resham's Blog

You may ask yourself why start learning Japanese, a language which at the first sight appears very hard, almost impossible to learn. However this is not true, as the Japanese language is not very difficult to learn and if you think about it, there are numerous reasons for which you should learn it. You should know that Japan has one of the most influential economies in the world and there and many of the largest companies in the world are situated in this country. More and more western companies have offices in Japan and if you are to work there for a period of time, not knowing the language may be quite frustrating.

You should see Japan from other aspects as well, not only the economical ones. It is a country with an extremely rich culture and history and the Japan’s natural beauty is overwhelming for any visitor. Everyone who had visited Japan agree that is a magnificent country. There are other reasons for which people learn the language. Many elements of the Japanese culture, both modern and classic, found their way into the western culture. Japanese cartoons and video games are very popular in today’s society and many people, especially young ones, enjoy reading and playing them. There are numerous video games that do not reach the western countries and in order to play them you need to know the language.

Japan is known for setting quite a few trends and by knowing the language enables you to read Japanese websites and newspapers and you will be ahead of your friends in setting the newest trend. Knowing another foreign language can have a major impact on your personal life. Most people ad on their resume their Spanish or French knowing abilities, but very few people can prove that they know this exotic language. An employer who has Japanese business partners can be highly interested in you and your multilingual skills if you know the language.

You can later use the Japanese knowing skills for getting a better job in a large multinational company. Just imagine working and living in Japan for some time.

The Japanese culture is one of the richest in the world. If you are interested in foreign cultures, you will be able to better understand their habits, way of life and traditions. And you will see that Japan has ones of the most beautiful traditions in the world.

Your resume will stand out sure when it comes to multilingual abilities in front of an employer. Even if he does not require any Japanese knowing personnel, you can prove him that you are an active person, always willing to learn something new and do not get scared away from unknown tasks. You can find out more about studying Japanese at http://www.whylearnjapanese.com

And just imagine the ability to impress your family and friends with your new known language. Members of the opposite sex might even be impressed by your skills with this exotic language

If your classroom webpage isn't making your job easier, or helping you do it better, maybe its time to evaluate and consider some changes.

People today are busy, and teachers are no exception. Either are students and parents for that matter. We all want information quick, easy, and pertinent. And that is exactly what a teacher website must do. If it fails, then valuable time, and maybe resources, are being spent without accomplishing an important goal. One way to help you achieve this is to use a service that allows you to create your own site (such as www.DapperApple.com)

Information Quick:

Daily updates are a must. Remember, a student that is absent may want to check your site for the night's homework assignment. Well, he may not, but his parents will. The information must be posted promptly. Reserve time before class to update your site. If properly planned, just a few minutes should be all that is needed.

If possible, get your class involved. If they can update some pages, it can become a rotating, class job.

Information Easy:

Don't bury the important information two, three, or more levels deep into your site. If it's important, link from the homepage or put it on the homepage. A consistent place that is easy to navigate to will ensure that users will always see your key messages. As users, we can get discouraged when we can’t find what we are looking for. That shouldn’t be the case with your students.

Information Pertinent:

We are bombarded with information online. Popups, advertisements, videos, and websites of every flavor are competing for our attention. Nothing is as welcome to a user as a crisp, clear message. Do away with space wasters such as visit counters and unnecessary graphics or games.

The bottom line - any and all features of your web site must be there because they help you do your job in some way.

As a busy educator, you probably have little time to devote to creating, and nurturing your classroom website. But it is becoming an essential tool. So, make sure that your content addresses problems, or areas you want to improve. Are too many of your students not doing their homework? Are they not getting the desired outcomes from lessons? Do you need more parent involvement? All of these, and other, questions should be considered when you are creating or modifying your website.

Maybe you or your child or just someone you know is still in high school or even in middle school. It is never too early to prepare to receive and higher education to further your success in life. Have a better education usually means a higher salary and studies have proven that those with a college degree earn more than those with just a high school diploma or a G.E.D.

So now that we are clear that more education means more money down the road in life, what do you need to make that happen? First off we need to make sure we clear up some misunderstandings. Not all colleges are the same, each and every college or university is the same. Each one has their own strengths that they excel in, so before you decide where to attend you first need to decide on what you wish to major in. Once you've decided on what you want to be in your future then you can decide on which campus you wish to attend. And don't limit yourself to just 1 school. Try to pick a variety of places that you might want to attend because the more you try to shoot for, the more chance you will have into being accepted into some college or university.

As mentioned before, not all colleges and universities are the same. This also applies for how much attending a certain university or college charges a student to attend their classes. Some places like community colleges charge a very low amount for their classes and private universities charge extremely high priced amount for just a quarter. But don't get discouraged, there are still ways to pay for them. By applying for scholarships, student aid programs or getting student loans, you can pay for an education that you could have only dreamed of.

So now that you've decided on what you wish to learn about, which campus to attend and how to pay for that education, what's left? Everything else. Before you can even go and get that Bachelor's you first need to quality before your application is to be even reviewed by the committee. And that means your high school education. High school is usually where the acceptance committee will usually start looking at. From your academics to your extra curricular activities they will account into everything that you may have done during your high school year to see if you are even eligible to attend their most prestigious place of learning.

Academics usually mean your grades that you received in your high school classes. From math to English, you first need to learn the basics before you can try and learn the higher forms of these subjects. Academics also include the tests that just about most universities require like the SATs and ACTs. There are after-school programs for students to attend to learn and how to analyze these tests so they can score higher for these exams.

Colleges and universities also pay attention on what activities you may have been involved in during your high school year. From school clubs to after-school community service programs that you may have volunteered for, they will take into account on what kind of activities you participate in to have a much better understanding of you.

"To Read or Not to Read?" This is the title of a three year study on reading trends in the US released by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The reports concludes that: - voluntary reading rates are dropping - reading skills are "worsening" among teens - adults are becoming less proficient readers

Pretty grim news for people like me who's life is all about books and reading. It was with some trepidation that I downloaded the 98 very dry, dull pages and began to read them. Just as I was beginning to nod off I came across this little gem:

"Opinions aside, there is a shortage of scientific research on the effects of screen reading—not only on long-term patterns of news consumption, but more importantly, on the development of young minds and young readers. (A good research question is whether the hyperlinks, pop-up windows, and other extra-textual features of screen reading can sharpen a child's ability to perform sustained reading, or whether they impose unhelpful distractions)." (To Read or Not to Read p53)

That woke me up. I decided I didn't need to torture myself anymore and deleted the report from my machine.

There is an assumption here that I violently disagree with -- the only reading worth studying or reporting on is a printed page in a book.

With the advent of the first .com in 1985 the written word gained a whole new life. Email, Web Sites, Blogs, Instant Messaging, and Social Networks have created an explosion of words and creativity.

Look around any Starbucks and count the number of people typing on laptops, PDAs and cellphones. Count those reading newspapers. If they are not reading, what exactly are they doing?

My email, RSS feeds and blogs provide me with more reading material in one day than I used to get in an entire month.

I could say that it this is all work related and not in any sense voluntary. I would be lying.

Everyday, I follow links that take me to very strange places. It is so easy to intrigued with some weird factoid and go off on a reading tangent totally unrelated to anything! My personal downfall is when someone sends me a Facebook link. It is very possible that an hour later I am making new friends - after reading all about them. I don't even want to discuss YouTube! Are they unhelpful distractions? Who knows for sure. What we do know (from experience) is that those distractions very often keep us doing sustained reading. AND we are in fact reading things we probably never would have had access to or read any other way. Say what you will, it is still reading. And it is not exactly unpopular.

The last time there was this must energy created around words and ideas was when Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century. His press unlocked literacy and information and gave it to the people. For centuries the book has informed and entertained us.

Electronic reading propels literacy and information to the next level. It takes a one dimensional object and adds to it participation, sound and movement to create a richer, multidimensional experience.

I have always loved books; that is unlikely to change anytime soon. And yet, I find myself increasing feeling claustrophobic and impatient with print. It has been a long time since I picked up a magazine or newspaper. Why bother when I get the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Publisher's Weekly on my screen with instant updates, links and feedback opportunities.

Modern Italian, as often happens with many national languages, is in fact a dialect that has succeeded in imposing itself as the proper language of a larger region than the one corresponding to the land where a dialect is spoken. In the case of Italian, the Tuscan dialect, spoken in Florence, Pisa and Siena, has become the dominant dialect.

This is not because of political reasons as normally happens, but thanks to the cultural prestige it carries due to the fact that it was the language of the famed "Divina Comedia". This literary work written in the early years of the 14th century was considered the first literary work authored in the "modern language."

The Tuscan dialect is indeed the one in which renown authors such as Dante Alighieri, Petrarca and Boccaccio wrote. These three authors were considered the most well known Italian Renaissance writers. The economic success and development of the Tuscan region during the late Middle Ages gave the dialect extra weight despite the continued influence of the Venetian dialect.

The Italian languaeg is related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the now extinct Dalmatian. These three languaegs are part of the Italo-Western familyof Romance languages. Italian is nearest to Latin in terms of vocabulary other Romance languages are closer to Latin in terms of noun declension, verb conjugation, and phonology.

All languages spoken as the vernacular other than standard Italian are termed "Italian dialects". These include various recognized dialects such as Friulian, Neapolitan, Sardinian, Sicilian, and Venetian.

Other dialects are generally not used in the public square and are largely limited to informal conversations. Demographically, the younger generations tend to speak standard Italian almost exclusively though local accents and idioms do continue to be present.

The Italian language is spoken primarily in Italy, where it is the national language and is spoken by approximately 63 million people. It also spoken in two cantons (Ticino and Grigioni) of Switzerland where it is also known as an official language.

Italian speaking communities however reach far beyond Italy. Italian speakers are found throughout Europe most notably in England, Belgium, the various republics of the former Yugoslavia, Monaco, Molta and Argentina Others are found Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, United States and Canada.

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