Wednesday, March 25, 2020

The Role of USC Tutor Center

The Role of USC Tutor CenterUSC Tutor Center is a place where students can find reliable teaching assistants. The tutors that work at the center to provide both private and public tutoring for college students. A tutor is a teacher who works on their own or with a partner and provides tutoring to students while they are studying.Tutors at USC tutor center work independently. The center makes sure that tutors know the college and their requirements, and they also take care of basic things like their accommodation and food. The tuition fees are affordable. The tutors will generally be enrolled with a particular college.In order to become tutors, you have to take the National Teaching Certification test. It is a test that all teachers have to pass in order to become certified. These tests are standardized by the Teaching Standards Commission and are often recognized as well. There are other certification requirements as well, so it is important to know them as well.Tutors at USC tutor c enter have to attend all the classes given by the college. They also have to participate in campus tours as well. Sometimes, tutors will come to campus to give seminars, lectures, or demonstrations. Usually, a student will have a supervisor or a counselor that will accompany the tutor.At USC tutor center, tutors usually make around $20 an hour. They will also have to take their own food and other expenses into account. Generally, USC tutors will do the initial meeting with a student in a conference room. However, some places will require the tutor to meet the student face to face before giving her/his recommendation.Tutors working at USC tutor center are required to get a minimum of twenty-one credits before starting. However, notall the college courses are offered by the tutoring center. If a student wants to try out the college courses, he/she has to join a college that offers these courses. Also, students are only allowed to take one class from a tutor per semester.Tutors at USC tutor center need to know about the course and other aspects that will be involved in it. Students are required to enroll in some classes if they do not want to be in a group. The tutors are able to answer a student's questions and give him/her the basic information needed before enrolling in a class.

Friday, March 6, 2020

How Long Does it Take to Learn Spanish

How Long Does it Take to Learn Spanish How Long Does It Take to Learn Fluent Spanish? ChaptersBecome Fluent in Spanish: Defining Fluent Before We Get StartedWhat Does Being Bilingual Mean?Learn Spanish Quickly: Is It Possible to Learn Spanish in 6 Months with Total Immersion?How to Speak Spanish Fluently: Take Spanish Classes to Quickly Become BilingualHow to Learn Spanish Fast: Use the Right ToolsYou Could Be Fluent in Spanish with Bilingual SchoolingLearning Spanish while You Sleep: The Key to Bilingualism?Learn Spanish through Hypnosis to Become Fluent in Spanish?The Benefits of Learning Spanish QuicklyCan a Child Become Bilingual in Spanish?When people decide to learn a new language, they’re often concerned with how quickly they can start talking to people without having too many problems.Becoming fluent in Spanish, just like any other language, is usually measured in terms of months and years. The time it takes will largely depend on you, but if one thing is for sure, it's that to be successful, you will need a plan of action for learning Spanish.That said, the re are certain factors that we can look at which can give us a rough idea of how long it would take to learn Spanish if you started from square one.Being bilingual in Spanish means that you can read, write, speak, and listen without any real difficulties. Of course, this is difficult to measure, and is very subjective. In fact one of the only ways to measure someone’s level, is usually in terms of a test.For Spanish, you can opt to take a wide range of proficiency tests, such as the DELE or the SIELE. However, you have to pay for these and the act more as a proof of your level. If you want to take a proficiency test to know your Spanish level before starting out, then you should take an online Spanish proficiency test  that will tell you at roughly what level you are operating at.In general all of these proficiency tests assess  your grammar, vocabulary, and reading. The proficiency tests that give you a language certificate will also test your speaking, writing and listening.  In these language certificate options, the results are graded in terms of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2). A1 is the level of a beginner, and C2 is the level of a native speaker.Learn Spanish Quickly: Is It Possible to Learn Spanish in 6 Months with Total Immersion?You will need to know how to go about learning Spanish if you are to successfully master it. This will require practising as much as possible, and what better way to do this than by living in a Spanish speaking country?If you’re a student, you should consider immersing yourself through a language exchange program.  Share an apartment and avoid other English speakers. That’s not why you’re there, after all.If your level is already quite good, you could apply for jobs in a country where you’ll be speaking Spanish all the time. However, if you don’t speak a single word, you should start off with intensive Spanish lessons and take a basic job. Make the most of the high season by looking for work in hotels or tourism.  Immersion is also great for learning idiomatic expressions and slang.  The first month is your chance to dive straight in. By listening to the locals speaking, you’ll be able to get used to certain words, phrases, and the local accent. However, you should also start speaking as soon as you can. By the second month, you’ll feel more comfortable and won’t be able to stop yourself from trying to speak!How to Speak Spanish Fluently: Take Spanish Classes to Quickly Become BilingualTaking Spanish classes can help you improve your Spanish. In fact, if you want to become fluent in Spanish, classes can help you master the syntax, conjugation, vocabulary, and the pronunciation.You will need to go beyond the level you’re taught in school, though. This is where working with a private tutor can help. They can help you with the basics as well as practising speaking which is essential for anyone wanting to immerse themselves in a count ry that speaks a foreign language.There are professional and qualified tutors available who can use their teaching skills to help you. They are often native speakers who have an unbeatable mastery of the language as well, so your speaking should come along nicely. Of course, the perfect combination is a qualified teacher who’s also bilingual in English and Spanish. Your Spanish tutorials could also be conversational. Conversation classes will help you learn to speak the language fluently.This can help you learn genuine everyday Spanish as its used all around the world as well as receive personalised language coaching.How to Learn Spanish Fast: Use the Right ToolsIf you want to learn Spanish as quickly as possible while taking Spanish lessons near me, you need to use the right resources. These resources will differ depending on the person, so if you are teaching Spanish to children, the resources will differ compared to an adult learning the language on their own. But no matter the situation, if you want to become fluent in Spanish, you’re also going to have to work really hard!Here are some effective ways to help you become fluent in Spanish:Get a Spanish app to practise your Spanish when you’ve got nothing to do: Duolingo, for example, can be installed on both a smartphone and a tablet. It’s completely free and is a fun way to practice your Spanish. With this method, you’ll no longer waste time waiting around.Use free sites to learn Spanish. If you have a break at work or are waiting for your dinner to be ready, why not go online and do a few Spanish grammar exercises to make sure you’ve mastered the basics.Watch or listen to the news in Spanish to train your ear and make you more familiar with Spanish pronunciation. This is a great way to practise without feeling like you’re doing any work. You can also watch plenty of different television channels online in Spanish.Read Spanish as much as you can. There are plenty of Spanish newspapers and mag azines that you can read online for free. You can keep up to date with the news from all over the Spanish-speaking world.You can learn about Spanish customs and culture. (Source: pixabay.com)If you want to become bilingual, you usually have to start young.  There is no minimum age to learn Spanish, and children have a number of advantages when it comes to learning. Plenty of scientific studies have proved it.  If you want to get them into languages at a young age, specialised bilingual schooling is a great option.There are schools that can teach children in both English and Spanish. This means they’ll get a mastery of both languages. However, these schools are mainly for Spanish-speaking families who would like their children to be taught in the language they speak at home.Of course, these places are great for children from English-speaking families  to learn Spanish quickly, too. In fact, practising a language every day is not only the best way to learn but also a great way for t hem to make Spanish-speaking friends.  Why? This is because they’ll learn a foreign language alongside native speakers.There are also bilingual schools where some classes are taught in one language and others in the other.Of course, you can also learn Spanish in Spain. (Source: Agustin Piñero)This means they can also learn Spanish when they’re not even studying Spanish!A student who starts learning Spanish from a young age through until the end of their time at school will have a good mastery of it. The sooner they start, the better. However, this doesn't mean that there is an age limit for learning Spanish. Spanish is a language that is accessible to all people, regardless of their age.Learning Spanish while You Sleep: The Key to Bilingualism?Outside of school, language learning is a real benefit when it comes to your professional life. As an international language, Spanish is no exception to the rule.Becoming bilingual in your free time isn’t as easy as you think even if yo u’re really motivated. There are a few options to help you, though.How can they help you learn Spanish quickly?  While there’s no magic solution, you should still do everything you can to help yourself. Have you heard about learning Spanish while you sleep?Sleeping can be really helpful for learning things, especially foreign languages.Put simply, our brain organises the facts and information from throughout the day while we sleep. There are plenty of studies showing the benefits of sleep in terms of learning. The opposite has also been shown to be true. A lack of sleep can negatively affect memorisation as well as your cognitive development and even your appetite.With this in mind, you can maximise your learning potential by sleeping correctly. Studying just before bed might be a great way to learn, and you might even end up  having dreams in Spanish!Studies on Language Learning and SleepA study performed by researchers in Freiburg and Zurich focused on language learning and sl eep. The participants had to learn vocabulary and then some participants then went to sleep and listened to the words as they slept. The other group remained awake and listened to the words for a few hours. The exams that followed showed that the group that listened to the words while sleeping had learned more. Listening to Spanish as you sleep could help you remember better.Sleeping is really important when it comes to language learning. (Source: pixabay.com)Mosalingua, a language-learning website, also carried out their own study. Their results arrived at the same conclusion as that of the scientists. The results showed that listening to the words you learn during the day as you sleep are better assimilated.Of course, you won’t become bilingual while having a nap. You’ll make much better progress using your free time to study what you’ve learned during the day.Learn Spanish through Hypnosis to Become Fluent in Spanish?Another alternative method similar to learning while you sleep: Learning Spanish under hypnosis.  While this technique is usually used for changing behaviour and stopping people smoking, can it help you become bilingual?Learning Spanish through hypnosis isn't really like what you've seen on TV. (Source: pixabay.com)Hypnotists obviously say that it can. Can it really?  Can we learn a language without being fully conscious?Hypnosis: A Technique for Speaking a LanguageLet’s start with an important fact: Hypnosis isn’t magic. You’re not going to miraculously wake up fluent in Spanish. A few sessions may be necessary since hypnosis is a state between being awake and sleeping where your sole focus is on the hypnotist’s words.In a state of focus, hypnosis can help you with a number of aspects of language learning:Training your ear to new soundsFocusing on speaking and the Spanish accentImproving your concentrationPreventing inhibitionsOne of the hardest things about learning a language is putting the theory into practice. Speaking and co rrectly pronouncing words are often difficult things to overcome. It’s much easier to understand what people are saying but responding to them is a much more difficult challenge to overcome. There’s one simple reason: when you’re an adult, your brain is shut off to new sounds. Sometimes shyness can come into play, too.Hypnosis is a way to overcome some of these difficulties by helping you to improve your speaking.A Typical Spanish Hypnosis SessionYou won’t spend your time sleeping during a Spanish hypnosis session. The session is organised into several parts where you will be under hypnosis. Generally speaking, the lesson focuses on a text. The words studied will be repeated under hypnosis before you work on them while you’re awake. You’ll then repeat the first step.This is oral learning which can teach you vocabulary and expressions but is limited when it comes to learning grammar and conjugations, for example.  However, it is a good way to improve your speaking. If you ’re struggling to express yourself in Spanish, this might be a useful way to complement your traditional classes.Either way, if you want to really benefit, you have to choose the right Spanish tutor or hypnotist.The Benefits of Learning Spanish QuicklyBe careful! Don’t fall for the old “learn Spanish in 30 days” trick.  You have to learn Spanish from the beginning. The sooner you start studying Spanish, the better.If you already have a good level of Spanish, are familiar with irregular verbs, can use the subjunctive, and have a broad vocabulary, you’ll obviously be able to learn more quickly than someone who’s just started studying! Any guide to learning Spanish will include a number of useful tips and tricks to get you on your way to Spanish fluency, and here are our top selections:Speak Spanish every day: whether on Skype or face to face, writing emails or texts, or on social media.Watch movies in Spanish. You’ll soon have watched every movie with Antonio Banderas an d Javier Bardem in the world! When starting out in Spanish, you can also watch TV series.Put your cellphone in Spanish. This will help you learn some interesting vocabulary as well as help you expose yourself to Spanish every day.Learn important joining words and expressions such as “I don’t agree”, “to be honest”, etc. Having a few of these expressions will help you become fluent in Spanish more quickly.Look up new words you hear in a dictionary. As a Romance language, Spanish has a lot of vocabulary from Latin. Half of English vocabulary is from Latin directly or indirectly (mainly from French). Learning Spanish words can help improve your English vocabulary, too.Go out with a Spanish speaker!  El amor te da alas  (Love gives you wings).Can a Child Become Bilingual in Spanish?Of course! For those interested, Spanish can be learned from a very young age.  Don’t forget that the human brain loves learning new things, especially when it comes to languages.The idea that a c hild should master their mother tongue first before learning a second around the age of 7 is complete nonsense.In fact, it’s recommended that a child should learn their second language at the same time as their first by listening to stories in Spanish (every other evening, for example), playing games, and having fun in Spanish (with cartoons, games, or Spanish classes).A child can learn Spanish at exactly the same time as they’re getting ready to say their first words in English.  Now you know that becoming bilingual can be done in a relatively short period of time, you just have to get started. Start by using a few of our tips and tricks.  Learning to speak a foreign language fluently requires that you learn all the different aspects of it (vocabulary, grammar, conjugations, pronunciation). The better you are at each of these things, the better your results will be.   You can start today!

Help With Learning Algebra Pass the parcel

Help With Learning Algebra Pass the parcel After Mark Maclaine’s first blog post explaining how to understand the basics of algebra, he now goes into more depth using his ‘pass the parcel’ method in order to supply another method to help with learning algebra. As a kid I remember playing a game called “pass the parcel” which involved unwrapping a present layer by layer every time the music stopped. It’s one of those games kids play at parties, and can lead to tantrums…. But what has this got to do with algebra? Imagine that the side of the equation containing the unknown (the letter) is a bit like that parcel. It has been wrapped in a set of layers one by one. The order that it was wrapped in can be determined by BIDMAS or BODMAS. See my blog post on how to understand BIDMAS here: For example: 3m + 5 In this case, let’s say m = 10: the first thing we would do is multiply it by 3 (as multiplication comes before addition), and then we would add 5. Now if we were to try “unwrap” this in an equation, just like the parcel in the game, we would have to unwrap it in the reverse order: last layer first, and so on… As we can see the last layer to be wrapped was the “add 5”, so this is the first layer we take off. Only then can we remove the “multiply by 3”. If m was placed into the following equation, the first thing we could get rid of is the “add 5”. Remember, the opposite of adding 5 is subtracting it: From here we are now left with the final layer â€" this is the “multiply by 3”, so to get rid of that we do the opposite â€" we “divide by 3”. Now let’s look at a slightly more complicated question. In the case above, the w is first multiplied by 5, then you subtract 8 and only then divide everything by 4. This may be a little bit confusing; following the rules of BIDMAS, division normally comes first but because the whole sum  â€˜5w-8’ is divided by four (as if there were brackets/parentheses around it) this is done last. Remember: the first thing to unwrap is the last thing that was wrapped: This method takes a little time to get your head around, but once you have it, even hard questions (like the dreaded square roots!) become a whole lot easier. Let’s look at this final example: How has this been wrapped? First ‘m’ was multiplied by 3, then 4 was added 4 and only then was the square root of the whole thing put in. Like the previous example: normally when following the rules of BIDMAS, indices (squares, square roots and other powers/roots) come before multiplication and addition. However, because the whole sum ‘3m+4’ is contained inside the root sign (as if contained within brackets/parenthses) it is done first, and only then is it square-rooted. Now to unwrap the equation and solve it, we must do everything in reverse order. Note: the opposite of square-root is to square, and vice-versa. So… I hope this two blog posts have been helpful in getting your head around algebra. Have a go at some questions? Here are three to get you started: Find the value of  x 1. x-5=12 2. 2x-2=14 3. 3(x+10)=15   Post your answers! If you have any questions or suggestions, please add them to the comments section below. Would you like extra help with Algebra? Search  Tutorfair and find a selection of excellent Maths tutors in your local area.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

English Modal Verbs Video 5 Could

English Modal Verbs Video 5 Could Ok, were already to our 5th video on English modal verbs! Were expecting to hear our students using them more often now! Todays video is about could, a very commonly used modal verb that can be confusing, because it has several meanings.Watch the video below to study your modal verbs, then see if you can do the exercises below. English Modal Verb Exercises:1. What is the difference between these three sentences?I should buy a new pair of shoes.I could buy a new pair of shoes.  I might buy a new pair of shoes.2. Rewrite these sentences using could.Maybe we can eat pizza tonight.  Its possible that she is sick.He will maybe be visiting New York.  Perhaps we will have another beer.

Tutoring Oxbridge candidates

Tutoring Oxbridge candidates Gifted students aiming for Oxford and Cambridge have just submitted their applications and are now nervously awaiting that all-important interview in early December. If you are tutoring a student going through this, how can you best help them prepare? As well as intelligence, the Oxbridge interviews are testing potential for academic development, the ability to think through a situation and develop a valid and justifiable opinion. Therefore, it can be highly useful to run discussion-based tutorials in the run-up to interviews, encouraging students to work through problems posed verbally rather than in written or essay format. A wider knowledge of the desired subject will also stand the candidate in good stead and tutors can valuably aid their students by providing recommendations of background reading in the run up to interview. If possible, tutorial time should be given over to discussing this reading and how it fits into the student's current work. Students should know prior to their interview what form it will take. If any form of exam is involved, then tutors can help preparation by simulating these conditions in a tutorial. For example, mathematicians may have to solve lateral-thinking problems off the top of their heads, while English candidates may be required to undertake analysis of a previously unseen text. Practical help in developing these skills can greatly assist confidence on the day of the interviews. The interviews are designed to be challenge students to think for themselves. By encouraging this in tutorials, inviting questions and opening up avenues of debate and discussion, you could make a real difference to one of the most important tests a student can face.

Tips for Leveraging Your Alumni Network

Tips for Leveraging Your Alumni Network Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Building a network If you havent put effort into building your alumni network or think it needs some strengthening, there are plenty of ways to do so. A good starting point is heading to your campus career center or department office, which will have pamphlets and people that will detail different opportunities for you to connect with various alumni. Many departments and career centers have a mentorship program that connects current undergrads to alumni through different networking events like luncheons, panels, or simply introductions. Joining a mentorship program will help ease you into building an alumni network and connect you to alumni that are in a program because they actually want to help undergraduates. You dont necessarily have to be an underclassman to start building your alumni network, but if you join different organizations that relate to your career or major, you will be in constant contact with upperclassmen. The upperclassmen you socialize with now will eventually be alumni and having a personal connection with them will only help in the future when you seek them out for advice or career help. Those spam emails you get from your campus career center or your department that detail different events on campus? Try giving them a little more attention next time you find them in your inbox. Sometimes your department or the career center will send messages advertising panels or workshops hosted by alumni. Not only will you get to hear whatever the workshop or panel promises to cover, you will also have the opportunity to meet the alumni before or after the event to make the event a networking opportunity. Stay connected with your alumni network You dont want to meet your alumni at different events on campus (or elsewhere) and expect them to remember you or be willing to help a near complete stranger when you come to them for advice later on. To avoid this, you will want to stay connected with your alumni network so that when you do come to them later on for help, they will be able to recognize you and be more willing to help someone they know. An obvious choice for staying connected professionally is to add alumni on LinkedIn. Doing so will allow them to be up-to-date with your latest career ventures and you to be up-to-date with them as well. If they have public  Facebook or Twitter profiles that they use somewhat professionally, you can always use more than one social media platform to connect with your alumni network. More importantly, do not be a ghost follower. Try to interact with your alumni network every so often. For example, if you have someone on LinkedIn, you will be seeing their latest career moves. Instead of scrolling past notifications of the latest job position or a work anniversary, send them a congratulations instead of scrolling past the notifications. Always be appreciative and never beg Never outright ask for a job position. While you may be full of envy at certain accomplishments of some alumni in your network, its not right to expect part (or all) of your alumni network to pave a perfect path for you to get where you want to be in your career. Instead, try approaching your alumni network with the mindset that can help you, but are definitely not obligated to help you out. There are multiple conversation starters that you can use when approaching people in your alumni network. If you have a particular point of interest that you want to discuss, you can try Hello, I have a question about how you were able to acquire or Congrats on your latest position! Would you mind taking the time to tell me about it? When it comes to having an alumni network, its important to maintain it. Remember that as much as you want to use them for your own benefit, they have their own career and lives going on and arent there just to help you. Best of luck in your college career and career endeavors with your alumni network!

Math, English, and science teachers needed in Abu Dhabi (with job postings)

Math, English, and science teachers needed in Abu Dhabi (with job postings) Vacancies in the United Arab Emirates are being filled quickly, but Teach Away is still seeking subject specialists for middle and high school positions in Abu Dhabi.Are you a licensed English, math, or science teacher at the middle or high school level? Do you hold a bachelor’s degree in your area of instruction? How about at least two years of post-certification experience? If you answered yes to all of the above, you could be a fitting candidate for a teaching position in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates! More information on these positions, including job description, benefits, qualifications and requirements, and salary can be found by clicking on any of the position titles below.  Mathematics Teachers - Ministry of EducationEnglish Teachers - Ministry of EducationMiddle School Math Teachers - Abu Dhabi Public SchoolsMiddle School Science Teachers - Abu Dhabi Public SchoolsMiddle School English Teachers - Abu Dhabi Public SchoolsMath Teachers - Private International School