Teaching Spanish to Kids When Should You Start

Teaching Spanish to Kids When Should You Start Spanish for Kids: Is There a Minimum Age for Learning? Chapters  Learning Spanish for Kids: There’s No Minimum AgeLearn Spanish at Home: Bilingual FamiliesLearn Spanish for Children: Start from BirthLearning a Foreign Language from Age 3How to Speak Spanish for Kids: What does the “Critical Period Hypothesis” Say?A Huge Advantage in the Long TermThe Spanish language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. In fact,  there are 440 million native Spanish speakers in countries in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.The importance of learning Spanish  is therefore widely known, and it is for these reasons that it stands at the forefront of language learning in schools around the world.But why wait until your child reaches school for them to start a Spanish program? Teaching Spanish to kids  from a younger age will put them ahead of the rest by the time they reach school, and as a younger learner, they could benefit from being able to learn a language a lot quicker due to their age and the way that their brain acts as a spo nge absorbing information a lot quicker than older students.But when is the best time to start teaching them Spanish? What do the experts say? Should you start digging out your grammar books from school? TadeoSpanish Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AnnickSpanish Teacher 5.00 (6) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PeterSpanish Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LowriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (8) £90/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MartaSpanish Teacher 5.00 (6) £22/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SharonSpanish Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors TanyaSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Jose manuelSpanish Teacher £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors  Learning Spanish for Kids: There’s No Minimum AgeLots of parents ask about when the best time for teaching a language is.A lot of parents ask about how difficult life is with a child lea rning two languages. Is it too much for them? Will it affect their level in English? Will they be able to distinguish between the vocabulary of the two languages?We’re going to answer all these questions here, starting with the first one that was answered by linguists regarding whether there is an age limit to learn Spanish. Put very simply, there’s no minimum age for learning Spanish.Learning Spanish can give your child the best start. (Source: Tim Gouw)Child and language acquisition experts have established the best starting point for learning a foreign language. It’s recommended that you start as soon as they’re born, teaching them the language alongside English.Speaking Spanish non-stop to your child might be a bit frustrating at the beginning but it’s the best thing you can do for them if you want them to learn the language.During their first years, even if the child isn’t able to speak, they’re listening and picking up lots of Spanish vocabulary. It’s important to get their ears accustomed to the Spanish accent. Any beginners guide to learning Spanish will start in the same way, the only difference is that a very young child will do a lot less reproduction of the language. The process of familiarising yourself with Spanish is the same though.This is how they’ll be able to eventually become fluent in Spanish. If both parents are bilingual in English and Spanish, then one should focus on speaking to the child in English, and the other in Spanish.This will allow you to work together to teach them both languages simultaneously.  You don't need to start showing them Spanish grammar until they're older. Just talk to them in their new language and before you know it, they'll learn to speak.If you aren't a Spanish speaker, then it is possible to find a Spanish teacher who can do some basic Spanish to your child, such as introducing some useful verbs and teaching them how to count, just as any other beginner would start taking Spanish classes ne ar me.Learn Spanish at Home: Bilingual FamiliesIf there isn’t a Spanish speaker at home, it’s important that you follow the example set by bilingual families. A child can learn to speak Spanish even if there are no Spanish speakers living in the house. However, you will have to rely on a wider array of methods and Spanish resources, aside from the aforementioned hiring a tutor method.The goal is to transmit knowledge, after all. This is what bilingual families do right from the moment the child is born. The father and mother each choose a language that they’ll talk in and the child will grow up in a bilingual environment.A language is one of the best skills you can help your children to learn. (Source: pixabay.com)If nobody in your house can speak Spanish, then it might be worthwhile looking at all the free Spanish lessons available online and also looking for Spanish classes (or immersion daycare centres) for children.We’ve all got that friend who has a foreign parent and c an speak two languages. For some of them, their parents decided to introduce them to both languages from a very young age.The fruits of their labor was that, from the age of 4, according to the experts, the child was able to distinguish the two languages from one another.How?This is because that’s the age when they start socialising, going to school, hanging out with friends who speak English. English will then become their main language and Spanish will therefore become their second mother tongue.There is no concrete answer to how long learning Spanish takes, but if your child starts learning from a younger age, and has constant exposure to the language, they will learn at a faster pace. TadeoSpanish Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AnnickSpanish Teacher 5.00 (6) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PeterSpanish Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LowriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (8) £90/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutor s MartaSpanish Teacher 5.00 (6) £22/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SharonSpanish Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors TanyaSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Jose manuelSpanish Teacher £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsLearn Spanish for Children: Start from BirthWe have to outline two main stages. The first one’s birth. The parents, if they want to, can start speaking Spanish to their baby from the second they’re born. This will help tune their ear to the language and its pronunciation, and help to develop a Spanish speaking linguistic environment.  Then, at 4 years old, the child will start being able to differentiate the 2 languages and won’t mix them up.The final stage is when they reach 7 years old and have established Spanish as a mother tongue. Researchers and linguists have established that around age 7 is when a brain reaches its maturity threshold.  While it’s not to late after th is stage, the learning process will be slower than if they’d learned at a younger age.The child will no longer be able to learn Spanish as they would English. To explain this idea, we’re going to take a look at the “critical period hypothesis” a little bit later on.So what do you think? Our advice would be this: don’t wait until your child has learned English before you start teaching them Spanish. If you want your child to be fully bilingual, you need to put in the effort from the moment they’re born.  Not only will they hopefully become successfully bilingual, but there are also lots of benefits of learning a language early.Learning a Foreign Language from Age 3You already have some food for thought concerning your child’s bilingualism. Here’s some more...There are a number of different schools and centres in different countries where foreign languages are taught. Admittedly, they’re normally only found in the biggest cities. While they have traditionally focused on children in school, university students, and adult learners, they’ve started moving towards teaching the very youngest children another language.There are a number of immersion daycare centres that offer classes and activities for children. (Source: pixabay.com)This means there are daycare centres for children as young as 3, which can show them how to go about learning Spanish. The approach is different to typical language classes as the children are very young. They tend to learn through games and media resources rather than the language education you were used to in school.Your child will learn their first Spanish words at a very young age.  This is great for parents who feel that their own Spanish isn’t good enough to speak to their child in their earliest years. This also means that your child will start learning Spanish around the important age of 4 when they start distinguishing the languages.This is why immersion daycare centres might be the best way to make your chil d fall in love with language learning, whilst keeping it fun and educational at the same time.How to Speak Spanish for Kids: What does the “Critical Period Hypothesis” Say?Earlier we spoke about reaching age 7. This age comes from the “critical period hypothesis”. This idea came about during the 1960s, and states that there’s a certain period in our development (a window, in other words) where learning a language is much simpler.The biolinguist Eric Lenneberg worked on this question and the critical period hypothesis showed that the perfect time for learning a 2nd mother tongue is between 2 years old and the start of puberty.  If you’re interested in this sort of thing, we recommend you check out his work even though the theory still remains somewhat disputed.A Huge Advantage in the Long TermAs you saw earlier, there are plenty of good reasons for learning Spanish as early as possible. You have to make the decision on whether you’d like to teach them yourself or enlist the help of an expert. Either way you will need a plan for learning Spanish, as without one, it can be a difficult and lonely task.If your Spanish isn't great, you may want to start by saying a few Spanish phrases to your child. You might even want to learn spanish online yourself before you start, or study Spanish with the help of your own tutor.Your child will thank you for teaching them Spanish. (Source: stock.tookapic.com)In the end, whatever method you choose, you shouldn’t wait around. Learning a second language is a huge advantage in the modern age.  In a few years, speaking at least two language may be considered the norm. You wouldn’t want your child to be left behind, would you?Superprof Spanish tutors are available for Spanish classes London, Spanish classes Manchester, Spanish classes Leeds...By deciding to teach your child Spanish as soon as possible, you’re giving them a huge advantage in their future life by giving them fluency a second native language as well as the option to speak a third language once they’re older. Almost everyone else around the world is learning English in addition to their own language.Foreign language skills have always been a generic problem for native English speakers. There aren't enough candidates who have even managed to master conversational Spanish despite how prevalent it is.Today’s children would, therefore, do very well to have three languages under their belts by the time they go to university! If they learn Spanish as soon as they can, they’ll acquire the language as a mother tongue rather than a foreign language. They’ll even be able to have dreams in Spanish, too!Finally, during school, they’ll be almost exclusively learning in English. You might help them develop a love of languages which could see them study languages later on in life, which could in turn shape the course of their career!

5 College Dorm Room Must-Haves

5 College Dorm Room Must-Haves This post is part of our 2017 Back-to-School Series. Throughout the month of August, visit the Varsity Tutors blog for back-to-school advice, tips, and tricks for all ages. Getting ready for college is an adventure that starts before you ever set foot on campus. With academic challenges, new social situations, and maybe even a new city to explore, the last thing you want to worry about is dorm room essentials. College dorm room must-haves can include an alarm clock, ample storage, and a handy first aid kit. And these materials can make adjusting to dorm life much easier. Looking to feel prepared when dorm living begins? Here are five college dorm room must-haves: College dorm room must-have #1: Alarm clock While this might seem like an obvious item to mention, todays college students often forego a physical alarm clock, instead opting for an alarm on their cell phones. However, cell phones are not indestructible, and in case something happens to yours, it helps to be prepared. If youre a particularly heavy sleeper, try setting your alarm to repeat, and move it across the room before you go to bed at night so theres no way you can sleep through the racket. Ring, ring! Whats that? The sound of you being on time for your 8:00 a.m. biology lecture. [RELATED: How to Create Your First College Schedule] College dorm room must-have #2: Power strips and surge protectors Older dorm rooms sometimes undergo multiple renovations over time. Often, this means outlets can be in corners behind doors or furniture. If youre hosting a study party or movie night, you wont regret having easy access to those out-of-reach spots. Having a surge protector means you can charge your electronics with ease, even in your lofted bed or behind your roommates futon. College dorm room must-have #3: Storage seating Dorm rooms can be tight when it comes to space, so its important to utilize every nook and cranny. Furniture stores carry many useful seating pieces that are hollow and can double as a space to store anything from textbooks to scarves and gloves when theyre out of season. Bonus tipfind furniture pieces that are similarly shaped so you can stack them or tuck them out of sight under your bed or a desk when you arent using the extra seating. [RELATED: A Summer Checklist for Incoming College Freshmen] College dorm room must-have #4: First aid kit Dorm living is an adventure, and it comes with its ups and downs. University clinics and healthcare services might not be available 24/7, so it can help to have some emergency medical supplies in your dorm room. When youre feeling down, having a customized first aid kit can hold you over until you can get an appointment with a health professional. Consider keeping these items in your dorm room: Over-the-counter pain medication Antihistamines Cough drops Band-aids You never know when you might need them! College dorm room must-have #5: Shower caddy and bath towels The bathroom is the last place you want to be caught unprepared. Extra bath towels will always come in handy, especially for that day you get caught in the rain on the way home from class or take an impromptu trip to the beach or lake with friends. Make the daily trek from your dorm room to a shared bathroom a little easier by bringing a waterproof shower caddy to organize your shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. When you arent using it, a shower caddy is compact enough to tuck away in your closet. Dorm living doesnt have to be synonymous with living without. These are a few dorm room essentials that will make your life easier as a dorm resident. Your best college self starts with a safe and comfortable living space, so make sure to follow this list to set yourself up for academic success! [RELATED: Things to Know About Living in a College Dorm] Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

How Much Do Cooking Classes Cost

How Much Do Cooking Classes Cost How Much Do Cooking Tutors Cost? Chapters1. Duration Of Course2. The Qualifications And Experience Of Your Teacher3. The Location Of Your Course4. Other Key Factors To ConsiderExamples Of Cooking SchoolsPrivate tutorsSo, you have your mind set on attending your first course or hiring a cooking tutor to help you to develop some level of practical skill in the kitchen. Now, let's take some time to establish how much your learning experience will set you back, which will be determined by a number of factors.In the same way, you don't tend to find young, successful chefs in their prime taking the time to teach others (other than their staff, of course) because they are simply too focused on their career to look beyond it.High-profile chefs like Gordon Ramsay are often too busy to be able to run cooking classes. Photo credit: BreakingTravelNews on VisualHunt.comThat said, you can find a number of culinary schools set up by the greats, like Rick Stein (as previously mentioned) and Raymond Blanc, which have the chefs' valu es rooted in them. You can find out more about some of these highly-respected cooking schools below. GiovanniCooking Teacher 4.83 (12) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HalimaCooking Teacher £12/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HakimCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors VincenzoCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GinellaCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ArronCooking Teacher 5.00 (2) £9/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoshuaCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FlickCooking Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors3. The Location Of Your CourseWhile location shouldn't be too big a factor in the cost of your chosen course, you can expect to pay a premium when attending a class in central London, because naturally everything in the capital is more pricey than outside of the city!When I refer to location, I do al so mean the grounds on which your course will be held. Take for example a course held in a modern college, and one taking place in an 18th century manor house steeped in history. Which do you expect will be a more expensive location?Of course, any place that has welcomed a wealth of famous guests, or has been standing for hundreds of years, will usually lend itself to a nicer setting in which to cook and therefore enable the organisers to charge more.4. Other Key Factors To ConsiderOther things that might have an effect on the price of the course you opt for are whether you get a group deal (some offer a reduction in price if you bring a friend), have coupons or vouchers (if they have spaces to fill, an organisation might advertise places at cut-down prices to lure customers in) and the cost of the food (including refreshments for participants) you will be using whilst on the course to make those delicious recipes on the menu.As all foodies, or anyone who shops for groceries at the supermarket or the local food market for that matter, will know, ingredients don't come cheap! And depending on the class of course you choose to enroll on, you can expect the cost of the ingredients to fluctuate in accordance too.Anyone who has ever done grocery shopping knows how expensive food is! Photo credit: Indiana Stan on Visualhunt.comExamples Of Cooking SchoolsLe Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, OxfordThe cost of a cooking tutorial at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford can cost anywhere between £185 (for a half-day intensive session) and £1,775 (for five consecutive days). This cooking school is run by the infamous  Monsieur Raymond Blanc himself and is set in a beautiful manor house, so this is probably on the higher end of the cooking schools spectrum.Llanerch Vineyard, Vale of GlamorganLlanerch Vineyard in Vale of Glamorgan offers prices starting at £25 for a demonstration. The cookery school is run by educator Angela Gray, a chef who has catered for big names like Andr ew Lloyd Webber, and offers a relaxed and informal setting whereby students can learn from the teacher and through interaction with eachother.The Bertinet Kitchen, BathIf you want to be taught by the best but for a smaller outlay than Le Manoir, then why not consider The Bertinet Kitchen in Bath which is run by french dough expert Richard Bertinet and requires a budget of £165 for beginners classes? You will learn about all things bread and pastry here, including pastry arts like how to make a buttery croissant worthy of a French patisserie!Leith's School of Food and Wine, LondonIf money is no object, then Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London is at your disposal with a £21,000+ diploma on offer, achieved over three terms! Past students include the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton herself, the epitome of class. Now there is a course that really is fit for royalty! I bet Kate cooks up a delicious feast for the young prince and princess.Private tutorsPrivate tutors are no different when you take into consideration the above, however they do have the advantage that they can pick and choose how they price their lessons because, ultimately, they are working alone.While this can go against you in some ways (one-to-one lessons can be priced higher because of the value of one-to-one time), it can also work in your favour. For instance, you might be able bring the price down a little if consulting a self-employed tutor, or you might be able to discuss reductions for blocks of lessons.Other benefits to hiring a private tutor are the flexibility they offer. In most cases, you will be welcomed into their kitchen where they will show you a range of cooking skills on display, but you might find a tutor who is happy to come and teach you at your home.You might attend a cooking demonstration at your tutor's house or they may come to your own home. Photo credit: tracie7779 on VisualhuntFurthermore, with one-to-one lessons, you can fit classes in around your busy sc hedule which means you don't have to miss out on doing something you love just because you work long hours. For instance, you might be able to book tuition on a weekend or on a weekday evening, which is something that you can look forward to while you are hard at work!When searching for tutors online, you will more than likely find a pretty expansive range (as much as £9p/h-90p/h!), which makes it hard to ascertain what the average price of a beginner cooking lesson is. Sadly, it is very difficult to narrow this down to a specific price range, because of all of the above elements that come into play.The key is to set out a realistic price in your head and start your search for a tutor with this firmly in place. You know what you can afford and what you can't, so rule out any tutors that come above (or fall below) your expected outlay. However, never forget that you do pay for the best, so if you find the perfect tutor who is just outside of your range, then consider stretching that little bit further for a richer experience in return.When it comes to the content, you can expect to learn a wide range of fundamental things from your cooking lessons, like the difference between vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and traditional diets, what artisan bakery is, the flavours of authentic Thai cooking, the secrets of French cuisine, the art of cooking Italian cuisine, how to make next level Italian dishes, what cookware you should have in your home cooking space, how to prep vegetables, how to prepare a chicken, grilling meats, what makes a perfect British roast, the technique for making a garlicky cordon blue, how to bake a melting chocolate fondant, how to pack flavour in a broth and how to make sushi, for example. That's date night or those weeknight meals  sorted then!Your guide may be able to teach you some things you never knew about the hospitality management industry too, like how you should ideally wear closed toe shoes when using a knife and cutting board in ca se of any accidents, and the terms that the chef uses to communicate with his or her staff. This includes words like 'pass', 'oui chef' and 'chit'.Find cooking classes near me with a private tutor:Cooking classes LondonCooking classes GlasgowCooking classes ManchesterCooking classes Leeds

10 Useful Italian Phrases You Wont Find in a Travel Dictionary

10 Useful Italian Phrases You Won’t Find in a Travel Dictionary Suzy S. Are you planning on taking a trip to Italy? A travel dictionary is a great resource to have on hand. However, it doesnt always list common phrases and expressions used by native Italians. Below, Italian teacher  Christopher S.  shares 10 useful Italian phrases that you wont find in a travel dictionary Italian is an extremely expressive language. Not only is it beautiful for the way it sounds and the theatrical hand gestures, its also beautiful because of its rich expressions. Like many cultures, Italians use a variety of proverbs and idioms to help express themselves. When traveling abroad, its important to learn how to speak and understand these phrases, as it will help you carry on conversations with natives. Below are 10 useful Italian phrases and words you might want to consider learning before your trip. Modo di dire (Idioms) 1. In bocca al Lupo (into the wolfs mouth) Literally meaning “into the wolf’s mouth,” this Italian phrase means  â€œgood luck.” The expression is the English equivalent of “break a leg, comparing any challenging scenario to being caught between the hungry jaws of a wolf. If you want to have good fortune, the proper response to this phrase is crepi  meaning “may the wolf die.” If you want to tell someone good luck in Italian, you better use this phrase, because if you say the literal English translation buona fortuna,  youre not actually wishing good luck to someone at all. 2. Mangiare come un maiale (to eat like a pig) If you plan on doing any eating in Italy (which I hope you planning on doing, because the food is delicious), this is a phrase youll want to know. In English, this phrase simply means “to eat like a pig.” Use this useful Italian phrase when you want to describe to your Italian friends how much food you and your friend ate at the restaurant you recently visited. 3. A tutta birra / A tutto gas / A tutto vapore (full speed) Are you planning to go out on the town while in Italy? Meaning full speed, this is an appropriate phrase to use if you want to emphasize that youre ready to party it up in Italy.  Heres an example of what you can say to a friend, Andiamo di fretta. Forza, a tutto gas! (We are in a hurry. Come on, full speed ahead!) 4. Rompere il ghiaccio (break the ice) The phrase Rompere il ghiaccio  has the exact same meaning as in English. In other words, its how you would break the ice in a conversation with someone youve just recently met. Heres an example of how the phrase can be used in a sentence, Volevo parlare con Eleonora e alla fine sono riuscito a rompere il ghiaccio. ( I wanted to talk to Eleanor, and eventually I was able to break the ice.) 5. Spezzare una lancia a favorevole (to break a lance in favor of) This is an old saying which most likely comes from the medieval times. Meaning to break a lance in favor of, this phrase is the equivalent of the English expression to give someone a break. If someone says something bad about a friend, you can respond with this phrase and really sound like a true local. Heres an example of how to use the phrase in a sentence, E’ vero che Enrico si è comportato male, però spezziamo una lancia in suo favore: non conosceva tutti i fatti. ( Its true that Henry behaved badly, but break a lance in his favor, he did not know all the facts.) 6. Grana (grain) This word has an interesting history in Italy, which most foreigners probably dont know. The literal meaning of this word is “grain.” However by military bureaucratic jargon, the word passed through a phase of meaning a “designating nuisance” or “trouble.” It was also used as a form of referring to money in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. 7. Essere al verde  (to be on the green) The English equivalent of the phrase to be broke, this expression is good to use if youve spent all your money, and youre trying to get away from vendors. When Italian speakers hear this phrase, they will think youre a true native and leave you alone. Proverbi (Proverbs) 8. Morto un papa, se ne fa un altro  (Once a pope is dead, there will be another one) Even someone as important as the Pope has to be replaced. This proverb is used to stress the fact that life goes on no matter what happens, or, as they say in English, “the show must go on.” If  you fall in love in Italy and get dumped, the phrase is also used to ironically encourage people who get dumped to move on. When used like this, the phrase is similar to the English expression, “There are plenty more fish in the sea.” 9. Chi nasce tondo non può morire quadrato  (He who was born round, cannot die square) This phrase essentially means that you cannot expect people to change radically. You will hear this phrase used commonly, especially in family situations. Therefore, its good to know if you need to make a point about a crazy uncle or aunt. 10. Meglio un morto in casa, che un pisano all’uscio  (It is better to have someone dead in the house, than a soldier from Pisa at the door) This is another phrase which most likely came from the medieval times. It is a war phrase that people from Lucca said when Pisa used to attack and loot their region. This is a good phrase to know if youre in Tuscany and you want to give people a good laugh. This is just a sample of the common phases used throughout Italy. While learning these useful Italian phrases is a good start, you might want to consider taking Italian lessons with an experienced teacher  if you really want to sound like a true local. Christopher S. teaches in-person Spanish, Italian, and guitar lessons in Randolph Center, VT. He lived abroad in Seville, Spain for two years where he studied classical and flamenco guitar and taught lessons to beginner students interested in classical guitar. He is currently working on his Masters Degree in Guitar Performance, and has been teaching students since 2004. Learn more about Christopher 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  Tjflex2

10 English Idioms about Decisions - Learn English with Harry ??

10 English Idioms about Decisions - Learn English with Harry ?? Here you will learn English idioms about decisions to be in two minds, to sit on the fence, to stick to your guns, up in arms, and more.  You will also watch a short English video lesson about UP IN THE AIR meaning. 10 English Idioms about Decisions Do you have an important decision to make but cant decide between two good options? There are many interesting English expressions you can use in spoken English and written English. Today, were going to learn English idioms about decisions and priorities. 1. THE BOTTOM LINEThere are three possible meanings of the idiom:The financial position of a company as seen in the companies accounts.The final result or outcome.The main point.Example: The company signed a very important contract with its main customer. This would improve the financial position of the company and add profit to the bottom line.Michael resigned from the company after only 6 months in the job. The bottom line is that he did not enjoy the work and felt he made a mistake.The politicians argued about the new budget for several hours. The bottom line is that severe cuts had to be made to reduce the countries deficit.2. THE ICING ON THE CAKEto top something off, to make something even betterExample: Mary got a promotion because she worked very hard. She also received an increase in her salary and a bonus which was the icing on the cake. 3. IN TWO MINDS  where you are not able to make up your mind and are unsure as to what you should do or chooseExample: John received an invitation to attend a party. It was on the same day as the football game he really did not want to miss. He was in two minds whether to accept the invitation or not.4. TO SPLIT HAIR  to argue over issues that are not importantExample: David and Kate were arguing about the temperature that day it was very hot. Kate said it was 32 °C and David thought it was 33 °C. John told them not to split hairs, it was still very hot!5. STICK TO YOUR GUNS  to be firm and stick to your decision about something despite criticism from other peopleExample:   If youve thought things through and are comfortable with your decision, just stick to your guns. 10 English Idioms about Decisions 6. SIT ON THE FENCEto stay neutral and not take sides (in an argument), be undecidedExample: No decision has been taken about where to build the new school, city council is still sitting on the fence.7. TAKE A BACK SEATnot to participate in issue or situation, allow other people to have leading position.Example: I took a back seat and allowed my daughter to decorate the cake.8. UP IN ARMSstrongly protestingExample: The teachers were up in arms again over the new Junior Certificate reform. Up in the Air Meaning 9. UP IN THE AIRno decision has been made yetExample: It was up in the air whether or not I would be going on this trip.10. TO MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL to exaggerate unimportant problemsExample:   Ive been thinking far too much about this and made a mountain out of a molehill.  Now you can practice idioms about decisions in everyday situations. Share them with friends who might be stuck deciding what option to take or are unsure how to use English idioms about decisions correctly

How do students react to automated film-analysis essay evaluation

How do students react to automated film-analysis essay evaluation Recently, I reported on the perils and promise of a project I have been working on with Dr. Frank Bonkowski. We created an automated film-analysis essay evaluation system to provide the correction and formative scoring of essays to his advanced English Second Language learners at CEGEP de St-Laurent, in Montreal, Canada. The idea was to have the Virtual Writing Tutor process an essay and give formative feedback on grammatical errors, content and organization, vocabulary use, and scholarship. He tried the automated formative evaluation system with his students and we have some preliminary results to share. To see the first blog post on this topic and test the system with a sample essay, click below. Automatic Film Analysis Essay Evaluation Perils and Promise How will automated film-analysis essay evaluations help? We expected the system would help in two ways. First, we expected that the essay evaluation system would reduce the teachers workload by about 12.5 hours per week. Every time a teacher assigns an essay to his or her 120-150 students, the ten minutes spent correcting each essay adds about 25 hours of work to the teachers workload. Spread over two weeks, thats about 2 hours a day of extra work. However, by using the regularly scheduled computer lab hour to have students submit their essays to the VirtualWritingTutor.com online essay evaluation system, we expected that the teacher would be able to forgo much of that correction work. Secondly, we expected that students would be able to use the automatically generated feedback and scores on multiple drafts of their essay to improve the final result. That seems to be the case, also. Frank filmed semi-structured interviews with a handful of his students, asking them about their experience using the formative evaluation system. As we expected, students made multiple revisions of their essays, using the feedback and score from the Virtual Writing Tutor to guide the changes they made to their vocabulary, cohesion, language accuracy, thesis statement and topic sentences. The experiment Frank and I discussed the essay format, indicators of essay quality, and how students would use the system. Frank prepared his students with a series of lessons on researching and writing a film-analysis essay. Meanwhile, I worked with my programmer to define thresholds and comments based on essay features that we can detect with the Virtual Writing Tutor. With their research in hand, the students wrote a draft of their essays in the multimedia lab, but instead of handing them in to the teacher and waiting two weeks for feedback, the students ran their essays through the Virtual Writing Tutors formative film-analysis essay evaluation system. In just 2 seconds, the system generated four pages of feedback, scores, and comments on how to improve their grades. Using formative evaluation from the VWT, students revised for a week and handed in their final draft for Frank to evaluate. The results are encouraging. The students textThe first page of feedback The second page of feedback The third page of feedback The fourth page of feedback Bugs and catastrophic failures Until the system was fully debugged, the axiom held true that human intelligence fails by degrees but Artificial Intelligence fails catastrophically. Some students encountered Internal server error messages when they submitted incomplete drafts. Others balked at mystifyingly low scores triggered by a misspelled heading for their Works Cited list, two apostrophes instead of quotation marks, camelcase or other unexpected characters in their in-text citations, lack of paragraphing, and other formatting errors. Obviously, human teachers are still better able at handling the unexpected chaos in student writing than the VWT. We gleaned two insights from the failures. First, human coaching is essential for getting confused students to use the system successfully. (Incidentally, I have come to believe that the teachers prestige increases when students come to view him or her as an ally in a battle against the machine.) We expect that the second time they use it, they will understand the limitations of the machines AI and develop some persistence and patient problem-solving in the face of trouble. Second, we saw the need for a method to anonymously capture texts that trigger system errors and bad feedback. To that end, we added a Rate Feedback button and popup that would allow students signal a positive or negative reaction (thumbs up or down) and leave comments to guide our debugging efforts. Rate Feedback popup Semi-structured interviews What follows below are the video recordings and key findings from those semi-structured interviews. A summary of the increases in scores between the first draft and the final draft calculated by the Virtual Writing Tutors film-analysis essay evaluation system is given for each student interviewed. On average, the five students that Frank interviewed improved their scores by 21.2%. Frank told me that he selected the students to interview based on their willingness to revise their drafts, so it is doubtful that all of his students increased their scores by 21%. Student reaction #1: Ada Ada improved her score by 47% from 50% to 97%, making 7 revisions. She found the automatically generated comments detailed and useful. She rewrote her topic sentences based on sentiment analysis feedback to make stronger claims. She also added film and literary analysis vocabulary to improve the depth of her analysis. Student reaction #2: Sophie Sophie improved her score by 20%, going from a 59% to a 79%. She added literary analysis vocabulary based on suggestions of words listed in the automatic comments. Sophie also made corrections based on the grammar checker feedback. Student reaction #3: Alissa Alissa improved her score by 14%, going from 68% to 82%. She made her topic sentences more specific based on the sentiment analysis feedback, and she used the examples of a model topic sentences in the comments to rewrite her own topic sentences. She rewrote her conclusion based on feedback on her word choice. She increased the number and specificity of transition words to build cohesion. Student reaction #4: Valencia Valencia revised her essay 2-3 times and improved her score by 11%., going from 76% to 87%. She used the grammar feedback to improve her language accuracy (spelling). She increased the number and specificity of transition words to build cohesion. She made her thesis stronger using sentiment analysis feedback and the example of a model topic sentence provided in the comments. Student reaction #5: Rosalie Rosalie improved her score by 14%, going from a 63% to a 77%. She added film and literary analysis vocabulary to increase her score. She notes that the system did not recognize her Works Cited section at first. Part of the increase in her score may have been due to our debugging efforts. What have we learned about automated film-analysis essay evaluations? Remember that this was an early pilot of the system. Though we are optimistic that automated formative essay evaluations are likely to become a more common feature of ESL instruction in the future, this was simply a proof-of-concept experiment. We see this as encouraging evidence that there could be a place for automated essay scoring for formative purposes in our own courses. There is still a lot to learn. Franks comments Frank shared some of his own observations with me. He told me that his score of each students essay did not exactly match the score generated by the VWT. The system cannot tell the difference between meaningful reflections on a film and well-structured blather. Feedback overload Frank also told me that the volume of feedback (four 8.5 x 11 inch pages at a time) was overwhelming for some students. Some students told Frank that they just wanted the system to tell them what to do next. This remark prompted me to ask my programmer to put the comments into collapsed accordion sections showing just the score for each of the four dimensions of evaluation: content and structure, vocabulary, language accuracy, and scholarship. In some cases, we just want the headlines of the news and not all the details all at once, right? In the first iteration of the evaluation system, the comments were all regular black text. Since then, I have colour-coded the feedback so that green comments indicate 100%, black comments come with scores of 60%-90%, and red comments are for scores that less than 60%. In this way, students get a better sense of what requires immediate attention. How it works now with accordion sections and colour-coded comments. Reliability In terms of the system helping a teacher determine a summative score for the final drafts of the film-analysis essays, Frank told me that the system seemed most reliable at scoring the range and depth of vocabulary. Because it involved a straight count of literary analysis words and film analysis words, it helped him make an evidence based judgement about how much of the literary analysis toolkit he had taught them in class. Sometimes, even a straight count of vocabulary items can indicate achievement. Essays with literary terms suggest that student can and are willing to use literary terms in an analysis of a film. Thats good. Reliably less reliable were the automatically generated language accuracy scores. Foreign actors and directors names were flagged as errors even when correctly spelled. Whoops! Im not too worried about this, though. The system will perform better in the future. I added a list of exceptions to the grammar checkers internal spelling dictionary. However, the false alarms created some consternation for students. They were disappointed to see low language accuracy scores with no way to improve them. Frustrating. I get it. Coverage Frank noted that there were a number of glaring errors that the system missed. Obviously, the lack of error-detection coverage is a concern for me. I have been coding error detection rules for the past seven years, focusing mostly on high-beginner and low-intermediate learner errors. Now that Frank is using the system with his advanced students, I will have to write more rules to detect their most common errors. I will get there eventually. First, do no harm Frank certainly did not seem to think that the quality of his students writing declined. This automatic essay evaluation system is not doing anybody any harm. Nicks comments On the whole, we are both pretty confident that the system is helping students with their writing. Students seem to be able to use the scores and the comments to make changes to their essays. Gamification of revision I suspect that there is a kind of gamification happening. The student might enjoy using a comment to get an extra percent or two. Each revision provides a little boost and creates a kind of ludic loop. You play, your points increase, and you want to keep playing. Thats good. At junior college, students can sometimes lack college readiness. They can have the attitude of I did my homework and now its the teachers problem. Jock Mackay at a conference in 2014 called it efficiency syndrome. Students often try to get their school work done as quickly as possible. Think of it as optimal foraging. Students want a score above zero while expending as little energy as possible. Gamifying essay writing with automated formative evaluations seems to keep even underachieving students coming back to the task because they get immediate feedback that the job is not quite done yet. They keep plugging away at it, willing to make a micro effort in order to get the next bump in their score. Scholarship checker Upon reflection, I admit that the Scholarship calculation is still very rudimentary. Frank told me that some students reference lists were very sloppy but scored 100% anyway. I should explain that the system simply checks for a Works Cited heading and counts the number of non-empty lines below it. We have not made any attempt to check if the MLA style has been followed or not. At junior college, I am usually happy just to see that students are discovering and reporting other peoples ideas. They will have to up their game at university, but we can work on a more rigorous analysis using MLA or APA style requirements in the future. Revision strategies The fact that the students Frank interviewed reported making multiple revisions is the biggest news. Why? Getting students to reread and reflect on specific features of their writing is itself progress. Franks students said that the scores with comments were helpful in guiding their revisions. This tells me that the cognitive load of explicit, detailed feedback will remain manageable for some students with just accordion buttons and colour-coded comments. If we discover that only the most highly proficient students can use the comments productively and other weaker students find it all too bewildering, we will have to reflect on how teachers give feedback to that kind of student. Experienced teachers comments with stressed out students will tend to focus on the next concrete step toward improvementnot the next 30 steps. One strategy we could use might be an easy-win summary box of only the feedback with the biggest impact on the the students score. As a teacher faced with an anxious student, I would not want to try to give feedback on all aspects of the essay at once. Instead, I might draw the students attention to glaring omissions. For example, I might say, You have made a good start, but you forgot your works-cited section. Adding that will increase your score by 25%! Big score boosts can alleviate that sense of helplessness and allow for further revisions later. It is something to think about. Please follow and like us:

Meet Angela and Christina, Sisters Who Benefited from Kumon in Completely Different Ways

Meet Angela and Christina, Sisters Who Benefited from Kumon in Completely Different Ways Meet Angela and Christina, Sisters Who Benefited from Kumon in Completely Different Ways Diagnosed with autism at the age of three, Angela enrolled in Kumon for the life skills. Her younger sister, Christina, enrolled to advance her math and reading skills. The sisters inspired each other along their unique paths to “J by 6”, which is the study of advanced algebra and critical reading (Level J in Kumon) by the end of 6th grade. You might also be interested in: How These Sisters’ Contrasting Perspectives Have Led to Success in Kumon Meet Elina, a Dual Program Completer Who Has Developed Independence in Kumon Meet Marco, a Program Completer, Who Inspired Other Family Members to Reach their Highest Potential with Kumon 4 Ways Kumon Helps Preschoolers Develop Important Handwriting Skills Meet Angela and Christina, Sisters Who Benefited from Kumon in Completely Different Ways Meet Angela and Christina, Sisters Who Benefited from Kumon in Completely Different Ways Diagnosed with autism at the age of three, Angela enrolled in Kumon for the life skills. Her younger sister, Christina, enrolled to advance her math and reading skills. The sisters inspired each other along their unique paths to “J by 6”, which is the study of advanced algebra and critical reading (Level J in Kumon) by the end of 6th grade. You might also be interested in: How These Sisters’ Contrasting Perspectives Have Led to Success in Kumon Meet Elina, a Dual Program Completer Who Has Developed Independence in Kumon Meet Marco, a Program Completer, Who Inspired Other Family Members to Reach their Highest Potential with Kumon 4 Ways Kumon Helps Preschoolers Develop Important Handwriting Skills

Venice, the Circle of Life

Venice, the Circle of Life Spending much of my earlier life in Venice, California, looking back at it, I have become curious about how and where this whole Venice Italy in Los Angeles thing came from? I watched as the old oil wells on the beach and the worn broken Pilings from piers that have long been gone were removed and cleaned up. As children we watched as a new modern Pier was being built right at the end of our street, it was pretty cool. It was great being the first kids to dive off the end of it long before it ever opened up to the public. And long before we could have been arrested for jumping off of it! We lived in Venice because it was very cheap back then and we were immigrants with little money. It was a pretty rough place, back in the day. As kids we took pride in the fact that folks from other areas didn’t come here at night. We watched it turn from beatniks, to hippies, to yuppies, and finally now the very well to do. Consequently most of us were slowly pushed out to make way for the money   people. But man it was a great place to grow up, if you didn’t mind a fight now and again. We built rafts and would play pirates along the canals with homemade boats that sometimes sank into the, now stinky water. As we got older we became a part of the scene on the beach, lots of free concerts, the Doors, Chambers Brothers, you name it, twas a happening place alright. Heck we even had our own chapter of the Hells Angeles, so you know we were “on”. Enough of memory lane, how did Venice as it is now and has been for so long become, this unusual place? A good place to start would be to mention a street in Venice that runs through the northern part of town. The street was called West Washington Blvd and split off from Washington Blvd, one of the main boulevard’s that traverse Los Angeles through down town all the way to the ocean.   You won’t find West Washington Blvd now because some years ago the name was changed to Abbot Kinney. Historical societies say, he was the founder of Venice, California which at that time was called Ocean Park. Interestingly enough there is a portion of the city of Santa Monica, adjacent to Venice that is known as the Ocean Park neighborhood today. One of the stories about this Abbot Kinney guy was that he went through some trouble with past business partners and eventually had become one of five partners of this, very mundane and unattractive parcel of beach adjacent property, along with some much nicer grounds along the coast in 1904. The story goes that Mr. Kinny made a deal with his partners on the flip of a coin.   Kinney won the toss and got to pick first on which parcel of land he would take. Most said Kinney lost, as he chose the barren marsh land of Ocean Park. When he said this area would soon be known as a cultural city patterned after Venice, Italy, the public laughed and dubbed it “Kinney’s Folly”. By 1905 Venice-of-America officially opened with a beautiful pier and electric trolley cars running along the boardwalk. Kinney decided the canals he built to drain part of the Ballona wetlands (on which he built his real estate project) reminded him of Venice Italy, so he bought gondolas and hired Italian gondoliers to highlight his new beach resort as a tourist attraction. He added exotic hotels, Camel rides and a miniature railroad that circled the entire sight. Venice was an independent city up until 1925 when the voters chose to consolidate politically with the city of Los Angeles and the self-destruction of Venice began. The canals were filled with dirt and became streets about 1930. The amusement parks and other entertainment attractions were closed down. The final destruction of this playground for the well to do was snuffed out by the enforcement of prohibition. That would kill any party, right? About this time oil was discovered in Venice and oil wells were constructed all over the city. In fact when we moved to Venice in 1960 some of the oil wells were still around pumping away, even on the sandy beaches. When we kids came home from a day of playing in the ocean, we had to have the oil washed off us before we could enter the house.   No wonder we don’t get the flu very often. We have all the chemicals and germs in us to kill just about anything. That would explain a lot about me. The 60s’ was a great time to be a kid here. We had everything that money couldn’t buy. We had Muscle beach, where unknown body building competitors like Arnold something or other was competing in Gold’s Gym.   My kid brother and his friends were doing crazy things on their skate boards, with wheels from roller skates. Horrible wheels too, because when you hit a little rock you were in the air while your skate board stopped right there. Heck they became so well know that a couple movies were made about them. And if you ever wondered why they called it dog town the simple polite answer would be, you better watch where you step or your personal life will begin to  deteriorate from the foul smell on your shoes. We all had dogs and nobody ever picked up after them. This was very much a dog town. If you have ever seen the old “Our Gang and Little Rascals” on television, take a closer look, they were mostly filmed in Venice. Well through all these up’s and downs Venice always had a few celebrities and new thinkers residing in the hood. However as Los Angeles property values continued to rise upwards many of the original residents (including us) were slowly pushed out or tempted by the huge money they could get for their modest house, they sold. The moral of the story here would be that Venice has gone full circle, from the playground for the well to do, to the haven for the have not’s, while culture of art and music blossomed and now currently back to millionaires only in Venice Beach? I look forward to when it’s our turn again.