How To Super-Charge Engagement With Your Online Audience (Without The Painful, Mindless, Boring Chatter) - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / How To Super-Charge Engagement With Your Online Audience (Without The Painful, Mindless, Boring Chatter) - Introvert Whisperer How To Super-Charge Engagement With Your Online Audience (Without The Painful, Mindless, Boring Chatter) Ash Stevens August 17, 2017 Communication, Personal Branding No responses Go to top  Whether you want people to read your blog, buy a product, or to simply recognize your know-how, the billion other sites on the web can make this quite a feat. If you’re an introvert, this can be even more of a challenge. Blabbering for the sake of blabbering isn’t something we introverts enjoy doing, even if all the business experts claim it’s essential to online business. As with all things, however, engaging with our audience isn’t about quantity but quality, which is something that can actually be done with minimal blabbering. So, if you’re itching to take your relationship with your followers to the next level, these tips are a sure way to get started on that.   Ask Questions If there’s one thing anybody can appreciate, it’s the warm fuzziness of feeling important and valued. Posing questions to your audience gives them the opportunity to share their ideas. They get to feel important, which is a big plus, but this scenario also makes them important. When we pose a question that allows for people to share their unique experience and thoughts, we’re also offering up our site as a haven for sharing helpful ideas and valuable insights. This has major perks for us for a few reasons.  One, we help our readers see how awesome they are. We’re also generating discussion that the whole web can glean from, and we can generate all these fantastic results with little to no conversation on our end. Every introvert’s dream! We can do this with questionnaires and surveys, comments, blog posts, email newsletters, and more. There are so many ways to go about it. Try out a few in various situations and see what works best for you, your business, and your audience.   Expand On Their Thoughts Nothing kills a connection quite like having someone make the conversation all about themselves. Even though talking about our own life experience seems like the best way to relate to others, much of the time it’s just annoying. People want to be heard and understood. That doesn’t happen by someone jumping in and assuming they understand our point, and thinking that’s all we have to say about it. Assumptions are just as worthless in business as they are in conversation because a shallow understanding of needs and problems will only ever deliver a shallow product or service.   So, instead of telling our clients and audience how we think we can relate to them, let’s give them a chance to expand on their thoughts and go deeper. The big plus here is that encouraging our audience to share themselves gives us the chance to get to know our audience both as buyers and as people. This kind of opportunity can create a strong bond between you and your followers â€" A bond that can benefit you in business as well as your personal life. In addition, these expanded ideas could be topics for your next blog posts or future services you can provide. The more you understand what your audience thinks, feels, and needs, the more you can help them as a business.       Respond With Something Valuable As I mentioned above, making a conversation about ourselves is NOT the way we super-charge connection with people. It’s how we kill it. If a comment or email response doesn’t explicitly ask for us share our own thoughts, or we don’t have outstanding personal experience with the topic and we absolutely must share, then we should aim to keep the conversation about them and their experience. Luckily, we can bypass egocentric tendencies and promote connection with readers. All we have to do is offer them something that’s worthwhile to them. Thanks to your unique life experience, you know about tools, practices, and handy information that your audience may know nothing about. This is valuable stuff that people would love to gobble up! Share it! The next time you’re reading through your comments and messages, put your ear up to that screen so you can really hear the message behind the words. Ask yourself what kind of value you have to contribute. Maybe it’s a great business blog you know, an awesome app, or a free web tool. Maybe even just a quote. Whatever you do, your response will be about them instead of you. They may not have use for whatever you send them, but you better believe they’ll appreciate the attention. Most people are either too busy or too caught up in their own life to listen. Don’t underestimate the power of an attentive ear.               Offer Solutions When someone makes a comment about a problem they’re facing, it’s believed that the right thing to do is say sorry, fake sympathy, and if you have a business, give them a link to your relevant product. It seems like the right thing to do because virtually everyone does it, but the connection potential here hovers around zero. If you want interaction and engagement that goes beyond the norm, then you’ll need to step outside the norm too. Each and every one of you has skills and life experiences that give you your own special edge. Our blog, newsletters, products, eCourses, and services are our opportunity to show the value of our edge. Super-charged marketing emails may get you sales, but nothing will express your worth more than using your know-how to help others (for the mere sake of helping others). Get to know the pains your audience and clients are struggling with like, really get to know them. When you have a good grip on those, you can use these pain points to create blog content that offers readers important insights and potential solutions. This is a great lead-in to future services and products too. If you’re helpful enough, you won’t even have to advertise them. People will already know that they can trust you to deliver the results, so they’ll know you’re worth a chunk of change.     Do you have tips for engaging online? Or maybe your business has a problem you’re trying to solve? Share it all in the comments below! Go to top NETWORKING Bottom-line â€" I want to help you accelerate your career â€" to achieve what you want by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my 4 Building Blocks to Relationships eBookâ€" the backbone to your Networking success and fantastic work relationships.  Grab yours by visiting here right now! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Reasons to Learn Spanish How It Can Further Your Career

Reasons to Learn Spanish How It Can Further Your Career Why Study Spanish: To Live and Work in a Spanish-speaking Country ChaptersThe Benefits of Learning Spanish Span a Wide Number of FieldsWhy Learn Spanish: It Could Be a Lucrative InvestmentLots of Native Speakers but Few BilingualsEnglish with Spanish: A Killer CombinationThere are a ton of benefits to learning Spanish. For one, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers. This makes it a very important language in a number of different fields, one of which is the world of business.Learning business Spanish in order to work in a Spanish-speaking country will mean that you have to learn Spanish online, take Spanish lessons near me, or even hire a Spanish teacher to help you learn through private Spanish classes.If you’re hesitant about it, here are a few reasons that should help you decide that learning how to speak Spanish and getting Spanish lessons is right for you and your career!  The history of Spanish has made it widespread in the world today, and its continued growth has made this langua ge indispensable for so many recruiters.Spanish is a big plus when it comes to finding work in both Europe and Latin America. (Source: rawpixel.com)Communication is at the heart of business. Whether it’s for establishing strong links with clients or providers, in this line of work, you have to speak Spanish perfectly. Why not use your Spanish to make a lot money for a company and yourself?Why Learn Spanish: It Could Be a Lucrative InvestmentAfter Chinese and English,  Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world (although English has less native speakers, it has more people who speak it as a foreign language). The figures speak for themselves.Learning Spanish could be a lucrative decision for a number of reasons.Speaking Spanish can help you earn more money. (Source: pixabay.com)Attractive Property MarketYou can’t have missed the recent Spanish housing crisis.  If you want to buy a vacation home, Spain is a great choice for buying property.There are also plenty of coun tries in Latin America where you could make a number of cost-effective investments. Whether you’re interested in Argentina, Mexico, or Colombia, why not look at the housing market?Speaking Spanish could help you communicate comfortably at each stage of the property buying process, and it could help you find the right one for you.Professional OpportunitiesThere are a whole host of reasons to learn Spanish, one of which relates to the numerous business opportunities for those who speak Spanish.  There is so much business being done with Spanish-speaking markets, too.There are also thousands of businesses with branches in Spanish-speaking countries and so many popular tourist destinations in Spanish-speaking countries.  We’re not just talking about Spain, either.The growing Spanish-speaking communities around the world are creating opportunities for those who can speak Spanish.If you want to find a job using Spanish, you'll need to go beyond the everyday verbs and phrases that you learn as a beginner. You'll  need to have a good understand of technical vocabulary relating to the field of experitise, too.Emerging Markets in Latin AmericaIf you were still debating 'why learn Spanish?', then the impressive economic growth in Latin America should persuade you. This economic growth in South America has made Spanish a language that you have to know.Spanish is the mother tongue of almost every country in South and Central America. A work permit would allow you to work abroad if you’ve studied Spanish.The growth of Latin America has brought a lot of professional opportunities with it. (Source: Porapak Apichodilok)Emerging markets like Mexico, Chile, and Argentina stand out.  Similarly, countries like Peru and Colombia are starting to grow and seem like interesting economic opportunities.  Cheaper labor and a wealth of raw materials is making Latin America very popular for business.Improvements in production and exports have led to an economic shift. The big players on the continent have made themselves international players.This incredible economic shift means that there are thousands of professional opportunities available to those who can speak Spanish.Lots of Native Speakers but Few BilingualsDespite usually being cultural melting pots, foreign language skills in the English speaking countries are often lacking. There aren't many bilinguals.  They are at risk of being left behind in global markets due to a lack of professionals that can speak other languages.The teaching of Spanish at school can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. (Source: pixabay.com)This problem is compounded given the increasing demand for foreign language skills.  With classes often overcrowded, it’s hardly surprising that some never really manage to learn a foreign language.Additionally, the writing is often incorrectly favored over speaking.  Classes often focus on grammar and literature instead of using the language. In other words, it’s too academic.  Finally, the re’s usually more focus on other classes like English. Science, and Maths.  As you probably understand: if you want to have a good level in Spanish, you can’t solely rely on what you learned at school. The good news is that there are advantages to all Spanish learning methods, so finding one that suits you and can compliment what you learn at school shouldn't be too hard as your strive towards fluency.English with Spanish: A Killer CombinationWhile English on its own isn’t enough to set you apart from other candidates, combining it with Spanish will really help.Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world, an official language in 20 countries, and  Spanish-speakers account for 6% of the world.While Chinese and Arabic are both good choices to learn, they can be more difficult than Spanish to learn.Whether you want to learn professional Spanish or everyday Spanish, you can opt for private tutorials at home or online tutorials.  If you just want to learn a valuable skil l, speaking Spanish is one of your best options.It also means that you can go to beautiful cities like Madrid or Barcelona for an internship and immerse yourself in the language.  As a speaker of both English and Spanish, you’ll have a lot of professional opportunities and it’ll also help if you want to move abroad to a Spanish-speaking country for work or find somewhere nice to retire to.Whether you’re an engineer, technician, or business person, there are plenty of opportunities for Spanish speakers. With a mastery of two of the world’s most popular languages, your resume won’t go unnoticed when it lands on the desk of a recruiter.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony Guide

The Japanese Tea Ceremony Guide A Guide to the Japanese Tea Ceremony ChaptersWhat Are the Different Types of Japanese Tea?How Did the Japanese Tea Ceremony Originate?What Happens in a Tea Ceremony?How to Behave in a Chanoyu“You're all late for tea!” - March Hare, Alice in Wonderland4.1 million tonnes of tea are produced globally every year. This equates to 130kg per second. While China is the largest producer of tea, Japan is famous for its tea ceremony.Preparing tea in Japan is an important part of Japanese culture and you need to pay particular attention to it. Respect, humility, and managing your emotions are all important social norms in everyday life and when preparing tea.If you’d like to learn more about the Japanese tea ceremony, we’ve got just the article you were looking for. NanaJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YukoJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors EllyJapanese Teacher 5.00 (1) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MomokoJapanese Teacher £20/h1s t lesson free!Discover all our tutors MelanieJapanese Teacher £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JamesJapanese Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PippaJapanese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarikoJapanese Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsWhat Are the Different Types of Japanese Tea?Green tea is known in Europe for detoxing, earl Grey is also very popular for its flavour, and there’s also Chinese white tea. Usually, we’ll drink tea from a bag or use real tea leaves and leave them to infuse before drinking it. Unlike what you might think, the teapot doesn’t affect the type of tea. Tea in Japan isn't exactly like tea in the UK. (Source: Free-Photos)In Japan, there’s only really green tea. Of course, there are plenty of different varieties of green tea. The main differences are down the harvest and how the leaves are treated afterwards. Most of the time, the leaves are steamed for a minute to stop oxidation after collection.Sencha: this is the most common type of green tea and is only really available in Japan.Bancha: this is from tougher leaves than those used for sencha. This is the lowest-quality of tea although it’s the second-most popular.,Hoji-cha: this is a very cheap green tea which is heated to 200 ºC before being rapidly cooled. It has a very particular taste.Gyokuro: this is luxury tea in Japan. To guarantee its quality, it’s kept in the shade for 20 days before harvest. The chlorophyll and flavours concentrate in the softest leaves. It’s not very bitter at all because it doesn’t contain many catechins.Matcha: this is the tea used in the tea ceremony. It comes from gyokuro tea. The leaves are reduced to a fine powder.Genmaicha: a mix of tea and roasted popped brown rice.Tamaryokucha: a tea with a fruity flavour.There are many other types of tea consumed in Japan but most of the differences appear during the manufacturing process.How Did the Japanese Tea Ceremony Originate?Before we talk about the origins of the Japanese tea ceremony, we need to talk about the origins of tea. Unsurprisingly, tea originated in China where it was used as a medicine long before it was an everyday beverage. The Japanese tea ceremony originated with Buddhist monks. (Source: sasint)But how did it go from medicine to beverage?Buddhist monks were forbidden from drinking alcohol and to stake awake during their meditation, they would drink tea. Bit by bit, its consumption spread to the aristocracy and then the working classes.Nowadays, tea is part of everyday life in China. In China, most water isn’t drinkable. You need to boil water from the tap before you can drink it. At this point, it’s quite common to add tea leaves or other herbs to add flavour to the boiling water.Tea appeared in Japan in the 9th century and was popularised by the Buddhist monk Eichu. It was first consumed by the Japanese nobility and spread to the rest of the populace during the 12th century. Change can take time.The tea ceremony was influenced by Zen Buddhism and the writings of Lu Yu that mentioned the temperature and utensils used for drinking tea in the 8th century.However, the practice changed a lot between t hen and the 16th century and took on board practices brought in by the samurai and working classes. The philosophy of the tea ceremony was codified by the priest Murata Juko and Sen no Rikyu who developed the key concepts of wa, kei, sei, and jaku.Nowadays, the ceremony isn’t practised a lot in Japan but it’s a symbol of the culture and history of the country. In fact, most Japanese people don’t know the ins and outs of the tea ceremony and will probably only attend one or two of them throughout their lives.What Happens in a Tea Ceremony?If you want to immerse yourself in Japanese traditions and see a tea master conduct a Japanese tea ceremony, you should know what to expect. There's an established order that needs to be followed in Japanese tea ceremonies. (Source: 12019)The ceremony follows a number of specific steps which are always the same. It takes a lifetime of practice and there are even ancestral tea ceremony schools to train tea masters in the art of conducting tea ceremonies.Here are the main parts of the tea ceremony:The preparation: the tea master sends invitations to their guests. They then prepare spiritually for the ceremony by ridding themselves of all thought to be in complete harmony with nature. They also need to clean the house and the tatami. If there’s a meal, they need to prepare it in advance.The arrival of the guests: they also need to prepare themselves for the tea ceremony and leave their worries outside the tea room and wash their hands before they come in. Shoes need to be left outside and the guests cannot enter until asked to by the tea master.Cleaning the tools: the bowls, whisk, bamboo, and spoons all need to be cleaned before the guests arrived in a precise, harmonious, and careful manner.Preparing the tea: whisking the matcha will cause it to foam and froth and release its powerful flavour.Serving the tea: traditionally, only a single bowl is used. It needs to be passed from guest to guest. Sometimes, the tea master will prepare a bowl for each guest.Completing the ceremony: at the end, the tea master will clean their tools in front of the guests. Guests may then be asked to look over the utensils.There are several things you’ll need to perform a tea ceremony. It depends on the tastes of the tea master to arrange the room as they see fit. That said, they’ll need a tea caddy (chaki), a whisk (chasen), a spoon (chashaku), a bowl (chawan), and a pot (kama) that replaces a teapot.How to Behave in a ChanoyuTo make the most of a tea ceremony, you need to prepare. Japanese culture is extremely codified and even as a tourist, you’ll be expected to behave appropriately. Attending a tea ceremony all ows you to learn a lot about Japanese culture and identity. Tea ceremonies are a great escape from some of the busier places in Japan. (Source: sofi5t)You can attend a practice session before going to a tea ceremony. These sessions are designed with non-Japanese tourists in mind and there’ll be an explanation in English.In a tea ceremony, there are usually 4 or 5 guests. Each has a particular role to play, especially the first guest, the shokyaku. Their role will be as a guide or a Japanese person familiar with the tea ceremony. They will communicate with the tea master, the teishu.A few things you should know:Do not enter before being asked.Remove your shoes before entering.Bow as a sign of respect as you enter.Sit in the seiza position (on your knees) where you are told.Do not speak, eat, or drink before being asked to.You must eat and drink everything you are given.Do not smoke.In case of any doubts, do not say anything. Wait until you’re told what to do.You can easily attend tea ceremonies in Tokyo and Kyoto and even in the UK if you want. The tea ceremony is quite simple if you follow the rules.So do you have any more questions about the tea ceremony?If you'd like to learn the language before you go to Japan or a Japanese tea ceremony, you should get in touch with one of the many talented and experienced private Japanese tutors on Superprof. With three main types of private tutorial available, face-to-face tutorials, online tutorials, and group tutorials, there's a solution for every type of learner and budget.Group tutorials are great for those on a budget as the cost of the tutor's time is shared amongst all the students in attendance. While you won't get as much one-on-one time with your tutor in these tutorials, if you and a group of friends are going to Japan and would all like to learn a bit of the language, they're a great option.Face-to-face tutorials tend to be the most effective tutorials because they're tailored to an individual student who'll have the tutor's undivided attention throughout the sessi on. However, with all the extra work the tutor will put into tailoring their tutorials, you can expect to pay more and these types of tutorials are usually the most expensive.Online tutorials are similar to face-to-face tutorials but your tutor won't actually be in the room with you. Thanks to the internet, you can get Japanese tutorials via webcam and they're usually cheaper than face-to-face tutorials. Your tutor might even be in Japan!

The Myths and Truths About Supplemental Essays

The Myths and Truths About Supplemental Essays The following piece was written by Rachel Korn. Rachel has been featured in ourAdmissions Expert seriesand is a former University of Pennsylvaniaadmissions officer, as well as the founder of her own admissions consulting firm. Aside from the required, main college essay, many colleges and universities often ask for at least one more essay or short answer question. Though instructions for these supplemental essays can vary greatly, the essays usually have the general theme of why are you applying to us? The schools want to check that you are sending thoughtful, well-reasoned applications that you are not just throwing an application their way because of their strong name or location near you, for example. How do you write these essays? Here are some myths and facts about them to help you succeed. Myth: I can write one essay and just modify it for all my schools. Fact: Admissions officers know when you do that. Really. You know you have not written a deep enough answer if you can replace the schools name with another schools name and it is still 100% correct. Myth: I have not been able to visit a college due to time, finances, or distance. I cannot possibly know enough to write something strong for these essays. Fact: Not true! You can interact easily with current students via the schools websites, attend college fairs and speak to alumni, or read websites and other materials to successfully get a feel for the schools and then find great, unique reasons why you like them. With proper research, you can get the schools enough without stepping a foot on the campuses. Myth: I can just copy paste from the college website. I can spend five minutes surfing and find a class in my major or a professors name in my field to cite and show something personal about the school. Fact: Admissions officers are not impressed by web-surfing skills. In fact, they expect you to be surfing. They are impressed by the students who dig deeper to say what things actually mean to them. Is that school you want a specialist in your field, or does it send many graduates into the job you may seek after college? Does the school not just have successful sports teams, but strong team spirit and a tradition of campus unity at home games in big stadiums? Is there a special tradition there that you find interesting? What are unique academic or extracurricular programs at that school that match the activities and interests you show in your application? What is the feel of the school that you like? Does it specifically support creativity or intellectuality; is it a particularly liberal or conservative campus; does it have an emphasis on an interdisciplinary education; is it especially diverse or does it have a particularly large number of international students; is it small and community-oriented so you can get to know everybody or is it a large place where you can constantly meet new people? These things go deeper. Show why you like the things you cite. The information should be necessarily unique with each school. Myth: These supplemental essays are not so important I dont have much time and I can just throw some ideas down. Fact: Your admission may depend on these essays! At the competitive colleges at which I worked, my colleagues and I have advocated for wait-listing students whom we loved and thought belonged in the class just because they wrote poor supplemental essays. We would be disappointed, and even a bit angry, because we really wanted to enthusiastically admit the students. Sometimes we did, but sometimes we didnt. How did those students fail? They wrote essays far shorter than the suggested word limits, used interchangeable general ideas that could have applied to many colleges (especially to our competitors and the competitors names may have even appeared in the essays), and used language significantly different from and weaker than the main essays (clearly not spending time editing the supplemental essays). These are all signs that students did not take care to make thoughtful, targeted applications. So, we asked ourselves if these students liked us beyond our reputation. We fought about admitting them. Did such students, even if they were superstars, deserve spots in the class over those who proved they understood us and might be more likely to accept our offers of admission? At the end of the day, remember, admissions officers ideally want to admit students who hopefully will attend. You can prove that they have a shot at you through well-written supplemental essays. As you can see, these essays directly reflect the seriousness of your application. These essays are your one chance to say to the admissions committee, I researched your school and found out that I really like it and would love to be there! They may be the last things admissions officers read in your application, so after the readers fall in love with you, dont leave them on a sour note. Give these essays as much time, attention, and revision as your main essay and give yourself your best chance at admission. Visit RachelsAdmissions Consultingsite. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

Dyslexia Resources a Guide for Parents

Dyslexia Resources a Guide for Parents In a school environment, a child diagnosed with dyslexia can struggle with confidence and self esteem.  The classroom can often be an overwhelming place to learn. For this reason, outside help from a specialist tutor can always be helpful. Susan T is a specialist teacher in Dyslexia (SpLD) with a post Graduate Diploma in SEN (Dyslexia) Here she outlines what exactly Dyslexia is and what as a parent you can do best equip your child to be independent, successful learners. ........ Dyslexia Resources: a Guide for Parents First of all, what is dyslexia? There are many misunderstandings about dyslexia, which can be confusing especially if you are a parent of a child who has been assessed as having dyslexia. Even the term varies! You may hear ‘dyslexia’ , ‘specific learning difficulty’, ‘learning disability’, ‘learning difficulty’ or ‘learning difference’. The word 'dyslexia' actually comes from the Greek and means 'difficulty with words', it affects around 10% of the population and is a life long condition. Most importantly, dyslexia does not affect intelligence. Dyslexia is actually really about how information is processed. That is, how information is taken in, understood, remembered, organized and then how this knowledge is demonstrated. Children with dyslexia can have difficulties at all of these stages and generally, these difficulties can be seen in relation to print. For example, a child may be baffling to teachers â€" they appear bright, articulate and knowledgeable yet cannot produce written evidence to match these skills. Dyslexia can and often does, however, extend beyond the printed word into, for example, difficulties with organization, general ‘clumsiness’, the concept of time, numeracy/ mathematics and sustaining attention. So, how can I support my child? Firstly, some initial considerations. Your child will have good days and bad days â€" be relaxed about this! Progress may not be linear â€" it is important that the trajectory is upward over time, but there will be highs and lows along the way. Consistency with school is recommended therefore finding the right school for your child is crucial. Strategies to help with Reading Practice in reading is important. The reading material can be anything that is going to interest your child. There are many books now available that are ‘high-interest’ that is, the content will be suitable for a 9 year old although the reading age may be pitched at 6 years. Newspapers and magazines are also very useful sources of reading material. ‘First News for Schools’ is a newspaper aimed at children and contains a range of literacy resources at different levels. Remember to always praise your child! - It’s important that your child does not become averse to reading because of the demands it places on him/her â€" ensure the emphasis is on what your child reads correctly rather than incorrectly. You can support your child’s reading development in many ways â€" here are some ideas:  Pre-reading - talk! Use your child’s prior knowledge and experience and discuss what they already know about the text before reading. Here are some suggested questions for pre-reading activities: Who are the main characters? How do you know they are the main characters? What do you know about the characters? Do you know anyone like these characters? How do you think the book/passage will end? Have you read another book or seen a film with a similar story to this book? Looking at the front cover, what do you think the book/article is about? What do you think will happen in the book/article Research suggests that pre-reading discussion is one of the best predictors of a successful outcome in a reading activity. 2. During reading  Decoding Thus is a well-known reading strategy but an over-reliance on this can be demoralizing for dyslexic children as comprehension and reading fluency can become compromised. Context clues. Use any pictures available. Refer your child to the same word that he/she read on a previous page. Use your child’s prior knowledge and experience. Meaning is held in memories, and in the language children use to express what they have experienced.   Reading, therefore, should ‘make sense’ within the context of what they already know or understand, about their world.   Children draw upon meaning when reading. Use syntactic clues (the order of words in a sentence). Language follows certain rules - ‘runs dog the fast’ - does not make sense. Use semantic clues. Good readers develop an expectation that reading about, for example, cats will contact words such as tail, purr, whiskers etc Paired reading â€" basically, reading together! Let your child take the lead when confident and step in when he/she comes across an unfamiliar word that is proving difficult to figure out. Don’t forget, it isn’t wrong to read the word for your child. Strategies to improve spelling Your child will have target words and spelling patterns to practice. Here are some ways you can help at home: 1.Word search Create your own word searches using your child’s target words. Find here a great example by Puzzlemaker 2. Media search     Your child has 10 minutes to look for his/her target words and highlight them in a newspaper or magazine. 3.  Colourful words Ask your child to identify the tricky part of the word and then write it in bold eg s a i l b e f o r e t h e y s h i r t 4.Scrambled words Jumble up the letters and ask your child to spell the word (you can use Scrabble letters) 5.Missing letters Write the word leaving out the tricky part for your child to complete eg b l a _ _ (black) 6.Listen carefully Ask your child to sound the letters in the word for you to write. Has he/she made the correct sound-letter correspondence? 7.  Design a word Write a word in bubble writing and colour in each letter with a different pattern. 8.Mnemonics Eg big elephants can’t always use small elevators (because)  9.Air spelling/Salt box spelling This is a game to play with your child. Ask your child to use his/her index finger to write the word in the air slowly, saying each letter and ‘seeing’ each letter. When the word is finished, ask him/her to ‘underline’ it and say it again. Pour salt into a shallow box/tray (about 3cm deep) and then ask your child to practice writing his/her spellings in it with his/her index finger. ...... If you would like additional help with dyslexia resources  Susan T is available as a tutor on Tutorfair. Alternatively find a  wide range of fantastic  Dyslexia Tutors  on Tutorfair. Check out more Tutorfair blogs here 1. How to Regain Confidence 2. Five Strategies to improve Academic performance

Keys to Success Beyond Hard Work and Intelligence

Keys to Success Beyond Hard Work and Intelligence Improving Academic Performance If you ask a random collection of people what is needed to be successful in school, you’ll probably receive quite a few responses along the lines of “hard work” or “a high IQ.” I would never suggest that one shouldn’t work hard, or shouldn’t always try to continually build their intelligence. But I think there’s mounting research and evidence that hard work and intelligence really aren’t the fundamental drivers of academic, professional, interpersonal/social, athletic, or artistic success. Before introducing four more fundamental keys to success, let’s briefly discuss why hard work and intelligence don’t really lead to success, and might even lead to failure. What’s wrong with “intelligence?” A few points to make here. Over the past thirty years or so, psychologists, educators, neuroscientists, and other researchers have been learning more and more about the brain, cognition, and how skills are developed. As this learning has accelerated, the very definition of intelligence is getting so complex that I’d argue the concept of “intelligence” may be losing its meaning. If you wanted to know how powerful or “intelligent” a computer was, you’d need to think about both its hardware and its software. An extremely powerful computer, with lots of memory and super-fast processing, isn’t actually very useful or productive without the right software programs loaded onto it. Human intelligence works a little bit like that. If you think of each of us as having hardware and software, like a computer, you can then understand the notion of “pure” intelligence as being concerned with the processing power of your brain, the strength of its short and long term memory, etc. Pure intelligence is what most people mean when the say “IQ,” and that’s supposed to be measuring your brain’s “hardware.” The software, then, is all of the knowledge you acquire as you grow up and go through school and life (i.e., math, science, philosophy, how to interact with people, athletic skills, musical ability etc.). And this can thus get very complex. Some research shows that pure IQ can actually increase over time with higher levels of sustained education. Standardized tests like the ACT and SAT and LSAT clearly correlate with IQ, but at the same time can absolutely be prepared and practiced for. Some of us are geniuses when it comes to chess and art, but really struggle with most other academic subjects. Most importantly, when you observe and evaluate other people to assess how “smart” or “intelligent” they are, you can’t see what their “pure” intelligence is, so you have to estimate it based on what they seem to know and how interact with you. But, that’s a function of how much education they’ve acquired, how serious and focused they were during their education, as well as their social skills, passion and curiosity, and ability to communicate. So, the problem is that people that appear to be or are intelligent (by whatever definition you want to use) generally got that way by working hard, being curious, being passionate, paying attention in school, etc. Intelligence is something you build over time and which helps you do things. It doesn’t explain why you are able to do or accomplish things that others haven’t or can’t. Or, from another angle, I think we’ve probably all been in classes or jobs with people who seem incredibly intelligent, but just aren’t that effective or successful. They may have poor communication skills, or spend too much time thinking about theory without taking action. In so many walks of life, intelligence is helpful, but only one of many factors that lead to success. What’s wrong with “hard work?” Hard work is problematic because it can be applied in the wrong ways. And, when this happens, it can even backfire, lead to failure, and decrease motivation. Imagine that you are studying for a math test, and you spend hours and hours reading over the chapters of the math text book. You genuinely put in many hours, and work very hard to pay attention to and digest what you are reading. You really are still very unlikely to do well on a math test, because math skills are best built by doing actual problems, failing, learning, and then practicing again. Also, teachers tend to have their own personal test question writing style, so looking at previous homework assignments, in-class exercises, or quizzes is probably critical as you prepare for a math test. Reading the book seems like a good idea, but isn’t probably all that effective. If you put in a lot of time preparing for your math test by reading the text book, and then you don’t perform well, you may lose faith and motivation. Hard work doesn’t always lead to positive results and success in school. You need to think strategically about where,how, why, and when you are putting in that hard work. What does recent research suggest leads to success? I’ll expand upon these points in a future article, but here are four critical concepts that are fundamental drivers of academic performance and success in business, music, athletics, and life in general. I’ve included links to other blog articles I’ve written on each of these important topics. Adopt a growth mindset â€" people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is built up over time, much like a muscle. They focus on getting better at things, not at worrying about being good. This leads them towards difficult tasks with an open mind focused on learning and growth. People with a fixed mindset are more focused on evaluating themselves, and see their intelligence more like a fixed trait than a skill to be developed. They end up shying away from tasks at which they aren’t currently good, which then inhibits their ability to learn and grow. Use strategies â€" successful people use strategies in all aspects of their lives. This means they set goals, do research to figure out alternatives ways to reach those goals, make plans, monitor progress, and try to learn from mistakes. This allows them to put in the hard work in the right places. Heidi Grant Halvorson wrote a best-selling book called 9 Things Successful People Do Differently which is all about this topic. Have grit â€" this is a simple one. Research shows that grit â€" meaning you see tasks through to completion and persevere in the face of obstacles â€" does a better job of explaining success in high school and college than IQ or standardized tests scores. Imagine how important grit is when it comes to tasks that aren’t cognitive in nature. I am writing a summary of a book called How Children Succeed which focused on the importance of grit in academic success. Practice deliberately â€" the best way to build skill and become an expert is to work hard in a specific sort of way that some researchers call “deliberate practice.” It involves repetition, pushing yourself to your limits, immediate feedback, and yes, lots of hard work as well. Several of the books featured on MyGuru’s virtual bookshelf are about deliberate practice. If you want to be successful, you should of course place significant value on hard work and intelligence. However, be sure to focus first on understanding and incorporating into your life concepts like the four mentioned above.

5 of the best book-to-screen adaptations

5 of the best book-to-screen adaptations It's a truth universally acknowledged that most teenagers prefer watching TV to reading books - so perhaps adapting English GSCE and A-level set texts for the screen is the best way to get our tutees hooked on the classics. Here are five of the best book-to-screen adaptations: 1) Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare c. 1595 / Baz Luhrmann 1996 (Film) Baz Luhrmann made Shakespeare accessible to a whole new generation - without dumbing down. The film's frenetic direction captures the speed and impulsiveness of the young lovers' relationship, making their sudden demise all the more brutal. 2) Pride Prejudice - Jane Austen 1813 / BBC 1995 (TV series) This seminal costume drama is as much-loved today as when Colin Firth first strode out of that lake. Eye candy aside, this adaptation works because it perfectly captures the style and intention of Austen's writing, drawing out the satirical elements of her work without resorting to caricature. 3) Bleak House - Charles Dickens 1852-1853 / BBC 2005 (TV series) This English A-level perennial is a dense read with its myriad of characters, plots and sub-plots. This classy adaptation (again by the BBC) manages to streamline the story, without losing any of its essence. 4) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey 1962 / Milos Forman 1975 (Film) Sticking closely to the original narrative, director Milos Forman shies away from the temptation to soften some of the book's harder edges. The result is a film which packs an undeniably powerful punch, with one of the most memorable anti-heroes in modern literature brilliantly realised by Jack Nicholson. 5) The Color Purple - Alice Walker 1982 / Stephen Spielberg 1985 (Film) First time readers often struggle with the regional dialect Walker employs in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel. This film adaptation is a strong introduction to the book, aiding understanding of Walker's language and thematic intentions, without overpowering its source.

Nün Academy, Kunskapsskolan Jeddah

Nün Academy, Kunskapsskolan Jeddah Nün Academy, Kunskapsskolan Jeddah Nün Academy, Kunskapsskolan Jeddah is a bilingual international school that offers: International high quality, standards based education Mastering of both English and Arabic language Glocal approach: international outlook with grounding in the local culture Personalized education using the proven Swedish KED Program The school is co-educational up until Year 4 andstarting in Year 5 the school will have separate Boys and Girls Schools. Curriculum For Pre-Primary the curriculum is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. For Primary the curriculum is based on the University of Cambridge international Examinations (CIE) curriculum. Personalized Learning Our teaching methodology is based on the Swedish KED Program, a proven method for personalized learning where teachers have multiple roles - as role models, coaches/mentors and classroom teachers or subject teachers - sharing responsibility for all students well-being and education. The KED Program puts the students at the center, who, with the guidance of their personal coach, set and work towards their own personal goals, with the ambition of achieving high final results. To support the students and teachers, learning material is provided through the Learning Portal, a state-of-the-art online digital learning solution. The personalized learning approach is gradually used and introduced in the Pre-Primary and Lower Primary, to be fully run in Upper Primary. Bilingual and co-teaching The school runs a bilingual program where anArabic Medium Teacher (AMT) co-teachwith anEnglish Medium Teacher (EMT). In Pre-primary and up until Y3Arabic is the main language of instruction, accounting for roughly 70% whereas English is 30%. From Y4upwards, this changes and English becomesthe main language of instruction.