Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Website Design Info - Part 2

This is the second of eight articles about website design. Our discussion will deal with some of the issues which need to be considered when developing a new online presence. You may have already thought of some of these, but perhaps there are probably things which you haven't even considered.

In the last article, we gave some thought as to what the company wants to do with its online presence. This article discusses what kind of name the online business will have, or "What kind of 'dot' do I need."

The Company
The Great American Widget Company is a manufacturer of widgets, that common household item that many find indespensible. Until now, however, Great American has been a 'brick and mortar' business. With the founder's son just out of college, he is looking forward to expanding the company's business on the Internet.

Website Design Info - Part 1

This is the first of eight articles about website design. Our discussion will deal with some of the issues which need to be considered when developing a new online presence. You may have already thought of some of these, but perhaps there are may be things which you haven't yet considered.

The Company
The Great American Widget Company is a manufacturer of widgets, that common household item that many find indispensable. Until now, however, Great American has been a 'brick and mortar' business. With the founder's son just out of college, he is looking forward to expanding the company's business on the Internet.

Air Purifier Info For Dummies

If you are in the dark about what air purifiers are and what they actually do, you are not alone. Many people have at least thought about the notion of improving their indoor air quality, but quickly abandon the idea because of the confusion surrounding the topic of air purifiers. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will have a working knowledge of air purifiers and how they work. First of all, lets define the term air purifier. An air purifier is a mechanism that is designed to free air from contaminants. Different techniques are used to render this task and these include filters, adsorbents, and electrostatic charges. Asthma sufferers, those that have allergies, and those with other respitory problems have the most to gain from an air purifier.

Recall Info

Recollection is retrieval of the recall. It is not the passive procedure; people use metacognitive plan in order to make best use of the memory, as well as priming plus the other circumstance can also have the large result on what is recovered.

While we try to keep in mind the information there are numerous diverse techniques that we can employ. All these are described as the Measures of the Retention. In the standard circumstances encountered in to the normal life, our aptitude to distinguish what we are familiar with is far better to our aptitude to remember it. We identify the person's face, however their first name escapes us. The police also make use of the recognition memory at time they put the suppose into the line-up or else show you book of the mug shots. You can more repeatedly recognize the expect than you can give the precise report from your recall recollection. In the exam you might find it is very easy to reply multiple-choice questions, since you will recognize the right answer while you see it. But if asking you to write the reply from what you already recall devoid of any punctual poses the greater confront. In psychology, the form of recalling the characterized by the feeling of knowledge when a bit previously practiced is again come across; in such kind of situations the correct answer will be able to identified while existing however might not be replicated in absence of a stimulus.

Info About Endometriosis You ShInfo About Endometriosis You Should Knowould Know

Endometriosis is a condition that can easily cause problems in a woman’s life and can have far reaching effects beyond the physical symptoms that is causes. As the cause of this condition is still largely unknown, any menstruating women can be diagnosed with endometriosis. Here is some info about endometriosis that you might find helpful in understanding what’s going on.

How Endometriosis Occurs

Women during their reproductive years, usually between 25 and 40 years of age, are most vulnerable to having endometriosis. However, there are documented cases of affected individuals suffering from the condition as early as 11 years of age.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Mixing Spaghetti And English: Teach English In Italy

For those who dream of teaching abroad, Italy is often the first country that comes to mind. Beautiful, historical, and surrounded by a sense of romance, Italy is a dream for most Westerners who plan on traveling for a career.

It should come as no surprise, then, that English teaching jobs in Italy are somewhat difficult to obtain. There's a lot of competition and a lot of applicants, and if you're hoping to secure a position you should be prepared to prove yourself.

Qualifications

In order to teach English in Italy, you'll need to obtain TEFL certification. This will qualify you to teach in a classroom setting. TEFL certification is easy to get, and is often offered as a post-graduate class at college for those planning on teaching abroad. Those without TEFL will have an extremely difficult time getting hired.

One thing that sets Italy apart from other foreign countries is the fact that in order to get a teaching job, a personal interview is a must. You will be required to sit down with your future employers and meet them in person before you are actually hired. This means you should plan your time and your budget around making a trip to Italy for interview purposes.

If you're adventurous, you can always move to Italy before you begin searching for jobs. But if you have any doubts about getting hired, or if you want to make sure everything is lined up before you actually move abroad, you should plan on a few trips back and forth.

The History of the German shepherd

The German shepherd dog is known to be one of the most beautiful and devoted dogs around today. With its toughness and nobility, the breed can sometimes, unfortunately, get judged unfairly; though despite that, it still remains one of the most popular breeds of dog around today.

The History of the Breed

The German shepherd has not actually been around for a long period of time. It was developed in the late 1880’s when a man named Captain Max von Stephanitz decided to standardize the breed.

He saw a wolf like dog at a show in Western Germany and he noticed just how energetic, tough, steady and intelligent the dog actually was. It was medium in size and the dog was also a natural sheepherder which knew exactly what to do. So Captain Max von Stephanitz bought the dog and named him “Horand von Grafrath”.

That was the first ever registered German shepherd dog.

So the main purpose of the breed was to herd cattle and sheep. The main priority was to develop a dog which was intelligent and stable. The looks of the dog were not as important; just as long as the breed could herd really well that was all that mattered. If a dog was born that was not intelligent and which would not obey its owner then it was automatically classed as being useless.

At first, mistakes were made with inbreeding. Captain Max von Stephanitz would breed the pups with their half sisters and the daughters of dog’s sons. This created a lot of problems with the breed and eventually dogs were brought in that were not related by blood.

German History

My brother continues to be a great source for new story ideas. Just like he recently linked me up with Bruce Bell, one of Toronto's most well known experts and historians, he recently read about a German photographer by the name of Susanne Schleyer who had just published a new book, "Unterwegs" ("On the Road") with 100 photos and stories from 12 different cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, London, Paris, Prague, Rom, San Francisco, Saint Petersburg, Venice and Vienna.

I started doing some research on Susanne's website and realized that she had done other interesting projects and yesterday I spent two hours on the phone, talking with her in Berlin. Susanne is an interesting individual. She is in her early 40s, and studied art and German philology in Berlin and later photography in Leipzig. From 1990 onwards she has undertaken travels for photography projects to Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Chile, Argentina, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Italy and the United States.

For her recent book "Unterwegs" ("On the Road"), Susanne created photos in 12 different cities. Then she selected authors to whom she presented the photos and she requested them to write stories, using the photos as inspiration. The book was just recently published in September of 2005.

The project that fascinated me even more is called "Trilogy - A German History Project", that she did jointly with another artist, Michael J. Stephan. "Trilogy" consists of 3 exhibitions composed of images and sound collages that are each independent but connected. The exhibitions explore German history, sixty years after the end of World War II and the collapse of German National Socialism. With the last witnesses of these times nearly gone, Susanne and Michael set out to search for traces, to come up with a way for asking questions about these times on an artistic and subjective level.

German - English

A Review On Leo German English Dictionary


What is the Leo German English Dictionary?

The Leo German-English Dictionary is an online German-English dictionary that runs on three Sun X4100 servers, and was started in 1995 by Achim Jung. Between 1995 and 1999, the principles of the layout, guestbook, forms for contributions, and other basic concepts of the service were developed by Jung and his team, and the vocabulary of the Leo German-English Dictionary grew from a very minuscule number of entries to 170,000 words within this period.

In 2004, the entries count more than 400,000 (symmetrical) entries, equivalent to more than 800,000 conventional dictionary entries. And by the year 2000, the dictionary broke a record of 5,000,000 online queries from users, growing to 5.6 million queries by 2005.

The Leo German English Dictionary and Mobiles:

Besides the online Leo German-English Dictionary, dictionary queries using Short Messaging Service (SMS) was also made available in 2003 in collaboration with burdawireless-GmbH. Not only that, it was also now possible to view the dictionary's software “dictQuery” (the dictQuery server was installed in 2000) on mobile phones and similar display devices. Then in 2004, a small-screen version of the Leo German-English Dictionary was made available on 'pda.leo.org', for users who use handheld devices to access the LEO service.


YourDictionary

YourDictionary is a free online dictionary and much more. The free dictionary search gives you definitions, thesaurus entries, spelling, pronunciation, and etymology results for your word. Alternatively, you can browse the English dictionary alphabetically or by related terms to find meanings and synonyms. In addition, YourDictionary provides resources to help you find the best dictionary and translation sites for French, Spanish, Italian, German and hundreds of other languages.

Need a specialized dictionary, thesaurus or glossary? YourDictionary can help you find the best customized resources including a pharmaceutical and medical dictionary list, computer and science glossaries and a wide collection of industry specific terms. These extensive references are useful for students trying to further their education and learn the vocabulary of a field of study as well as for seasoned professionals.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

ree online dictionaries.

If you are like me and live in a foreign country, not having enough words to express yourself becomes even more problematic.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

After consulting my paper dictionary I found out that microphone is spelt the same way as in English. I went up to the shopping assistant and asked for a 'microphone' for my PC in my best spanish accent but he didn't understand me. I then whipped out my PDA and got it to say the word 'microphone' to him as a test. I thought then that these things really work.

An electronic dictionary can now be used when ever you need it as they are small, fast and and audible. They can be standalone handheld, or downloaded to your PDA and cellphone or you can use free online dictionaries.

I suggest you try out some of the free resources available that can be found on the internet. Download some free, shareware or trial software and use a few of the free online dictionaries. There are dictionaries available for topics such as languages, legal, medical, science, technical, business and math to name a few.

If you have just 7 minutes a day, use an electronic dictionary. Then you can build an executive vocabulary that grants you instant credibility and persuasive power by knowing exactly what words to say and when to say them.

Of course, it's impossible to put everything about electronic dictionary into just one article. But you can't deny that you've just added to your understanding about electronic dictionaries, and that's time well spent.

Improve Your Vocabulary By Using An Electronic Dictionary

Current info about electronic dictionary is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest electronic dictionary info available.

George W Bush can't say 'nuclear'. Does it matter? He is the most powerful person in the world. But he is ridiculed for his vocabulary and use of words. Would you want power as well as respect? With the daily use of a good electronic dictionary you will begin to improve your pronounciation as well as your vocabulary.

From my research I know that with the latest sound technology pronounciations of difficult words are much more audible and copiable. The searches are that much quicker than they used to be and the handheld electronic dictionary now sits snugly in your pocket, unlike your old style paper dictionary.

There was a little boy who asked for a hamburger but he was never able to have it cooked the way he liked or with different kinds of filling due to his limited vocabulary. That little boy was all of us. Most of us are still unable to ask for things exactly the way we want them.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

pronunciation of Spanish.

The major difference is that the vowel sounds in Spanish are pure; they do not have the little “tail’ that English vowels have.

The consonant sounds in Spanish are largely similar to those of English. This does not mean that they are all the same! There are differences with the “l”, “b” and “d” sounds. The main difference with some consonants in Spanish is that they are not “aspirated”, that is they are not made with a puff of air, as are those of English. If you put the back of your hand in front of your mouth when you say “Papa” or “tonto” in Spanish you should not feel the same movement of air that you feel when you say “Pope” or “tent” in English.

These differences are real but fairly manageable by the learner who wants to start off right in Spanish. Once the differences are known they can be worked on. For example, it is relatively easy to leave off the English glide at the end of the Spanish vowels.

Progress can be made with written descriptions of the Spanish sounds. The sounds can be described by comparing them with close English words. And the ear can be trained by listening to native speakers. There are many speech samples on the Internet and most large cities in the United States have at least one Television channel transmitting in Spanish.

All of the above has the purpose of leading into the issue of the value of a “talking” dictionary. Many people who want to learn Spanish think that they need a talking dictionary. Often the learner thinks that this will provide an advantage in learning the language. However, it is a mistake to invest in a talking dictionary. The very best are very expensive and most of them, even the most expensive, have such small speakers that it is impossible to hear the fine points of the pronunciation of Spanish.

The learner very soon knows how to pronounce Spanish since the rules are 100% regular. What is need is the effort to actually pronounce the sounds. Many learners are ashamed of imitating the sounds of the language they are learning and they speak the new language with the same intonation, linkage, and pronunciation of their own native language.

The end result of the learner’s pronunciation (as of his or her overall accent) will be the result of his or her own ability and of the effort expended. The talking dictionary does not contribute anything to the equation. A good electronic Dictionary such as the Oxford Spanish English Dictionary, found at www.LeerEsPoder.com/dicOxford.htm , will be all the learner needs.

language experts

Many language experts believe that the intonation and linkage contribute more to speaking like a native than does the proper pronunciation of all the sounds. This can be seen in the manner in which the people of San José, Cost Rica pronounce the Spanish letter “ere”. For some strange reason, which I have not been able, to track down historically or linguistically, they pronounce the word “arroz” just like a Gringo would. Their double “r” is not trilled as in most Spanish speaking countries; it is not velar as it is in much of Puerto Rico. It is pronounced just as an untrained American would pronounce it. Yet, the person hearing this “error” has no doubt that the persons speaking are native speakers of Spanish. The flow of their speech is perfect and the listener just thinks, “I wonder why they pronounce that word that way…” In other words, often the pronunciation of the sounds is the least important element of speaking well.

Yet pronunciation is the place where the learner should begin. Habits of bad pronunciation once ingrained become automatic and are hard to eliminate, while errors of intonation and linkage can more easily be consciously detected and corrected in later stages of the learning process.

The person learning Spanish has one advantage over the person learning another language. The advantage is that most the vowels and consonants of Spanish are close to those of English, and their pronunciation is perfectly regular.

First of all, the vowels sounds represented by the 5 letters, a, e, i, and u, have five sounds. That’s right, five! It is not like the case of the many English vowel sounds represented by the same letters, such as rough, cough, though, and through, or the case of the same sound represented by different letters in the words, ache, weigh, pay, hey, jail, and tape.

Talking Dictionaries And Language Learning

Is it worth the extra money to purchase an elecgtronic dictionary with sound?

The following comments have specific reference to learning Spanish but I believe they are relevant to the learning of other languages as well.

Some people (curiously and unfortunately, not all) who learn a new language are interested in achieving a good accent in their new language. Nevertheless, it is not well known that there are three components of the accent of a given language: the rhythm or intonation (the music) of the language, the links between the sounds, syllables, and words in an utterance, and lastly, the proper pronunciation of the sounds of the language. The lesson here is that the formation of the vowels and consonants of a language is only part of the task of learning that language. However, it is where most learners begin. Let’s look at the place of the pronunciation of the vowels and consonants of Spanish.

language for the development of a nation

Webster realized the importance of language for the development of a nation, and he devoted his energy to giving the American English the status of an independent language, distinct from British English. At that time the idea was progressive as it helped the unification of separate states into one nation.

Webster’s dictionary enjoyed great popularity from its first editions. This popularity was due to not only the accuracy and clarity of definitions but also to the richness of additional information of encyclopedic character, which had become a tradition in American lexicography.

Soon after Webster’s death two publishers and booksellers George and Charles Merriam, acquired the rights of his dictionary from his family and started the publication of revised single volume editions under the name Merriam-Webster.

The first big explanatory dictionary

The first big explanatory dictionary “A dictionary of the English language in which the words are deduced from their originals and illustrated in their general significations by examples from the best writers” was compiled by Dr. Samuel Johnson and published in 1755. The most important innovation of this dictionary was the introduction of illustrations of the meanings of the words by examples from the best writers. Pronunciation was not marked, because Samuel Johnson was very much sure of the great variety of the English pronunciation and thought it impossible to set a standard there. He remained an unquestionable authority for more than 75 years.

The Golden Age of lexicography started in the last quarter of the 19 century when the English Philological Society started to work on compiling The Oxford English Dictionary. The objective was to trace the development of the English words from their original form in Old English. Where they were not found in Old English, it was shown when they introduced into the language. For words and meanings which have already become obsolete the date of the latest occurrence is provided. The English of G. Chaucer, of the Bible and W. Shakespeare is given as much attention as that of the modern authors. The completion of the work required more than 75 years. The result is a kind of encyclopedia of the language used not only for reference but also as a basis for lexicological research.

Curiously enough, the first American dictionary of the English language was compiled by a man whose name was also Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson, a Connecticut schoolmaster, published in 1798 a small book entitled “A school dictionary.” This book was followed in 1800 by another dictionary by the same author, which showed already some signs of Americanization.

It was Noah Webster, universally considered to be the father of American lexicography, who embodied in his book the specifically American usage of his time. His great work, The American Dictionary of the English Language, appeared in two volumes in 1828 and later sustained numerous revisions. In many respect N. Webster follows the lead of S. Johnson, the British lexicographer. But he has also improved and corrected many of Johnson’s definitions. He attempted to simplify the spelling and pronunciation that were current in the USA of the period. He devoted many years to the collection of words and the preparation of the accurate definitions.

Peep Into The Fabulous World Of Dictionaries

Lexicography is an important branch of linguistics, which covers the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. The history of lexicography of the English language goes as far back as the Old English period where its first traces are found in the form of the glosses of religious books with interlinear translation from Latin. Regular bilingual English-Latin dictionaries already existed in the 15th century.

The first unilingual English dictionary, explaining words appeared in 1604. Its aim was to explain difficult words. Its title was “A Table Alphabetical, containing and teaching true writing and understanding of hard usual English words borrowed from the Hebrew, Greek, Latin or French”. The volume of 120 pages explaining about 3000 words was compiled by Robert Cawdrey, a schoolmaster.

The first attempt at a bigger dictionary including all the words of the language, not only the difficult ones, was made by Nathaniel Bailey. He published the first edition of Universal Etymological English Dictionary in 1721. It was the first to include pronunciation and etymology.

worthy information.

If I have learned one thing about the internet in my years of using it for work, it has been that the internet has the potential to be used for good or for bad. There are countless numbers of websites that contain nothing but useless trash, yet there are another host of websites that contain so much worth while and worthy information. Online dictionaries are some of the noble things contained on the internet that actually have value for people.

The great thing about online dictionaries is that you can look up a word or its meaning almost instantly. You do not need to move away from your computer or stop what you are doing. There is no need to leave your desk and find an old dictionary laying around the house or office. An online dictionary is just a click away.

Another thing I have grown to love about online dictionaries is that they are filled with all of the lastest information and with all the terms of our modern age. Any kind of computer or techonology term is sure to be found in online dictionaries. This is really handy. So the next time you are online and you get curious about a word or a definition, don't fret, just click on to an online dictionary and learn all you
want to know.

The Blessing Of Online Dictionaries

I have a job that requires me to be at the computer all day and quite often using the internet. I love my job (except for having to sit down all day) because I am constantly amazed by the world that the internet opens up to me. I cannot believe how much there is to be learned and explored through the internet. There are literally endless possibilities of pages to search and topics to learn about online. I love that I can be writing about almost anything and do a search for any word or phrase or idea that I'm curious about. Within seconds hundreds of thousands of websites pop up that match the very thing I am curious about. Online dictionaries have become some of my favorite things during this process.

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved dictionaries. I have owned a dictionary since elementary school and I love randomly flipping through the pages to see if I can learn a new word and a new definition. I never imagined that I would have access to as many dictionaries as I wanted when I began working online. I cannot tell you what a great day it was when I discovered the blessing that online dictionaries are for people like me who need words or their definitions fast.