Computer Tutoring From Computer Tutors at Hermoso Beach

Computer Tutoring From Computer Tutors at Hermoso BeachIf you're in need of computer tutoring, Hermoso Beach is the place to go. There are a lot of advantages to enrolling your child in this school. The staff at Hermoso Beach is highly skilled and they offer the best learning environment that is for the most part free.Students will learn computer basics such as how to use Microsoft Word. They will also get to learn basic computer applications that can be used in the future. They will also get to work on lesson plans and share their own research with the rest of the class.The cost of the computer lessons is quite affordable, even if you live in the Bay Area. Hermoso Beach offers a discounted price for students that live in the area. The difference in cost is based on the number of hours you spend in the classroom and how many group lessons you participate in per semester.Computer tutors at Hermoso Beach are also very well trained to teach computer applications. They have experience in helping students learn programs like WordPerfect, Excel, and PowerPoint. These experts are able to help students realize their learning potentials.You can see why this school is favored by many students. However, the price of tuition isn't the only reason people prefer this school. These tutors are highly trained to provide excellent instruction to students.They understand that new students need tutoring immediately, so they are committed to offering one-on-one coaching. You can expect one-on-one counseling as well as practice questions during lesson planning. And since they are well trained to help you, you know that they will listen to your needs and make you feel comfortable with your student.Computer tutoring is an easy way to make your child feel more confident and valuable. Getting the best information to your child can happen through the tutoring system at Hermoso Beach. It is easy to meet a computer tutor for your child and have the best learning experience possible.

The Styles of Sculpture.

The Styles of Sculpture. Materials, Movements, Historical Moments: The Major Types of Sculpture. ChaptersThe Major Sculptural Styles â€" in Rough Order.The Variety of Contemporary Sculptural Types.The beauty of art history is its infinite variety of different styles, movements, and types of the visual arts. From the figurative the monumental, the site-specific to the expressive, there are more ways of making different art forms than you’ve had hot dinners.And you’ll walk into a museum of art and be confronted with all of these different artworks and movements, each with its own recognisable style and a language of its own.If you want to get into this art world, or more specifically into the world of sculpture and sculptural history, then you need to learn this language.You’ll need to learn the difference between one sculptor and many similar sculptors. You’ll need to be able to tell the masterpieces of modern art apart. You’ll need to understand where contemporary art comes from â€" and how it draws its inspiration from the Italian Renaissance, say, or the Romanesque s tyles you’ll see.But, honestly, this whole enterprise is absolutely fascinating. It’s a ride through history as much as through aesthetics â€" as each style tends to reflect the different social and scientific concerns of its time.So, enjoy. And whilst we’re missing some â€" those prehistoric styles, say, those ones from the Paleolithic or Mesopotamia â€" there are enough here to get you going.And you can learn everything about sculpture here. CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st l esson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsThe Major Sculptural Styles â€" in Rough Order.We’re going to begin by looking at sculptural styles through western art up until the twentieth century in chronological order.After this, sculptures experience a massive proliferation of styles, innovations, and concerns. When we get to the twentieth century then, we’ll drop the chronological structure and look at some of the major things going on â€" which were roughly contemporaneous to each other.So, let’s start â€" with Ancient Greece.Hellenistic Sculpture.As a bit of a disclaimer, the expression ‘Greek sculpture’ is necessarily going to be a generalisation: the civilizations that we refer to as ‘ancient Greece’ lasted between about the tenth century BC and 600AD. That’s sixteen hundred years. Things change a lot in that amount of time.The sculpture that we talk about when we talk about Greek sculpture is from the classical and Hellenistic periods. This means the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and the third, second, and first centuries BC respectively.Greek sculpture developed into idealised but naturalistic representations of people and deities in this period. Figu rative sculpture was the main concern, and people like Phidias are the big names.Find the best art courses near me here.Roman Sculpture.Often, Greek and Roman sculpture, the two major arts of the ancient world, are lumped together. This is because Roman art was heavily influenced by the Greeks (and most of the sculptors in Rome were actually Greek).However, the main difference is that, where Greece aimed for idealisation â€" making the perfect form of the thing sculpted â€" Rome was more deliberately representational. These guys preferred detail and historical events, rather than beauty for beauty’s sake.Equestrian Sculpture.This one is a bit out of place, but we should take a moment here to consider the equestrian statue as a discrete art form. Simply put, these are just guys on horses. However, the social significance of these is not to be understated.There are very few surviving equestrian statues from antiquity. Yet, they were used â€" and have been used ever since â€" to conv ey power and prestige.To make a life-size horse in bronze or white marble just required a huge amount of stuff. And this stuff has always been quite expensive.For a few examples, look at the Statue of Marcus Aurelius, Donatello’s Statue of Gattamelata, or Verrocchio’s Bartolomeo Colleoni. Equestrian statues are one of the most prestigious forms of sculptureReliefs, Carvings, and Architectural Sculpture.During the period between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance, we don’t know a huge number of names of sculptors. However, we do know that their main concerns were in the decoration of religious institutions, including cathedrals, abbeys, and churches.Reliefs â€" in which sculptors would work on raising images from a flat background â€" and carvings were the main techniques used in this architectural sculpture. And we refer to this period (roughly 600 to 1200) as Romanesque or, later, Gothic art.Check out the Chartres Cathedral for an excellent example of gothic art.High Renaissance Sculpture.The Renaissance began in Italy, drawing on classical techniques and themes. Really, it changed the way we thought about art â€" and still has an influence to this day.Moving away from the religious concerns that dominated the art of the first millennium, it inst ead looked at the human figure, taking its knowledge and detail from the developments of science.Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Donatello are all names from this period.Mannerist Sculpture.Whilst High Renaissance sculpture valued naturalism, mannerism attended instead to artificiality and exaggerated beauty â€" all to compete with the sculptors of the preceding movement.Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa (from 1554) is one of the iconic sculptures of mannerism.Baroque Sculpture.And if Renaissance sculpture in general was concerned with a sense of stability, baroque, which followed, wanted to import dynamism and movement into sculpture. It was characterised by great decoration and energy.Gian Lorenzo Bernini is the name you need to know, as his sculptures, fountains, public art, and architectural projects transformed Rome in the seventeenth century.Rococo, or ‘Late Baroque’, was the extreme end of this movement. It was theatrical, incredibly detailed, and colourful. Bernini had a very distinctive style of sculptureNeoclassical Sculpture.As usually happens, history’s response to this movement was to return to simplicity. This is what neoclassical sculpture â€" obviously taking its name from the classical period â€" did in the eighteenth century.Antonio Canova was the main figure in this movement, returning to the principles of design of ancient art.Modernist Sculpture.At the turn of the twentieth century, painters, musicians, writers, and sculptors were galvanised by a different way of doing art. This was what was known as modernism and, for the arts, it was a colossal break from tradition.In sculpture, the primary figure in this movement was Auguste Rodin, who introduced an impressionistic quality into sculpture. He threw away the sharp lines and chiselled features and focused on a realism, rather than an idealism. A famous work of his is The Thinker.His student, Constantin Brancusi, was also hugely influential. His outdoor sculpture and more abstract sculptures had a massive influence on the modern and contemporary artists that followed.Learn more about famous sculpture artists! The iconic Chicago sculpture, the Cloud GateThe Variety of Contemporary Sculptural Types.Contemporary sculpture is hugely multifaceted, incredibly diverse, and unbound from the strict rules that characterised art sculpture up until the nineteenth century. This is because the boundaries of what art and sculpture are have been pushed by artists throughout this period.Here are some of the directions in which sculpture has been pushed in recent years. They can’t really be detailed chronologically, as many are contemporaneous.Find out more about the most famous sculptures.Assemblage / Found Objects.Started by the likes of Pablo Picasso and the Dadaists in the first half of the twentieth century, assemblages are thought of as collages but in three dimensions.These developed out of an artistic interest in ‘found objects’ â€" items usually used for quite different purposes, but, in these cases described and presented as art.Marcel Duchamp’s famous Fountain (1917) is one of the most o riginal versions of this. The artwork is a urinal bought from a hardware and placed on a pedestal. At the time, this piece posed fascinating questions about the nature of art.Abstract Sculpture.Abstract sculpture came primarily out of the work of Brancusi, one of the fathers of modernist sculpture. Rather than figurative art, which sought to represent to greater or lesser degrees of details an object, abstract art did away with the concern for representation.Brancusi’s work was all about ‘essences’, the simplest possible forms of things. It was hugely influential, inspiring artists like Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Alberto Giacometti.Land Art.An incredibly ambitious and monumental style of contemporary sculpture is what is known as land art. This seeks to create sculpture and art out of the land itself.Take a look at Robert Smithson’s piece Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, or Charles Jencks’s Landform in Edinburgh.Kinetic Sculpture.Art historians like to argue. And one such argument in the art world regards the start of the movement or kinetic art. Generally, it’s agreed now that it was the brainchild of Naum Gabo, whose Kinetic Construction has been the inspiration for many.Kinetic art describes works that use movement in their construction and form. In almost any art museum, you’ll find an example of this style.Find the best places to see sculpture!

What is it Like to Attend Loyola Marymount University

What is it Like to Attend Loyola Marymount University The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teachtheyre sharing their college experiences as well. Brian earned his bachelors degree in English at Loyola Marymount University. He lives in Los Angeles, and specializes in literature tutoring, writing tutoring, and SAT tutoring, among other subjects. See what he had to say about his experience at Loyola Marymount University. Describethe campus setting and transportation options at Loyola Marymount University. Brian:Loyola Marymount University is situated high on a bluff in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles. For this reason, it is somewhat isolated from the city proper, so having a car is definitely helpful. I should also note that there was no Uber when I was in college, so I imagine that has made it much easier to get around. How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Brian:Professors in general were very easy to get hold of. Because Loyola Marymount University is a private university, most class sizes are small, so professors are able to get to know you on a one-on-one basis. Every professor I took had office hours, and some even required that students visit them during these hours at least once during the semester. How would you describe the dorm liferooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Brian:Dorm life was pretty great. First-year students are guaranteed on-campus housing, and there were all sorts of extracurricular activities planned, so getting to know other students was very easy. Dining options were plentiful. The central food area, called the Lions Den, had pizza, sandwiches, burgers, a salad bar, and even a Jamba Juice. The variety of the food was awesome. Which majors/programs are best represented and supported at Loyola Marymount University? Brian:I majored in English at Loyola Marymount University, because I had heard from an English teacher at my high school that the writing program was excellent. She was right. The English professors there are dedicated and passionate. I also got heavily involved with the student newspaper, which was great for developing my critical voice. How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Brian:There are too many student clubs to count at Loyola Marymount University. No matter what your interest is, there is a club for it. And if there is not, it is easy to start one. I got involved with the Japanese culture club, mostly because I was interested in anime and video games, but through that, I made a ton of new friends. How helpful is the Career Center and other student support services? Brian:There is a career fair every semester, with many major companies represented. There is also a career center that can do things like help you write a resume and give you job interview tips. How are the various study areas such as libraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Brian:The library at Loyola Marymount University was one of my favorite places to hang out, study, and do homework. It was so serene, and they had private study rooms for groups. It is open late too, in case you need to study the night before a big test. Describe the surrounding town. Brian:Loyola Marymount University is situated in Los Angeles, one of the biggest, most diverse cities in the world. Shops, restaurants, museums, movie theaters, and the beach are all nearby. You will never run out of new things to do and explore, and most places will give you a student discount. How big or small is the student body at Loyola Marymount University? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Brian:Being a private university, Loyola Marymount Universitys class size is relatively small, with about 6,500 undergraduates when I was there (2003-2007). As such, most class sizes are pretty small. The only large classes are the general education classes, but even those are small compared to most public universities. Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one you regret the most. Brian:A lot of my favorite memories of Loyola Marymount University come from working at the student newspaper, the Los Angeles Loyolan. During my senior year, I was the editor of the Arts Entertainment section, which meant I got free CDs, movie screenings, merchandise, etc. I even got to go to the occasional press junket and interview actual celebrities, so that was pretty amazing. But what I will remember most are all the late nights before deadline, rushing to get the paper out on time. It was very challenging, but it was also very fun. Check out Brians tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

Is It Time to Reevaluate Your Career Goals - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / Is It Time to Reevaluate Your Career Goals - Introvert Whisperer Is It Time to Reevaluate Your Career Goals? You woke up this week and realized the career direction you were headed in is no longer right for you. Knowing that isn’t a comfortable feeling; and you might even be denying it to some degree. You were very strong in your conviction of this goal, and it’s not an easy thing to let go of. How did you get to this point? Was your original career goal wrong to begin with? Should you really be thinking of reevaluating your career goals? It would be nice to think that, like some people out there, you knew what you wanted to be and stayed the course for the next 40 years. But that doesn’t happen to too many people, so don’t consider it a realistic expectation for you. Even when you have clarity about your direction, you don’t have to stay the course at all costs. Most careers weave in a variety of directions for all sorts of reasons, and if resetting your goals looks like the right thing to you, don’t waste your time worrying. It’s clearly think time. (Like this thought? Tweet it!) Let’s look at a few signs you may be ready for a reevaluation. Signs It’s Time to Reevaluate Your Career Goals 1. Now That You’re Close, It’s Not That Cool When we develop our ideas of our ideal career direction, we think of all the great things about that position. Usually there are several steps and a few positions to pursue before you arrive. At each step, you get better visibility, as well as more personal insight. It might not be that great now that you can see it better, or you simply might not want to do what it takes to make that next step. 2. Your Priorities Have Changed As we go through life, it has an interesting way of changing our minds about what’s important.  You may have changed your priorities without realizing it, and now that you have, your previously chosen career goal doesn’t fit well. 3. You Have Other Interests You may be at a point where you’ve discovered new directions for your career that now hold more interest to you. That’s fine because that’s how life works; the longer you live, the more new things you get exposed to. Whatever the reason for the change of heart, you need to move forward to rethink your career goals. Now you’ve arrived at this point, you have many different directions you could take and steps to go with them. You have work to do to to identify both your new direction and the steps you have to take to get there. Here are some starting points: Where You Can Go Now 1. Complete Career Change This one can be tricky because most of us really don’t know how to start from the beginning at figuring out a new career path. If you’re at a point where you’re ready to completely change course, it’s best to pull out all the tricks and settle in for a while to get this figured out. There are books to help you and career coaches that can help guide you through a self-discovery process. Note the emphasis on self-discovery. No, there is not an assessment that will tell you where you should go next.  As a career coach, I might help point you in the right direction, but you’ve got work to do to arrive at a good decision. 2. Course Correction You may have thought you wanted to be CFO, but now that you’re a group controller, you’re thinking Operations Management might be better for you.  While it’s a new career goal, the order of magnitude is more like a course correction. You can capitalize on your background to get to this new career goal, but you may need to figure out what assignments you need that will better qualify you. Speak to your management to get their viewpoint on things you can do to better qualify you. 3. One Step Back You may have gotten promoted, but now that you’re there, you realize you like your previous job better. This is no problem, unless you work for a company that can only see one direction for you in which case you will most likely need to leave for another company. If that isn’t the case, then speak to your management and HR about your career direction to see if they can help support it. You career is a constantly moving thing just like you.  No longer do we have a “life work” that goes on for decades, which means that rethinking and reevaluating your career goals will happen a few times. When that time comes for you, it may take some time to get used to the fact that you want to change direction, but once you’re there, do the work to make that next step really worth taking. Have you undergone a career reevaluation, or are you in the midst of one? Share your experiences in the comments! Image: Flickr Go to top Do you know what your next career step is?  Many people don’t. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook on how to construct your Career SMART Goals â€" that will help you put together your actions and keep you accountable. Get your copy now and start your action plan today! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

The Real Reasons Why You Need To Learn Guitar Scales

The Real Reasons Why You Need To Learn Guitar Scales Suzy S. Is it really necessary to learn guitar scales? If youd rather just focus on chords and songs, youre not alone. But here, Austin, TX teacher Samuel B.  shares why practicing your scales will ultimately make you a better guitar player down the line Im a 25-year veteran of playing the guitar. In seventh grade, I took an introductory class to both the guitar and keyboard, in which I received only a B as I pretty much neglected the keyboard altogether. Besides, Id taken piano lessons already and was, by that time, more interested in portable instruments with strings and a neck as played by my musical heroes (i.e. Tom Petty and George Harrison). A few years later, I purchased a hand-strengthening tool. I suppose I had in mind (for some reason) that Id be able to use it to practice when an instrument wasnt handy. Needless to say, the hand strengthener did not serve this specific purpose. I see nothing wrong with purchasing accessories (such as this one) provided that you understand their intended effect strengthening your hand, in this case, rather than improving the fluidity of your playing. As far as fluidity is concerned, nothing beats practicing your scales. I now introduce a relevant one for each of the first two sets of first-position chords youll learn (the ones in the key of C and the ones in the key of D, respectively). Beyond that, theres more room for experimentation (particularly with blues progressions in E the next key slated in the curriculum). Scales serve multiple purposes: 1. They condition your fingers for playing chords. Think of playing scales as warm-ups. As I type, Im considering a relevant metaphor. One of the computer programs that taught us how to type in second grade (The Typing Teacher) focused on our recognition of the home-row keys (ASDF, JKL;) and the proper positions for pressing each.  On the basis of our mastering the home row, we were subsequently taught the fingerings for the keys in the upper row as well as the lower one. Along comparable lines, the C fingering is the same as that of its D counterpart a full step up the neck just with (in this case) your use of four (not three) left-hand fingers to press the notes otherwise played openly. However, the comparison itself presents a pretty simple concept that your mastery of one body of knowledge provides the basis for your branching out into mastering another. Regarding both playing scales AND typing, I dont even think about what Im doing nowadays. As a matter of fact, I sometimes have to pick my brain a little when I help students learn guitar scales as I play the ones I know (the major and the blues scales predominantly) with natural ease. At some point, I also began sensing a correlation between the components of the chords in the key of E and the notes of the blues scale. I now play them interchangeably, which is another purpose served by scales they are the foundation of improvisation. 2. Once mastered, a scale provides you with everything you need to launch a heartfelt solo even one involving fewer than five notes. From that point, the skys pretty much the limit. I even remember being prompted to play a ONE-note solo during a jazz band rehearsal. Without scale knowledge, though, Id have had no basis for playing a solo whatsoever unless it simply involved picking out the notes comprising chords, which makes for pretty dull and predictable listening. Heres a great video that shows how a basic knowledge of scales can add some flair to even the most basic melodies. 3. Scales also serve as teaching tools for introducing music theory. Im quick to point out that the C scale (the first thing youll learn) is the only one that contains no sharps or flats. I even mention its relevance to the white piano keys periodically. A Do a Deer reference would work here too. Similarly, I tend to explain the basic building-blocks of major chords (the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale) and the half-step difference between major and minor ones (regarding the lowered third note in this case). Youll also hear me mention the added seventh note in seventh chords (G7th in C for example). As a teacher, Ive found scale mastery to be the sole factor determining a students rate of progress. As you learn guitar scales, youll have a greater level of musical confidence. Just as your mastery of home-row keys determines your readiness for learning to type essays, your mastery of scales will serve as a cognitive lubricant welcoming upcoming knowledge and skills with aptitude and enthusiasm. Substitute practice your scales as the punchline to that old How do you get to Carnegie Hall? joke. Samuel B. teaches beginner  guitar lessons in Austin, TX. He teaches lessons face-to-face without sheet music, which is his adaptation of Japanese instruction (involving a call-and-response method).  Learn more about Samuel here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by  Brian Finifter

How Long Does it Take to Learn French

How Long Does it Take to Learn French How Long Till a French Learner Can Speak Fluent French? ChaptersDifferences in Grammar Between English and FrenchVerb ConjugationBuilding Your French VocabularySpeaking French with Native French SpeakersHow Much Time Does it Take to Learn French?Learning a foreign language can be fun, exciting and stimulating; a companionable activity  undertaken amidst like-minded learners.It remains nevertheless a serious proposition that requires diligence and hard work. And time.In spite of the wealth of French words that populate the English language, any native English speaker must accord proper time to such a momentous endeavour as studying another language.How much time would be considered proper?Let us investigate the aspects of learning French that would cause mastering the language of Molière to be a years-long commitment.In spite of the many similarities between the two languages, French is radically different from English   Source: Pixabay Credit: MagnascanThose respective distinctions make for deep linguistic divisions between the different languages. For our purposes today, suffice to say that French has a rhythm and flow that makes it particularly attractive, and English, for all of its grammar rule exceptions, tends to be more practical.In fact, French grammar may be your first stumbling block, especially their noun classification system.Unlike all of the romance languages, the English language does not employ grammatical gender.Articles the, a and an all take the place of either le or la; un or une to describe countable nouns.Such grammar rules lend precision to French speech!Let us examine this sentence: The teacher gave us each dictionary.How  can we know whether that is teacher male or female?There would be no such question, were the same sentence to be spoken in French.Le maître would be used if the language instructor were a man; la maitresse would be for female teachers. Even indefinite articles are gender-specific in French! Un maître and une maitresse, for example. Grammatical AgreementOne of the most di fficult aspects of learning grammar in French is agreement: any adjective, if used, must be the same gender as the article and noun, or pronoun. It would not be correct to say la maison blanc.As the article and noun are both feminine, the adjective must also be; making it blanche.Whereas blanc and noir and a few other colours can be either masculine and feminine, some, such as yellow (jaune), red (rouge) and brown (marron) cannot. Don't let exceptions to this rule shatter your confidence!Take heart, dear French learner! Your new language has fewer grammar rule exceptions than your mother tongue does.The final word on grammatical gender and agreement in French: most verbs have to agree, too!Verb ConjugationGood news! Conjugating a verb in French will most likely only happen during your French classes!To our knowledge, nobody must recite je suis, tu es... to gain any privilege or entry to any facility in France; nor is it required in order to enjoy any French podcast or film.Of course , nobody will make you conjugate any verbs in English, either... unless you are still in primary school.We point out verb conjugation as a potential pitfall in learning French because, as opposed to English's 12 verb tenses, the French language has 23!You might be relieved to find out that only six of them are routinely used.You should still study subjunctive, indicative and conditional verb constructions, for when next you immerse yourself in the language and culture of France.Note: as we make no distinction between mood and tense in English for this argument, we are not making one in French, either.Are you wondering if French is a hard language to learn?Vocabulary is the building blocks of any language, including French Source: Pixabay Credit: Design_Miss_CFrench words and phrases.Words related to politics and economics; the military and, especially to science and food: our native language is nearly a third French!It would not necessarily be a good idea to hunt for English words w ith French roots â€" or that come, wholly formed, from the French language.Actually, that would be counterproductive to your efforts in learning the language, and it would waste quite a bit of time!Instead, you could make flashcards while learning new words in French, especially if you are a beginner at learning a new language.As you build your bank of vocabulary cue cards, outside of your language course, you will undoubtedly recognise words that you use every day in conversational English.While attending language classes, your attention should be totally focused on classroom activity!Finding familiar word patterns in a foreign language will give you a sense of familiarity, which will boost your confidence which, in turn, will help you in learning vocabulary faster!In economics, this is called a virtuous cycle, or a positive feedback loop.Find out about how to get a good French tutor on Superprof.Speaking French with Native French SpeakersAs your French vocabulary expands and your confidence grows, naturally you will want to practice your language skills at every chance. The best way to do so is by having conversation with native speakers of French.You should be at conversational French level after about nine months of study.Around that time, your French teacher should be conducting role play activities in the classroom, and arranging for dialogue with your fellow students.While speaking French in class is great, nothing says you cannot also find chat partners online who speak French and are willing to help you learn their language!The average language learner, especially beginners, tends to translate into their first language what they hear in their second language, formulate a response, and then translate it into French.Should you communicate with a French speaker on a regular basis, you would short-circuit that process. The words you have already learned will flow with a fluency you might never have expected to achieve so soon!Adding live conversation to y our learning process, making use of language exchange programmes that are so readily available online, and listening to French audio will exponentially increase how fast you learn.If you're looking for French lessons London or Glasgow, head directly to Superprof: you will find hundreds of French tutors waiting for you!If you spend any time at all at the computer, you are familiar with the concept of input and output! Source: Pixabay Credit: SimonHow Much Time Does it Take to Learn French?Short answer: there is no hard and fast rule or timetable for learning French, or Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese.One of two sure statements to be made on the topic is: how quickly you learn depends on you.We'll reveal the other surety later!Your ability to learn French quickly depends on several factors:Your reason for learning â€" because you have to, or because you want to?You will learn faster out of desire than obligation!Motivation: can you see the end-use of your French language lessons?Whether to holiday on the Riviera or for a business startup; visualising your success is critical to your learning speed.Dedication: for every class hour, you should commit at least double that time to independent studyFlexibility: incorporate non-traditional learning methods into your language study habitsYou would be surprised at how much learning is deterred by the thought of sitting quietly at a desk!One aspect of mastering French that we've not yet touched on is pronunciation.From your very first French class, when you learn the French alphabet, you will realise that there are sounds in this language that do not exist in English.That guttural R, for example, or the sound of the French U.Whereas language learners tend believe the most difficult aspect of language learning must be mastering its grammar, it is actually pronouncing words correctly that is most problematic.After all: your French friends will forgive you for gender agreement mistakes, but they can only do that if they unders tand what you're trying to say!Thus we aver that working on your spoken French, its pronunciation and rhythm, will progress nicely only if you spend a substantial amount of time practising.Now, for the other fundamental truth of language learning: it is a lifetime undertaking.At no point has anyone ever said: I know enough French now; no need to study language anymore.Whether you actively seek them out, or absorb them passively â€" by exercising your listening skills, any exposure to the language will compel you to learn new words and phrases.By full immersion into the language â€" sojourning in France; speaking and hearing the language daily, your French learning speed will go into overdrive!This is called the input-output theory, or IO.You surely are familiar with the concept of getting out what you put in: from computing, from function tables in maths, from economics...Economics, again???François Quesnay was a French economist who provided the foundation for today's commonly-use d economic input-output model,  that was formulated  in the 1970's... some 230 years after the original Tableau Economique was established!Interesting footnote: it is based on this economic model that Google ranks its searches.So, the final answer to the question of how long it takes to learn French: the more effort you put into the venture, the better and faster the outcome.As a guideline to what you can expect to master in a given time, the table below outlines forecasted milestones set up by data from French language learning institutes.Time FrameLevelCapabilities0-1 monthAbsolute BeginnerSimple greetings: bonjour and merci; basic verb tenses and vocabulary1-3 monthsBeginnerAble to order food in a restaurant and hold simple conversation3-6 monthslow-intermediateunderstand and use developed grammar; gain confidence in speaking6-12 monthsintermediateexpanded vocabulary; able to understand and express abstract conceptsWhat are you waiting for? A la volée!

English Conversation and Listening The Story of Stuff

English Conversation and Listening The Story of Stuff Ever seen the Story of Stuff? Its a short video that has been used in many school rooms around the world to teach some environmental concepts to students. We thought it would also make a good English listening exercise video, as wall as a great topic for a conversation class.The video has been somewhat controversial in some part of the United States. This New York Times article talks about controversy caused by the video in Missoula, Montana, a city about 3 hours south of where Teauna and I live. Heres a quote from the article:Mark Zuber, a parent of a child at Big Sky High School in Missoula, had a stronger reaction when a teacher showed the video to his daughter last year. “There was not one positive thing about capitalism in the whole thing,” Mr. Zuber said.Corporations, for example, are portrayed as a bloated person sporting a top hat and with a dollar sign etched on its front.He described the video as one-sided. “It was very well done, very effective advocacy, but it wa s just that,” he said.Mr. Zuber argued before the Missoula County School Board that the way in which “The Story of Stuff” was presented, without an alternative point of view, violated its standards on bias, and the board agreed in a 4-to-3 vote.The title of the video pretty accurately summarizes its content. Annie Leonard, the videos creator, talks about how stuff whether that be a computer, a radio or a plastic bag, is made, consumed and disposed of, from beginning to end. It paints a negative picture of our system, from how people are treated in countries where stuff is made, to environmental issues and human happiness. Watch the video below, and see if you can answer the questions. Contact us if you would like to take group or individual English conversation classes. Well, I looked ____ __ a little ___ more.All along the way, its ______ up ______ limits.What does this mean?Here, we are ______ __ against our first limit.Where I live in the United States, we have less tha n 4 percent of our ________ forests left.How does the word added to the previous sentence change its meaning?If everybody consumed at the US rates, we _____ ____ 3 to 5 planets, and ___ ___ ___? Weve only ___ one.Which some _____ ___ is another word for ___ ____ that ______ ___ on somebody elses land.What happens in this system if you dont own or buy a lot of stuff?Are you still using your pillow?We could think of a ______ ___ to ___ our _____ from ________ on ____ at night.How could $4.99 possibly capture the costs of ______ this radio and _____ into my hands?What are stewardship, resourcefulness and thrift?What is the ultimate goal of the US economy, according to the video?What is the difference between planned and perceived obsolescence?Why wont recycling be enough?Its ___ not _______.Do you think it is possible to live in a way that would not have the impact on the earth that the video talks about? Have you tried consuming less? Do you think people judge each other for the way t hey consume?Do you think this video is an accurate description of how things are in the world?