College Algebra - Things You Can Do To Help Yourself

College Algebra - Things You Can Do To Help YourselfCollege algebra is one of the hardest subjects you will ever take in school, but it can also be one of the most helpful. Math can be difficult to learn and is especially so for students who don't do well with algebra.You can learn all kinds of different things by doing college algebra; some things you may not even realize that you're doing. Learning about the concept of fractions will help you do all kinds of math, not just add and subtract.Using a math calculator is one thing you'll want to remember. Make sure that you have a calculator at home and not just a calculator on your cell phone. Check out the brands and see which one you think is best for you.Check out how many applications you have on your phone. Use all of them if you can. It doesn't matter if they're just for showing your friends how to make something or if they're meant for real.All those apps can help you use them on the go, when you're at the office or while you're on the bus. That's one of the ways that these are so handy and they come with free math tutoring software. You won't have to pay for anything to use them.Learning from actual teachers isn't always easy and you'll want to make sure that you're taking a class in college that will let you have a teacher for the entire semester. You'll want someone to take you aside and talk with you so that you don't skip ahead in your studies. This way you can learn about all the ways that you can use math in your life.College algebra can be a difficult subject to learn, but you'll definitely benefit from doing some of the math concepts used by other students. Whether you need help with multiplication tables or just to get a better idea of how things work, you can get that help through college algebra tutoring. Find a math tutor or a couple tutors who specialize in helping students in college.

What is it Like to Attend the University of California-San Diego

What is it Like to Attend the University of California-San Diego The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teach theyre sharing their college experiences as well. Alec received his bachelors degree in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from the University of California-San Diego. He currently livesin Los Angeles and specializesin algebra tutoring, history tutoring, and AP tutoring,among other subjects. See what he had to say about his experience at the University of California-San Diego: Describe the campus setting and transportation options. Alec: Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the University of California-San Diego is located in the citys sunny northern suburb of La Jolla. The community surrounding the campus is extremely safe, although it lacks many of the features of a traditional college town. While a car is useful (as is the case across California), San Diegos bus system is pretty well developed a blessing because the University of California-San Diego is chronically short on parking. How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Alec:The large size of the campus population nearly 24,000 undergraduate students and over 5,000 graduate studentsmakes it difficult but not impossible to build relationships with professors. Professors in departments connected to the humanities and social science are much more accessible and enjoy spending their time teaching. Meanwhile, making appointments with academic advisors is generally an easy process. However, requesting minutes from the meeting in writing and via email is critical because course requirements can change unexpectedly, which leaves students forced to take extra classes. How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Alec:Living on campus was a great way to meet other students. Most first-year students are placed with either one or two roommates and are divided among six colleges Revelle, Marshall, Muir, Warren, ERC, and Sixth. These colleges are not based on major and are instead united by general education requirements. These different colleges are essential because the university is gigantic in size, with the main campus covering more than 1,150 acres. Second-year students are given better housing and can more easily request their roommates, although they are still usually restricted to living with members of their college. While the RAs organize many social events for students living in the dorms, these events are usually open to any student regardless of college. Despite the camaraderie offered by living in the dorms for the first two years, the university over-prices the rent for on-campus housing and requires meal plans. The administration has increasingly been marketing living on campus for third-years and transfer students in an effort to raise more money. Which majors/programs are best represented and supported? Alec:The University of California-San Diego is well known for its science programs (biology, chemistry, and physics in particular) and its social science departments. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution (a biology major that is the University of California-San Diegos equivalent of a zoology program) and I minored in Political Science. Although the EBE major was tailored toward students interested in animals, classes were hard to get into due to intense competition with pre-med students. When courses were available, the pre-med students monopolized the grading pool and the time of the professors and teaching assistants. In contrast, professors in the political science and humanities departments would go out of their way to help students learn, using class time to reinforce important concepts. Readings and essays were assigned to test critical thinking and create connections between various disciplines. How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Alec:The University of California-San Diego requires students to put in effort and make time outside of classes to make friends. There are hundreds of clubs and numerous opportunities to get involved with on campus. It is quite possible to have a thriving social circle, but extremely difficult to balance with classes and keep good grades. The administration treats the social life on campus as a nuisance at best and a serious threat at worst, which has led to a crackdown on the most popular events and student activities over the past decade. Greek life at the University of California-San Diego is negligible. There are a handful of fraternities and sororities, but local law restricts the number of students living in the same home, effectively preventing frat and sorority houses. However, there are some popular frats and sororities. How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services? Alec:The Career Center has many connections but is less effective than it could be. Nonetheless, many tech and biotech companies love to recruit from the University of California-San Diego. How are the various study areas such aslibraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Alec:There are numerous libraries on campus, although the best known is Geisel, which is located at the heart of campus at Price Center. The seventh and eighth floor are the super quiet zones, and the entire building becomes packed 24-7 during finals week. Normally there is more than enough room to study, and the University of California-San Diego has some incredible items in its special collections. Describe the surrounding town. Alec:The University of California-San Diego is a short drive (15-30 minutes) from almost anywhere in San Diego, and there is always something new to do in the city. However, the upper-middle class neighborhood directly surrounding the campus has an uncomfortable relationship with the university and the college students seeking to live close to the school. As most first- and second-year students do not bring cars, going off campus is often viewed as either a chore due to its difficulty or a chance to have a vacation. But since most students are kept very busy by classes, even third- and fourth-year students rarely venture to downtown San Diego and downtown La Jolla except on rare occasions. However, the University of California-San Diego overlooks the Pacific Ocean and even owns its own stretch of beach, which is a draw for students looking to relax on a warm California day. How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Alec:There are almost 24,000 undergraduate students and more than 5,000 graduate studentsat the University of California-San Diego. This makes it extremely hard to get to know people outside of your college, major, or social circle. Even students extremely active in campus politics know only a small number of students, and elections often consist ofa few hundred students. Class sizes also made it difficult to learn because lectures rarely concerned the material being tested and students rarely made friends with their peers due to the competitive nature of the school. Regardless, the large size of the student body had benefits, especially the opportunity to meet new people. Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Alec:My most enjoyable classes were my humanities classes, which were a 5-course requirement of Revelle College. The sequence consisted of literature, history, philosophy, and science that led to the development of Western civilization. My favorite professor was Stanley Chodorow, a former dean at the University of California-San Diego, as well as a former provost at the University of Pennsylvania, who taught the first and second humanities courses. Professor Chodorow helped give relevance to the lessons of the ancient Greeks, the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Roman Empire, and the Middle Ages. Although the material could have been terribly dry, he helped me become a well-rounded person. I enjoyed his class so much that I used a University of California-San Diego program to go to lunch with a professor on at least occasions to talk with him and learn more. Check out Alecs tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

Choose Superprof for Home Tuition with a Private Tutor

Choose Superprof for Home Tuition with a Private Tutor Find Your Ideal Private Tutor for Online Tutoring or Home Tutoring with Superprof Chapters4 Years of Expertise in TutoringCustomer SatisfactionA Team at Your ServiceEurope's Private Tutoring CommunityGuaranteesAs a number of studies over the past few years have concluded, France (Superprof's home country) is the European leader of private tuition.According to ConsoGlobe, annual turnover for supplemental instruction in France stands at around 2 billion euros.Closer to home, the Financial Times reports that demand for one to one tutoring is up by a third  in the UK. This is especially the case in University towns and the areas surrounding London where demand for Oxford tutors and Surrey tutors is rising.The constant growth that can be witnessed in the market for private tuition has several causes including:The UK’s falling PISA score (which measures a country’s academic performance)Overcrowding in classrooms, resulting in an increased risk of children falling behindChanges to GCSE exams making them tougherHistorically, the market for private tutoring is split in to academic support organisations and local private tutors.With a tutoring company lacking the option to choose your tutor and individual private tutors not guaranteeing an effective methodology, new players have started filling in the gaps to offer clients high-quality support which is tailored to the learner based on their strengths and weaknesses.And Superprof is one of these.By putting tutor and tutee in contact with one another via a secure and easy-to-use online tutoring platform offering tuition in more than 250 subjects (which go much further than academic support), our dynamic startup has revolutionised one on one tutoring.Forget the overcrowded noticeboards - Superprof's platform is simple and easy to browse ¦ source: Pixabay: PexelsSince it was founded in August of 2013, Superprof has seen itself be accepted as a high-quality alternative in the eyes of all who wish to learn or refresh their memory with a tutor.Whether you need help looking for a math tutor, French tutor, English tutor, chemistry tutor or even a guitar tutor, Superprof will be able to help. CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Ol uwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors4 Years of Expertise in TutoringSuperprof was founded by Yann Leguillon and Wilfried Granier, who had noticed the growing number of adverts for private tutors in a bakery.These two engineers asked themselves two very simple questions:How are you supposed to check whether an advertising tutor has the right qualifications and methodology?How do you know whether the displayed tutoring services are still available?In a bid to find a way of answering these questions (which can easily stand in the way of someone beginni ng their learning journey), Leguillon and Granier came up with a platform of pre-approved educators.Superprof does all of the asking for you, so that you can rest assured that all of our tutors are qualified and experienced.For nearly four years, the Superprof team who are passionate about sharing knowledge has three main objectives:Giving everyone the opportunity to make progress with high-quality teachingAllowing the tutee to choose their tutorGiving students a certain freedom by allowing them to take lessons when they so wish (which lets pupils follow an intensive course, for example, rather than regular lessons throughout the year)Superprof’s modern approach to learning allows for a greater choice of subjects.Looking for private sports coaching? Get your trainers on! ¦ source: Pixabay - jarmolukFrom academic support for students following the national curriculum to private music lessons and sports coaching, the disciplines offered by out fantastic teachers are extremely varie d.Not only can you find tutors for English, biology and history, but you can also find teachers who tutor singing, painting and football hourly.You can even be tutored in origami!Customer SatisfactionWhether you’re a student or a teacher, your satisfaction is our priority.When it comes to in home tutoring, the Superprof team knows that the needs of each student go beyond the acquisition of knowledge.For this reason, the type of teaching available varies from tutor to tutor, as some specialise in teaching certain ages or levels.This means that users can access high-quality tailored teaching with ease.Science help is in high demand on Superprof, with a large number of physics and biology tutors UK.This can be explained in part by the fall in performance of UK children when it comes to the sciences.Even if you’re in college, sixth form, or higher education, we have tutors for you.Hard work motivated by student success ¦ source: Pixabay - geraltThe variety of tutors, who may be uni versity students, working or even retired teachers, explains why 93.7% of Superprof users say they are ‘very satisfied’ with our services.The quality of the teachers on our platform can also be explained by their faultless motivation to help students to succeed.Superprof keeps three important values for great results and high customer satisfaction:Sign-up is freeProfiles are checked and verifiedStudents can read about their potential tutors in reviews left by their previous students before scheduling a lessonThe last point is critical to the functioning of our website, as it allows each student to form an opinion of their future teacher and to ascertain whether their tutor’s methodology will suit them.Thanks to this system, a home tutor who does not take their job seriously will receive fewer students and will, therefore, have a lower rating. By the same token, the best tutors climb their way up the ratings so users can be sure that they will receive quality tuition.So, the re view system is a crucial part of the trust which develops between learner and educator as well as between the Superprof team and users.Receiving positive reviews on a regular basis motivates our tutors, shows them how well they are performing and encourages them to keep up the good work.Cécile belongs to the vast majority of our online tutors who teach via webcam and teaches French as a foreign language on Superprof:  â€œSuperprof is a fantastic platform to make yourself visible to potential customers. I am self-employed and 90% of my online French lessons come from Superprof users. Having customer reviews on my profile makes all the difference.” CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Yu weiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.0 0 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsA Team at Your ServiceSuperprof’s passion and professionalism made it a worthy winner of the ‘Coup de CÅ"ur du Public’ (Public’s favourite) at the France Digitale Tour in June of 2016.Our team does all it can to make your search as smooth as possible ¦ source: Pixabay - 377053Camille from communication services, Mathilde from customer support and Simon, who looks after Superprof’s online visibility, work tirelessly behind the scenes as part of a team of 18 people to ensure the smooth running of the platform.As part of a forward-thinking company looking to bring tuition into the digital age, half of the team is dedicated to using new technologies for the constant improvement of the Superprof website.The Superprof website has:More than 12,000 searches each dayA simple and ergonomic interfaceA powerful algorithm which personalises each requestA system displaying tutor availability in real timeStudents can be put in touch wit h as many tutors as they wish for one month and pay nothing at all!Europe's Private Tutoring CommunityToday, Superprof is active in 10 countries around the world, particularly in the UK, Spain, the USA and most recently, Mexico.However, before thinking on an international scale, the Superprof team worked to develop its presence all over France.With popularity in all the big cities as well as in the more rural areas, Superprof boasts the largest group of tutors in Europe with over 1.4 million teachers worldwide.Our teachers can provide academic support to help students with A Level exam preparation, study skills and homework from Toulouse to Edinburgh, but for those who can’t find a tutor in their area, there is always online tutoring.Whether they deliver their lessons online or in person, our tutors are incredibly varied. On Superprof, you could come across:A university student who tutors to earn a bit of pocket moneya certified teacher who offers GCSE exam prep sessionsA retired teacher who helps students keep up with their classmatesA professional who used their experience to benefit their studentsWhat do all of these people have in common? A desire to share their knowledge and overcome any obstacles along the way!Superprof boasts 1.4 million tutors over 250 subjects ¦ source: Visualhunt - Untalented GuyIf your preferred tutor is not available, Superprof will find you another tutor that suits your needs.GuaranteesAcademic success never comes easy, but we at Superprof love a good challenge.That’s why we can promise quality and value in our Superprof Guarantee.Trustpilot reviews which let users rate their experience with Superprof‘Tutor profile verified’ sticker on tutors’ pagesNo advertising on our websiteA classification of relevance of our tutors according to your searchProtection of your personal dataFor all of these reasons, more than 170,000 students have already decided to put their trust in us and take private lessons on Superprof.Will you b e next?

Professores da LOI English Mark Zuniga

Professores da LOI English Mark Zuniga Aqueles que escolhem explorar o mundo, viajando e vivendo em locais diferentes, normalmente são apaixonados por conhecer novas culturas e ter experiências diferentes. Alguns dos professores da LOI English são assim, como Mark Zuniga o professor da LOI English com quem conversei esta semana.Mark é natural do Sul da Califórnia, mas atualmente vive em Buenos Aires, na Argentina, depois de já ter vivido no México e no Chile. Ele contou que, quando ainda vivia em Los Angeles, sempre buscou ter experiências e atividades multiculturais. Enquanto vivia na Califórnia, Mark trabalhou na  STAR Education, uma organização sem fins lucrativos que oferece atividades relacionadas com arte, ciência e ecologia para crianças de famílias de baixa renda.Em 2007, Mark começou a trabalhar para uma empresa em Santiago do Chile, que permitiu que ele ganhasse experiência profissional em outras cidades da América do Sul, como Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Montevidéu e Buenos Aires. Essas exper iências, juntamente com o fato de ter vivido no Chile, fizeram com que ele se apaixonasse pela região e cimentaram a sua decisão de viver na Argentina. Atualmente, ele está completando o mestrado em Planejamento Urbano, na Universidade de Buenos Aires.Mark costuma ter alunos de diversos países, como Brasil, Rússia, China, Itália e Japão. Tal como outros os professores da LOI English com quem falei, ele afirmou que cada cultura tem os seus desafios com o Inglês. Porém, as dificuldades com a pronúncia, que dependem da língua nativa do aluno, apresentam padrões comuns. Por isso, Mark comentou que seria injusto classificar os alunos de uma mesma cultura como um grupo homogêneo, ao invés de avaliá-los individualmente.Ele também mencionou que tem uma abordagem de ensino interativa e reforçou que acredita que o mais importante quando se está aprendendo um idioma é se sentir à vontade. Foi por isso que ele me disse que vê as sessões como aulas de conversação com um ambiente descontraído, onde ele trabalha com os alunos da forma que melhor se adequa a cada um deles, levando em consideração os seus interesses, o seu estilo de aprendizagem e os seus pontos fortes e fracos. Mark adicionou ainda que sabe como é difícil aprender outra língua, tendo em conta a sua experiência aprendendo Espanhol.Mark recomenda aos seus alunos que ouçam podcasts de notícias e música, e vejam programas no estilo talk show de forma a complementar as aulas, mas não se sentiu confortável para dar uma dica mais ampla para quem está aprendendo Inglês, por causa da sua visão de que cada aluno deve ser visto como um indivíduo. Segundo ele, cada pessoa tem um conjunto de desafios e/ou objetivos, o que acaba por gerar uma situação única na qual ele gosta de ajudar.

3 Tips On Writing About Heavy Subjects

3 Tips On Writing About Heavy Subjects ACT SAT Prep and College Admissions Blog A college essay does not have to be about an important topic â€" cancer, death, poverty, etc. â€" basically, the Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened To You Or Anyone Anywhere. It has to be important to you, but not by definition heavy or serious. However, sometimes a major world issue or a personal tragedy is vital to understanding you and your worldview. It’s understandable to want to share that with an admissions committee. If you truly want to write about something serious, here are some tips on how to handle it. Keep the focus on how YOU relate to the topic at hand Discuss major issues in the context of you and your life story. It can be difficult to have any sort of meaningful dialogue about such topics as war or racism in approximately 650 words. Narrow your focus down to a specific time or event when your life was personally affected by such an issue. Describe how it made you feel, what your reaction was, and how you have grown as a person as a result of going through the experience. Providing relevant (the key being relevant, not “every sordid”), specific details will be the key to keeping your college essay from feeling generic or superficial. Ultimately, the point of the essay is to give a little insight into an applicant as an individual. Don’t waste the opportunity by pontificating on ending world hunger without relating it back to exactly why it’s a goal of yours and what you plan to do about it. Explain your transformation as a result of the issue All college essays should have some sort of narrative arc to them, but it’s especially important if you are using a Major Life Tragedy as the backbone of your essay. There needs to be a significant transformation between You Before and You After this event. Show how going through what you have has made you a better, stronger, and wiser person. What do you appreciate now? What changes have you made to your behavior and lifestyle? What lessons have you taken from the experience? In order to make your essay about tragedy feel essential, you must be able to employ distance and perspective so you can reflect on the changes you’ve made externally or internally since the tragedy occurred. If you don’t have distance from the event yet or are still struggling with its effect on your life, it might not be the right topic choice. Think about what you want the Admissions Committee to understand about you by telling this story Just having experienced something horrible in your life doesn’t mean that a college owes you any sort of opportunity. Exploiting your personal or family tragedy to elicit sympathy can make you seem like a victim, instead of someone who has dealt with adversity in his or her life and who has continued to persevere in spite of it. What makes your tragedy pertinent to your college admissions process is in describing how far you have come from that low point, and how you will continue to grow in college. Some topics are controversial, uncomfortable, and frankly, irrelevant to whether you’ll succeed in college. Think long and hard about whether the subject you’re considering is something you want to share with the Admissions Committee. It also may not be the best use of your personal statement, but rather as a supplemental statement to explain poor performance or excessive absences. Use your best judgment. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, 'f08a3c58-464f-4164-a82e-313b7951bbb2', {});

Fun Run 4 Keys to the Ability to Learn Languages Quickly

Fun Run 4 Keys to the Ability to Learn Languages Quickly 4 Keys to the Ability to Learn Languages Quickly Its a fast-paced world out there.How many times have you seen someone waiting at the bus stop, constantly checking their watch, getting more and more frustrated with a delay of just two or three minutes?Its no surprise, then, that when people ask for advice on learning languages,  the main thing on their minds is often speed.Language learning involves a hump to get over, an initial investment of time where you put in effort but cant see the results yet.A week or even a month of regular study usually wont get you far in a language, and dropping your studies at that point means youll probably forget whatever you did pick up.But there are plenty of people out there who can pick up languages with incredible efficiency. They can add them to their CVs one after another like a daisy chain.Have you ever seen a video of someone switching between nine languages?These people arent superhuman.Theyre just ordinary people like you and me, but theyve poured so much time into this activity that they ve discovered the key principles to learning a language fast and holding on to it.Lets see what those principles are. 4 Keys to the Ability to Learn Languages QuicklyThe difference between beginners and experienced language learners is that the experienced ones know how to use their hours efficiently.Imagine a polyglot picking up Spanish to a conversational level in six months.Sounds crazy, right? The average person might say I spent two years learning Spanish and I dont remember anything!But what they really mean was that during those two years they had a class five times a week and summers offâ€"in other words, plenty of opportunities to forget.To a polyglot, six months learning Spanish likely means that they were devoting more than an hour of serious, effective study time every day, plus regular review of their material.They probably had a similar count of hours on taskâ€"but they used them a lot more effectively. Heres how you can do the same.1. Identify Goals Relevant to Your LifeUnstructured learning is sometimes called dabbling, as in Im dabbling in painting.  But in the context of language learning it might as well be called flailing.Its all too common for learners to start half a dozen beginner courses at the same time without any real plan for when they want to finish or how much time they want to spend per day.Inevitably, after a few weeks, theyve made little progress, repeated the same first-lesson material over and over, and given up.Thats not just learning slowlyâ€"thats not learning at all.Lets say you really want to pass your universitys required foreign language course.Your target should certainly be mastering the vocabulary and grammar in the textbook and required readings.In the same few weeks that you might spend on a general beginner course, you could probably learn half the words in the textbook!Or, lets say youve planned a trip to a foreign country for next summer. Youll want to focus a lot of your energy on the tourist situations most likely to happen to youâ€"reading a menu is a big one, as is checking into a hotel.Brainstorm some situations that you might find yourself in and the likely interactions or vocabulary that will come up. Then use that as a jumping-off point for learning related vocabulary and sentence structures.Where a general course might have you writing an email to an imaginary pen pal youll never meet, you can choose to spend your valuable time on practicing what you know is going to be relevant to you.Use the topic and format menus on  FluentU  to find content that matches your needs the best. FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons.By thinking of targeted things to learn, youll find yourself advancing far, far faster than if you were just learning in a general fashion.2. Never Miss a DaySleep is directly linked to memory. That’s significant for anybody, but especially so when youre tryi ng to learn and remember all the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of a new language.Advice that boils down to more studying may seem out of place in an article about speed learning, but the point is that you have to study efficiently.Spending three hours once a week on the language is way less efficient than 15 minutes a day, even though in the second scenario youre only studying about half the time.If you dont study regularly and give your brain time to absorb that information overnight, youll spend a lot of your study sessions in review time instead of advancing through the material.How can you keep yourself honest about your study time? Track your hours. You can use a time tracking app or simply keep a regular log.The simple act of writing down your study time and comparing it to previous days is a natural motivation to do more.3. Fill Your HoursWell, dont literally fill your hours. Seriously filling every waking minute with your target language is a good recipe for burnout and failure.The mind simply cant handle that kind of pressure, especially with a new language. No wonder lots of people in immersion programs end up taking refuge with movies and books in their native languages!What I mean here is to keep touching the language regularly throughout the day. Use some of your dead time to do quick review sessions of what you learned during your longer study periods.I suggest review sessions because your attention during these short bursts is unlikely to be as fully focused as it would be if you were sitting down and studying. But review doesnt take as much concentration, and therefore is ideal for multitasking.This can come in the form of re-listening to an audio course on the bus, messaging an exchange partner on your lunch break or even flipping through a couple of flashcards while youre standing in a line.This fits with the previous section about studying every dayâ€"by keeping the language fresh in your mind, youre not only fitting in more study mi nutes, but youre also preventing yourself from forgetting and having to waste time re-learning later.4. Learn with Laser PrecisionFiguring out what to learn is a very important step. Weve already talked about goals, but knowing what to learn to achieve those goals is another factor to consider.With so much of the language out there in books, movies and websites, you cant attack it all at once.One of the most common strategies is to use a frequency list of words to kick-start your vocabulary acquisition. You find, say, the most common 1,000 or 2,000 words in the language and work systematically through the list.When you know the first 1,000 words, you may be able to understand up to 80 percent of the words you encounterâ€"depending on the genre of the text, of course.With 2,000 words, that number jumps up to around 85%.Thats a good strategy, but a better strategy is to target your information and resources  even more precisely. Most frequency lists are drawn from newspapers because t hose are easy to get tons of data for. And thats great for your purposes if one of your goals is to be able to read a newspaper in your target language. But what if your goals are more speaking-oriented?If you learn from vocab lists based on subtitles, youll find yourself learning what people say instead of what they write.Depending on your goals for the language, that could make a big difference!Speaking of speaking, a lot of us have certain turns of phrase that we use more than others. Little things that perhaps set us apart from others in our speech communities.For instance, I tend to begin a lot of sentences with I feel like and one of the most common idioms I use is out of the blue.To avoid the feeling of being regularly lost for words in your target language, learn how to say these things relatively early.It doesnt matter if some teachers consider them to be more advancedâ€"the point is, youre going to have a desire to express certain sentiments in your new language fairly oft en, and youll speak more fluently at an earlier stage if you know how.Theres one more way to learn a language quickly, and thats simply practice.The more you try learning languages, the more effort you put into teaching yourself this concept or that conceptâ€"and the faster it all comes.Thats partially because you get used to seeing links and patterns between languages, and partially because you get to know the way you personally learn.You know whats worked for you in the past, and you know what will work for you in the future.So to really get fast at learning new languages, keep doing it!

5 Fascinating TED Talks About Language Learning Thatll Light a Fire Under You

5 Fascinating TED Talks About Language Learning Thatll Light a Fire Under You 5 Fascinating TED Talks About Language Learning Thatll Light a Fire Under You Want to sound super smart in front of your friends?Want to do it in more than one language?Theres a TED Talk for that.In fact, there are a bunch.TED Talks are a fast, entertaining way to pick up new knowledge on all kinds of topics,  from architecture to zoology to, of course, languages. Many language lovers have puzzled over the complexities of foreign language acquisition, and some bright sparks have turned their insights into fascinating TED Talks.Below, youll find five great ones to help you study smarter and stay motivated on your path towards fluency.Some are quite theoretical, so Ill also give you an excellent reason to watch each one, plus tips on how they can help you with your language learning on a practical level. 5 Fascinating TED Talks About Language Learning Thatll Light a Fire Under You4 Reasons to Learn a New LanguageJohn McWhorter is a world-leading expert in second language acquisitionâ€"so he should know a thing or two about this topic!In this talk, he asks what the point of learning a language other than English is, considering English is becoming the main language of communication worldwide. His reasons are:If you ever want to understand another culture, language is a crucial aspect. You cant expect to really know another country until you speak some of its language.Language learning has health benefits. If you speak two or more languages, youre better at multitasking and dementia is less likely to set in.Its never been easier to teach yourself another language.  You dont have to go to class or buy fancy courses. Any language you want is in your pocket.Its a lot of fun! Feeling unfamiliar sounds rolling around your mouth, toying with word orderâ€"its an invigorating experience.Why You Should WatchOne simple word: motivation!Lack of motivation is probably the biggest reason why more people dont learn foreign languages. When other tasks take priority, or when language roadblocks spring up, it can be easy to  lose the drive to learn.This TE D Talk is the one to watch to get excited about language study, from someone whos clearly excited about it himself. Whats more, itll be useful whether youre just starting out and looking for some motivation, or deep in your studies and trying to stay focused.Thats why its first up on this list. Once youve gathered the motivation, maybe this one should be nextOne Simple Method to Learn Any LanguageThis is a talk from a TEDx, one of the independent TED-affiliated events. Scott Young and Vat Jaiswal are the speakers, and they claim to have one simple technique to learn any language.Young and Jaiswal argue that the reason early language learning tends to meet with heavy resistance is the zone of fear.  In other words, youre too embarrassed to speak. If you can find a way to push past this, theres less frustration and more reward.But how?The solution is: dont speak English.Easier said than done, right? But theres a good reason behind it. If you refuse to speak English (or whatever your n ative language is), youll be able to learn the most important words of your target language very quickly. Youll even overlearn, getting set words and phrases deeply embedded into your mind.Youll also develop linguistic workarounds, finding ways to say what you mean in the target language before resorting to a translator.To demonstrate the success of this theory, the speakers went to Spain, Brazil, China and Korea to learn the native languages using no English at allâ€"not even with each other. The video clip they share shows its success, with them having relatively complex conversations in each language within three months.Why You Should WatchThe no-English rule is a practical way to pick up a new language fast. Ive been lucky enough to have moved to another country (Spain) to improve my language. Although I was working with English speakers, I deliberately lived with Spanish people who didnt speak English so I knew I had some people in my life that I needed to use only Spanish with .My ability in the language skyrocketed as a result!Even if you cant move to another country, you can apply the no-English rule to a limited context, such as with an individual person. Find one person, either locally or online through a language exchange platform;  commit to only speaking your target language with them; start speaking!And there are other ways to accomplish this goal online. FluentU is an especially useful tool since it makes foreign language immersion entertainingâ€"youll want to keep using only your target language! On FluentU, youll get real-world videos like movie clips, inspiring talks, news broadcasts and more, whichve been transformed into a language learning experience.Each video comes with captions you can click for an in-context definition and native pronunciation. Youll also see other videos that use the word, giving you a full understanding of how to use it just from target language context.FluentU also creates flashcards and exercises based on each video , so you can make sure you remember new words and keep your brain in foreign language-mode. Challenge yourself to use the no-English rule alongside a FluentU free trial and watch how quickly your skills grow!A Word Game to Communicate in Any LanguageAjit Narayanan works with children with autism. They struggle with what he calls abstraction, or thinking of an object in terms other than itself. This leads to problems with language: if you think about it, a word is nothing more than an abstract representation of an object or concept.So he developed a tool to communicate without grammar. Instead of arranging words as a sentence, you arrange them as a map. Filters are added to demonstrate things like negation and different tenses. Children with autism could make sentences more effectively using this system than English.This led him to think about second language acquisition. When you learn language as an adult, you typically do it through comparisons/translations to your native language â€"as Young and Jaiswal noted.Narayanan realized his system could become a tool to help any language learner, even those without autism, naturally construct sentences in a new language without relying on their native one as a bridge.Why You Should WatchAlthough Narayanans motivation is children with autism, he ingeniously discusses the impact on learning language as an adult. His ideas can help you to remove yourself from your native language when learning a new one, using semantic maps to escape the constraints of your mother grammar.How much does this help in practice? Thats for you to decide, but I can see clear benefits if youre learning a language thats significantly grammatically distinct from your native one, such as an English speaker learning Korean.Learn to Read Chinese… with Ease!ShaoLan Hsueh realizes how complex Chinese writing looks to non-natives. But luckily, shes here to help!She has a handy system for picking up the language in writing. She shares eight radicals, which form the base of a number of different words. She then shows how you can expand your vocabulary to 32 characters by combining the radicals, as well as sharing thematic pictorials to make memorization far easier and faster!Once you have the 32 characters, you can move on from there to start building phrases.Why You Should WatchThis is only a short video and its specifically about Chinese, but itll be useful to anyone  learning a language with a radically unfamiliar alphabet.  ShaoLan will show you how picking it up can be far simpler than you thought!Don’t Kill Your LanguageIn Lebanon, not speaking English is sometimes seen as backwards and uneducated. In this video, Suzanne Talhouk delivers an impassioned defense of protecting the Arabic language.She argues that mastery of your mother tongue is crucial for creative expression in other languages. She also notes that the only way to kill a nation is to kill its language, which is the reason some countries such as France have created special institutions to protect their languages.This doesnt mean all English words in Arabic contexts are banned: an English word like cool or internet can convey a specific meaning that Arabic speakers might want to express. She just wants Arabic speakers to respect their own language and use it as fully and thoroughly as possible.Why You Should WatchTED originated in the U.S., so it makes sense that most of these videos are in English; nevertheless, it felt right to include a non-English one in here, as itll be perfect for a language learner like you! For me, it was a fascinating insight into some of the issues with the English invasion of other languages and dialects.This talk is a great way to understand the importance of a multiplicity of different tongues. It should give you a sense of pride in your own language, as well as underlining that you can exist in an increasingly interconnected world, respecting both your own language and those of others.We hope these five TE D Talks leave you feeling psyched, smart and ready to get fluent! Happy watching!