Learning French Via the World Wide Web
I just completed taking French classes in New York City, which set me back a few hundred dollars. I was happy to pay, because it motivated me to resume my plans to become bilingual. I have my text books from college, my recent French class, and copious notes that I continue to pour over. Still, I know that when my class finished, I had to keep up my studies. There is no teacher to tell me to finish homework and study all the verb tenses. I know that I will be relying on the World Wide Web, in addition to other traditional resources, when it comes to my continuing studies in French.
The infinite resources to be found on the Internet seem limitless, but I think I know which sites I can rely on for my language studies. In addition to a few online language lessons, I have found the complete French language series entitled French in Action, which came out in the late 1980s and was developed by a Yale University professor. As a child, I remember watching re-runs of the series, which was completely in French and was centered on a young French woman, her family, and friends in Paris on PBS. The language immersion technique is very effective, and I am very happy to have found it online so I can watch and absorb the lessons at my own pace.
The best sites to help me with “on the spot” language learning are the online dictionaries. I usually alternate between WordReference.com and Yahoo! Babel Fish. Not sure what the future tense of the verb savoir (which in English means “to know”) is? I usually find myself on verbe2verbe.com or Conjugationfr.com to make sure I spelled my conjugated verbs properly. I prefer the former site because it gives the most accurate definition of the verb in English. I have also found that if I spell the word wrong and there are no direct matches given, a list of other, similarly spelled verbs appears in the left-hand column. For someone who needs as much as I can get, I am very grateful for these useful additions.
If I can help it, I will not let the dust settle on my French language lessons again. With the help of my own personal resources, the library, conversations with French-speaking friends, and the World Wide Web, I may one day be able to call myself bilingual.
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Experience Last Month’s IA Summit Online
In today’s world, it’s hard to take time out of work and life to attend conferences. And in today’s economy, many of us are opting to save the money needed to attend these conferences. But for anyone who missed the 10th Anniversary IA Summit that was held in Memphis, TN on March 20 through 22, you can still catch some of the sessions online.
Several of the staff at Boxes and Arrows captured many of the main sessions and posted them on their site. As of now, they seem to have posted everything except Days 2 and 3. But they have a message up saying that more sessions should be rolling in over the next two weeks, so hopefully those will get filled in soon. The conference theme was “Expanding Our Horizons”.
Michael Wesch opened the conference with a keynote address about “fresh and ambitious direction for all designers”. I also like how Boxes and Arrows embedded the IA Summit’s music theme at the top of each page. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a conference (at least not a usability conference) with it’s own jingle.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the IA Summit, here’s a brief description from the summit’s website:
The Information Architecture Summit is the premier gathering place for information architects and other user experience professionals. It’s grown from a special interest group’s efforts to define an emerging field, to a rich and expanding community of practice shaping and informing multiple disciplines. You don’t have to be an IA or User Experience professional to enjoy the Summit. You simply have to love the art and science of structuring information.
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It’s 2009! Now What?
Guess what, you survived 2008!
No matter where you are right now, you will probably agree that we may have some more shaky times ahead in 2009 before we completely see the bottom. It’s predicted that CIOs will look to help companies save money by cutting consulting, hardware and software expenses. This means some software purchases may go on hold or less licenses maintained, equipment being returned or refurbished, and staff members taking on work consultants normally take on for longer hours for staff and less work for consultants.
But, there are also lots of opportunities and more to come. Here are some things to consider looking into so you stay off the reduction list:
1. Refurbish any equipment lying around
While it may not be of use to you, others will more likely be on the market for cheaper yet equivalent technology in older hardware skins. See if you can add more memory or a better processor to make it more appealing to a new more expensive equivalent.
2. Focus on where you add value
What are you excellent at? Continue to focus on and find opportunities to apply and show off your talents to show you are one to keep around when the next RIF occurs. When your boss, company CEO and/or clients present you with their 2009 goals and objectives, determine where you fit in the picture and ask to take on a particular role or responsibility beyond what you are already assigned to do to help demonstrate your talents and capabilities being part of the team.
3. Gain new skills
Why wait any longer - look to enroll in either local college, training program or online options to obtain new skills. Before doing so determine how you are going to apply those skills either on the job or on side or volunteer projects so you can prove to someone looking at your resume you really can apply what you learned in the classroom. Also check to see if your company will pay for your education before enrolling - many do. This will also show your employer or clients you are constantly willing to grow and learn.
Don’t forget about “indirect” skills you can apply on the job - for example I took a few creative writing classes last year to build up to writing a novel. While I do have the longer term goal of publishing a novel at some point, shorter term I can apply the techniques I learned to write a novel to how I tell a story via a presentation to a prospect or sales audience about how my team did a great job adding value to a client of ours.
It’s 2009 - go have fun and stay ahead!
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Inspirational Technology Programs
Around this time every year I am fortunate to attend the annual World Congress of Junior Chamber International (JCI), which is held at a different city each year - this year, New Dehli, India. Besides great networking activities, workshops, competitions, board meetings and evening socials, we recognize other young leaders around the globe who are making a difference in the arts, business, community and many other categories. This year’s honorees were astounding individuals, motivating me to look for more ways to give back in life after hearing each of their inspirational stories.
One winner struck a cord with me is Dr. Sam Prince, who by day is a doctor, but by night continuing to forge technology in new regions of the world via a non-profit he started, Emagine Foundation. But Dr. Prince is not alone in bringing technology usage to those in both established and developing countries around the globe. Here’s my short list of ventures to watch and get involved in:
Continue Reading “Inspirational Technology Programs”
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Solutions Stars Video Conference - October 29
Here is another interesting virtual web conference coming up on October 29.  It is absolutely FREE and no registration required. Just go back to the website on October 29th.
On October, 29, 2008 from 1 p.m. until approximately 3:30 p.m. EST. , Network Solutions proudly presents the “Solutions Stars Video Conference,” a series of videos and live discussions featuring 32 of the world’s leading business and marketing experts. The live video conference will coach small business owners and entrepreneurs on how the Internet can benefit their business. Nine content areas featuring vignettes of the Solutions Stars will run during the conference:
- Building Web Presence
- The Social Opportunity
- Start with Listening
- Strategy Drives Outreach
- You Need Social Networks
- To Blog or Not to Blog
- Visibility Through Search
- Rising Above the Noise
- Time Demands
For more information about the speakers, visit the site.
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