Improve spoken English at EnglishHarmony.com – home of Robby Kukurs! There are a few tricks to know if you want to build up your English vocabulary and be able to use it in real life situations. The old school way is to write the new English word down in your dictionary followed by a translation in your langauge. Wrong! This is a sure way to broken and unnatural English! Watch this video episode and start changing the way you build your English vocabulary!
Learn English Idioms: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – version 1Hello. Welcome Do you want to learn English with a native speaker?… I am sure you do! Many more videos will be uploaded to help you improve your English. Shot and edited by Brian a BBC producer and director and English writer. These videos aim to teach you some relevant expressions which you are able to use in your conversations when you want or need to speak English. Hopefully you will enjoy your time with us, let’s become YouTube friends and subscribe to each other accounts. Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a “world language”, the lingua franca of the modern era.[15] While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language around the world. Some linguists (such as David Graddol) believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural property of “native English speakers”, but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow.[15] It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications.[55] English is an official language of the United Nations and many other international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee. English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), Spanish (8%), and Russian; while …
You’ll find many language learning sources stating that the best technique to learn a new language is to memorize words and improve vocabulary, as this will lead to a better understanding of the language, you’ll be able to start “thinking” in that new language, due to the fact that you won’t have to pause and research what a particular word means and so forth. Here are a couple of tips and tricks that should help you memorize words faster, easier and most importantly, for a longer period of time.
Avoid the Phonebook Method
This is the old fashioned, traditional vocabulary improvement method used for a long time in schools as a language learning technique. You probably used this in your primary and high school foreign language classes as homework. Remember your teacher going “I want you to memorize the words on the list at page 5, take them one by one and learn what they mean”. Basically that’s what the phonebook method is all about: having a long list of words, usually written in the column and another parallel column containing the translations. You will be asked to memorize each word, pronounce it a few times so it “sticks” inside your memory, then move on to the next, just like you would be memorizing entries from a phonebook.
First of all, I find this method of memorizing words terribly inefficient. By the time you reach the second part of your list, you’ve already forgotten the first ones, or most of them, simply because our brain is not used to acquiring so much information under the form of character strings, so your memory will lose out on some of these words. It’s also a very annoying and boring language learning and vocabulary improvement method and I suggest you focus on some other activity that also adds a bit of fun, since we all learn better if we’re having fun at the same time.
Using Imagery to Help Memorize Words
Like I said above, our brain is not in the best shape to memorize character strings, when compared to, say, images or audio. A lot of modern language courses and most of the free language lessons online that I saw focus on adding imagery to the vocabulary improvement process. Flashcards for example, are a great way to stamp a word with an image. Quizzes that let you add a certain word to a certain image are also efficient and so are education games that focus on teaching words based on images.
It’s also important to build links between the word and an image and this linking technique is based on language mnemonics. Language mnemonics use a certain image to link a word in your mother tongue, to a word in the language you’re learning. For example, let’s say you were trying to learn French. You’re learning the French word “grognon”, which means grumpy in English.
Now imagine a visual image of an old grumpy man, visibly annoyed. Now whenever the French word will come up, the image of the grumpy man will pop in your mind and you will instantly know what it means. Try using mnemonics and word imagery, at least for a bit and you’ll soon find out why this is one of the most popular language learning and vocabulary improvement methods of today.
Using Emotion to Help Memorize Words
Yes I know the subtitle sounds weird. After all, how can an emotion help you memorize a foreign word? It sounds silly but trust me, it’s not. And the most helpful emotion that comes into play here is “fun”. If you enjoy doing something, if you have fun with it, you’re bound to learn what everything about what you’re doing faster and for a longer period of time.
Think about playing a computer game about ancient Rome. Although you never were familiar with the terms related to this context, if you have fun playing it you’ll acquire a wealth of new information about the subject and words like Colosseum, Gladiator and Caesar will be naturally added to your vocabulary.
In conclusion, remember one thing: never learn new words like a robot. Try to include them to your vocabulary naturally and not force them in your brain. If you can’t find a way to introduce them naturally, at least get these words memorized with the help of sounds or images (or even better, both – there are plenty of audio/video interactive language learning websites out there and most of them offer free language lessons).
Increase your foreign language vocabulary at http://www.InternetPolyglot.com by playing online games. The site contains thousands of lessons in different languages from English, Spanish, French, Russian to Hindi, Turkish, Ukrainian and many others.
Not only do I remember my first job, I remember my first memo, a recommendation on how to shorten a lengthy approval cycle. That was a long time ago, and I doubt that the cycle has changed a bit, but that’s not what I recall about the memo. What I remember is how quickly my readers forgot it. To me it was a work of art, worthy of a prize and a frame. To them it was just one more unsuccessful attempt to communicate in a world of controlled chaos.
Mildly curious, I wandered from office to office, asking friends and co-workers if they too were having trouble making words work. Yes, they said, but what really irked them was the nature of the organization itself, and how it seemed to undermine all their efforts to write anything and everything. On top of that, they were weary of the schoolmarm criticism continually handed out by management. In their words. it all added up to a loss of time, money, and patience. As I listened, I found myself trying to get the complaints on paper. Today, those notes are stiff and yellow, but the problems appear ageless:
Company politics…often distorting the objective judgment of both
writers and readers.
Distortion by design…intentionally corrupting the language for personal gain
Panic deadlines (both real and false)…rushing writers in and out of the writing while readers struggle to make sense of flawed first drafts.
Indiscriminate revisions…change for the sake of change, often to satisfy a power figure’s pet approach.
Committee journalism…or several voices are worse than one, especially
when they disagree.
Difficulty of measuring success…or when there is no editorial standard, good is usually what the highest authority says it is.
Lack of information…leaving writers with the frustration of trying to tell a complete story with incomplete information.
Poor setting…or how are we supposed to concentrate with ringing telephones, portable radios, uninvited socializers, clacking machines, carpenters, and
hallway chatter?
Policy strangleholds…the omnipresent force that says thou shalt write to satisfy policy first, readers second.
lndecision...those moments when you put your head in your hands because you know the decisions you need from other people will not be forthcoming.
Lack of formal training in business writing…making it doubly difficult and exasperating for people who must keep trying to do something they have not been trained to do.
The ostrich syndrome…or the unwillingness of organizations to openly acknowledge that business writing should be treated as a business skill
and not as a “personal thing.”
With booby traps like that planted all over the business landscape, my friends either succumbed to clinical writer’s block or plunged headlong against overwhelming odds, emerging with a variety of undesirable side effects:
Fear of Failure…brought on by high expectations, low confidence.
Frustration…igniting irrational behavior, the quickest way to make a
bad situation worse.
Procrastination…the aged and mistaken belief that if we put off the
undesirable long enough it will go away.
Expedience…grasping for any solution at all—right or wrong, good or
bad—as long as it beats the clock and satisfies those on high.
Herd instinct…forsaking individual expression, or trying to sound like
everybody else.
Apathy…giving up, giving in.
Remember…The Tortoise Won the Race
The product of it all was a lot of confused thinking, bad examples, and writing that just didn’t work. And it was happening in all types of companies and organizations everywhere, big ones, small ones, government agencies, universities, service companies, manufacturing firms, companies for profit and those for not, anywhere people had to write to get the job done.
And yet, some people were able to overcome. Facing the same problems, the same frustrations, they still managed to write effective letters, memos, reports, and proposals—and often in less time and at less cost. How did they do it? Were they experienced writers masquerading as workplace professionals? No, but they did have one thing in common: they had finally acknowledged that writing skill is a business skill, vital to their success, and not something that would always be “taken care of” by somebody else. They had set long-range goals, then gone after them one step at a time.
Today, that kind of commitment is helping more and more people become better business writers. Unfortunately, they are a minority, barely one percent of the workforce. Others, if they begin at all, give up when they run into guidelines that are either too shallow, too complicated, or poorly presented. The answer lies
in the right teacher and the right program, one that will lure us into a new
and palatable way of learning a skill that has too often been served up as
a dense, impenetrable mystery.
For many of us, those sleep-inducing schoolmarm lectures are but a faint memory. We’re no longer diagramming sentences or conjugating verbs. Back then, when
we were struggling students, language was a subject for close scrutiny, a
specimen under glass. In the office, language is a major force, affecting
everything — including our careers. If we do not respect its power, we are
sure to become its victim.
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Biography
A University of Miami journalism graduate, Lee Woods has been a reporter in Europe, a senior corporate staff writer, a marketing communications manager, an in-house advertising manager, a proposal writer/editor, a workshop leader, and a freelance copywriter for 25 years. Under contract to a variety of public and private organizations, corporations, local government agencies, advertising agencies and university training centers, he has planned, created, written and produced the gamut of both internal and external communications, including Web site content, magazine articles, newsletters, print ads, brochures, trade show presentations and display copy, product bulletins, slogans, news releases, proposals, and executive summaries for both domestic and international readers.
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His 24 articles and essays have appeared in SAIL magazine, Caribbean Travel and Life, Defense and Foreign Affairs, Cruising World, Caribbean Sports & Travel, Military Technology, Vertiflite, Brevard Business News, Signal Magazine, the Miami Herald, Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, and the Journal of the American Sailing Association. He has also written three business communications guidelines: Writing Skill is a Business Skill; The 8-Hour Executive Summary (a workshop text), and a proposal development guide for the Raytheon Company.
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He has created and conducted a variety of business writing workshops for the Raytheon Company, Harris Corporation, Brevard Community College, the University of Central Florida Career Development Center, and the Small Business Administration. His business writing workshop at the Harris Corporation lasted for ten years.
Flash Words 2009 Chinese-English Helps You Practice Word, Phrase, And Sentence Translations Using Your Computer Rather Than Pieces Of Paper. Round Table Software’s Owner, Charles Rutkowski, Ph.D., Developed This Program To Make Learning Easier & More Fun.
Flash Words 2009 Chinese-English Language Learning & Review Program.
I had been in college for six years and did my post-graduation is the subject of political science. My friend Krishna had been with me throughout, because, we both were neighbours and we both were of the same age. Father of Krishna was in government service, but as and when he was transferred to some other station, he was leaving his family here because they were having their own house here and they had got some properties too and they needed persons to look after those properties and to collect monthly rent from the tenants.
My father was a contractor and we were counted amongst rich people of the town and I had noted that my parents were keeping me in schools, in colleges and in training institutions simply to defer my marriage, which they wanted should be conducted when I complete the age of 23 years. They were having certain boys in their mind who too were engaged in contractor business and they would not like that the wife should go to work in some office or in some institution.
One day my friend Krishna wanted to get her name registered with the local Employment Exchange and I had to accompany her. We reached the office late and he clerk concerned informed us that the register has been closed and he suggested us to come on the next day and that too before 1.00PM. I was insisting that name of my friend should be registered now and the employee should not direct us tomorrow. But the clerk concerned was not agreeing to my suggestion. I started speaking on the subject, “ You people never serve the people. In papers it is declared that you are public servants and the people of India are the real masters of this country. But in fact, you people could not change your attitude and still you are functioning as masters of this country and you are trying to keep us slaves.” But the clerk concerned could not agree to re-open the closed register. We both went to a senior official, and he too expressed his inability to reopen the register. When I started speaking once more, the official said, “ You are an educated girl. You are beautiful and sweet. You are well behaved. You seem to be belonging to an advanced family. You belong to a well settled family. We want to serve you and I should have been happy to serve you and get your pleasure, but I am unable to re-open the closed register. We are governed under certain rules and regulations and we have not been allowed to violate those rules. Sorry Madam. We are not able to help you today. Pleas give your ‘darshan’ tomorrow.” We came back, but I had in my mind that tomorrow I shall be making a complaint against these two official to their senior officer present in the office.
My friend Krishna was not ready to visit the Employment Exchange because she was not agreeing to my proposal of making the complaint with the senior officer. She had said, “ We should not make a complaint. We should develop- good relations with these officers and officials because they shall be present in each part of our life and since the whole administration is controlled by these people, they shall be useful for us if we have good relations with them and if we make complaints, those too shall be ignored, but the people against who we shall make complaint shall never forget the same and they would be causing harm and losses to us.” Krishna countered my speech and from that day I never talked on this subject. But still I could not forget my visit to the Employment Exchange and the blunt refusal which I had to face on that date. I had got some information about government offices through news papers and through some serials telecasted through TV Channels, but this actual experience was unforgettable to me.
I was married to a contractor and my friend Krishna got a job of lecturer in a high school and was married to a college lecturer. We had been meeting and we had been sharing those good days of childhood and those days which we had spent in the schools and colleges. Krishna had become a serving woman and I had turned a house wife and a society woman because my husband had been providing me with all the aids which could beautify me and as and when we were in some gathering, I had been adjudged the best dressed and the most beautiful woman. My husband was happy and we were living a very good life.
I had been sharing my experience in the Employment exchange with my husband and he had been telling me that there could be certain difficulties with the offices. All are not corrupt and all are not in favour of creating troubles for the people of India. He had been explaining to me that they too have to give some money for getting through their bills and estimates and he had been telling me that the people in the office have got their own distribution system and that is the reason none from the office makes a complaint against them. Similarly they pay money and get the work done so that they may not be bothered time and again. He explained that it is better to give money and get the work done than visiting the offices time and again. He told me that they pay because they try to save their time and energy which is more constly.
I had been sharing the views of my husband with Krishna as and when we had the occasion and one day she said, “ I was not having any ill will against the officials in the Employment Exchange because I have myself seen that the government servants have got their own limitations. They were right because they were bound to draw a line on the end of each working day and for registration purpose they had fixed1.00 P.M.” But I was not having a soft corner for those people even today after lapse of so many years. I still wanted to teach them a lesson. But once Krishna said, “ Can you recall those words which the senior official had said.” You are beautiful. You are sweet. Your behaviour is beyond our reproach. You belong to a well settled family. You are having more and higher qualifications. ……. I still remember those words because that was the first and the last occasion in my life when I had heard such sweet words about my personality. I have lived the last years with the help of those words. Those words are still echoing in my ears and are giving me booster. Your husband might have passed such appreciable remarks on you, but I could not hear such comments from my husband to whom I have offered whole of myself.” Krishna had expressed her heart to me without any hesitation because we both were fast friends and therefore, I too started thinking on the subject and within a few days, I decided to meet that official once again. I wanted to listen those words from him once again. I started longing for those words which had never been pored in my ears after that date.
Making a purchase is an emotional activity. When browsing among a number of sale items, most people will most often choose the product that makes them feel the best. How you feel about something is an emotional response. Some words or phrases cater to these emotional needs more than others. Sitting on that sofa is so comfortable and cozy. The car you are considering will impress the neighbors. That item for the home looks just perfect with your surroundings. People buy things to satisfy their emotional needs and make them feel good.
By using emotional power words in your titles, ads, emails, and sales pages you will entice more people to buy your product. As proof of this, from which ad below would you prefer to make a purchase?
Ad 1) Sale, sale, sale! Free bonus – today only! Buy 1 tube of XYZ Skin Cream, get 1 FREE! Rub it in and you can feel it releasing all the tension in your body. Makes you feel so relaxed, you’ll think you just had a massage! Fast delivery, Free shipping! Your complete Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back – no questions asked!
Ad 2) Two tubes XYZ Skin Cream – no charge to ship.
Both of these ads are selling the same thing. But, if you are like most people, you would prefer to buy from ad number 1. In that ad, all of the key words from the list below are used. Try using some of these words in your ads, sales pages, and emails and watch your sales increase!
1. Use the word “fast”. People like immediate gratification and want fast results, fast delivery, fast ordering, etc. We value our time more than our money.
2. Use the word “discount/sale ” in your ad. People like bargains and are more inclined to buy something on sale. Using a time limit on your sale (today only) makes people more inclined to buy it now.
3. Use the word “you/your” in your ad. Design your ad in a normal conversational tone. People will subconsciously believe that you are talking directly to them. It makes them feel important and more inclined to buy.
Please excuse me now; I have to finish up here. You see, I saw an ad for this new XYZ Skin Cream that I’ve just GOT to order…
I could still recall the days of writing telegrams. That was
before the fax machine, internet and email. Writing a telegram
meant economy of words and so obvious verbs and needless
adjectives had to be omitted.
Today, with the advent of email and other cheap sources of
communication you don’t have to be that paranoid about your
message-except you are writing an advertisement. When writing a
classified ad for example, every word must count in the small
space allowed and so word choice becomes very important.
But word choice is not only about being brief.
Even when crafting a long sales letter you should try and avoid
using the personal pronouns: “we, me, I, our,us”. The sales
message should be about your prospects and not about your
company. The “we syndrome” is a common error but it can easily
be avoided. A sales message should state upfront the benefit to
the customer not parade how many awards the company has received
in the past ten years. Whenever possible then the copy should be
written in the third person.
There are some other words that are very common in advertising
but are just too vague to have any force. Great copy is always
specific. “How to make $3,567.23 from your home in 30 days!” has
more force than “How to make money from home.” Here are some
commonly used words that lack force because their meaning is too
ethereal:
“It” – State what “it” is rather than leave “it” for the reader
to figure out. This word can often be replaced by what ‘it’
represents or stands in place of.
“Quality” – This has a similar meaning to “personality”. We
often hear people say that someone has personality. But everyone
has a personality whether good or bad. The same holds for
quality. Every product or service has some quality which the
customer will be the ultimate judge of.
Superlatives such as “tastiest, best, fastest, strongest,
superior, minimize, optimize”. The problem with these words is
that they instill doubt in the readers because these claims
appear unsubstantiated. These words lack power because they are
not measurable. Take the word “superior” for example. What
criterion or measurement was used to judge this product as
superior and by how much?
“Solution” – This word cannot stand on its own. If you are
selling a product or service it is also obvious that you are
selling the solution to a problem, so state what the solution is
rather than just using the word.
“Technology” – This word is commonly used to suggest innovation
and newness. But customers have little concern about the
technology that is behind the products they buy. They are only
concerned about the benefit they derive from these products and
services. How many drivers are really concerned about the
technology that’s under the hoods of the vehicle they drive?
They are really only concerned that the vehicle is reliable and
gives them some social status.
“Difference” – Rather than stating that you are different from
your competitors state the difference instead. Just saying
“different” means little and is just filling space. The
statement “We make all the difference” doesn’t leave the
prospect more educated than before reading your sales message.
Consider the following advertiser’s blurb:
“We make all the difference because of our superior quality and
solutions we offer.”
It’s like junk food – a lot of flavor but zero nutritional
value. This statement means little because it’s not specific at
all. It creates more questions than answers and leaves the
reader totally confused. And this is the last thing you want to
do to a customer.
Go to any website and you’ll see statements such as “can save
you time and money”, (well how much?) “creates website in less
time” (less than 2, 4, 100 hours?), “maximize your gas mileage”
(by how much 1%, 5%, 40%?). All these statements will triple
their effectiveness by using numbers (note that I gave a
quantity, ‘triple’).
The more specific your message is the more believable you will
appear. Using a bunch of superlatives only makes you seem
self-serving. Customers are immune to this type of hype and
filters out these claims like a squirrel discards peanut shells.
When making any comparison in your sales letter state the
baseline, use numbers and give a time period whenever possible.
In this way you don’t have to use superlatives because the
numbers will speak for themselves. If you follow this simple
rule your sales conversion rate will increase by 4.7% within 29
days of putting this into effect.
Even though that last statement was hypothetical you can sense
its power because specific numbers were used instead of just
saying ‘your sales will increase’.
I think it’s time to review your sales message and sweep away
the chaff words leaving the pure wheat behind.
You’ll be 9.9% happier that you did!
Ray Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and
Internet Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have
claimed up to 1,600% increase in their comversion rates just
from using his services. He is an expert in writing sales copy
for the web. He has studied extensively the relationship between
website structure and design as a factor in internet sales
success. You may visit his website at:
Whether you realize it or not, making a purchase is an emotional activity. When you browse among a number of sale items, most people will choose the product that makes them feel the best. The key word is FEEL. The way you feel is an emotion. A few examples of emotional responses are: happy, sad, cozy, secure, etc.
An item for the home might be purchased because it matches the surroundings perfectly and brightens the room (it makes you feel cheerful). Sitting on that sofa is so comfortable and cozy (secure). The car you are considering will impress the neighbors (proud). People buy things to satisfy their emotional needs.
Some words or phrases cater to these emotional needs more than others. Use these emotional trigger words in your titles, ads, emails, and sales pages to encourage people to buy. As proof, from which ad below would you prefer to purchase:
Ad 1) Sale, sale, sale! Free bonus – today only! Get a brand new XYZ Fishing Rod. Buy today and get our exclusive important fishing guide – Who’s catching What and Where. This handy guide is included Absolutely FREE! Easy Low Payment, Free shipping, Fast delivery! Your complete Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back – no questions asked!
Ad 2) XYZ Fishing rod with fishing pamphlet – no charge to ship.
Both of these ads are selling the same thing. But, if you were like most people, you would prefer to buy from ad number 1. In that ad, all of the key words in the list below are used. Try using some of these words in your ads, sales pages, and emails and watch your sales increase!
1. Use the word “important” in your ad. People want important information that could change their life.
2. Use the word “guaranteed”. It is reassuring to know that they are not risking their money buying a product that they won’t like. They like to have some recourse if they are not happy.
3. Use the word “fast”. People like immediate gratification and want fast results, fast delivery, fast ordering, etc. We value our time more than our money.
4. Use the word “easy” in your ad. We like things that are not difficult. People like easy methods, easy instructions, easy to use, easy payments, etc.
5. Use the word “free” in your ad. Everybody likes a free incentive to do business with you. Offer free ebooks, downloads, reports, etc.
Please excuse me now; I have to finish up here. You see, I saw an ad for one of those new XYZ Fishing Rods that I’ve just GOT to order…
If you want to learn French words and you don’t want to go through the tedium of boring old text books there are thankfully very good CD systems that work with your computer. They have the benefit of being interactive so they involve you in the lessons. Although still challenging, this makes learning fun and therefore faster!
But what about when you are not at your computer? Even if you have a laptop it’s not convenient to take it everywhere with you.
A good CD will include French language mp3s. You can copy just these files to another CD or to an MP3 player and have some language lessons on the move. That way you can be learning French in the car, on the train, even while you are flying to France on vacation!
The best way to learn French words is to have them around you all the time. Using the idea above is one way. You can also get a pocket French dictionary or electronic translator. With either of these you can look up English words and get their French equivalent whenever you want. Try it when you are getting a coffee or some lunch. How would you do the same in French? What would you ask for? You may not be advanced enough to put together a whole French phrase but you can get to grips with the individual words and work on putting the phrases together when you get back to your computer.
One of the popular buzz words for learning the French language at the moment is “immersion” learning, which is just a fancy way of telling you to have it around you all the time. French language MP3s are one way, as is the English to French Dictionary. Another popular method is to choose ten related words and put a list on the fridge door or by your workstation. Once the list is learned, do another. Try to make the list one that is associated with something you enjoy doing. The more interesting it is the easier and faster you will learn.
Finally, when choosing a CD it’s important to find one where the language is spoken by a native French person so you can practice the accent and intonation. After all, when you learn French words you want to be sure the French can understand you!
More about how to learn French words and all things French at Frenchlife4real.com. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just ask!
