Beth Butler asked:


Parents look at me with confusion on their faces or call me with anxiety in their voices. They all wonder if they are doing the right thing. Many are on waiting lists to be have their child participate in a dual immersion program at a local magnet school, while others fork over hundreds and hundreds of dollars to have their toddler attend language immersion classes once a week. The problem is that these families represent a very small percentage of our United States population.

How many of you are able to afford hundreds of dollars for a weekly Spanish class for your child? How long is that waiting list for the immersion or dual immersion program at your local magnet school? Do a lot of your neighbors and colleagues have the same opportunity as you? The answers to these and other questions surrounding our feeble attempt to bring early language learning into the picture of this great nation are weak, feeble and show a clear lack of direction.

Research continues to conclude that bilingual education can and does provide children with a strong foundation in acquiring second language skills while increasing their proficiency in reading and math. (Dr. Bialystok, York University, 2001) In fact, Colin Baker, in his book titled Policy and Practice in Bilingual Education, speaks directly to the fact that bilingual education can work in the school systems and will result in meaningful instruction with successful language acquisition.

With that being said, could we get real here? There is absolutely no way our country of the United States of America will ever make the funds available to create the opportunity for immersion programs to be set up at every public elementary school starting next school year. My own daughter had physical education cut last year in her public school classroom. This year, they have teacher-directed PE three times a week. That sounds to me like what we used to call recess. All of us here about budget cuts here and not enough funds there. The harsh reality is that our country will never do what many other countries have been doing and continue to do to provide early language learning for their citizens.

Let us pretend for a fleeting moment that they did allot the funding (that is like dreaming for the salaries of teachers to finally be commiserate with doctors), then what? Where would they find enough bilingual teachers to instruct in all of these immersion programs across the country? The answer is nowhere. Statistics show that the United States does not have the pool of educators needed to implement nation wide immersion programs at any level. Can anyone say outsourcing? I do not know about you, but I am trying my best to support products, services and ideas that keep the jobs here in the US.

The last point that needs to be brought up in regards to this immersion vs. bilingual education debate is the most important one in my eyes. It is a common sense approach, a very easy to understand perspective and a view that involves the heart as well as the mind. Pretend you are a very young child again. Go ahead. Close your eyes for a moment (then open them back up to continue reading!). Your parents ramble on and on about objects in your home, and you learn the words for each item as you develop from an infant into a toddler. Your siblings also get involved in the family fun, and roll a ball at you, instructing you to roll the ball back. Here comes natural language learning!

Did you know that most language experts, linguists, agree that it is just as easy to learn two words for an object as it is to learn only one when you are in these early and formative years? That means your brother could easily toss in his limited knowledge of a second language from his middle school Spanish class and tell you pelota (pay-low-tah) while rolling the ball and also saying ball. Or at the dinner table, with you in your high chair, your family is using the words thank you followed by gracias (grah-see-ahs) as they pass one another food. These are all examples of introducing a new language in a bilingual format. There exists a seamless flow back and forth between the native language and the target language.

How much more realistic is this type of instruction for the stay at home mom, the preschool teacher, the family child care provider and the homeschooling parent? Tons! Even if you do not speak one word of French, you could easily grasp command of a few simply vocabulary words a week and introduce them to your baby. Or say you do not recall a lot of your high school Spanish (just enough to be dangerous at a bar in Mexico!); I bet you could easily bring a few words a day into your home and the life of your children by using this technique. You make the commitment, and you could easily change the course of direction in regards to the cognitive development of your child.

Resources are everywhere, and many of them are free. Yes, you heard me correctly. F-R-E-E!!! Simply conduct a search on the internet by plugging in the target language you want to introduce to your child. You will pull up thousands of results, and your job is now to sift through them and find what will make your child tick. Language cards, music CDs, DVDs, board books and more abound in the world of language learning. And the best thing is many of these resources are truly presented in a bilingual format.

So, while the debate between immersion vs. bilingual education rages on, do not get caught up in the frenzy and waste valuable time during the window of opportunity your child is experiencing when it comes to learning a second language. Make the most of the first five years of life as Dr. John Mike compels us to in his book Brilliant Babies Powerful Adults and give your children the opportunity to travel successfully in this very global society in which they are growing up.

Nelson Tan asked:


I have a feeling some niche marketers found success in a way that is not publicized on the Net.

What is typically publicized is the way of the “niche blitz”: Cover as many niches as possible en masse and monetize related information. This aims for quantity. Under the duress of time, strategization is sacrificed, and the emphasis is on a repetitive pattern of setting up online systems for monetization through product sales, paid clicks and lead generation, but each one of these niches or systems are not going to pay highly by itself because of a certain ‘herd’ factor pertaining to this idea of a “niche blitz”. Moreover, the maximum human effort that can be possibly expended comes most likely from only 1 person, the marketer himself.

In the Internet Business Manifesto, Rich Schefren had stressed you’re going to hit a limit with all the work done solely by yourself. That’s not how companies grow. I’m already lying to myself when “I AM the company”.

Not only that, the end of your “niche blitz” can come when your niche sites become stale and die down because of one-time setup-and-leave-it effort or “repetition fatigue”.

Of late, because of the expertise I’m known for, business associates have come to propose ideas and work in need of a collaboration to generate leads online. So instead of chasing niches, I’m attracting them. Second, the economy of these offline businesses my associates are involved in definitely deals with a lot more money and possibly have a lesser degree of competition due to its lack of Internet pre-eminence (it may be the same case with competitors in the same industry), but if I should bring the business online, it will certainly be presented from a unique angle and with a unique taste.

The crucial characteristic to note is [b]any form of business that requires a team of players to run it is certainly big enough to share substantial profits for everyone even while your role within the team is a small bit part.[/b] It is what you should be looking for in evaluating a business because you can then fully focus on exercising a specialty skill (for example, lead generation) to the fullest instead of “doing everything from A to Z”, leading to fatigue and aimlessness.

So don’t be embarassed that you don’t consider yourself successful via the “niche blitz” method. Being more selective can be the more profitable way for you.

With this being said, perhaps there are highly profitable businesses within your neighborhood that with your help as an Internet Marketer and if the business permits, they can bring in a lot more profits online! You are merely piggybacking a business and injecting it with a new momentum towards Internet pre-eminence. If you’re not attracting opportunities then you should proactively approach the business owners instead and propose a win-win situation.

I was able to obtain a sample copy of a local businesses approach letter that Paul Evans has used to create an extremely successful business serving as the local Internet expert for businesses in his hometown. I want you to have a free copy.

This is the perfect complement to Andrew Cavanaugh’s special report, “Offline Gold For The Online Marketer”, about selling your Internet Marketing skills to businesses in your local city. The report starts by presuming the reader as a total stranger to business owners and how s/he goes about the process of striking a business partnership to the point when they would be happy to put checks into the reader’s pocket.

Years ago I did a little research out of curiosity and I reprint my personal summary: Out of the 95% of all US companies which are small businesses (categorized as having less than 100 workers), 66% do not believe the Web offers significant opportunities to fuel their growth just because they are local businesses. Only 23% anticipate that online sales will affect their bottomline. So if people say there’s still a lot of potential in online marketing, imagine what’s still being ignored in the REAL world!

If you know very well you would like to take the path of forging alliances with existing offline businesses, read Andrew’s special report to find out how to go about it in the most effective and efficient manner.

Jeffrey Wyrick asked:

Before you start up your email or fax machine to send resumes, have you done a self analysis of your career skills. Gaining a prospective employers confidence early in the job interview could go a long way.

While applying for a job, it’s idealistic that you discover your strengths and weaknesses and be ready to address these. By knowing your advantage, the chances of finding & getting the job that you wish will certainly get smoother. But you shouldn’t become too confident because this is among the more common mistakes that plague job applicants. Appearing too surefooted or as somewhat of a know it all individual will merely get you tagged by your interviewer as unfit for the job.

IDENTIFYING YOUR SKILLS

1st thing’s 1st. You had better identify your accomplishments and skill sets. This is your ticket to get that job and you ought to be able to articulate your abilities and expertness as best as possible. A lot folk’s experience a difficult time narrating their accomplishments and abilities as this could appear to be boasting. But you shouldn’t be timid or afraid to talk about your skills. As a matter of fact, it’s crucial that you express to your possible employer what your gifts and talents are. You ought to be able to sell your abilities to your employer. That’s how you’ll acquire the job that you wish. It’s crucial that you don’t come out arrogant or condescending but you should as well avoid selling yourself short. Whenever the interviewer inquires you about your very strong points or what assorts you from the remaining applicants, you ought to be able to promptly apply an effective answer, but before you even go to the interview part, your resume had better spotlight your acquirements and talents for your likely employer to view.

TYPE OF SKILLS

There’s 2 primary classes of skills, hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are tangible in the good sense that these are matters

that you do like: knowing how to control diverse types of machinery, knowledge of a specialized computer program, ability to type quick, skills about applying many types of tools, credentials concerning particular crafts, etc. Soft skills are skills that are kind of abstract in nature as if personal qualities. This may include the following: being a good team player, holding the power to work on your own, being enthusiastic or organized and decisive.

THE STEPS TO FOLLOW

Constructing a list of your former jobs and experience acquired 1st matter to do is to make a list of all the businesses that you had been employed at for and the skill-sets that you acquired by these employers. There will be numerous things to name and you had better be heedful enough not to forget even the most minor things or activities that you were part of or organized. It is also a good idea to list the volunteer activities that you participated in.

INCLUDE A LIST OF YOUR HOBBIES

Though it could deem trivial at first, it’s likewise really helpful to list altogether your hobbies. There are a lot of abilities that your likely employer may acquire from your hobby list. These will as well as give an approximation of your personality. For instance,

whenever you were part of the school’s debating squad, then your employer may derive that you have good analytical skills. If you were a whiz chess player, then your employer will hold the impression that you are good at arriving at critical decisions. Think of your day by day routine and the matters that you do and frequently take for granted. Are you an organized individual who always maintains your things in decent order? Are you an extrovert that could easily form friendships in a matter of minutes? These may appear ordinary to normal matters to you, but your next boss may believe differently.

CHOOSE WHAT CAREER YOU DESIRE

After listing all your skills and all the things that you do good, you may now resolve what area or career you would like to take a

crack at. Choose the accomplishments contained from your list and partner it with the career type you are seeking. Always acquire time to think if your skills are applicable to the job that you are shooting for. Do not be annoyed if you have to cut down a few of the skills from your list. It’s also crucial to include in the list your skills that the prospective employer will probably value.

ADHERE WHAT YOU WRITE

You had better be realistic about your skills and the degree of expertness that you have with it. For instance, if you suggest that

you are a really organized person, then you should be able to demonstrate this to the interviewer by being able to organize your

thoughts and effectively use the time that was afforded for your job interview.

It’s significant to recognize your skills every time you are job hunting. Always put your best foot forward and good luck!

Jeremy Gislason asked:


People are always moved by good speakers. Orators, politicians, members of the debate team… After all, they command a certain air of respect and the people love listening to what they have to say.

However, they may also tend to overlook the importance of improving listening skills. With listening skills development, you can build better relationships and enhance your way of life.

Have you ever heard of the expression, “He’s all talk?” Well, it’s not something you’d like other people to say about you, that’s for sure! So maybe sometimes, it’s better to cease talking for a while and start putting in more effort to just listen.

Listening is often depicted as a passive form of action. However, it is no less powerful. People who know how, and when, to listen properly can go a long way. I’d even go so far as to say that listening skills development can lead to a wealthier and more successful life!

So how did listening get so powerful?

Well, listening leads to having a lot of useful information. Wherever you go, people talk. They talk about the latest news or the latest gadget that’s out on the market right now. All these details might not make a lot of sense at first, but you could find them useful one way or another.

In the workplace, listening is a desired skill. How many assistants have been fired because they didn’t know how to listen? How many employees have screwed a project up because they were blabbing more and more about their own thoughts than listening to the thoughts of their superiors?

Remember that listening is different from just hearing. When you listen, you also try to understand and analyze the words that are coming out of the speaker’s mouth. For example, your company sends you off into a conference. Listening properly means absorbing what is being said, and connecting that with what is happening in your own company. It’s more interactive than most people realize.

In personal relationships, listening also goes a long way. How many fights have you had wherein your partner claims that you don’t know how to listen? Sometimes, you need to talk less and listen more. The more you talk, the more aggravated both parties can become. Listening, on the other hands, helps you process your emotions and stops you from doing or saying something you might regret later on.

So how can you become a better listener? Well, you start with being aware of yourself. If you know that you talk too much, you’ll have a much easier time holding your tongue. In conversations, you don’t always have to say something. In meetings, you don’t always have to speak too much of your mind.

It might be a little challenging for someone who’s used to doing all the talking, but try it one step at a time. Or at least, try it out for the shock value. Imagine just how surprised people will be when you choose to listen to them this time around. Besides, by talking less, you might be surprised at how brilliant other people’s ideas are.

Another way to develop your listening skills is by giving yourself a self-exam. At a meeting, try your best to listen to the speaker and then summarize what he or she has said afterwards. Doing this will also help you improve your memory.

Indeed, listening is an important skill to have in life. However, you must also be careful not to end up listening to the wrong things. Gossip, for example, is one of them. Of course, sometimes you just can’t help but listen to what other people say about person x or person y; but don’t let unverified information get to your head. Keep that piece of information stowed somewhere where you won’t accidentally let it out.

Despite being a basic human skill, you’d be surprised at how many people fail to listen to others properly. This could have something to do with their actual attitude or about their life in general. Don’t be part of that group of people who don’t care about what others think. Be the person who listens. Be the person who can make a difference in the workplace.