Thursday, March 26, 2020

Scholarship for Parents-In-University Offers Full Scholarships For Elementary School Students

Scholarship for Parents-In-University Offers Full Scholarships For Elementary School StudentsAs a part of what is a growing trend, the nonprofit organization tutoring Prince George County has offered scholarships to students. Those that would be interested in pursuing further studies in a good university in the area are encouraged to apply for the scholarships.Scholarships are awarded by the scholarship's organization to a student if he/she is recommended to receive one. The awards are made when the student shows satisfactory performance in a college and proves to be an asset to the community. Those that do not have such skills will find it difficult to be accepted. These scholarships can be obtained by means of a letter from a school or college as well as a complete tuition waiver.Student who successfully receives the scholarship will be able to pay for his/her tuition in the same period as the scholarship. The repayment will depend on the amount of the tuition the student earns. To be accepted as a student you must have the necessary grades as well as the academic capability.If the student fulfills the required criteria, the scholarship may also be extended to other students. This offer is made to increase the number of students attending the university as it will be responsible for the administration of the scholarship fund.If the nonprofit organization is able to allocate a certain percentage of their budget to provide scholarships for students, there is a possibility that students will continue to receive them in the future. Students have to keep in mind that their studies will take priority over other things.Scholarship for parents-in-university provides full scholarships for elementary school students and those who are completing high school. Teachers are encouraged to help the students and ensure they finish their studies in a good manner and meet all the requirements for scholarship.It is for parents to decide whether they want to help their child to p ursue higher studies. They must check out the scholarship information provided by the nonprofit organization that offers the scholarship. Once they learn more about the scholarships they can make a decision accordingly.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Heart Math Tutoring at Creative Mornings Charlotte - Heart Math Tutoring

Heart Math Tutoring at Creative Mornings Charlotte - Heart Math Tutoring Heart Math Tutoring at Creative Mornings Charlotte Heart Math Tutoring at Creative Mornings Charlotte August 3, 2018 Have you mastered the 30-second pitch? Emily Elliott, Executive Director of Heart Math Tutoring, did just that at todays Creative Mornings Charlotte. Creative Mornings is a monthly gathering for Charlotte creative thinkers that is held on the first Friday of each month. These gatherings are a great way to collaborate, inspire, and support the Charlotte community while building relationships. While the event is free of charge, you must get online at 9am the Monday before to secure your ticket and they run out quickly. At each event audience members are invited to pitch something to event attendees. It never hurts to be in the right place at the right time. In 30 seconds, Emily shared how to become a mentor and help students catch up to grade level by becoming a volunteer tutor. Thanks to one of our volunteer tutors in the audience, Sarah Haley, we are able to share the pitch with you.Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think. We invite you to make a difference for students by joining Heart Tutoring as a volunteer tutor. We are looking for tutors to support 1,100 students for the 2018/19 school. You can find more information here. Dont forget to practice that 30-second pitch. You never know when you might need it! #YourAdditionMakesADifference #VolunteerWithHeart

Major Building Blocks for Early Readers

Major Building Blocks for Early Readers Major Building Blocks for Early Readers How to Support Your Young Reader at Home If your child is an early elementary school student, you likely know how critical these first few years are in his or her reading development. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association, learning to read and write isnt an automaticparents and teachers must expose young children to books and experiences in drawing, pretend play and symbolic activities and guide their instruction in learning to recognize letters and sounds in order for them to become literate. Also, the spectrum of literacy development is wide. Some children may acquire skills at different times than others, and the best teachers try different approaches and techniques based on the knowledge that students have. As your child navigates preschool through the early elementary grades, he or she will acquire a range of literacy skills that will help him or her become a capable reader. Here are a few of those building blocks and tips for how you can best support your readers learning (as researched in depth by the National Reading Panel, a collaborative jointly established by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development): Phonemic awareness Put simply, the smallest units (or sounds) of spoken language are called phonemes. As your child learns more about language, he or she must understand that words are composed of different sounds (/t/ /a/ /p/ in tap and /p/ /I/ in pie, for example), that some words make the same sounds (bag, band and bet all start with the /b/ sound) and often, sounds are formed from multiple letters. Songs and games are a great way to help children understand the various sounds that words make. Give your child a word (row) and have him or her add sounds to the beginning and end of the word to form new words (such as grow when /g/ is added to the beginning, or rows when /s/ is added to the end). Phonics Phonics instruction includes the teaching of letter sounds, the relationships between letters and sounds, and decoding words. One of the more effective approaches to helping students learn phonics is encouraging them to spell words out based on how they sound. Your child will learn different categories of phonics, such as consonant blends (bl, br, sl, scr), short vowels (cat, dot), long vowels (stay, road, tie) and consonant digraphs (sh, ph, gh). As your child begins to understand the sounds associated with these different letters and letter groups, he or she can use that knowledge to sound out new words. Fluency The goal for all students is to get them to read fluentlywith accuracy, speed and good expression. Without a doubt, practice makes perfect. Read aloud with your child every day. Take turns being the reader and allowing your child to read aloud and offer constructive feedback when your child reads. Vocabulary At a young age, children must learn high-frequency words that are common in written and oral language. Often, these sight words are not easy to decode, and therefore, it is important that newer readers can recognize them on sight. Over time, children must also learn words that are commonly used but unlikely to be known. Reading, writing and talking are the best ways to help children expand their vocabulary. Reading comprehension These days, there is great emphasis on the importance of reading comprehensionand it has long been known that reading comprehension is essential in the acquisition of literacy skills. A form of active thinking, comprehension involves inferring information that the author does not say explicitly, interpreting ideas and thinking through texts meaning. There are many reading comprehension strategies that you can try at home: summarizing passages while reading a story (and having your child do the same), asking questions about the story, thinking through the plot, structure, problem and setting of a story, and pausing to confirm understanding while reading challenging or intricate passages. It is easy to take for granted that a child will learn to read, but there are many pieces that must fall into place for it to happen. While you may not know exactly how to teach phonemic awareness or the best reading comprehension strategies for your child, your role as supporter is still critically important. As your childs teacher sends home reading exercises and assignments, invest the time to work on them with your child, knowing that the end result will be your child becoming a proficient reader and a stronger student.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to school we go.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to school we go. Well its that time again. Its time to do the parental dance of, the kids are going back to school, la la la la laaaa!!! Its an ancient tradition passed on from generation to generation. Of course never let the kids in on it until they are at the age where their already forgiving you for all the past deeds done. But hey, at least we may have time to breathe again. Or God forbid, think about our own needs for a while. Now the bad news; Its that time again! Thats right we have to hit the stores for supplys and clothes that actually fit well, registration forms and eventually ….da da da daaah….. back to school night. Ok, maybe it’s not all that bad. What’s a little footwork in the name of love? You can always go to the box stores for a pallet of notebooks and pencils, or for a simpler approach the local drug store for a quick hit and run on the back to school bargains.   Of course teachers will have their list of what they want the students to get as well. The main thing is, get as much out of the way as is humanly possible beforehand. Now I am talking mostly in terms of the little tikes. High school and on you, just hand over the credit card and pray for a snow storm. Wait a minute; winter clothes too? Arrgh…….. Well one thing you can prepare ahead of time is tutoring services. Whether your child is an AP student “advanced placement” or a PA student “placement in advance” (Don’t worry I don’t get it either), tutoring will always ease the pain. Parents have a hard enough time getting their kids to brush their teeth or turn off a light much less; “let’s sit down and do homework together”. So be prepared. Set up some tutoring for the kids and they will thank you for it, when they turn 35! Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to school we go. Well its that time again. Its time to do the parental dance of, the kids are going back to school, la la la la laaaa!!! Its an ancient tradition passed on from generation to generation. Of course never let the kids in on it until they are at the age where their already forgiving you for all the past deeds done. But hey, at least we may have time to breathe again. Or God forbid, think about our own needs for a while. Now the bad news; Its that time again! Thats right we have to hit the stores for supplys and clothes that actually fit well, registration forms and eventually ….da da da daaah….. back to school night. Ok, maybe it’s not all that bad. What’s a little footwork in the name of love? You can always go to the box stores for a pallet of notebooks and pencils, or for a simpler approach the local drug store for a quick hit and run on the back to school bargains.   Of course teachers will have their list of what they want the students to get as well. The main thing is, get as much out of the way as is humanly possible beforehand. Now I am talking mostly in terms of the little tikes. High school and on you, just hand over the credit card and pray for a snow storm. Wait a minute; winter clothes too? Arrgh…….. Well one thing you can prepare ahead of time is tutoring services. Whether your child is an AP student “advanced placement” or a PA student “placement in advance” (Don’t worry I don’t get it either), tutoring will always ease the pain. Parents have a hard enough time getting their kids to brush their teeth or turn off a light much less; “let’s sit down and do homework together”. So be prepared. Set up some tutoring for the kids and they will thank you for it, when they turn 35!

Tips From an Irvine English Tutor The Value of Writing a Rough Draft

Tips From an Irvine English Tutor The Value of Writing a Rough Draft Tips From an Irvine English Tutor: The Value of Writing a Rough Draft Tips From an Irvine English Tutor: The Value of Writing a Rough Draft Many students feel it’s not important to write a high-quality rough draft, especially if they simply get a check or credit from their teacher for completing a certain number of paragraphs. If a teacher happens to grade primarily on the final draft, students may view the rough draft as unimportant. Additionally, students who don’t particularly enjoy research and writing may be tempted to think of the rough draft as something they can skip over and fix later on. However, the rough draft serves a higher purpose than simply to receive a credit for completion, rather it teaches valuable writing, research, and time management skills that will help younger students now and later on in high school and college struggling in English? Summer is the perfect time to work with an Irvine English tutor to improve writing skills. 1. One step at a time The point of a rough draft is to teach students that high quality writing takes more than one try. All professional writers and college level English majors write at least one, if not several, rough drafts before handing in a final version. Writing multiple drafts also teaches younger students that writing is a step by step process. First, they need to do research and gather content in the form of an outline. Second they need to get their thoughts down on paper and formulate content in a well organized manner. Third, they need to edit and proofread for common grammar and punctuation errors. Students who understand that they are not able to complete a well written English assignment in one step tend to receive higher grades all the way from elementary school through the end of college (READ: Five Tips for Success in English Class). 2. Time management Teachers will often make the rough draft due a few days before the final draft is due to help students learn to manage their time effectively. Students often avoid an assignment theyre not excited about, forcing them to stay up well past midnight to finish the assignment due the next morning. This nearly always results in a bad grade, a poorly written essay, and virtually no learning on the part of the student. However, students who take the rough draft seriously will be in a position where they only have to fix minor content or grammar changes before the final draft is due. Although some students may disagree, the teacher is doing them a huge favor by allowing them to hand in a rough draft ahead of time. 3. Preparation Writing a rough draft will help younger children learn how to manage long term assignments when they get into their college prep years and study at university. Students who are taking AP classes or who are living full-time on a college campus, will have to cope with long-range due dates (meaning they have three weeks to complete large amounts of work as opposed to one afternoon to finish a short-term assignment). The completion of a rough draft is preparation for these types of long-term assignments that become the bulk of an older student’s education (READ: Literature 101: Surviving Character Analysis). 4. Practicalities The rough draft also has a practical purpose. The English language is complicated. Many English grammar and punctuation rules have exceptions that need to be memorized and there are various vocab words that need to be learned. Writing a rough draft allows students to focus on the content, reading, or research required and get their thoughts down on paper before they attempt heavy editing and proofreading. If necessary, students can work with their tutor to develop better flow, transition, grammar, and sentence structure. If asked, many teachers are willing to provide suggestions as to where a transition sentence should appear, how many grammar edits are needed, or if the length of the current draft is appropriate. However, students need to take the initiative to write a rough draft and ask their teacher about what they can improve upon (READ: 5 Reasons Students Should Blog). Bottom line? Although it’s tempting to write a subpar first draft, students are only cheating themselves out of valuable feedback from their teacher. The rough draft is the student’s opportunity to learn more about the English language, manage their time, and fix any mistakes needed in order to get their best effort grade. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

How italki is helping me learn Spanish!

How italki is helping me learn Spanish! How italki is Helping Me Learn Spanish How italki is Helping Me Learn Spanish There is only way to learn to speak a language:  speak it, speak it, and speak it some more. While the easiest way to immerse yourself in a language is to travel â€" or, better yet, move â€" to a country where the language is spoken, all is not lost for those of us who can’t do that just yet. Thanks to the wonders of Skype and free websites like italki.com, we can immerse ourselves in any language from the comfort of our living room couches!  (Actually, in my case, it’s the dining room table. I still haven’t quite mastered the art of using a laptop on my actual lap.) If you’re looking to ramp up your language learning, then you might want to consider signing up for italki. * Please note:  this review is very long. I can’t help it. I’m full of words. Believe it or not, I actually cut out a good quarter of each post before I actually publish it. If you don’t like posts with a lot of words â€" well, you probably won’t like this blog. Sorry. First of all, it’s important to point out that italki itself isn’t a language program. It won’t teach you grammar, or provide you with video lessons, or offer you with step-by-step how-to-learn-any-language instructions. What it will do is provide you with access to a much more valuable resource:  actual, thinking, communicating human beings.   Registration on italki is free. Once you’ve registered, you’ll set up your profile, including which languages you speak and which languages you’re learning. There’s lots of “social stuff” on italki: upvoting, friending/following, discussion threads and so on. While some people might love the social media stuff, I don’t bother much with most of it. My goal is to connect directly with Spanish speakers who can help me, or with French speakers who need my help. In my opinion, these are the five best ways that italki is helping me learn Spanish: 1. Find a language partner A language partner is someone who speaks the language that you’re learning, and who is learning the language that you speak. If you click on “Language Partners” at the top of your italki screen, you can search for someone to connect with, being as specific as you like. My specific search â€" female Spanish-speakers learning French â€" brought back dozens and dozens of results. Once you have a list of results, you can read people’s profiles and find someone who seems interesting. When I first signed on to italki, I followed people and they followed me back, but nothing ever came of it. My “followers” count went up, so I suppose I might have looked a bit more popular, but it wasn’t actually helping me learn Spanish. I’m much more specific now. After clicking the “follow” button on someone’s profile, I send them a note requesting that they follow me back, spelling out exactly what I’m looking for. I include time zones in three major Spanish-speaking cities. This might seem a bit too straightforward for some people, but I don’t want to waste lots of back-and-forth time. As lovely as a person might be, if our schedules don’t mesh, then she isn’t the language partner I’m looking for. I send very specific follow requests on italki. Yes, I realize that I accidentally typed “who” twice. Once I connect with a language partner whose schedule matches mine, we set up an initial Skype meeting. From there, we can decide if we would like to meet regularly for practice sessions. So far, I’ve had nothing but good luck with language partners. I meet weekly with five fun, encouraging, friendly women â€" a different one every weekday. I use a webcam for all of my language exchanges â€" I like to see a person when I’m talking to her. I know, though, that some people prefer not to use webcams at all. If you’re not comfortable with video, make that clear from the beginning, and you should be able to find someone to talk to using audio only. 2. Hire a professional teacher or a community tutor If money is tight, or if you’re happy with your progress, then language partners might more than meet your needs. I wanted to progress more quickly, so I decided to hire a professional teacher to help me learn. On italki, you can choose between two types of paid lessons: professional lessons and informal tutoring. Teachers offering professional lessons have to have some kind of certification, whereas informal tutors don’t. Teachers are generally more expensive than informal tutors, but many of them are very reasonably priced. Some of them are so inexpensive, in fact, that the language teacher in me feels a bit bad about how low their rates are. Many teachers and tutors offer trial sessions, lower-priced half-hour sessions for new students. Some of these trial sessions can cost as little as 10 credits, or one dollar. This lets you “sample” a teacher to make sure that your styles and personalities mesh well. Each student is only allowed to take three trial sessions, perhaps to discourage people from taking trials without committing to any teacher.  (I personally disagree with the three-trial policy, but it is what it is.)   One great thing about the italki booking system is that there’s no back-and-forth needed. You access the teacher’s schedule, click on an available time, and send a session request. Best of all, the schedule is automatically converted to your time zone, so you don’t even have to figure out what time your session actually starts.  I booked two trial sessions, with the idea that I would take two weekly lessons with the teacher that I clicked best with. Then I clicked with both of them. Rather than choosing between them, I decided to do one weekly session with each of them. My fantastic italki Spanish teachers, Mati and Auri. Connecting with Skype tutors ended up being one of the best things that I’ve done to speed up my language learning. Between my conversation partners and my tutors, I’m spending a whopping seven hours on Skype every week, five and a half of which are in Spanish. While this might seem like a lot, the time flies by, and I credit Skype conversations for 80% of my progress. 3. Write a notebook entry The best place to seek out corrections is in your written work. While a patient and encouraging teacher or language teacher will correct you at times when you’re speaking, it would be counterproductive to expect them to correct every single mistake. Too many interruptions would break the flow of conversation, which is the whole point of doing a language exchange. In a notebook entry, though, you’re laying down your work with the understanding that native speakers will correct it, change it, and point out your mistakes. One of my notebook entries, with corrections suggested by a native Spanish-speaker. Don’t forget to return the favour and try to correct other people’s work as well. There are always notebook entries that go without corrections, which must be very disappointing for the writer. When choosing notebook entries to correct, it’s best to stick to your own language or to a language that you know very well. I’ve seen corrections made by a non-native speakers that were very inaccurate.  4. Find a penpal I connected with one potential language partner, but no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t schedule a Skype meeting. Instead, we decided to be penpals. We write to each other using the italki private message system two or three times a week. Eva writes to me in English, and I send her message back to her with a few corrections and suggestions. Then I respond to her message in Spanish, and she corrects my work. I struggle with writing in Spanish. A lot.  I’m surprised by how helpful it is to have a penpal! I appreciate being able to take the time to think about what I want to say, and to really dig in to the corrections that Eva makes on my work. I also like having a penpal because â€" unlike with notebook entries â€" we can develop a relationship and have longer and more personal conversations. 5. Ask, answer and read questions I click on this feature when I have a few spare minutes and want to help other learners. People post brief questions in any language, and native speakers answer them. You can look at all of the questions, or sort them by language. I try to answer as many French questions as I can, focusing first on the ones that haven’t been answered yet. Reading questions and answers in the language that you’re learning can help you clear up understanding, build vocabulary, and learn expressions. A few Spanish questions on italki. Out of the five components that I mentioned in this post, I think that asking and answering questions is the one that I use the least. Still, it can be a very useful way to interact with native speakers without much of a time commitment. What I would like to see at italki Of course, no review is complete without a mention of what’s lacking. Here are a few things that I would like to see at italki: a live chat feature that would allow you to exchange messages back-and-forth with a native speaker. three trial sessions allowed for each language being learned, rather than three trial sessions total per student. a way to connect with community tutors without setting an appointment in advance. Sometimes I have 30 spare minutes that I’d like to spend in conversation. It would be nice if community tutors could sign up for “drop-in” sessions. Potential students could message them and, if they’re available, the session could start immediately instead of being booked 24 hours in advance. If you aren’t regularly talking to people in the language that you’re learning, then you’re missing a huge piece of the language learning puzzle. Sites like italki can help you find that puzzle piece. Once you start talking to real, live, unpredictable human beings, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your ability to speak progresses! Go ahead and sign up for  italki. Find a partner. Write a notebook entry. Start actually communicating with people. After all, human communication is the reason that languages even exist in the first place! A few final notes: This is a completely unbiased review. Italki does have a referral program that allows referrers to earn credits, but the link that I posted in this review is not an affiliate link. The only thing that I’m hoping to get from anyone who decides to join italki is the satisfaction that one more person is seeking out native speakers to communicate with! If, however, you would like to support me by providing me with one free lesson (at no cost to you) when and if you buy any credits,  you can use this referral link when signing up for italki. I’m not looking for any more language exchange partners at this point. But if you’re an intermediate or advanced Spanish-speaker and you want to practice for half an hour every week or two (just Spanish â€" no French or English), please  contact me! Top [This originally appeared on  http://www.tobefluent.com/2013/07/31/how-italki-is-helping-me-learn-spanish/  .  We had no idea  Stephanie had written this but were pleasantly surprised when we found her blog post.  We felt that it was such a great blog post, that we had to share it with all our italki members as it has some great information on how to maximize learning on italki!  Reposted with permission.] How italki is helping me learn Spanish! How italki is Helping Me Learn Spanish How italki is Helping Me Learn Spanish There is only way to learn to speak a language:  speak it, speak it, and speak it some more. While the easiest way to immerse yourself in a language is to travel â€" or, better yet, move â€" to a country where the language is spoken, all is not lost for those of us who can’t do that just yet. Thanks to the wonders of Skype and free websites like italki.com, we can immerse ourselves in any language from the comfort of our living room couches!  (Actually, in my case, it’s the dining room table. I still haven’t quite mastered the art of using a laptop on my actual lap.) If you’re looking to ramp up your language learning, then you might want to consider signing up for italki. * Please note:  this review is very long. I can’t help it. I’m full of words. Believe it or not, I actually cut out a good quarter of each post before I actually publish it. If you don’t like posts with a lot of words â€" well, you probably won’t like this blog. Sorry. First of all, it’s important to point out that italki itself isn’t a language program. It won’t teach you grammar, or provide you with video lessons, or offer you with step-by-step how-to-learn-any-language instructions. What it will do is provide you with access to a much more valuable resource:  actual, thinking, communicating human beings.   Registration on italki is free. Once you’ve registered, you’ll set up your profile, including which languages you speak and which languages you’re learning. There’s lots of “social stuff” on italki: upvoting, friending/following, discussion threads and so on. While some people might love the social media stuff, I don’t bother much with most of it. My goal is to connect directly with Spanish speakers who can help me, or with French speakers who need my help. In my opinion, these are the five best ways that italki is helping me learn Spanish: 1. Find a language partner A language partner is someone who speaks the language that you’re learning, and who is learning the language that you speak. If you click on “Language Partners” at the top of your italki screen, you can search for someone to connect with, being as specific as you like. My specific search â€" female Spanish-speakers learning French â€" brought back dozens and dozens of results. Once you have a list of results, you can read people’s profiles and find someone who seems interesting. When I first signed on to italki, I followed people and they followed me back, but nothing ever came of it. My “followers” count went up, so I suppose I might have looked a bit more popular, but it wasn’t actually helping me learn Spanish. I’m much more specific now. After clicking the “follow” button on someone’s profile, I send them a note requesting that they follow me back, spelling out exactly what I’m looking for. I include time zones in three major Spanish-speaking cities. This might seem a bit too straightforward for some people, but I don’t want to waste lots of back-and-forth time. As lovely as a person might be, if our schedules don’t mesh, then she isn’t the language partner I’m looking for. I send very specific follow requests on italki. Yes, I realize that I accidentally typed “who” twice. Once I connect with a language partner whose schedule matches mine, we set up an initial Skype meeting. From there, we can decide if we would like to meet regularly for practice sessions. So far, I’ve had nothing but good luck with language partners. I meet weekly with five fun, encouraging, friendly women â€" a different one every weekday. I use a webcam for all of my language exchanges â€" I like to see a person when I’m talking to her. I know, though, that some people prefer not to use webcams at all. If you’re not comfortable with video, make that clear from the beginning, and you should be able to find someone to talk to using audio only. 2. Hire a professional teacher or a community tutor If money is tight, or if you’re happy with your progress, then language partners might more than meet your needs. I wanted to progress more quickly, so I decided to hire a professional teacher to help me learn. On italki, you can choose between two types of paid lessons: professional lessons and informal tutoring. Teachers offering professional lessons have to have some kind of certification, whereas informal tutors don’t. Teachers are generally more expensive than informal tutors, but many of them are very reasonably priced. Some of them are so inexpensive, in fact, that the language teacher in me feels a bit bad about how low their rates are. Many teachers and tutors offer trial sessions, lower-priced half-hour sessions for new students. Some of these trial sessions can cost as little as 10 credits, or one dollar. This lets you “sample” a teacher to make sure that your styles and personalities mesh well. Each student is only allowed to take three trial sessions, perhaps to discourage people from taking trials without committing to any teacher.  (I personally disagree with the three-trial policy, but it is what it is.)   One great thing about the italki booking system is that there’s no back-and-forth needed. You access the teacher’s schedule, click on an available time, and send a session request. Best of all, the schedule is automatically converted to your time zone, so you don’t even have to figure out what time your session actually starts.  I booked two trial sessions, with the idea that I would take two weekly lessons with the teacher that I clicked best with. Then I clicked with both of them. Rather than choosing between them, I decided to do one weekly session with each of them. My fantastic italki Spanish teachers, Mati and Auri. Connecting with Skype tutors ended up being one of the best things that I’ve done to speed up my language learning. Between my conversation partners and my tutors, I’m spending a whopping seven hours on Skype every week, five and a half of which are in Spanish. While this might seem like a lot, the time flies by, and I credit Skype conversations for 80% of my progress. 3. Write a notebook entry The best place to seek out corrections is in your written work. While a patient and encouraging teacher or language teacher will correct you at times when you’re speaking, it would be counterproductive to expect them to correct every single mistake. Too many interruptions would break the flow of conversation, which is the whole point of doing a language exchange. In a notebook entry, though, you’re laying down your work with the understanding that native speakers will correct it, change it, and point out your mistakes. One of my notebook entries, with corrections suggested by a native Spanish-speaker. Don’t forget to return the favour and try to correct other people’s work as well. There are always notebook entries that go without corrections, which must be very disappointing for the writer. When choosing notebook entries to correct, it’s best to stick to your own language or to a language that you know very well. I’ve seen corrections made by a non-native speakers that were very inaccurate.  4. Find a penpal I connected with one potential language partner, but no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t schedule a Skype meeting. Instead, we decided to be penpals. We write to each other using the italki private message system two or three times a week. Eva writes to me in English, and I send her message back to her with a few corrections and suggestions. Then I respond to her message in Spanish, and she corrects my work. I struggle with writing in Spanish. A lot.  I’m surprised by how helpful it is to have a penpal! I appreciate being able to take the time to think about what I want to say, and to really dig in to the corrections that Eva makes on my work. I also like having a penpal because â€" unlike with notebook entries â€" we can develop a relationship and have longer and more personal conversations. 5. Ask, answer and read questions I click on this feature when I have a few spare minutes and want to help other learners. People post brief questions in any language, and native speakers answer them. You can look at all of the questions, or sort them by language. I try to answer as many French questions as I can, focusing first on the ones that haven’t been answered yet. Reading questions and answers in the language that you’re learning can help you clear up understanding, build vocabulary, and learn expressions. A few Spanish questions on italki. Out of the five components that I mentioned in this post, I think that asking and answering questions is the one that I use the least. Still, it can be a very useful way to interact with native speakers without much of a time commitment. What I would like to see at italki Of course, no review is complete without a mention of what’s lacking. Here are a few things that I would like to see at italki: a live chat feature that would allow you to exchange messages back-and-forth with a native speaker. three trial sessions allowed for each language being learned, rather than three trial sessions total per student. a way to connect with community tutors without setting an appointment in advance. Sometimes I have 30 spare minutes that I’d like to spend in conversation. It would be nice if community tutors could sign up for “drop-in” sessions. Potential students could message them and, if they’re available, the session could start immediately instead of being booked 24 hours in advance. If you aren’t regularly talking to people in the language that you’re learning, then you’re missing a huge piece of the language learning puzzle. Sites like italki can help you find that puzzle piece. Once you start talking to real, live, unpredictable human beings, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your ability to speak progresses! Go ahead and sign up for  italki. Find a partner. Write a notebook entry. Start actually communicating with people. After all, human communication is the reason that languages even exist in the first place! A few final notes: This is a completely unbiased review. Italki does have a referral program that allows referrers to earn credits, but the link that I posted in this review is not an affiliate link. The only thing that I’m hoping to get from anyone who decides to join italki is the satisfaction that one more person is seeking out native speakers to communicate with! If, however, you would like to support me by providing me with one free lesson (at no cost to you) when and if you buy any credits,  you can use this referral link when signing up for italki. I’m not looking for any more language exchange partners at this point. But if you’re an intermediate or advanced Spanish-speaker and you want to practice for half an hour every week or two (just Spanish â€" no French or English), please  contact me! Top [This originally appeared on  http://www.tobefluent.com/2013/07/31/how-italki-is-helping-me-learn-spanish/  .  We had no idea  Stephanie had written this but were pleasantly surprised when we found her blog post.  We felt that it was such a great blog post, that we had to share it with all our italki members as it has some great information on how to maximize learning on italki!  Reposted with permission.]

Is It Time to Quit Your Job

Is It Time to Quit Your Job Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/write-plan-business-startup-593333/ One major indicator of when it may time to move on is if you are stuck in a rut at your current job. If you’ve been working somewhere for an extended period of time and haven’t had a conversation with your boss about factors like increased benefits, increased pay, a promotion, more lenient hours (this is career-dependent), and so on, then it might be time to think about where your future at that company stands. If this is relevant to you, don’t make any rash decisions. Sit down with your boss and see if you can negotiate any terms of your employment; if your boss is receptive, maybe try and stick it out for a few more months, if not then definitely seek opportunities elsewhere. Know your worth and know that you are a valuable person, both in your work life and personal life. Don’t settle for a job that doesn’t recognize that you deserve to have certain benefits and perks after being such a hard worker. Another indicator that it may be time to look elsewhere for work is if you no longer are enjoying what you are doing at your current workplace. This may be the hardest thing to think about because, at one point in time, you probably thought that this job was your dream job and that you would be there for a while and work your way up higher and higher in the company. However, you have to think about a job similarly to how you think about a relationship. In a relationship, sometimes two people are no longer compatible with one another and they move on. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t treasure their time together, but people change and grow up. This happens in careers also. Sometimes you just outgrow your current work situation and that is okay! Your job experience will always be a part of you, but sometimes you just have to make a change. This doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a huge career change, but sometimes you just need to have new job experiences. Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/girl-computer-notebook-1064659/ A major sign that it’s time to find a new job is if you are generally unhappy with your current situation. If you are feeling at all sad, anxious, concerned, or just have a general lack of energy in the workplace for a significant period of time, then it’s time to make a change. Work is work, but you should do what you love. If you find it hard to get out of bed in the morning to go to work for a few weeks then something is definitely wrong. If this is the case you need to ask for help and ensure that you don’t do anything that you will regret. Talk to your boss and colleagues about what’s going onâ€"honesty is the best policy. Your co-workers and superiors are there to help you at work and outside of work. This would also be a great time to consult a career counselor and/or a therapist just to ensure that you get to the bottom of what is really going on. Sometimes this can be fixed by just taking some time off, but you need to discuss all of your options before quitting your job, if this ends up being the case. Change is good… it’s scary, but it’s good. It’s okay to contemplate quitting your job and it’s okay to explore your options. If you are thinking about quitting your job, just ensure that you have some sort of financial stability and that you are proactively looking for new opportunities. It might even be helpful to have some job applications sent out before you officially cut ties with your current company. Good luck to all of my readers in their career endeavors!

Benefits of a Chemistry Tutor

Benefits of a Chemistry TutorThe organic chemistry tutor is a different type of assistant and you might want to look for him or her in your college, university or secondary school. He or she can do many things for your college education and also help you with other things.It is the responsibility of the tutor to teach students about all the fundamental parts of learning chemistry. They are responsible for giving assignments for their subjects and will also supervise the students' work. If you are a very good student, he or she can make sure that your grades are not too low. If you are not very good, the tutor will surely help you with your mistakes.If you need assistance in doing chemical reactions, you should not bother searching for a teacher. You should always call a chemist who has a lab so he can assist you with all your problems. Some chemist in a laboratory will be very helpful and will also tell you where you can find the equipment you will need.Sometimes, a chemist might not be available in the campus and it will be necessary for you to leave the school and look for a chemist who can come to your place to help you. This is a great advantage for students who are on their own because they will no longer have to sit and wait for an appointment while the chemistry professor teaches in the classroom.The organic chemistry tutor will help you out with your classes and will take care of your studies as well. Some teachers are more interested in teaching others than teaching themselves. The organic chemistry tutor will do everything for the student who has a good attitude about studying.To make sure that you study well in college, the chemistry tutor should make sure that you are well organized. He will also encourage your love for chemistry.Thereare many benefits that you will get from this kind of help in college. These benefits include high scores for your college career, a great career in science, a great career in chemistry and a career in chemistry.

Why You Should Consider Private Tutoring

Why You Should Consider Private TutoringIf you are looking for a chance to improve your academic skills, then private tutoring can be a great option. Not only is this something that could be of benefit to your educational experience, but also has the potential to help you achieve a more advanced level in your studies. However, it is important to remember that you have to do some work if you are going to be able to take advantage of this type of private tutoring.A tutor will teach you all the tips and tricks you need to know. This means that if you want to go a little further, you should ask to have the information shown to you in a video format so that you can study better. The reason for this is that you will be able to see how to do certain things with regards to the materials that you will be using. In addition, it can be useful to have someone show you the correct way to study.Another thing you should consider is that you may have a lot of free time on your hands and not everyone has the same amount of it. If you find that you do not have the time to get tutoring then you may have to come up with other options. One of these options is to get a tutor from the library.Although this may not seem as convenient, you may be surprised at how efficient a tutor can be when it comes to teaching you a lesson or two. So, why not give it a try?There are many different reasons why you would want to get a tutor from the library. If you have a job that will leave you with little time, then you may want to use this as an alternative to get a tutor. This may also be a good way to ensure that you have the right knowledge to help you along the way.The main reasons for this are that you will be able to get someone who is skilled in a particular subject. Also, the tutor will be able to provide you with the proper tutoring and training that you need to achieve your goal.It is easy to see why private tutoring is a good idea if you are looking for the perfect learning experience. W hether you are in college or looking to take a test, a tutor can help you get through it.