Friday, March 6, 2020
Is Brazil more than Football and Samba
Is Brazil more than Football and Samba Often times when Im traveling, people are surprised that Im from the United States. They have an idea, based on what theyve seen in movies and on television of what people from our country are supposed look like, act like, what we eat, and what we do. I always tell people that the United States is more like a collection of countries that speak the same language, with many different cultures.Ive been told that Brazil is similar in this respect its much more complicated than football, samba and Copa Cabana. The video we used for this listening exercise is about the diversity and complexity of Brazil. We hope youll learn something about both Brazil and English with it.This video has a rich academic language and even included a word I wasnt familiar with, putsch, another word for a coup. Enjoy!iframe width=560 height=315 src=//www.youtube.com/embed/z-yzTSrjkxc frameborder=0 allowfullscreen/iframe1. I think creating _______ and ______ is part of the human condition.2. How many slaves wer e brought to the United States? How many more slaves were taken to Brazil?3. Why was Brazil united when the Spanish empire was breaking up?4. How does language unite Brazil?5. You cant have a dictatorship in Brazil based on _____.6. Why did people need cheering up?7. Summarize his meaning of jeijoada.8. Brazilians will ______ for their democracy.Tell me a few things about your country that you feel the rest of the world misconceive or have prejudices about.nbsp;
Thursday, March 5, 2020
How is the dollar valued and manipulated
How is the dollar valued and manipulated Business English Listening ExerciseHas the price of the dollar made you wonder how prices for currencies are decided? It definitely made us curious, as weve watched our classes become more expensive for our students.Watch the video below to learn more about how currency is traded, and sometimes manipulated. Click here if youd like to save some dollars on English classes this month with our February sale.Business English Listening ExericseAnswer the questions below in comments, and well respond.1. I could ______ them _______ into dollars at the going rate.2. What does going rate mean?3. Where the big guys go to trade is the site of some __________ shady dealings.4. How is the above word used in this sentence? Can you make a sentence using it in this form?5. How many currencies are there and how much changes hands?6. How is the foreign exchange market like New York?7. At what time and for how long does trading stop on the F-EX market?8. What have the traders in London been doing? What is the slang term for this?9. Who loses when this happens? Anyone who thinks they got a ______ _____.10. What does the above term mean?What do think the punishment for the banks and traders should be? How is your countrys currency?Click here for our business English idioms.
Top Secret 10 Surprising Facts About the U.S. Militarys DLIFLC GLOSS
Top Secret 10 Surprising Facts About the U.S. Militarys DLIFLC GLOSS 10 Facts You Didnt Know About the DLIFLC and GLOSS Quick! Take 5 from your books, podcasts and flashcards.Youâre in for a treat today.Because today, weâre gonna be talking about a language learning site that is truly in a class of its own.Unlike so many language learning brands that populate the internet, this oneâs not backed by angel investors or venture capitalists. Itâs backed by Uncle Sam himself.Itâs no freemium site with fancy graphics, but if you truly wanna go deep, and I mean really deep in learning your target language, you cant afford to skip the site weâre gonna talk about here: the DLIFLC GLOSS.DLIFLC GLOSS huh?Well, the acronym stands for Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS). Now thatâs a mouthful!The DLIFLC is the institution and GLOSS is one of its many programs.The DLIFLC is the language school where the U.S. military trains the interpreters that it sends all over the world (cue patriotic music and the entrance of colors).Okay, so now that weve got our letters straight, letâs dig a little deeper and learn what those acronyms are really all about.Weâll start first with some backgrounders on the DLIFLC itself, and then later in the list, weâll zero-in on DLIFLC programs like GLOSS. 10 Facts You Didnt Know About the DLIFLC and GLOSS1. Itâs DoD territory.The DLIFLC is under the Department of Defense.It is regarded as one of the finest foreign language learning institutions in America. Located in Monterey, California, this premier language provider considers its mission deadly serious.Exactly how serious?Seven hours a day serious. Thatâs the length of time students spend in classes, supplemented by 2-3 hours of nightly homework. This continues for 5 days a week in a 26 to 64-week basic course.Why the intensive course?Well, because this is where America trains the people who talk to the world. The center churns out military linguists who serve on federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Inv estigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Border Patrolâ"which means you canât get in the program unless youâre a member of the Armed Forces or are sponsored by a government agency.So think: James Bond meets FluentU.(And by the way, if thats the first youre hearing of FluentU, heres what the excitements all about: FluentU is an online immersion platform that takes real-world videosâ"like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talksâ"and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.FluentU is designed to get you comfortable with everyday language, by combining all the benefits of complete immersion and native-level conversations with easy-to-read subtitles.)2. The first language it taught was Japanese. (Know why?)The DLIFLC started in 1941, on the eve of Americaâs entry into World War II. It began as a secret language school with 60 carefully selected U.S. soldiersâ"mostly of Japanese ancestry. Why? Because it was a reflection of the realities on the ground. Japan was on a war footing in Asia, and America needed soldiers who understood enemy intelligence.The programs in the center often reflect world affairs. During the Cold War, many programs were geared towards the Slavic languages. Today, in the post 9/11 world, Arabic, Dari and Pashto (Afghanistan) are getting a lot of focus.3. They have their own immersion facility.When you want to immerse yourself in your target language, one of the things you can do is spend a few months abroad and soak in all the learning experiences at your country of choice. Or, if budget and time are not permissive, you get creative and engage in online language immersion through websites like FluentU. Others watch foreign TV shows, read foreign books or chat up native speakers through Skype.But do you know how Uncle Sam does immersion?Well he builds a whole simulationâ"furnishing a whole facility with kitchen and sleeping quarters where students can live for 1- 3 days.So for example, if youâre learning German, the DLIFLC immersion program will isolate you in a world that only understands German. Not a word of English will be spoken while you are in the immersion facility. So you may be on U.S. soil, but it will really feel like youâre in Germany. And youâll be put in real-world situations like bargaining for food and clothing at a market place.How cool is that? You donât have to get creative with your imagination. The simulation is so real, itâs like youâre there.4. The GLOSS is unparalleled anywhere else.So at this point, you may be thinking, âWhat does all this have to do with me? Iâm not a member of the Armed Forces, so Iâll never be in that program anyway.âWell, you stand to benefit more than you think.The DLIFLC has an online component which can be freely accessed by you and me.This is where the âGLOSSâ of âDLIFLC GLOSSâ comes in. The Global Language Online Support System was especially designed for indep endent online learning.Since not everyone can go on campus and attend the classes, DLIFLC has developed online lessons for its students.And like I said, that material is open to anyone. Which means we can participate in the intensive learning program intended for the select language learners of the armed forces of the United States.If that doesnât make you rejoice, I donât know what will.5. There are 7,000 lessons in GLOSS.There are lessons for 40 different languages, including lesser-known tongues like Balochi, Pashto, Hausa and Dari. The lessons are divided into two modalities (Reading and Listening) and seven learner levels.Each lesson contains 4-6 tasks. So for example, in a listening lesson, one of the tasks would be to match an image with its correct audio. Another task might be to type in an answer to an audio question.GLOSS lessons cover a rich variety of topics that include: culture, economics, environment, geography, military, politics, science, security, society a nd technology.6. The lessons are interactive (and come with certificates too).GLOSSâs lessons are interactive. Meaning, youâre very much involved in your learning process and youâll probably be busy doing something at any point in time.So let me tell you beforehand, the lessons are not for the faint of heart. The tasks in GLOSS might just be some of the most challenging ones you can have online. The âbeginnerâ modules here are considered âadvancedâ in other websites. (Youâve been warned.)Other sites mark the learnersâ progress through a âpointsâ system. More points means the further you are in the lessons. The lessons in GLOSS come with âcertificates,â which are given to you after every lesson. Certificates are proof of the hard work you put into learning your target language. You can print them out and collect as many as you can. It will be a nice pat on the back.7. The audio recordings and conversation examples will set your ears ablaze.DLIFLC is one o f the few language learning sites that gives a fitting nod to the importance of listening in language acquisition. A testament to this are the GLOSSâs listening lessons themselves.As mentioned previously, GLOSS lessons can either be about listening comprehension or reading comprehension. (DLIFLC focuses on these two because they are the most important skills on the field.)GLOSS is one of the most comprehensive resources of language audio recordings online. Where can you find, for example, 140 audio recordings of Albanian conversations, 69 for Uzbek and 111 for Hindi?In addition, DLIFLC has an accent library for Arabic and Spanish languages. I ask you again, where can you find the same text read in 11 different Spanish accents (eg. Argentinean, Chilean, Columbian, Honduran, Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan) or 10 different Arabic accents (eg. Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Saudi, Tunisian, Sudanese)? Only at GLOSS.8. Their Online Diagnostic Assessment can take around 1-2 hours.Think GL OSS lessons arenât challenging enough? Or do you simply want to know what areas need more work for you?DLIFLC developed the Online Diagnostic Assessment for that very purpose. It will identify your strengths and give you feedback on sticking points.Create an account and you can take the assessment. There will be two kinds of tests. One is for reading comprehension, and another for listening ability. You will read/listen to sets of passages followed by 4-6 questions. The questions will not only test your comprehension of the passages/recordings, they will also test you on vocabulary, sentence structure and text structure.Sometimes you will be asked to give your answer in a multiple-choice format, but most of the time you will be asked to type in your answer.The tests take 1-2 hours per skill and are available for 13 major languages. So if youâre itching to know where you stand on the issue of comprehension, I challenge you to take the assessment.9. GLOSS actually teaches bot h language and culture.If you take a look at DLIFLCâs other programs, youâll quickly notice that the center is as serious in teaching culture as it is in teaching language. One can quickly sense this in programs like âCultural Orientations,â âFamiliarization Modules,â âCountries in Perspectiveâ and âCultural Awareness Assessment.âGLOSS, in its listening and reading lessons, espouses the philosophy that you can never divorce a language from its culture. You can never distill language from the people who speak itâ"their history, experiences and aspiration as a group.You donât sense this from the other language learning sites. This is one of the biggest advantages of learning in DLIFLC. You donât get cultural lessons as interesting asides, instead you get heavy doses of it. Because of this, you acquire not only a new set of vocabulary or grammar rules, but an enduring appreciation for the culture that produced the language that captured your imagination.10. GLOSS champions the concept of âlanguage maintenance.âDLIFLC believes in the importance of maintaining competency in a language. Just because you have already acquired French, for example, doesnât mean itâs the end of the road for you. Nope, you need to continually review, practice and pile on to your skills. Otherwise youâd slowly backslide and lose those language gains.You need to go back in order to move forward. Thatâs why for 4 hours a week, DLIFLC allows its analysts and linguists to go into independent study.In line with that belief, the DLIFLC created GLOSS not only as a teaching tool for first time learners, but as a refresher course. It was made available online so that former students, assigned and dispersed in the far reaches of earth, wonât have return to campus to get the highly needed language refresher and reviews.DLIFLC GLOSS is quite unique in that it emphasizes the importance of âlanguage maintenance,â regardless of skill level.So, you now know 10 things about the DLIFLC and GLOSS. Iâm sure you canât wait to give those listening and reading lessons a shot. Enjoy! And One More ThingIf youre digging this resource, youll love using FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ"the same way that natives speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more e xamples for the word youâre learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that youâre learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store.
International School Saigon Pearl
International School Saigon Pearl International School Saigon Pearl The International School Saigon Pearl (ISSP) is a world-class Elementary School for children aged 2 to 11 years old offering a full American curriculum. Our ethos is centered on building caring relationships with each child and family. Our approach enables us to understand the abilities of each child and recognize their parents ambitions. Our academically rigorous American curriculum is seamlessly continued to High School education at ISHCMC American Academy where they continue to become adaptive, thoughtful and active global citizens. International School Saigon Pearl International School Saigon Pearl The International School Saigon Pearl (ISSP) is a world-class Elementary School for children aged 2 to 11 years old offering a full American curriculum. Our ethos is centered on building caring relationships with each child and family. Our approach enables us to understand the abilities of each child and recognize their parents ambitions. Our academically rigorous American curriculum is seamlessly continued to High School education at ISHCMC American Academy where they continue to become adaptive, thoughtful and active global citizens.
Make Your Mom Feel Special on Mothers Day - Aloha Mind Math USA - ALOHA Mind Math
Make Your Mom Feel Special on Mothers Day USA Motherâs Day is around the corner (12th May this year) and itâs a special day to show your mom how much you care. While most of us go by the motions of daily life by taking our mothers for granted, this is a day celebrate how truly special our mom is. Life would not be the same without showing our gratitude and appreciation to the beautiful woman who brought us into this world. Make your mom feel special with these simple yet beautiful ways on Motherâs Day. Cook Momâs Favorite Meal While most of our moms have spent a good portion of their lives in the kitchen preparing our daily meals, fussing over what we want to eat, baking those gorgeous muffins and cakes on our birthdays, and tirelessly looking after the needs of the family and kids, doesnât it make the day all the more special to give our moms a break from the kitchen and cook them their favorite meal? Yes, indeed! Spa Day Your mom needs pampering for all the long hours she puts at work, to keep the house well, take care of the family and everything else in between. Show her a relaxing time at a spa where she can spend the day getting a facial, massage, manicure, pedicure and a foot reflexology treatment. Bring Home a Special Cake Bring home a special cake with a theme that describes her well. It could be touching, entertaining, funny or just simply heartfelt. Get your mom to cut the cake and make her feel special on Motherâs Day. Handmade Gift What better idea than to make something for your mom yourself. Whether it is a handmade card or a knit cardigan, your mom is going to appreciate what you have done to make her feel special by going that extra mile to show her how much you care. No matter what you choose to give your mom, however big or small, the idea is to make her feel special, appreciated and loved. ALOHA Wishes all the moms a Happy Motherâs Day! At ALOHA we have learning programs that enhance the overall learning development of your child. Visit our website for further information http://www.aloha-usa.com/
Teach in the UK - now hiring over 100 teachers!
Teach in the UK - now hiring over 100 teachers! London calling! Weâre now hiring for over 100 British teaching positions in English, Math, Science, Foreign Language, and Musicteachers to teach in London and surrounding areas. This is an exciting opportunity for Canadian and American teachers certified to teach Middle and High School. Newly licensed teachers are welcome to apply too! What youâll enjoy: Generous annual salary of approximately £22,244 - £37,851 Visa assistance provided Why teach in the UK: Culture: The UK has a very rich history and there is a large mix of cultures. Heritage: Britain has an interesting history and is good at preserving its traditions, heritage buildings, and gardens. Geographical location: Youâll be able to travel to countless European destinations only a few hours away, often with cheap trains and bus. Environment: There are many beautiful gardens, parks, and public green spaces. Food:Enjoy Sunday roasts and Yorkshire Pudding in local pubs. Apply for English teaching positions in the UK Apply for Math teaching positions in the UK Apply for Science teaching positions in the UK Apply for Music teaching positions in the UK Apply for Foreign Language teaching positions in the UK (French, German,or Spanish)
Chemistry Projects - Makes Your Assignments Easier
Chemistry Projects - Makes Your Assignments EasierAfter doing extensive research on the chemistry I'm now learning, the number one reason why people never get good grades in Chemistry classes is because they are afraid of the formulas. Often, when we're doing experiments or working on a certain chemical we forget about it for a moment and just worry about getting a good grade. That's a mistake, as a good grade means that you've worked hard on your project, not because you weren't careful in how you study.What I've found is that a chemistry teacher can be just as intimidating as a physics teacher, or a math teacher, or even a literature teacher. We learn by working, and it's important to make sure that the projects we work on are easy enough that we can do it quickly and easily without taking much time out of our schedule.How we study is important as well, because it shows that we are willing to put in the time needed to make sure that we are getting the most out of the learning proce ss. The bad news is that many students are scared to take any extra time and make sure that they're truly learning and not just repeating what they've learned.Once the project is done, it is easy to do the chemistry experiments that you had planned. Doing experiments requires a lot of patience and dedication. It is important to set aside some time every week to work on a project, whether it is just one experiment or a large group.If you find that you are really struggling with your chemistry homework and you are having trouble even trying to figure out what is happening in the experiment, then you might need help. I recommend talking to an older friend who has a love for chemistry to help you figure out what you are going through and to give you some helpful hints and tips.If you are doing some more advanced projects, then you might want to start working on them in a different way, such as using different approaches and devices, so that you are able to use the material in a complete ly different way. Whatever you are doing, you need to be creative and make sure that you're not repeating yourself or relying on the same thing too much.Learning how to study better, and be willing to do more than just reading books or listening to lectures will make all the difference when it comes to your learning in the future. I hope that you will follow my advice to the letter and remember to always try new things and give yourself the chance to develop your own chemistry skills.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)