When does learning begin? ANSWER: Before we are born.

According to Annie Murphy, from the end of the 8th week after conception, the fetus becomes a language student in the womb. Have you ever thought of that? Do you agree? Personally, I think that the language learning part could be true. Does the fetus develop the same taste for some kind of foods as its mother? I have some doubts here. Anyway, watch the video. It'll make you think. There are a couple of things that will make you go hmmmmm.

STEVE JOBS DIES

The driving force, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod etc. has died. There's nothing more to be said about the innovator. Other brilliant minds are prepared to amaze the world. But Steve Jobs, the MAN, the SPEAKER, will never be equalled.

Steve Jobs was brave to the end.

In his memory....

Receive and keep,

Keep safe his dedicated dust, 

His sacred sleep. 

So shall thy lovers, come from far,

Mix with thy name

As morning-star with evening-star 

His faultless fame. (Algernon Charles Swinburne)

Complete text of Steve Jobs Commencement address delivered on June 12, 2005:
STEVE JOBS - 2005

Don't let grammar mistakes ruin your career!

Looking for a job? You need an effective CV.
You know how important your background, skills and a clear logical layout are to make your CV successful. What about language mistakes? How many errors in grammar or spelling are accepted by the employer? NONE. Grammar mistakes will most probably result in discarding of the CV.

Is there any job that doesn’t require writing? Not even an email or a note? I don’t think so.

The reality is that written communication is a big part of any business. You are brilliant, creative and hardworking, but nobody’s perfect; you have some communication weak spots. If you don’t want to destroy your professional image, you really need to improve your writing in English and your mother tongue, as well. Bad grammar reflects on you; some mistakes create embarrassing situations, others are hilarious and most of them reveal your unprofessional, careless side. Most importantly, some mistakes may lead to confusion and conflict.
Here are a couple of tricky situations:

1. You look exactly as/ like your mother.
2. It’s/ Its her birthday.
3. The story of his voyages and adventures at sea make/ makes a wonderful example for his nephews and nieces.
4. She sings beautiful/ beautifully.
5. A/ An university
6. I bought/ have bought the blue dress at the Mall.
7. Whom/ Who should I ask for advice?
8. The police have/ has arrived at the scene of the accident.
9. Everybody is/ are happy.
10. She still goes to school/ the school.

Are these statements correct?
A. Is gratuity included in the price?
B. McDonald’s’s profit has not been reported, yet.
C. I and my sister never fight.

Many people use grammar/ spelling checkers. Installing these applications and other computerized writing aids is time consuming and linguists argue that these resources are not always accurate. Most people don’t consider them a substitute for language trainers, and rightly so.

Learning a language with a teacher has more advantages. Classroom learning offers a stimulus to motivate learning - besides the personal experience of meeting new people and the fun and pleasure of working in a team, modern language courses are short and tailored to match the customers’ goals:

● Public speaking
● Legal English
● English for socializing, customer care, negotiations, presentations, tourism etc.)

I'm going to be your teacher and explain the above situations:

1.  like is the correct choice because the meaning is resemblance (same face, eyes, built etc)
2.  It's (it is) not the possessive pronoun its (its colour)
3.  The story and the adventures (They) make a wonderful exemple.
4.  beautifully is an adverb. She sings in such a way. Of course she has a beautiful voice.
5.  a university [ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsɪtɪ] is used after a consonant-type sound not letter.
6.  bought (Simple Past) because the action took place at a specific time in the past which is known  by the speaker (when she was at the Mall).
7.  Whom would be the correct form. The answer explains, "Ask him." You are asking about the object, not the subject.
8.  The police (here) is a group of officers participating in the investigation. So, the correct form is are.
9.  Everybody is (thinking of each individual in the group)
10. to school (she is still a student, the school is the institution, not a location or a place).

A. Correct (Gratuity = a gift of money, tip) The word is a false friend that might cause confusion to Romance languages speakers (in Romanian, French = free)
B. McDonald's's seems grammatically correct; you are supposed to add an apostrophe and 's after a noun, but two apostrophes look ridiculous. Our advice is: McDonald's profit or McDonalds' profit.
C. Wrong (My sister and I is both technically correct and polite.)

For details please email us at: lexis@lexis-romania.eu

 Website: www.lexis.ro

Learning English is Fun (2)

Let's go to the States!
VIDEOS

Learning English is Fun (1)

The video has been moved to the VIDEOS PAGE
Go to Google+ for posts by the same author.

5 WAYS TO LISTEN BETTER

Do humans have trouble communicating despite the fact speech has evolved a lot -  about 2,700 languages and over 500,000 words in the English dictionaries?
Teacher – student, parent – kids or business communication has become a topic much debated and studied all over the world. Efficient or effective? That’s the question. We are always in a hurry to carry out our responsibilities as parents, teachers, to sign contracts, to complete tasks. So, it’s important to be efficient: a few words, limited time, brief and to the point messages. The response can be positive, negative or no response at all because efficient does not mean two-way communication. To make sure the message is understood, effective interpersonal communication must be established. This implies eye contact, paying respect, receiving feedback, time to validate each other’s needs, worries, interests etc.

Besides many other barriers to effective communications, noise can affect mutual understanding. We are losing listening. Not only do we need our health back, but we also need to learn again how to listen and Julian Treasure suggests LISTENING should be taught in schools. Do you think it is necessary or possible? How?
Go to:

http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-08-03&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email 

How to Look Cute and Dress Nicely for Middle School (Girls) - wikiHow

How to Look Cute and Dress Nicely for Middle School (Girls) - wikiHow

30 Goals in Education 2011

Are you a teacher? Do your students trust you? Do they come to YOU for advice? If they don't, you should read, watch and make these your 30 GOALS 2012.
30 Goals 2011

A College Humour video

Facebook is the target of endless jokes. Check out this video.
(Source: Mashable.com)

Cartea alba - Lexis Scoli de Limbi Straine

What I know now but didn’t then

Invaluable advice for anybody who teaches -  experienced teachers or young graduates.

What I know now but didn’t then

Communication techniques

Formal Education vs. Informal Learning Tools ?

A new approach to workplace learning

View more presentations from Jane Hart.

Do you agree with the 10-step plan for working smarter?

The Real Dracula History TV -1

Who needs a real, living being in a computer?

How do you rate this gaming experience? Disturbing, creepy, funny, siniter?

Peter Molyneux demos Milo, the virtual boy | Video on TED.com

Until having watched the video I'd given little attention to this type of computer technology. A quick surf of the internet, and the result blew up my mind: at a click of the mouse I got a list of about 150 virtual reality sites: for the newbies, for the techies, for 7 year olds, for the artists etc. How many more? This, I'm not interested in. But a question is haunting me: What have they been created for? This is a good topic for an essay:
Virtual reality - a benefit to our society, or detrimental to those who use it?
If you have little experience in writing an essay, go to:
http://lexis4communication.blogspot.com/p/courses.html

Please share freely in the comments below. Did I miss anything important here?

The Skier | Listen & Watch | Learn

A story about the skier who practises skiing in the middle of the desert. Will his determination take him to the Winter Olympics?
READ, LISTEN, WATCH and DO THE TASKS. Don't forget to test yourself!

The Skier | Listen & Watch | Learn

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS CRAZY! (4 )

This post is about words. An average native speaker knows thousands of words. A language student memorizes just a few new words on a daily basis. But the process can become smoother and faster if you understand the inner structure of complex words.

Enjoy your own analyses of word-formation in English:

Deriving adjectives from nouns and verbs
-able = fit for doing, fit for being done (comfortable)
-al (-ial, -ical, -ual) = having the property of (facial)
-an, -ian = belonging to, resembling (reptilian)
-ary = having a tendency or purpose (secondary)
-ate = full of (passionate)
-ese = belonging to a place (Chinese)
More: -esque, -ful,- ish,- less, -some, etc.

Forming abstract nouns
-asy, -acy “state or quality” ecstasy
-age “condition, state, rank, office of” coinage, postage
-ance, -ence “state, act, fact of” emergence
More: -ade,- al,- ation,- ery,- ry,- hood, ism –ity, -ment, -ness, -ship, etc.

Forming nouns
-ant, -ent = one who (agent, servant)
-arian = member of (authoritarian, amphibian)
More: -ast, -er, -ist, -ician, etc.

Forming verbs from roots and stems
-ate = cause X to happen (terminate, suffocate)
-en = to become (liken, darken, lessen)
More: -ify, -ize

Miscellaneous suffixes
-arium = locative, a place for of connected with (aquarium, planetarium)
-ess = feminine of X (tigress, actress)
-let = diminutive of X (booklet, starlet)

Do more exercises with Oxford Builder Plus: http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/olg/contents/b_exercises/wordendings01/

Men's Brain vs. Women's Brain

Men and women are different, everybody knows that.
Are there differences between the brains of males and females? Definitely, yes. But what di these differences mean? Are they the reasons for many of our behaviours?
Scientists have the answers to these questions, but they might be long, boring, maybe too technical.
Unlike them, Mark Gungor - comedian, director and speaker - makes this topic less serious.

 NOTE: You can add captions to this video using Transcribe audio which is an experimental service Google provides. Play the video, click the red arrow (bottom right hand corner) and then the CC icon. The transcript is not very accurate.

157 of the Most Useful Websites on the Internet | The Social Media Guide

157 of the Most Useful Websites on the Internet | The Social Media Guide