Tongue Tied When it Comes to Condolences? Simple Strategies Help You Speak and Write With Ease

By Gail Hamilton



It can happen to us all. When faced with conveying condolences, we freeze up, mumble miserably or mouth a bunch of stilted cliches that in no way communicate the real sympathy we feel in our hearts. Then we just want to escape the presence of the bereaved as soon as possible, all the while beating ourselves up about our ham-handed behavior. "Why couldn't I do better," we demand of ourselves. "It looked as though I don't care - when I really do!"

Something about the face of grief can make us deeply uncomfortable so that we often perform worst just when our comforting words are needed the most. Below are some simple strategies to deal with this very human situation.

1. Be prompt. The longer you wait, the more uneasy you will be. A face-to-face visit it is best, though a personal letter, hand written, is also good if you cannot meet. Call upon the bereaved and begin by expressing your sympathy.

Say something like, " I want to give you my condolences on the death your Aunt Emma. As soon as I heard, I started thinking of you. You know that all my sympathies are with you." Make sure you mention the name of the deceased.

Most of us get this far before we find we don't know what else to say. Then the discomfort really sets in. So before you start shifting from foot to foot, plunge straight ahead.

2. Come up with some memories of the deceased. While you may fear that these will distress the bereaved, it's much more likely they will really appreciate knowing how their loved one touched your life.

"Your Aunt Emma," you can relate, "used to give my brother and me peppermints if we met her on our way to school. Peppermints are still my favorites because of her. And remember when she coached our drama club? That year, she had even me convinced I could be a star."

As you go down memory lane, your nervousness will vanish and you may even find yourself and the bereaved smiling fondly.

3. This will lead so easily to the next step which is to offer any help you can. Make sure your offer is sincere, and that the bereaved knows you will really come though. Now is the time for thoughtful consideration of what the bereaved might need.

"I'd love to look after your little dog while you are away clearing up your aunt's estate." Or, "We'd love to have you over for dinner if you're feeling up to it." Or "I'll be happy to drive you to the train whenever you want."

4. On leaving, repeat more words of comfort.

"Your Aunt Emma used to talk about you all the time. I'm sure you know how proud she was of you. She is leaving you a lot of happy memories."

If you take some time to plan ahead, decide on some special things to say, and follow the simple steps above, you will find that you can give condolences from the heart and never have to fear awkwardness again.

Help Your Child to Read and Write Better

By Steve Thornton



Phonics: The relationships between letters and sounds.

Phonics Checklist:

When we speak, we join sounds together to make words which all people that speak our language have an agreed meaning for. We form these words into sentences. The sounds of the English language are sorted into 2 groups:

1) Vowel sounds
2) Consonant sounds

English has 18 vowel sounds and 25 consonant sounds that are used to make hundreds of thousands of words. Words are a collection of vowel and consonant sounds blended together. Every word must have at least one vowel sound.

A syllable is a word or part of a word with only one vowel sound. Most English words have 2 or more syllables.

We use the 26 letters in the English alphabet to represent the 18 vowel sounds and 25 consonant sounds. The English Alphabet has 26 letters to spell 43 sounds. This means that English is more complicated than if there was one letter for every sound. Also, English vowel sounds may be spelled in different ways. This is why English spelling can be confusing at times.

Reading and spelling are linked. 87% of English words follow the English spelling rules. About 13% don't and that is usually because of a vowel sound that has a different spelling.

The first stage in learning to read and write English well is understanding how the system works. With that basis, your child will start to handle the words that don't follow the rules with more confidence. Your child will learn the sounds of English and the combinations of letters that represent them. He or she will learn how to blend sounds into words as well as how to spell them.

Practical Article Marketing Tips - How to Discover the Myths in Your Niche and Write More Articles

By Jeff Herring



Article marketing works best when you have a high volume of articles. One of the best ways to increase your article volume is to write about myths in your niche, the things people believe that are just not true.

But how do you discover the myths in your niche?

How to identify myths in your niche

Here are three strategies to identify myths in your niche.

1. What are the commonly held mis-beliefs in your niche?

One of the ones in my niche is that you can't make money with articles. You can't make money with article marketing. I love that myth. I love busting that myth.

Step back and consider. What are the ones in your niche that are commonly held misconceptions or commonly held beliefs?

2. What questions are you frequently asked by your list community, your members, your clients?

What questions are you frequently asked that reveal a myth? Those of you that have been following me for a while know I laugh every time somebody asks me about duplicate content because of the big myth about how deadly it is and what you've got to do to avoid it.

A lot of times in frequently asked questions, there is a myth in there that you can pick up and exploit for the good of you and for the good of your clients, giving them the right information and demonstrating that you're in fact an expert in your field.

A little known way to discover myths

3. Pay attention to the questions asked by other people on teleseminars and at live, in-person seminars that reveal a myth.

Many times when I speak at conferences or go to conferences, one of the things I'm listening for are the questions that come from the audience.

Those are great articles. Those reveal a lot of myths and that's even a great place to discover products in your niche. What are the questions that people are asking? What do they need?

You can build products, articles, content, and teleseminars all around that. They will also reveal different myths and misconceptions that you can write about and show your expert ability.

How to Speak French - Learn French Fast With This Amazing Secret!

By Franck Silvestre


Do you want to learn a new language and be able to speak like a real native?

It's not as difficult as you may be thinking. Let me show you my method to learn French or any other language of your choice.

The truth is that there is not only one way to learn a new language, but there are several methods to do so. I'm a French native, and I speak and write several languages. I'm fluent in English, Arabic, French (my mother tongue), and creole. I also speak Spanish.

So how I do it, and most importantly, how you can do this too?

1. Think out the box

I know many people who try to learn a new language, but they fail because they try to do what everyone else is telling them to do. You need to understand that you are different, and that something working for John Doe might not work for you. You need to review the various ways of learning French, and then, go with the one that work best for you.

2. Immerse yourself in a French 'ambiance'

You don't really need to travel to Paris for complete immersion. You can do this without any French native at all. For this to work, you need to have friends that are also passionate about French, just like you. Do this now. Pick up the phone, and tell to your friends that whenever you meet together, you will speak French for the first ten minutes.

Believe me, this is powerful. Just imagine doing this every time you see your friend. If you see him every day at work, you'll be talking almost one hour of French in real life situation.

But what's even more powerful is that whenever you can't find the French word you need to express yourself, all you need to do is to search for it in the dictionary. And believe me, if you do this every single time, you will progress pretty quickly.

Do you want to discover MORE killer tips and secrets to become fluent in French FAST? Get your French Learning Secret now at my: http://www.learnfrenchexpert.com website

5 Ways to Break Grammar Rules and Write Stellar Articles

By Jan Verhoeff


Everyone wants to know how to write articles that command attention and get noticed by the readers. Few are willing to go the distance and learn the secret of breaking grammar rules that will help them attain their goals. You will have those secrets if you follow these five simple methods of skipping over Grammar Rules and just write.

1. Don't write like a professional writer.

This is really awesome! Once you know how to write like you talk and make people listen, you'll understand the simple basic of writing to be heard. No matter how many professional papers I write, I'm astounded by the number of times my readers go back to my casual documents and comment on the ease of reading. I've left out the big words, wrote in common language and had a blast sharing knowledge. Write like you talk.

2. Use some slang.

Slang is like the current dialect. It's that wholesome, I gotcha kind of thing that tells people you're on their level. When you come down to what's being said today, you'll use language people understand. The kind of words you use determine your audience.

3. Punctuate for tone.

Because you're writing for the reader, rather than the topic, you'll want to pause for effect now and then. A comma works well for a pause, as does an ellipse... On rare occasions when you want the reader to take note of something - important - a variation of the old 'dash' works well. Grab a quote and "identify" difference.

4. Startle your reader with conjunctions.

And they'll be more aware of what's being said. Normally, you'd never start a sentence with the words 'and' or 'but' - however, if you want to grab the reader's attention, dare to do something different. Arrest their thought process by eliminating commonalities. But use them only if you can make the word sound natural and comfortable in the flow of your articles.

5. Know your reader and speak directly.

This is important! Listen to me, because I don't want you to miss any of this. If you're going to write to an audience of one (and there's only one reader at a time reading) then you need to write to that one person. Write as if you know their name, get into their lives and let them know you recognize them, from the first word.

Are you ready to write articles that grab attention and compel the reader to click on your links?

Is Learning to Speak Spanish More Important Than Being Able to Read and Write Spanish?

By Daniel Major


Why this question is ever asked is beyond my comprehension. It goes without question that it is far better to be able to communicate verbally than spend your time passing slips of paper and using the written word, especially when Spanish is concerned. OK, so maybe I'm going to the extremes of interpretation but I'm just trying to put a point over.

Language purists and scholars demand that languages are spoken and learned correctly, and quite rightly so, that is their calling in life but, for the normal Joe, who needs to be able to fill his car with gas at a Spanish speaking service station or is desperate to find a men's room in a Mexican bar he's never been in before, the requirement for perfect grammar tends to hold little relevancy.

So the answer to the question isn't necessarily that it is more important to learn to speak Spanish first, but that it is the most logical way to learn Spanish because it is both quicker and more efficient.

The reason why is important for people to learn to speak Spanish first is because the need to communicate quickly far outweighs the need to communicate perfectly and in the case of Americans, who now share their country with the fifth largest population of Spanish speakers in the world, it has never been more important than it is now, to be able to communicate quickly.

Learning Spanish without worrying about verb conjugations and other grammatical gotchas is a far easier and much more natural way to learn the Spanish language. Eventually, the student will need to learn how to read and write Spanish and also learn the finer aspects of Spanish grammar, but these will all be skills that will be made a whole lot easier because of being able to understand and communicate in the spoken word.

The easiest and most cost effective way to learn conversational Spanish is to purchase an online interactive Spanish course, however if you have the funds and the spare time an intensive immersion course will get you fluent in no time at all.

Learn How to Speak and Write Japanese

By Kenneth H Jones


To learn a language you need a good motivating reason. It is pointless trying out a bit of one language and then a bit of another simply because you feel like. You need one solid good motive that will drive you to successful language learning. To learn how to speak and write japanese you need a good reason.

My Reason For Learning Japanese

For me the reason I started to learn Japanese was because 10 years ago my daughter had an exchange student staying with us who was from Tokyo. One evening the student's mother rang up to speak to her. I didn't know a single word of Japanese and she couldn't speak English. We were at the end of a phone completely unable to communicate. I couldn't explain that her daughter was out.

I found this event very embarrassing and decided to at least learn some of the language. For some reason this episode motivated me to learn a language. Very soon after this we made friends with a person from Japan now living near us in the UK. We hit it off from day one and she helped me learn the Japanese language.

The point of telling you all this is simply that you need to have a similar impetus to start language learning or you will not persevere with it. Much of the problem with the UK schools language program problems are simply motivation. We are told that our Foreign counterparts are so fluent that you do not need to learn their language. Actually I have found this to be quite incorrect. I have visited Japan, France, Germany and Spain in the last 5 years and had to fall back on my language skills to order food, book a room and get a hire car.

3 Reasons to learn Japanese

1. I need to learn a language to do my job. You can get posted overseas or have to deal with a foreign company who needs to have dialogue in both languages.

2. My new life partner's first language is not English. This could beg the question how you got this far without a common language but it can and does happen.

3. I am moving to Japan and want to become part of the local community. If this is you start now before you get there.

There of course a host of other motivational factors to language learning but there is one more worth mentioning which happens when you have started to learn. This is when you successfully communicate with someone in a foreign language who knows no English. You know enough to make yourself understood and have understood the other half of the conversation. I remember the first time this happened to me in Japan. I had to catch a train but was running late. I simply asked for the platform number of the train to the next city and got a clear cut answer that I understood in Japanese. I got on the train so keen to learn more of the Japanese language.

So learn Japanese by all means but make sure you have a good reason that will give you the discipline to stay with the course.

How to Write in Chinese

By Ari Alhadeff



Learning how to write in Chinese, or any other language, will be a tedious process. However, it will prove to be well worth the effort and patience in the long run. There are multiple benefits to learning a second, third, or even fourth language. Everything from economics to health care is becoming a global affair. Factors such as employment options, education opportunities, health well being, travel ease, etc.. all can be improved if a person is bilingual. The benefits and demand is growing daily.

Prestigious colleges have a limited number of spaces. Scholarship awards are sparse. Superior grades and exam scores are common on numerous applications. But, knowing something like how to write in Chinese is an eye catcher, a great interview talking point, and an application entry that will set the student apart.

Most large corporations are focusing on a global presence. For example, many companies in China are headquartered out of multiple cities across multiple continents. Employees are often transferred from one country to another, expected to function without translators, and need to be able to communicate with other company locations. An employee may work in the United States, but be expected to know how to write in Chinese. In a competitive job market simply knowing a second language can make all the difference in getting a gainful job. Language skills also expand the available employment opportunities. Advanced language skills are not only just important to business and economic professions. Even blue collar professions, like nursing and law enforcement, are in desperate need of bilingual employees.

There have been several studies done on the health benefits of learning multiple languages. All of the studies have shown that the brains' language regions grey matter is larger in those that speak multiple languages. Essentially, this gives credence to the theory that learning language results in a greater mental acuity, and a lesser chance of developing age related dementia.

Anyone that frequently travels abroad can attest to the pains involved with language barriers. Simply paying for an object is a matter of trust, if you do not know the native language. Furthermore, knowing the native language of your travel destination will substantially enrich the entire tourism experience. Imagine actually being able to read the writing on historical landmarks, know what you are ordering from a restaurant menu, and actually be able to converse with locals.

Learning other languages also expands social networking. Learning how to write in Chinese will mean another country full of potential friends, blog buddies, pen pals, and relationships... that would otherwise be excluded.

To open up this new world of friends and opportunities, Start Learning Chinese

The benefits and added opportunities from learning how to speak and write another language are endless.

Add Romance to the Wedding and Write Your Own Vows

By Naomi West


There are many important days in our lives. But none of these great days compare to the one where we get to walk down the aisle and commit ourselves to the one person that we will love and cherish for the rest of our days.

Our wedding day is by far the best one to experience and therefore it must be perfect in everyway. Every bride dreams of having everything she wants for her wedding and they want it all to look like it is from a fairytale. But when all is said and done they just want to see the man at the end of the aisle and be in his arms.

It is possible for brides and grooms to get caught up in the details, decorations, and attendees part of the wedding day - but the most important part is the ceremony itself. One of the best ways to make it truly romantic is for the couple to write their own vows to each other.

I know that this task seems daunting to many and those some of you may not even like to speak in public - but it is one of the best gifts that you could give to your partner. Obviously reciting the traditional vows that your pastor has drawn up for you is still romantic and special. However, who doesn't like to hear true passion and real words from someone's heart? It isn't everyday that you will be able to profess your love to someone in front of everyone that you love.

Writing wedding vows is easier then it looks. All you need to do is sit down with a piece of paper and pen and begin to think of all the ways that you love your partner and how they make you happy. If you want you can include how the two of you met and what you love most about them. This is your time to shine and to show them exactly how much you love them. Make it count!

When it is Great Learning to Speak Spanish at Home

By Peter O'Reilly


Anytime is a great time in learning to speak Spanish at home. Unlike in language centers where time has to be cultivated well, learning to speak Spanish at home makes the process fun, enjoyable, comfortable, and more productive for any student, both the young and old learners.

So how do you go about learning to speak Spanish at home? You don't need a professor, you only need computer software to purchase and download. This computer software is your professor at home or in the office, anywhere you want your lessons to be taken. The software has all the lessons and guides that will help you speak and write Spanish like a pro in your proper timing.

The lessons are audio-formatted or multimedia materials; you can listen to the instructional and run over it as many times as you wish to master the language. Educational notes on vocabulary use, grammatical correctness, and other conversation-related matters are taken up for your easy understanding. The creators have also incorporated fun conversational games that help your practice your speaking skills without to much worries and pressures. The program makes it sure you are learning and having fun at the same time.

To have doubts on such creative programs is normal, but good thing there are reviews on the net that can assure you that language program or software are trusted educational tools for everyone. To pull out that doubt out of your head, you can surf the web and check out rocket language sites that has perfectly created a program for hungry language learners.