Should I Go To Oregon State University

Should I Go To Oregon State University The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teachtheyre sharing their college experiences as well. Elizabeth is a Portland tutor specializing in English tutoring, essay editing tutoring, SAT Writing tutoring, and a number of other areas. She is currently a senior at Oregon State University majoring in English Literature. See what she had to share about Oregon State University: Describe the campus setting and transportation options. Elizabeth: The Oregon State University campus is located in Corvallis, Oregon, a relatively small town off Highway 5. The campus is somewhat urbanits only about a 15-minute walk from campus to downtownbut it still feels secluded when youre nestled on its 422 acres. Oregon State University owns a lot of the surrounding land around campus, so there are always peaceful places to take walks and enjoy nature. Campus is extremely safe, day or night, and there are free buses that will take you all over campus.There is also a van service called Safe Ride that will take you from many places off-campus back to your dorm or apartment. How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants at Oregon State University? Elizabeth: Im really lucky with my major and my college, because liberal arts isnt one of Oregon State Universitys most popular fields. However, that just means more attention from incredible professors and advisers. Ive been able to create close bonds with my favorite professors, something that many of my friends in liberal arts majors at other schools have never experienced. I have also taken many classes outside my major, and all of the professors and teaching assistants that I have had have been incredibly engaging and helpful. How would you describe the dorm liferooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Elizabeth: Oregon State University mandates that all first-year students live on campus, which makes it incredibly easy to meet new friends. There are countless events held to allow first-years to bond and get to know campus and school resources. There are 13 dorms spread all over campus, and in all honesty, some are in better shape than others. The resident assistants are great, and they go through extensive training to prepare them to be great mentors for first-year students. The dining options on campus are varied, and getting better all the time. There are plenty of dietary options, and the people in charge are always happy to accommodate your dietary needs. Which majors/programs are best represented and supported? Elizabeth: Engineering and agricultural majors are best represented and supported at Oregon State University. However, Corvallis has been rated one of the most environmentally friendly towns in the United States, and Oregon State University has several LEED-certified buildings, and all of these factors have contributed to a strong environmental science major. I am finishing my degree in English literature, and I was always supported by excellent faculty and resources. While Oregon State University may not be known for English, I have had some of the most talented authors and scholars as instructors, which goes to show just how excellent even the smaller departments are at Oregon State University. How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life at Oregon State University? Elizabeth: It is impossible not to meet people as a freshman at Oregon State Universitymost of your classes will be for first-year students, most of your residence hall will be made up of first-year students, and there are always events going on all over campus. Making friends is ultimately up to you, but there are countless opportunities to do so. Greek life is definitely present on campus. We have lots of sororities and fraternities that conduct events on campus and off, but they are certainly not the focus of social life. If Greek life appeals to you, there will definitely be a place for you at one of the houses. If Greek life isnt your thing, you will still be able to make amazing friends and enjoy your time at Oregon State University. How helpful is the Career Center and other student support services? Elizabeth: The student support services at Oregon State University, from the Career Center to student health, are incredibly helpful and always available for students. Its really simple to get an on-campus job if youre interested, and there are countless resources for careers after graduation. Oregon State University holds multiple career fairs per year, attended by companies like Boeing, Intel, and Oregon State Credit Union. There are also many different internship opportunities through Oregon State University that could take you anywhere in the world youd like to go. How are the various study areas such as libraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Elizabeth: You will always find a quiet place to study at Oregon State University. Though the library may get crowded during finals week, you can always find a spot in the historic Memorial Union, your residence hall lounge, an empty classroom on campus, or a cute coffee shop off-campus. Before and after finals, there is ample room in all six floors of our state-of-the-art library. There will always be room for you at Oregon State University. Describe the surrounding town. Elizabeth: Corvallis is a small, artsy town with an engaged community. There are lots of great riverfront spots, breweries, theaters, hiking trails, farmers markets, and events available throughout the year. Downtown Corvallis is beautiful and quirky, so people do tend to spend a lot of time there, but there are also areas of Corvallis with more practical spots like Home Depot, Winco, and Trader Joes. There are definitely times when the rain seems unforgiving, but during those weeks, its best to get out of the Oregon State University/Corvallis bubble and head up to Portland (about an hour and 20 minutes away) or down to Eugene (about 40 minutes away) to get a new perspective. How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes at Oregon State University? Elizabeth: Oregon State University has about 30,000 students, but many of them are graduate and ecampus students. Campus never really feels crowded. Some low-level classes can feel cramped, like the health or biology classes that most first-year students have to take, but they are also great bonding experiences for freshmen. Its easy to meet friends in classes like that. I know that some larger departments (like engineering) do have bigger class sizes, but most liberal arts classes are small and very personal. I loved my class sizes, because I felt that I got a great combination of the more typical college experience with auditorium-style classes, while also being able to regularly enjoy 15-person English classes. Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one you regret the most. Elizabeth: I had the chance to take a class about Gothic literature with one of the best and most engaging professors in my department. The class was relatively large for an English class (around 30 people) but everyone in the class was truly excited about the material. We got the chance to examine texts like Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while discussing the ways in which the once-cutting-edge texts have changed over the years. We ended on a modern novelSlade House by David Mitchelland examined the ways in which Gothic literature has shaped our culture. This class was incredibly fun, and I was so engaged that I wrote some of the critical analyses that I am most proud of and intend to use when I apply to graduate school. Check out Elizabeths tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

Apply These Secret Techniques To Improve online Tutoring For Calculus

Apply These Secret Techniques To Improve online Tutoring For Calculus 0SHARESShare Tutors online are so abundantly present in the current online world that choosing which one to register with becomes difficult for a user.  Calculus tutors online, free do not reveal all that they probably should. For instance, it may happen that the tutor website is rich in expert lectures and references but the material they provide, has no source attached to it. In this case, it are an ill- informed user, you will never get to compare the given study material with the better ones present elsewhere. Another thing that remains under the wraps is the student strength. Let us talk practically, how many of us actually take the efforts of verifying the authenticity of in the numbers the website provides? Hardly any! And this is taken advantage of. For all we know the numbers displayed are double the actual student base they have. The same can be the case with their real success rate;they very well tend to camouflage their exact growth rate.  Online Tutor  prepare their material from exactly the same place you prepare your notes from. The only difference is that they have a person or a person’s voice delivering the material to you in a more comprehensive manner. But this too they wish to hide, for the simple reason that if one studies on his own, via the same sources, what good it is for them. But it is obvious that using an online calculus or geometry tutor is more beneficial than getting mixed up with your own notes! [starbox id=admin]

Tutoring in schools a success!

Tutoring in schools a success! The tutors went into 4 state schools; Pimlico Academy, Globe Academy, Westminster Academy and Wilbury Primary School. We received immensely positive feedback from volunteers, students and schools, showing that this has been hugely beneficial for all involved. “[The tutors] have been fantastic â€" really committed to helping the children in their progress. Thank you again for all you've done.” - Alexander Lee (Wilbury Primary School) “The tutoring sessions were very helpful to the students in preparing for their science exams. From what I saw, the students were always engaged and the tutors planned good activities to build students' confidence in answering exam questions. I think in the future, students would benefit from having this tuition, but perhaps it could be started earlier on in the year.” -  A teacher from Westminster Academy Globe Academy expressed interest in expanding the programme within their school in order to benefit more students. “It has been fantastic having the volunteers here, so thank you. We would be more than happy to accept more volunteers in the New Year as I know the programme has been very beneficial.” - A teacher from Globe Academy Some of the lessons were observed by Karen Mears from the Institute of Education (IOE) and Deputy Head teacher of Wilbury Primary School Lisa Wise. “Children made outstanding progress over the course of the lessons and all tutors developed an excellent relationship with the children, who responded well to the AFL and teaching strategies used,” - Lisa Wise. After the success of the pilot programme, all the schools involved are keen to continue and expand the scheme next term. We can’t wait to get going with the programme again in a few weeks’ time! For more information on how to participate or to get involved with the Tutorfair Foundation visit Tutorfair.com or email Pete@Tutorfair.com.

IELTS Speaking Part Tips - Tips to Improve IELTS Speaking Score

IELTS Speaking Part Tips - Tips to Improve IELTS Speaking Score Should you take IELTS? Is it difficult? IELTS consists of four parts: Listening, Reading, Writing ? Speaking. Here you will learn IELTS speaking part tips. IELTS Speaking Part Tips Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my English lessons. Today Im going to talk to you about IELTS, the English exams. Okay, so Im going to talk to you in particular about the speaking part and give you some tips and hints around that.But before I get started with that, I want to talk to you about my new Easy Peasy Club. Its a very important VIP club just for you guys out there. So if you cant afford lessons with somebody on a face to face basis or you dont have the time and you want to do something in your own time, but the Easy Peasy Club is made just for you, its really ideal. So for simple 25 Euro  a year. Yeah, 25 Euro  a year, you will get a free lesson every week. It will be a recorded lesson, but its a recorded lesson with me and youll get all the typical information that you get in any lesson.So its really good. So theres lots of you already joining. And so if you wanted, look to my webpage, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and youll see the link there.Okay, so lets go b ack to talking about IELTS. So people do IELTS and the exams for quite a lot of reasons. They might be looking for a visa to get into a particular country and they need them to have IELTS at a certain level. They want to do it to get into a university or indeed you might just be doing it just to see what level youre actually at. So theyre all good reasons for doing it, but if youre going to do it, you want to do it properly. Okay.So here are some hints as to how you can get yourself a really good score. So were going to talk today specifically about the speaking tasks and the speaking tasks are usually in three parts.The first part is a sort of an introduction or a warm-up  where they get you to talk about yourself.  The second part is a particular topic that the examiner will give you and youll be expected to talk on that topic for two to three minutes with him interrupting you from time to time with questions.  And then the third part will be some related questions about that part icular topic. So you need to know what the topic is about. You need to be able to think and you need to be able to plan. So its hard to plan in advance because you dont know what the topic is going to be. Neither can you ask the examiner to change the topic if you dont like it. So you have to be able to think on your feet. But you can do a lot of preparation and advance by practising  lots of different topics that other people have had in their exams. So make sure you prepare.  Well, the first part should be easy because theyre just going to ask you questions about you. So who are you? Where do you come from? Where do you live? What work do you do? What are you studying? So personal or familiar issues, perhaps something to do with your family or your immediate family, or even the neighbours who live around you. Okay? So these are Fetty simple topics. But remember the objective of the examiner is to find out what you know about English. So it doesnt really matter what you tell them, its how you tell, okay?  They want you to speak clearly.  They want you to speak at an even pace.  They want to hear intonation in your voice.  They want to hear good pronunciation because if its poor pronunciation, they will deduct marks and they dont want to hear somebody stuttering or stammering or hmm  and ums.So there has to be fluency to the way you speak. So we have to get you to practice all of those in each of these particular parts. So remembe r, these are the things that the examiner is going to be really looking out for. So lets go over them.  Again, fluency to make sure that you can put sentences together. So he doesnt want you to just say one half of a sentence or a very short answer, yes or no for each answer. You really need to have about two sentences to show that you have that fluency.  So number one, fluency, intonation. So how to rise and lower your voice at the appropriate time. You have to practice that so you dont put too much intonation into your answers, but just enough where its appropriate. Oh my God. Yeah, intonation, pronunciation. Okay. You have to be able to pronounce clearly so he can hear the words.For example, when the a word ends in -ED, you get the correct stress. I walked to work and not walking or something else. You lose marks definitely for poor pronunciation.And if youre speaking too fast or too slow, then hell also pull you up on that. And if youre using poor grammar, then youre going to lo se marks as well.So theyre the four areas that you really, really want to focus on. So the first part, as I said, is about you personal issues that that should be relatively easy because you can prepare in advance.Make sure you dont learn it by heart because the examiner will recognize that he doesnt want just to hear blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, something that youve learned by heart. Again, this is where intonation comes in. You have to have some break in it, some, up and down, undulation in your voice to show that its not learnt by heart. IELTS Speaking Part Tips - MP3 Okay? So this is really, really important when it comes to the grammar. What the examiner will be looking for is vocabulary. Hed be looking to see that you have a breadth of experience, that you can use different words. So please avoid duplicating words using the same word over and over again. So when youre practising, try and use different words, other words that have the same sort of meaning. And with practice you can improve that. Okay?  When youre talking about grammar, you want to introduce aspects like a few phrasal verbs. Dont overuse them because sometimes theres a tendency for people to want to put in phrasal verbs into every sentence. If its not natural, dont force it. Okay? So, but try and pick out a few phrasal verbs that you can use in different topics.  Also when youre talking about grammar, try and introduce when youre using adjectives, comparatives and superlatives, because again this will demonstrate very clearly to the examiner that you understand that aspect of gra mmar that youre able to say or the best of the worst or the greatest or as good as, as big as.So youre using comparative and superlatives again to demonstrate your use of grammar. Okay. As I said, youre going to look at three different parts of the eyelets speaking the first about you or things close to you. The second part is going to give you a minute to prepare. So make sure you use the minute, write notes and key points that you want to make and that you want to bring out in whatever answers that you give. So prepare well for that. Okay.  Hell give you the topic. So lets say its about gardening. So you need to write down on paper, its about gardening. You might not like gardening, so you can speak negatively. As I said before, its not important what you say. Its important how you say it, but remember if youre going to speak negatively about something, make sure you have points to make.For example, if its gardening, but I dont really like gardening. I dont like gardening because I dont have a gun. I dont have a garden because I live in an apartment and, but my parents had a garden when we were young and they like to work in it so you can build it around and move the the question or the topic to something that youre comfortable with. As I said before, you cant change the topic. You cant get the examiner to change it, but you can with a little bit of practice, push on, move the type of air questions to something that youre more comfortable with or youre more familiar with. But as I said, use that particular minute. Well, prepare different things. If youre talking about gardening, you can talk about different types of gardens. You can talk about flowers or plants or bushes or you could cultivate a garden to grow vegetables.And then you can talk about the commercial aspects of it. You can give your the whatever you grow in the produce to people as presence or you can help to boost your own income by selling it or reduce your costs by eating what you grow and th e garden. So theres different ways that you can bring the topic around to something that youre comfortable with. So the third part of this particular aspect of the speaking exercise, the examiner is going to ask you more general questions related to the particular topics. So if we take our topic of gardening, he might start asking you questions about do you think every house should have a garden? Or he might ask you, what do you think about city gardens? And a city garden might be a plot of land that is shared by people in a communal space or indeed in many.Now youll see gardens on top of all the buildings. And its a way of trying to introduce growth and plants and greenery into a city to help with the whole issue of climate control and everything else. So therell be related questions that he might ask you. So you need to be prepared by that. And again, when youre given an answer, dont just give a yes or no. Okay?  Dont give very short answers, dont go too long because thats when yo u tend to make mistakes. But with any answer, this should be at least two sentences in it. And the reason why is that when you give the examiner an opportunity to identify mistakes or weaknesses, offer you to show your strengths in relation to your vocabulary, the grammar that we mentioned before, and all those aspects about proper intonation and proper pronunciation. Okay? So just to recap on that, then theyre going to be three parts to the speaking.   Theres going to be the first part, which is really a warm up for you to introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, where you live, so the who, what, where and when type of questions. And you should be able to answer those quite easily. The second part will be a topic that you have no control on, but youll get one minute to prepare. So make sure you use that minute well, write down comments or words that you think are associated with it so that you can push the type of questions into the areas that you feel most comfortable with and youre going to have to talk them for two to three minutes on that particular topic. So heres an opportunity for you to use good phrases and expressions in my opinion, or I believe, or frankly or honestly, so you can introduce those into the the conversation. Make sure you use good grammar. Make sure you use superlatives and comparatives. Make sure you get those pronunciation sounds right. Dont speak too quickly. Dont speak too slowly and try to provide the Ums and Ahs. Its, its a bit difficult to avoid them completely and you cant get obviously 100% but if you want to get good marks, these are the sorts of things that you have to look at.And then the third part are going to be related questions to the topic that youve already been discussing for two or three minutes. And again, when you give those answers, make sure you elongate the answers a little bit to try and get two or three sentences for each response. So it gives you the opportunity to demonstrate control of vocabulary. Dont duplicate words and try and practice what youve learnt. Okay. Thanks for listening.

How to Improve Language Listening Skills 5 Secrets for Success

How to Improve Language Listening Skills 5 Secrets for Success How to Improve Language Listening Skills: 5 Secrets for Success Listening  is the mother of all language skills.Okay, so traditionally its been treated more like the under-appreciated younger brother of language skills. But it should be the mother of all language skills.Remember at school, when you were supposed to be listening to the teacher and suddenly you got picked to answer a question and all you could do was muster a guilty “errrrrr”?We humans are generally poor listeners in our own language. While it may be embarrassing to be caught not paying attention to the teacher, listening is normally considered more of a given than something that needs to be focused on and cultivated.Were taught to read  and write. Were even taught to debate and give presentations. But no one really teaches us how to listen.So  mastering the art of listening in another language is bound to be an even bigger challenge! Its tough to figure out how to improve language listening skills to begin with.If we want to achieve fluency, we have to really make an active ef fort when it comes to this dimension of the language learning process. Why Is Listening So Important?First and foremost, one-way communication is just no fun. Its all well and good being able to put together a great phrase, but if youre lost when the reply comes your way, its useless. You have become the proverbial brick wall!And dont think this just applies to beginners. Even the more advanced can get caught out by the huge variety of accents and dialects contained within each language.I remember when I first went to Italy, confident after two years of classes and consistently good grades. As soon as I hopped off the plane in Rome and got to the bus station, I proceeded to spend the next hour sitting on the curb with my head hanging over my knees.The counter clerks fast regional accent had caught me out. I asked her to repeat herself three times, after which she made a heart-sinking I cant take any more stupid foreigners today face and started talking to the person behind me.We s hould always be aware that dialects and accents differ not only from country to country but also within a country. There are regional accents. There are even different accents within the same city, according to neighborhood, class or age.Topping up on listening practice with a wide variety of material gets us used to the differences AND helps us learn all sorts of other skills as well!Wondering what the best kind of material is to use and where to find it? Thats exactly what were going to provide you with here.The Best Resources for Listening PracticeYour experience of language listening may involve textbook dialogues that go something like this:“Hello, my name is Ronny.Oh hello, my name is Fred. Nice to meet you, Ronny.Where is the library?”Makes you want to bang your head on the table in boredom and frustration, right? Who can blame you? As this type of dialogue is clearly scripted, its most definitely not the best example of natural language.What we need is original, native s ources of language.These can include:Movies/TV Series. Check out  this guide to listening practice through movies and TV series  and the great resources included!Podcasts.  Entertainment Weekly offers a  list of recommended podcasts  from 2015 on their site. To find similar lists of recommendations for native podcasts in the language of your choice, try Google searching the phrase best podcasts in that language.Audiobooks. Instead of reading those books youre interested in, why not listen to them?News channels and radio stations often have great websites with plenty of videos and articles to go with them. Searching radio stations online in [country] will give you plenty of options. National Geographic is also a great multilingual resource with a TV channel, subscription magazines and websites in various languages.Talks and interviews. The advantage of listening to talks is that the speakers are generally experienced, speak more clearly and stay on subject. If you havent already hear d about TED Talks, get on the site right now! You can search by subject and language and listen to some of the best public speakers around the world give inspiring speeches on their subjects of expertise, with the advantage of subtitles in many languages and a written transcript if you ever get lost.Songs  (on Vimeo or YouTube, for example), with or without lyrics.People. Go out! Communicate, listen to conversations, etc. If you live in a city, find a language exchange partner who speaks the language you want to learn. You can do this through language exchange groups, such as  Mundo Lingo International, which are often organized through Facebook or on Meetup. Attend cultural events, such as cinema nights, theater or book clubs for countries youre interested in. If you are in a remote location, there is always the option of finding an online language buddy with websites such as  Coeffee,  Easy Language Exchange, italki  and  Babel Village.Finally, you can always find fresh native con tent on  FluentU,  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.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, including 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 over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive Transcripts You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’r e learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.So now we know the why behind listening practice, and weve got the right tools. All thats left is the how. Check out these secrets for further listening success below.How to Improve Language Listening Skills: 5 Secrets for Success1. Make Listening Regular and FocusedLike anything worthwhile in life, theres no quick fix. Anyone telling you its pure talentâ€"or that you can push some buttons and voila!â€"is wrong. For me, language learning follows a simple equation:Interest + Motivation + Effort = Successful learning!Languages are vast and rich. There is no one (or hardly anyone!) whos going to be naturally excellent at all skills required to achieve full fluency. There are always parts that come more easily and others that youll have to work harder at.For some, that might mean grammar is a breeze, but producing the sounds of a language is an uphill battle. For others, underst anding what others say seems to come naturally, but which verb tense is used where is a mystery.No one listens to Russian and just immediately knows whats being said. Improving listening requires repeated exposure. Whether that means watching soap operas, documentaries, talk shows, podcasts, sports radio shows or your favorite bands, the all-important bottom line is that you DO listen, constantly, while paying full attention.For this, you need toRemove DistractionsYou know why.All of a sudden that video your friend posted of a puppy running into a glass window just seems so interesting.Were all prone to distraction.So turn off your email/Facebook/Twitter/WhatsApp/Skype alerts on your computer and phone before you start your listening practice.If you have kids, partners or housemates who love to barge in and start asking for things, let them know you need 15 minutes of alone time or, if that is impossible at home, find a silent workspace in your local cafe, on the train or in a parkâ €"wherever works best for you.In the same vein, try and leave aside your mental to-do list (I know, its hardâ€"theres just so much to do!) that keeps invading your brain space for just a few minutes.Listening with half a brain on what youre doing is only going to give you half the practice you need, and the chances of your brain remembering the material you listen to is minimal.Keep Your Interest Alive!We can learn through memorization, but to remember and internalize we need to puzzle over something that interests us and that we enjoy. So forget textbook boredom. Harness your interest by focusing on subject matter you like.Push Through!We all have good and bad days.The learning curve has a sharp spike at the beginning, where development is rapid (albeit with ups and downs of its own), and then theres a plateau where it gets harder to make progress. It can be a struggle, but getting stuck in is part of the fun and hugely rewarding when you finally do emerge from the tunnel.Proceed i n Small but Regular Bite-sized ChunksThis is the most effective way of  warding off boredom and keeping motivated.15 minutes every day is a hundred times better than a four-hour cram session every two weeks. Id say 45 minutes is the limit before concentration starts lagging. But for those who are time-starved, even a quick five minutes will help rewire your brain to the sounds of the new language.2. Set Listening GoalsSetting goals will help get you on the right track and feel good when you hit your target.Of course, dont get ahead of yourself: Start with small goals, and reward yourself as you go.For example, at first, aim for recognizing words, or even just sounds. Give yourself a point every time you hear a word beginning with the letter p or the sound [d?], for instance.Aim to learn one or a few new words each time you listen to something. Later, move up to bigger goalsâ€"understanding a whole conversation, perhaps, or listening to a song and learning to sing along with the chor us.If you already have a more advanced level, choose more complex material and aim to focus on expressions you havent heard before or perfecting your accent by imitating favorite sections of speech.Were all still learning in our own language, so in a new one there will never be a lack of things to improve on!3. See the Big PictureListen Purely for SoundThis is a good technique at the beginning.  It gets you used to the melody of the language. Staying speechless  and absorbing the sounds, syllables, pauses and rhythm of the language is exactly what babies do in their silent sponge period.Be aware of how language changes when it’s spoken. If you know how the sounds connect, when theyre deleted or inserted, youll need much less time to progress!In English, we dont necessarily pause between each word. In fact, we often link words and sometimes join sounds to make new sounds.For example, What are you going to do? becomes Whaddya gonna do?One of my favorite tricks is to try to separate the ongoing flow of words by pressing my fingers against a table (or engaging in some other physical expression) every time I hear that a word is accented. When I use this trick with Portuguese, I can actually understand much more. Somehow, attaching a physical representation to the mental process helps the brain to separate the sounds.Later, you can move on to trying to understand whole chunks of text.Get Used to Looking for ContextDo you ever find yourself finishing the sentences of someone you have known for a long time, someone with whom you feel very comfortable?Of course you do! You may not even realize youre doing it. We all naturally trail off at the end of sentences, but everyday speech patterns are so common that most of the time we unwittingly fill in the remaining parts in our heads.Well, with a new language, the situation is similar, but we have to get even more creative and imaginative.It takes too long to  translate every word in your head.  Use logic and good old cre ative guesswork to conclude what will follow.  For example, lets say I see a mother looking in a fridge, holding out car keys for her husband, and I hear this:goshopssome things wedinner?I can determine from the intonation that its a question, and from the context of the situation, I can guess the missing words:Can you go to the shops to pick up some things we need for dinner?Even if these arent the exact words, the context is there and I have understood.Use Tools to Get AccurateOnce youve understood the general context, its time to get more accurate.For example, if Im not 100% sure of something Ive heard and want to check, I can  repeat that section as many times as I need to.If Im still not sure, I can  record the section on my phone and download an app such as Audacity  (audio only) or VLC  (audio and video files) to slow down that section for more clarity. If there are still comprehension problems, I can  use a native-speaking friend or find a buddy on a language swap website to ask for help.4. Add in Cross-trainingNone of the skills we need to learn a language can be taken in isolation. Theyre a giant web of interlocking strings.So we must listen in combination with reading and speaking.What does this mean, and how can we do this?Use subtitles. First,  in your native language to gain an idea of whats going on.Then switch to subtitles in the same language as the program youre watching.Use lyrics. For songs, listen once without lyrics to get used to the sounds. You can then listen again with the lyrics. You can look up the words you dont know and repeat sections as many times as you need to recognize the sounds. Then listen all the way through one last time without lyrics, this time trying to recognize all the sounds and words you have just read.Use listening as a way to learn new vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. Aim to find new words or expressions each time you watch or listen to something. Look them up in the dictionary, find them in contextâ€"in ne wspaper articles online, for exampleâ€"and try to make some sentences of your own.Use mimicking to better understand sounds and sound combinations, and to improve pronunciation.Use your inner voice. We all have a voice in our head that provides us with a running commentary of life. Dont forget to use that, too (in the language youre learning).The great challenge is to be able to think in that language. So repeating things youve heard that you liked in your head is practice, too! Chat to yourself about what you just listened toâ€"but try, as much as possible, to think those thoughts IN that language.The wonderful thing is that in your own head, theres no one judging you!5. Crank Up the Difficulty ProgressivelyChoose your material carefully. It needs to be comprehensible. If you understand nothing, you will simply not listen. Generally, a slight step up from your current level will be stimulating enough for you to learn new things but not so hard that you end up confused and dejected. Listen to short sections at first, and repeat many times. Listen to a recording once. First to understand the gist, then again (and again, if necessary) to get the details. Slow the recording down if you need to.You can move on to larger sections of speech once you feel comfortable, repeating the same process. Here are some resources to check out for finding level-appropriate material for yourself:Songs, programs and computer games for kids contain the simplest language and often come with very explicit visuals, making them easy to understand.Documentaries are great as the speakers are often chosen for their slow, clear speech. The narrator is also often describing something that is happening on screen, so you have visuals to provide you with context.Talks, talk shows and interviews can be found on YouTube, TED, online radio channels and podcasts. You can find almost any subject, so you will always be able to listen to something that interests you.TV series provide great entertainme nt and come mostly in nice short episodes that often have a repetitive formula.Finally, we mustnt forget about films. We all love them! There is so much we can learn about other cultures through films, so get curious and get watching!  As a rule of thumb, slapstick comedy tends to be a simpler genre. You can start there and move on to action, and then drama and dark comedy on the more advanced end.Of course, if youre tired of watching strange cultures and unknown actors and just want to relax, you can also always find your favorite Hollywood films dubbed into almost any language out there. Another advantage here is that the speech used for dubbing is often clearer than in original-language films.Keep these five secrets for how to learn language listening skills in mind, and youll be reaping the benefits of awesome language listening skills in no time!

How to transition back into teaching at home after teaching abroad

How to transition back into teaching at home after teaching abroad Back in 2012, I had the life-changing opportunity to teach Tibetan refugees living in India. Before leaving Canada, I knew very little about Tibet or Tibetan culture. Teaching in a Tibetan school definitely took a little while to get used to! For example, the classroom didn’t have desks - instead, the students sat on the floor around low tables. The most advanced classroom technology they had was a chalkboard. Although it was an adjustment, I quickly adapted to the Tibetan education system. Teaching abroad is a great experience - but only a minority of teachers teach abroad for their whole careers. While most teachers expect that moving to a foreign country will be a shock and a challenge to begin with, what they often fail to realize is that coming back home can be just as difficult. This sense of reverse culture shock can be even more overwhelming when faced with constant new technologies and changes in teaching methods in your home country. Teachers abroad, thinking about making the transition back home? Below are some tips that can help you to readjust to teaching in your home country. Take advantage of as many professional development opportunities as possible. Best practices in education are always changing. You might not have kept up with your home country’s teaching trends while you were away. That’s OK! Most school districts offer professional development workshops after school that are offered to teachers for free. The right teacher professional development can make all the difference in helping you get back up to speed on the latest teaching standards. Get your classroom technology skills up to date. If you taught abroad in a school that embraced technology, this won’t be an issue. If you worked in a school like mine, however, you might find yourself feeling lost with all the new technology trends out there. Spend some time online looking up the latest educational apps and tools - EdSurge, for example, has a handy database of classroom tech product reviews. Ask your colleagues for advice on what works for them in the classroom and to give you a demo of their favorite classroom tech tools. From experience, I know how great it feels to trade in the chalk for the iPad! Brush up on classroom management strategies. Students abroad likely have a few different behaviors and tendencies compared to students in your own country. As a teacher, you know that classroom management is a delicate balancing act, so you may need to readjust your strategies to meet the needs of students back home. Share your experience. This tip may be the most important of all. Your experience abroad likely changed you, both as a person and a teacher. Find ways to share what you learned about new cultures and life experiences with your students and colleagues. When I returned, I made sure to share my newfound knowledge on Indian and Tibetan culture with my students. I also decorated my classroom with cultural artifacts from my time abroad. Students loved to find out the story behind these objects and enjoyed learning about a culture different from their own. Just like you adjusted to your life abroad, you will readjust to teaching at home. It may feel a little strange at first, but remember, you’re returning with a wealth of new knowledge and experience that will make you an even stronger educator than when you left.

I am not a Teacher, but an Awakener

I am not a Teacher, but an Awakener I am not a teacher, but an awakener. -Robert Frost (1874-1963) These words belong to the great American poet Robert Lee Frost. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was awarded the  Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetical works. On July 22, 1961, Frost was named Poet laureate of Vermont. Inspired by his mothers innovative ideas about education, and to augment his meager income as a poet, Robert Frost turned to teaching. During Frost’s nearly 50 years of teaching, he was able to influence his students because his approach focused on developing their ability to think critically and generate their own ideas.  Robert strove to be the type of teacher that gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies. Our tutors have the same  approach in teaching their own students as  Robert Frost. They developed their  unique tutoring styles. Each one is equipped with a range of interesting and effective tutoring techniques  that will help you succeed in your classes and reach your goals.