networking: The Future by Mark Suster
http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/05/social-networking-future/

Social Networking: The Present

Social Networking: The Present
Mark Suster

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/04/social-networking-present/

Social Networking: The Past by Mark Suster

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/03/social-networking-past/

A Simple Formula For Your Online Community by Richard Millington

Specific Audience + Clear Benefit + Existing Desire – Business Needs

Specific Audience means targeting an audience that you can identify by their behaviours and past actions. They should recognise each other as a member of the community and must have crossed a boundary that outsiders haven’t.

Clear Benefit is the reason why having a community is better than not having one. Why would the specific audience talking to each other benefit every member?

Existing Desire is the desire to speak to each other. The specific audience should already speak to each other, or have the desire to do so.

Business Needs are the restraints you put on a community so your business benefits. You might have found the specific audience, identified clear benefit and recognised an existing desire all to ruin it by making them subservient to your interests. Anything that benefits you and not the community, is a business need. Eliminate them.

5 Steps to Build a Twitter Marketing Strategy

http://tinyurl.com/32w579e

12 Twitter Stream Aggregators To Make You Smarter

http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/02/12-twitter-stream-aggregators/

Twitter Marketing: Twitter for Business Marketing

http://ezinearticles.com/?Twitter-Marketing:-Twitter-for-Business-Marketing&id=5451462

Social \vs Digital Marketing

http://chillibreeze.in/rate-articles-get-your-writing-rated/miscellaneous/social-vs-digital-marketing/

Enrique Express. Learn the language faster than you would imagine.

Enrique’s Journey.

After more than 30 years of a successful career, Enrique Express offers English and Spanish. Online classes.

Enrique began his language teaching career when he was a young lad. He was two weeks out of high school when he gave his first class. This was in June, 1976.

He began his career in one of the largest and most prestigious language schools in the world.

Through more than 30 years and more than 70,000 lessons given, Enrique has developed a system known as the Enrique Express. With this method, a student can learn to speak a target language in a record time. Also in a very pleasant, comfortable environment. Enrique Express is an easy and enjoyable way to learn.

All this has increased with the benefits brought to us with the use of the internet.

Enrique Express Online Benefits

The most important is the amazing speed in which you’ll learn the new language. For some reason, they refer to Enrique as Enrique Express.

Comfort. You can study and learn from the comfort of your own home, office or anywhere you wish, as long as there’s an internet connection.

Flexibility of schedule.

Affordable. Online learning is more affordable than face to face learning.

Some benefits of online language learning include:
· Comfort. Classes can be taken in your home, office, or any other place with internet connection.
· Flexibility. Choose your own schedule
· Price: Prices are usually more affordable

Contact:
Enrique C. Kates
eckates@aol.com
skype: enrique.kates
http://www.enriquekates.com

.

Today

I had a great conversation with my assistant. We talked about everything...including work..haha. Need to start getting ready for 2011

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners

http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in USA. And I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, colleagues, fellow tachers, and students.

http://www.123greetings.com/events/thanksgiving/wishes/thanksgiving77.html

Join me in a rewarding career

I was born with a blessing. But, I didn't know about it until years later. I have been speaking two languages (English and Spanish), all my life.

About two weeks after graduating from High School, I landed in Berlitz Language Schools. I didn't really want to go there. I went because of a misunderstanding. Anyway, I began teaching English and Spanish. After a while, I realized I loved it.

It was there that I came across my blessing. There was something about myself that I could share with others, and help them reach their own goals and dreams. I could teach another person to speak a new language. I also soon realized that this was not going to make me rich....at least, not economically. But, the other rewards were much more. Besides, they would go with me the day I left this earthy life.

Through the years, I've seen some of my students on News Headlines, Talk Shows, Conferences, and other different places. It fills me with tremendous joy, to know that I had something to do with their success. It was my success also. And nobody can take that away from me.

Eventually I formed my own Language Instruction company. A new stage began in my life. Suddenly, I was training and working with teachers to reach their own goals and potential. At the same time helping students. I was helping people, help others. I was helping people on two sides, reach their own goals.

At the same time, I was making a living.

I'm still in touch with students and teachers that worked with me years ago. Some of these teachers have built a successful career. Its always touching when they contact me.

Now, I'm building my online business. And my students and teachers come from all parts of the world.

I invite everybody to come and join me. If you're a student in need of learning a language...call me. If you love languages and want to share your knowledge by teaching...call me.

I'm currently hiring teachers. If you want to share your knowledge, call me.

Teaching is a beautiful experience, full of rewarding moments. Join me!

Thank you very much,

Enrique

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge any one here to race with me."

The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."

"That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round you all the way."

"Keep your boasting till you've won," answered the Tortoise. "Shall we race?"

So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.

Then the Tortoise said: "Slow but steady progress wins the race."

La plaza de Lucho

Vivir frente a una plaza es de por sí agradable, como todo, tiene su pro y su contra. Comencemos por enumerar lo bello que es ver llegar la primavera, vestirse de verde los árboles, llenarse de pimpollos las plantas, encaramarse en lo alto de los pinos los pájaros, inundando con sus trinos las mañanas radiantes, y al llegar la noche verlos revolotear para albergarse en sus nidos…

Ver jugar a los niños, enamorarse a los jovencitos, y tomar sol a los ancianos sentados en los desvencijados bancos, vueltos a pintar una y otra vez…



Claro, esta es historia de verano, pero en el invierno aparece la otra cara de la plaza, el viento es más impetuoso al no haber nada que lo detenga, las tardes son aún más opacas sin gente que camine en ella… Los arbustos lucen grises y tristes, las ramas de los árboles, desnudas miran al cielo, pidiendo clemencia…Una de esas tardes vi a un perrito, todo sucio muerto de frío y tal vez de hambre, acurrucado en un trozo de cartón y otro de goma rayada, que debió ser una pelota, cerca de su nariz. Me arrimé a él con ánimo de alcanzarle algunos restos de comida, pero se ve que tenía mal recuerdo de los humanos, pues me gruñó sin dejarme aproximar. Otro perro, de mayor tamaño tomó la comida para sí y se devoró todo… No había día que no tratara de hacer amistad con el pequeño perro blanco con manchas marrones, era hermoso! De no haber estado tan mal alimentado y sucio.



Una noche en que la temperatura había bajado muchos grados, inminente era una helada. Miré por la ventana hacia la plaza y vi las brasitas de sus ojos encendidas, mirando hacia mi casa, tal vez esperando que me diera cuenta de su sufrimiento. Atiné a ponerme un grueso saco y salir a buscarlo, con la escasa confianza que me prodigaba, gracias a los “almuerzos” que le solía alcanzar, lo levanté en brazos y lo traje al abrigo de un cobertizo en el fondo del patio, previo amontonar unas viejas frazadas… Alcancé a cerrar la puerta cuando comenzó a rasguñarla, a vociferar, ladrando como poseído. No tuve mas remedio que abrirle y dejarlo ir.Volví a mi cama un poco enojada con la ingratitud de mi protegido. Cuándo escuché otra vez rasguñar la puerta, esta vez la del frente, reconocí los ladridos. Y al abrir me encontré con el pichicho que en su boca traía una media pelota de goma y un cartón…Corrió rápido hasta el fondo del patio y se arrellanó en la cama que le había ofrecido antes. Ahora con “sus” cosas estaba más tranquilo…

Hace ya muchos años que Lucho está acompañándome…espero que se quede muchos mas…

Join a fast growing team of teachers.

Enrique Kates and his team of Professional Language Team is seeking teachers,
Join a fast growing team of teachers.
With us, you'll work in an expanding, innovative environment.
Experience is not necessary. Training is provided.
Learn with the Best. Teach with the Best. Be with the Best. Be the Best...

Year 2011 is around the corner, and its time to start preparing for it. I have great expectations...and the initial forecast looks fabulous. I'll be needing teachers to collaborate with me. I will begin to train new Native English Teachers soon. If you're an energetic person, with a natural desire to help people by sharing your knowledge, I want to talk to you. Experience is NOT necessary, I'll train you. If interested, please contact me directly at eckates@aol.com or skype: enrique.kates
We invite you to be part of our team:
*Nice working environment
*Polite colleagues
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*Engage in a rewarding teaching career.

I'm thrilled

October '10 has been the best month for me since I made the shift from face-face classes, to online classes. Now, I'm absolutely thrilled. Today is NOVEMBER 18th, and the numbers are already better that October's. Thanks to all of you that have been with me. Thanks to all my friends, My fellow teachers. And specially to my wonderful students. God bless you all!

El sol y la luna se van a casar

Papá ratón llegó contando, que el sol y la luna se van a casar



Mamá ratona dijo, que ese matrimonio no duraría, porque separado el sol de la luna siempre estaría.



Abuela ratona dijo, que tendrían como hijas las estrellas e hijos los cometas y como padrinos ella quería, fueran los planetas el ratoncito mayor dijo, que todos estaban equivocados, porque el sol se casaría con una “sola” y la luna con un “luno”, el sol tendría hijos, pero con tantos, con noche no quedaría lugar alguno grillos, sapos, renacuajos, ranas y búhos, no tendrían mas noches para cantar y por eso el ratoncito mediano se puso a llorar papá ratón llamó a la cordura, pues no había pareja para ellos, porque no se conocía ningún otro sol, ni otra luna, quizás en otra galaxia, pero mas de cien mil años esa búsqueda duray para terminar esta querella, el ratoncito mas pequeñito sueña, con que la luna se enamore de una estrella y el sol de una flor bien bella

The Miser

A miser sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The Miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it."

Use Twitter Hashtags To Promote Your Internet Business To Your Social Network

By: Nial Robbins

If you are new to Twitter you may have noticed that some messages include a word with the # sign in front of it and at the end of the tweet. This is called a hash tag, and hashtags are a convenient tool for organizing tweet posts.




During the 2007 San Diego forest fires a guy called Nate Ritter posted updates on Twitter about the situation and identified his post with the hash tag, "#sandiegofire". Since then, the use of hash tags to identify and quickly locate groups of messages has become a common practice among Twitter devotees. There is even a website, Hashtags org that logs the use of hash tags on Twitter. If you check it out you will find hundreds of different hash tags that are currently being used to organize information on Twitter.





Anybody with a twitter account can easily begin using hashtags. You can use hashtags whenever you want to send out a regular flow of notifications on Twitter about any subject you like. Simply include the hashtag somewhere in the body of the message that you want to tweet. Hashtags are often inserted in the body of tweets about business promotions or contests, or by people organizing parties or other social events.





Hashtags can also be utilized by Internet marketers who want to keep customers updated about new developments, products or projects. By letting your customers and the people on your mailing list know about the hashtags you are using, you can give them a convenient way to follow your updates on Twitter. People will be able to find your post on a particular subject when they enter the topic at hashtag in the search box on the Twitter website. This is a great way to reinforce your brand image.





Since Google indexes Twitter messages, and bearing in mind that hashtags are inserted in the text that you tweet, it is a good idea to use relevant keywords for your hashtags. Since you are providing information about your business, many of your tweets will also include links back to your website or blog, so your twitter tweets will help improve your website rankings on the search engines if you're hashtags are keyword optimized.





Here are some tips for getting the best use out of your Twitter hashtags. 1. Get your hashtags tracked. Go to /hashtags on Twitter and click the follow button. They will automatically follow you back and track your hashtags.



1.Keep your hashtags unique. Since you will want to use hash tags to identify your business posts, it is important that they be unique. Go to Hashtags org to see if the hash tag you want to use is already in use.

2.Always precede your keyword with the # sign. A hashtag looks like this: #fishingbooks or #fishingtackle, #fishingboats etc.

3.Make them relevant. Use a hash type that is relevant to the topic you are tracking. For example, if you are promoting a fashion show in London, #Londonfashion09 would be a better hashtag than #London, which is not specific enough.

4.Make them short and memorable. The hashtags are best when short, simple because you want your followers to be able to remember them easily. Avoid lengthy acronyms, long strings of abbreviations or code numbers. Don't forget that you can only use 140 characters in the whole message, so a long hashtag is undesirable.

5.Use hashtags for branding. Think "relevant keywords" and "brand image" when making up hashtags. This will make your brand more visible to your target market, especially to those who are searching for what you have to offer.



Using hashtags on Twitter is a great, free method to help you build your brand and promote your website business. Start using hash tags when you Twitter, and be sure to let your customers and the people on your mailing list know what you are doing and explained that they can find out the latest news about your business by searching for your hash tag in the Twitter search box.

Author Resource:-> Nial Robbins is the owner http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com/, the site for the best home business opportunities, free home based business training and to earn money online. Submitted By ArticleUnited.comArticle From Free Articles Online - Your Internet Destination for Free Articles

LA COMUNICACIÓN EFICAZ

La necesidad más básica y vital de los seres humanos es la comunicación. Esta se define como un proceso bilateral de intercambio y comprensión de información entre al menos dos personas o grupos. La persona o grupo que transmite una información, es el emisor; quien la transmite a otra persona u otro grupo que la recibe, es el receptor, comprende varias etapas. El ciclo se completa de manera adecuada, por la reacción del destinatario, es lo que se denomina la retroalimentación, que permite asegurarnos que el receptor interpreta el mensaje conforme a las intenciones del emisor.

Nos comunicamos a través del lenguaje este puede ser verbal, no verbal y escrito. De acuerdo a investigaciones cuando nos comunicamos, las palabras o contenido, representan 7% del mensaje, es el denominado lenguaje verbal o digital, el resto es el no verbal o analógico del cual 38% tiene que ver con la calidad de la voz (volumen, velocidad, timbre, ritmo) y 55% con los movimientos de los ojos , de las manos, respiración, postura, gestos. Por lo que podemos concluir que en general es mas importante “Como se dicen las cosas” que lo que realmente “Se dice”.

PRINCIPIOS BÁSICOS DE LA COMUNICACIÓN EFICAZ

ü Es imposible no comunicar, incluso si nos mantenemos callados estamos enviando un mensaje.

ü Antes de comunicarte conoce lo que quieres en realidad, entra en contacto con tu verdadero objetivo, descubre que quiere la otra persona, ve más allá de las “palabras superficiales”, Si hay dudas aclara el significado de las palabras principales

ü El resultado de la comunicación es la respuesta que obtenemos independientemente de nuestra intención.

ü Escuchar es una de las mejores maneras de comunicarse, es mejor callar cuando no se tiene algo agradable que decir. Ten un propósito cuando escuches

ü En la medida de lo posible la comunicación debe ser, abierta, directa, sincera y oportuna(asertiva)-

ü Cuando solicites información, pregunta “Que “, ”Como” en vez de ” Porque”

ü Mantén el más alto nivel de tolerancia y respeto , recordar que no somos dueños de la verdad, eliminar el prejuicio y la parcialidad, no juzgar, comparar, ni menospreciar sin necesidad, respetar el modelo del mundo de la otra persona aunque no lo compartas.

ü Elogiar es tener poder comunicativo, hacer sentir importante a los demás es valorarlos justamente, demostrar sincero interés por las personas ayuda a que se sientan seguras y llena sus expectativas. Elogiar en público y criticar en privado

ü Compartir experiencias, buscar temas de interés mutuo, tomar conciencia de que no lo sabemos todo, saber rectificar cuando cometemos errores.

ü La información debe ser dada en forma descriptiva y no evaluadora, los comentarios sobre el comportamiento de los demás deben ser específicos y no generales. Cuando se hagan criticas dirigirla hacia la conducta y no hacia la persona.

ü Aprender a conocerse a sí mismo es la mejor manera de conocer a los demás. Ponerse en el lugar del otro –empatía– es una vía útil para comprenderlo.

ü Comunicarse adecuadamente mejora la calidad de vida.

ü Pensar en positivo es la razón del éxito en la comunicación. El sueño de hoy es la realidad del mañana

ü Emplea habilidades de influencia y persuasión que te ayuden a conseguir lo que quieres de verdad



Dr. David Figueroa

Médico Psiquiatra

Máster en Programación Neurolingüística

davidnfigueroa@gmail.com


Fuente: la inteligencia emocional | Psicología Articulos Gratis

Student ebooks

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Press Release

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Spanish Community

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Colombia. Internet usage indicators

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in northwestern South America. It is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south by Ecuador and Peru, to the North by the Caribbean Sea, and to the west by Panama and the Pacific Ocean. Mainland territory divided into four major geographic regions: Andean highlands (composed of three mountain ranges and intervening valley lowlands); Caribbean lowlands; Pacific lowlands; and Ilanos and tropical rainforest of eastern Colombia. Colombia also possesses small islands in both Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/sa/co.htm

Chile Telecommunications, Population and Internet Usage

Chile Internet Usage:
7,387,000 Internet users as of December/2007, 44.9% of the population, according to AMI.

Chile Population Estimate:
16,454,143 population for 2008, according to US Census Bureau

Gross National Income:
GNI per capita is US$ 9,876 ('07) according to World Bank

Chile Country Area and Maps:
755,482 sq km - see Chile maps

Chile Local Weather:
Check the local weather in Chile

Internet Growth and Population Statistics:

YEAR
Population
Internet Users
% Pen.
GNI p.c.
Usage Source

2000
15,789,194
1,757,400
26.2 %
$ 4,600
ITU

2006
15,666,967
6,700,000
42.8 %
$ 4,910('05)
AMI

2008
16,454,143
7,387,000
44.9 %
$ 9,876('07)
AMI

Note: GNI is Gross National Income per capita, and corresponds to
World Bank data for the years 2000 - 2007 in US dollars.

Source: chttp://www.internetworldstats.com/sa/cl.htm

Bolivia Internet Stats Usage and Market Report

Bolivia, officially The Republic of Bolivia, was named after Simon Bolivar, and is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west.
Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/sa/bo.htm

Argentina Internet Stats

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a South American country, second in size in the continent to Brazil and eighth in the world. Argentina occupies a continental surface area of 2,777,409 km² (1,078,000 sq mi) between the Andes mountain range in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast, and Chile in the west and south.

Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/sa/ar.htm

Latin American Internet Usage

Check here for interesting information regarding Latin American Internet Usage

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats10.htm#spanish

Spanish in the Americas

Beginning in the 1400s, Spanish explorers, conquistadors, and colonizers carried their language to Central America, South America, and parts of North America.

Both the Castilian and Andalusian dialects made the trip. Castilian was used in administrative and cultural centers such as Mexico City, Mexico; Potosí, Bolivia; and Lima, Peru. These cities retained close links to the Spanish capital of Madrid, which was in the Castile region. But because many of the people involved in expeditions were from Andalucía, the Andalusian dialect also traveled to the Spanish colonies.

It became dominant in Argentina and Central America, which were regions remote from the influence of the Spanish government's administrative centers. Spain lost control of its American colonies in the 1800s, but the Spanish language remained and is now the official language of almost every Latin American nation.


The Spanish spoken in the Americas differs somewhat from European Spanish today because many words were borrowed from the languages of the indigenous peoples. Most of these words reflect features unique to the new territories, such as proper names, plants and animals, and geographic features.
Source: http://www.alsintl.com/resources

Origen del idioma español

Origen del idioma español

El idioma español se originó en la región suroeste de Europa conocida como la Península Ibérica. En algún momento a finales del siglo 6 A.C., los primeros habitantes de la región, los ibéricos, comenzaron a mezclarse con los celtas, pueblos nómadas de Europa central. Los dos grupos formaron un pueblo denominado Celtibéricos, hablantes de una forma de celta.

Bajo el gobierno del imperio romano, en 19 A.C., la región se hizo conocida como Hispania, y sus habitantes aprendieron el latín de comerciantes, colonizadores, administradores y soldados romanos. Cuando el latín clásico de las clases educadas de Roma se mezcló con las lenguas pre-romanas de los ibéricos, celtas y cartagineses, apareció una lengua llamada latín vulgar. Siguió los modelos básicos del latín pero tomó y añadió palabras de otras lenguas.

Incluso después que los visigodos, tribus germánicas de Europa oriental, invadieron Hispania en el siglo V D.C., el latín continuó siendo el idioma oficial del gobierno y la cultura hasta aproximadamente el año 719 D.C., cuando grupos islámicos de habla árabe del norte de África, llamados los moros, completaron su conquista de la región. El árabe y un dialecto afín llamado Mozárabe se hablaron ampliamente en la España islámica, excepto en unos cuantos reinos cristianos lejanos que se encontraban en el norte, como Asturias, en donde el latín vulgar sobrevivió.

Durante los siglos subsiguientes, los reinos cristianos reconquistaron paulatinamente la España en propiedad de los moros y retomaron el país lingüística, política, militar y culturalmente. Como los cristianos se trasladaron al sur, sus dialectos del latín vulgar se volvieron dominantes. En particular, el castellano, un dialecto que se originó en las llanuras del norte, se llevó a las regiones del sur y este castellano y andaluz
El idioma que resultó fue un idioma híbrido porque el castellano tomó muchas palabras del mozárabe, y se calcula que el español moderno cuenta con aproximadamente 4,000 palabras con raíces árabes.

La creación de un idioma español estandarizado basado en el dialecto castellano comenzó en el año 1200 con el rey Alfonso X, quien fue llamado el rey-erudito de Castilla y León. Él y su corte de eruditos adoptaron la ciudad de Toledo, un centro cultural en la planicie central, como la base de sus actividades. Ahí, los eruditos escribieron obras originales en castellano y tradujeron historias, crónicas y obras científicas, jurídicas y literarias de otros idiomas (principalmente de latín, griego y árabe.) En efecto, este esfuerzo histórico de traducción fue un vehículo importante para la diseminación del conocimiento en la Europa occidental antigua. Alfonso X también adoptó el castellano para el trabajo administrativo y todos los documentos y decretos oficiales.
El dialecto castellano de España ganó amplia aceptación durante el reinado de los monarcas católicos Isabel de Castilla y Fernando de Aragón, quienes completaron la reconquista de España en 1492 al expulsar a los moros de su última fortaleza en la ciudad de Granada. Isabel y Fernando hicieron el castellano el idioma oficial en su reino. En el mismo año que los moros fueron derrotados, apareció un libro importante: Arte de la lengua castellana (The Art of the Castilian Language) de Antonio de Nebrija. Fue el primer libro para estudiar e intentar definir la gramática de un idioma europeo.
El dialecto castellano de Toledo se convirtió en el estándar escrito y educativo en España, aun cuando permanecieron varios dialectos hablados. El más notable fue el andaluz, un dialecto que se hablaba en la ciudad del sur de Sevilla en la región de Andalucía.

Fuente: http://html.rincondelvago.com/origen-del-idioma-espanol.html

The Importance of Spanish in the World

The Importance of Spanish in the World

Today’s businesses cannot afford to ignore the attractive markets that the Spanish language offers. Spanish-speaking people constitute a huge community that shares products, services and culture; and offers businesses and institutions a truly unique growth potential.

· Spanish is the official language in 21 countries (Spain, Mexico, The Caribbean and most of South America).

· Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world, after English and Mandarin.

· Spanish is the second world language as a vehicle of international communication and the third as an international language of politics, economics and culture.

· Total of GDPs for Spanish speaking countries:$2.6 trillion.

· More than 400 million people speak Spanish worldwide.

The Spanish language is a powerful communication tool that reaches millions across America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
· Spain has become 3rd most desirable country to live based on standard of living, health and economy.

· Spain has one of Europe’s fastest growing property markets (largely due to outside investment).

· In the USA, Spanish has become the unofficial second language.
Source: Centos Translations
http://www.centostranslations.com/spanishworld.htm

Study Spanish with Enrique.
www.enriquekates.com

Spanish Language in the United States

Spanish Language in the United States

In 1565 Spanish conquerors and explorers established the settlement of Saint Augustine in what is now Florida. It was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States. In the 1600s and 1700s Spanish explorations and settlements extended the Spanish language North from Mexico into present-day Arizona, California, Southern Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. When the United States annexed these areas following the Mexican War (1846-1848), many of the region's Spanish-speaking inhabitants remained, creating a distinct linguistic and cultural population in the Southwestern United States.

After the Spanish-American War (1898), the United States gained control over Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Over time, many Spanish speakers from these countries moved to the mainland of North America. The immigrants primarily settled in neighborhoods in California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey, where they continued to use Spanish.

Immigration by Spanish speakers further increased during the 20th century. Many legal and illegal immigrants crossed the border between Mexico and the United States to work in agriculture and industry, and other immigrants fled political instability in Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Also, many Latin American students came to North America to study at colleges and universities.

The presence of Spanish in American culture grew throughout the late 20th century. As more native Spanish speakers sent their children to school, elementary and high schools established bilingual classes. Television executives also recognized the Spanish-speaking market and created television networks and shows in Spanish. The government printed forms and tests in Spanish. By the 1990s more than 17 million people in the United States spoke Spanish as their primary language at home.

Source: http://www.alsintl.com/resources

Make it a priority. Learn with the Best. Call if you need help to find the best course. I’m here to help you . 1:1 sessions: $120.00 for 12 private sessions a month. This equals 3 per week for 4 weeks. 1:1 sessions: $80.00 for 8 private sessions a month. This equals 2 per week for 4 weeks. Call me for further questions or information.My skype is: enrique.kates

What would you like to learn?

Hey, what would you like to learn regarding English and/or Spanish?
Please. post your answers as comments here.

Updated Rates

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CALL ME THROUGH SKYPE: enrique.kates

1:1 sessions: $120.00 for 12 private sessions a month. This equals 3 per week for 4 weeks.

1:1 sessions: $80.00 for 8 private sessions a month. This equals 2 per week for 4 weeks.

Call me for further questions or information.

Thanks

English Conversation Club

Hello, would you like to develop your english speaking skills? So, what if we get together on skype, and practice conversational
english

Teacher Alliances?

Has anybody explored the idea of creating Joint Classes with other teachers? Yes, why not, creating Alliances. I’ve done it with Francisco It worked out well. Our main problem was to get paying students into the class. But, we got along together fine….Gracias Francisco!

I think Teacher Alliances could work well. They don’t have to be same subjects, but as long as they complement each other in some way. So, if anybody is interested, let me know. I teach conversational English and Spanish. I DON’T think that an alliance between two Same language teachers is a good idea, but never say never.

Below I’m quoting something that Francisco wrote on our Linkedin group:
-———————————————————————————-
Joint-teaching should be no different than any other kind of teamwork.
Strictly required for complex tasks, and convenient, but difficult for standard jobs.

What does it take?
1. A shared purpose
2. Specific goals
3. A shared work approach (or strategy)
4. A sense of shared responsibility
5. Complementary competencies
6. Constructive interaction (good communication skills)

Of course, the students should also be considered team members, and they must share purpose, approach, goals, responsibility competencies and communication.

Useful Resources

http://www.languageguide.org/espanol/

May is a few days away!!!

May is a few days away!!! Book your English and Spanish classes to start fresh in May. Contact me if you need further info. Or if have special requirements.

I’ll be creating classes upon request. So, if you don’t see any classes, call me. My skype is: enrique.kates

The Future of Online Education.

Here we can discuss the future of online education and its impact on society.

Learning language Tips

What makes good language learner?

• I feel positive about the language and the people who speak it
• I think about what I learn and how I learn it
• I talk to people
• I set targets
• I feel positive about what I know, not negative about what I don’t know
• I have a learning plan
• I take risks
• I try harder

Learning To Listen

Listening comes before speaking
So always listen as much as you can.
A lot of passive input can help you:
Ð to get used to the sounds of the language
Ð to start to recognize words and patterns
Ð to start speaking the language more easily

What good listeners do?
• Listen to the “shape” of the language
• Listen to the general subject. Don’t try to understand everything and don’t stop listening if you hear a word you don’t know
• Make guesses. Think about what you are listening to, what do you know about the subject? Listen to the speakers tone of voice and look at their facial
expressions and body language
• Listen to new sounds and try to imitate them
• Listen to the pitch and intonation of the language
• Listen to cassettes again and again
• Watch videos on the target language with subtitles in the same language
• Record conversations
• First read the news in a target language newspaper and watch the news on TV in the same language on the same day
• Note down key words. Then look them up in a dictionary
• Organize regular listening

What do you do when you don’t understand the person you are speaking to?
Ð Say, “I don’t understand”
Ð Ask them to slow down
Ð Ask for repetition
Ð Ask for clarification
Ð Repeat what you think you heard
Ð Rephrase what you think you heard

Resources for listening
1. CASSETTES. Buy the cassettes for the class book and workbook. Listen to them in your car, on your walkman etc
2. TALKING BOOKS. You can listen to a text and read it at the same time
3. SATELLITE TV/ VIDEO. Record programs and watch them over and over
4. DVD. These videos give you the sound in the target language and subtitles in the same language or your own language, or any combinations of these!
5. RADIO. Tune in regularly to your target language
6. PEOPLE. Listen to as much spoken language as possible

Learning to Speak
What good speakers do?
• KEEP IT SIMPLE. Avoid complicated subjects, difficult vocabulary and grammar that you are not sure of
• TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO USE THE LANGUAGE
• TAKE RISKS. Good speakers are not afraid to make mistakes. Don’t feel embarrassed when you speak. The more you speak the more your confidence will
grow.
• LEARN LOTS OF STANDARD EXPRESSIONS BY HEART
• EXPERIMENT. Try out new language to see what works and what doesn’t
• TAKE YOUR TIME. Don’t hurry, take it easy
• USE OTHER PEOPLE AS RESOURCES

What good speakers do when they can’t find the right word?
• Approximating - use a word with roughly the same meaning
• Describing something to explain its meaning
• Use an all purpose word, like ‘thing’
• Use a word form another language which the listener might recognize
• Use their hands or mime
• Ask for help

Making mistakes
• Your mistakes are important because you can learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are an important part of the learning process
• You make mistakes when you test new ideas about the language
• It’s a mistake to be afraid of making mistakes
• Some mistakes are more serious than others
• The only serious mistakes are the ones which prevent the listener from understanding you
• Mistakes depend on your audience

Teacher Supervision. Is it really necessary?

Thriving on Chaos. Can it be the new trend of online education....No Supervision and control?? I don't think so.

Is a teacher a born teacher?

Is a teacher a born teacher?
What kind of teachers are there? And what are their characteristics? Is a person born with the qualities to be a teacher? Or can he/she acquire them?

My Student Momen

Hi, this is my student Momen. He won a 3 month Spanish course in a contest. This is him before, during, and after his classes with me.

Pedir vs.Preguntar

Pedir vs Preguntar
pedir: to ask (for an object or a service)
preguntar: to ask (a question, request information)

Saber vs. Conocer

saber: to know a fact, to know something thoroughly, to know how to do something
conocer: to be acquainted with a person, place, or thing

Saber vs Conocer
saber: to know (facts, information, how to do something, something by heart)
conocer: to know (to be familiar with people, places, things)

Orar vs. Rezar

1.- Rezar: es repetir frases aprendidas y de memoria, en cualquier momento, es decir, sin importar si lo que se repite incansablemente es inherente a las necesidades o sentimientos del penitente en ese momento. rezar es repetir frases aprendidas de memoria dirigidas a muchas personalidaders, más o menos como a chorrocientas vírgenes, chorrocientos santos, habidos y por haber conocidos e inventados etc. en medio de toda esta lista, también se reza Jesucristo y a Dios... Hay rezos aprendidos para todos los gustos...
2.- Orar: Es conversar con Dios, elevar ruegos,. súplicas peticiones, acion de gracias a Dios y solo a Dios en el nombre de Jesucristo, y son palabras nacidas de la necesidad del momento del que ora a Dios. Son palabras nacidas espontáneamnete y reflejan los sentimientos que hay en el momento en el corazón y alma del que se dirige a Dios.


1.- Rezar: es repetir frases aprendidas y de memoria, en cualquier momento, es decir, sin importar si lo que se repite incansablemente es inherente a las necesidades o sentimientos del penitente en ese momento.

2.- Orar: Es conversar con Dios, elevar ruegos,. súplicas peticiones, acion de gracias a Dios y solo a Dios en el nombre de Jesucristo, y son palabras nacidas de la necesidad del momento del que ora a Dios. Son palabras nacidas espontáneamnete y reflejan los sentimientos que hay en el momento en el corazón y alma del que se dirige a Dios.

Why learn Spanish?

The Spanish teachers at Edufire would like to share with you some of the top reasons why you should learn Spanish. We hope you enjoy.


Who's learning Spanish these days? For starters, residents of the United States , a bunch not known for conquering monoligualism, are studying Spanish in record numbers. Spanish, too, is becoming of greater importance in Europe , where it often the foreign language of choice after English.

With over 400 million speakers, it's the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world (after English, Chinese and Hindi), and according to some counts it has more native speakers than English does. It is an official language on four continents and is of historical importance elsewhere.

Better understanding of English: Much of the vocabulary of English has Latin origins, much of which came to English by way of French. Since Spanish is also a Latin language, you will find as you study Spanish that you have a better understanding of your native vocabulary.

Travel: While traveling in Mexico , Central America and South America doors will be opened to you simply because I speak Spanish, allowing you to see and do things that many other visitors do not.

Cultural understanding: While most of us can't hope to learn the languages of more than one or two cultures other than that of our own, those that we can learn help us to learn how other people learn and think. Reading Latin American or Spanish newspapers, for example, you will gain a sense of how other people think and feel

Learning other languages: If you can learn Spanish, you'll have a head start in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. And it will even help you learn Russian and German, since they too have Indo-European roots and have some characteristics (such as gender and extensive conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not English. And I wouldn't be surprised if learning Spanish might even help you learn Japanese or any other non-Indo-European language, since intensive learning the structure of a language can give you a reference point for learning others.

It's easy: Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English's, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced. And while mastering the grammar of Spanish can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward enough that you can have meaningful communication after only a few lessons.

Employment opportunities: If you're in the United States and work in one of the helping professions including medicine and education, you'll find your opportunities expand by knowing Spanish. And wherever you live, if you're in any occupation that involves international trade, communications or tourism, you'll similarly find opportunities to use your new language skills.

It's fun: Whether you enjoy talking, reading, or mastering challenges, you'll find all of them in learning Spanish. For many people, there's something inherently enjoyable about successfully speaking in another language.

For many people, Spanish offers the most rewards with the least effort of any foreign language. It's never too late to begin learning.

Thanks to Gerald Erichsen, @ About.com for most of this information!

Español de Negocios con Enrique Kates