Wednesday, May 28, 2014
I've learned....a Poem by Maya Angelou
I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today,
life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents,
you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.
I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands;
you need to be able to throw some things back.
I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart,
I usually make the right decision.
I've learned that even when I have pains,
I don't have to be one.
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-- Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou: US author, poet and activist dies aged 86
life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents,
you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.
I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands;
you need to be able to throw some things back.
I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart,
I usually make the right decision.
I've learned that even when I have pains,
I don't have to be one.
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-- Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou: US author, poet and activist dies aged 86
Poet, author and activist Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86.
One of America's leading literary voices, she made her name with the 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.It was the first of seven volumes of autobiography that traced her life from a childhood of abuse and oppression in the Deep South in the 1930s.
Her family said: "She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace." (BBC News 28/05/2014)
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Marketing Plan Template. Listening
Practise your English while listening to an expert talking about 'How to finish your Marketing Plan in 1 Day!' Take it easy!
Listen while you learn how to complete a marketing plan
Listen while you learn how to complete a marketing plan
Marketing Plan
The ‘team’
Brand strategy
SWOT analysis
Competitive analysis
Market trends
Target Customer group
Market share
Customer demographics
Sales strategy
Distribution strategy
E-commerce and technology
Pricing and positioning
Advertising and promotions
In-depth Marketing Plan with your 4 P’s and the 4 C’s
Risk Management
Financial statements (budgets and forecast)
Each one of these points should be included under the main headings of your Marketing Plan. Remember this is not your Business Plan this is a marketing plan!
The Risk Management (red flag) is also one of my unique methods to include in a Marketing plan, as it enables one to identify possible areas of risk, and pin pointing such, highlight these areas so as to alleviate CHAOS and rather encourage planned and structure reaction to situations.
By: Mariette Kussmaul
Marketing. The Four Ps or The Four Cs
The marketing mix was first developed by McCarthy over 40 years ago. It was designed to suggest that you should have a balanced mix of marketing activities within your marketing plan.
ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX:
The 4 Ps – The main four elements of the marketing mix are described as “the 4 Ps” – product – price – promotion – place.
PRODUCT:
The first P is you product. This should define the characteristics of your product or service that will meet your customers’ needs.
PRICE:
The second P is the price of your product/service and decisions surrounding your overall pricing strategies. Pricing can be a very complex area. Most people believe they should undercut their competitors but this is not always a wise strategy. Consumers place value on higher priced products so it’s best if you test various pricing levels of your products and over time you’ll find the right pricing level that maximises your profits.
Even if you decide not to charge for a service it’s useful to realise that this is still a pricing strategy.
PROMOTION:
The third P is about promoting your products and services. This may include advertising, personal selling (eg: Attending exhibitions), sales promotions (eg: special offers) and atmospherics (ie: creating the right impression through the working environment). Public Relations is also included within Promotion by many marketing people, although PR people tend to see it as a separate discipline.
PLACE:
The final P is about PLACE the location where the service is actually going to be delivered. Many retail gurus will tell you it’s all about LOCATION, location and location and this still holds true today.
POWER – SWOT analysis:
POWER SWOT is something I personally add to my business plan, making it very unique, enabling you as the CEO of your company to incorporate a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats) in every section of your business plan.
The advantage of doing the SWOT analysis in just about every area of the business plan is that it focuses one thoughts and discards the ‘waffle’ not necessary to record. Should there be an area in the plan you find yourself not getting to the point introduce the SWOT analysis to refocus yourself.
STRENGTHS:List all positive points
WEAKNESSES:Now list all the negatives
THREATS:Now list all the threats in this area
OPPORTUNITIES:List all opportunities in this area
THEN THE 4 CS:
Many now dismiss the 4 Ps as being out of date and have developed the four Cs to replace that concept.
For example, there are the C’s developed by Robert Lauterborn and put forward by marketing guru Philip Kotler:
Place becomes convenience
Price becomes cost to the user
Promotion becomes communication
Product become customer needs and value
The four C’s reflect a more customer oriented marketing philosophy. They provide useful reminders that you need to focus entirely on the customer when deciding where to offer a service. Which ever you choose you should include all four basic elements into your own marketing mix and then custom tailor this to your specific situation.It can be clearly seen that if the 4 C’s enforce the 4 P’s it will keep you in-touch with your brand and the customer’s ultimate needs. To the one cannot do without the other. They compliment each other!
By: Mariette Kussmaul
Types of Houses
 |
| 1 apartment building, 2 house, 3 duplex/two-family house 4 townhouse/townhome, 5 condominium/condo, 6 dormitory/dorm 7 mobile home, 8 nursing home, 9 shelter 10 farm, 11 ranch, 12 houseboat 13 the city 14 the suburbs 15 the country 16 a town/village |
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Oh My! Grammar!
This is the beginning of the end of the school year. Have you revised for your English exam? Click on the links to check what you have learnt.
***Log in as a guest (invitado) and go back to the blog.
Subject/Object Pronouns
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive Pronouns
Present Simple I
Present Simple II
Adverbs of Frequency
Present Continuous
Present Continuous II
Present Simple vs Present Continuous
Past Simple. Regular Verbs
Past Simple. Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative
Comparatives and Superlatives
Past Continuous
When or While?
FUTURE: Be going to
FUTURE: Will
FUTURE: Be going to / Will
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
First Conditional
First Conditional. Negative Sentences
***Log in as a guest (invitado) and go back to the blog.
Subject/Object Pronouns
Possessive AdjectivesPossessive Pronouns
Present Simple I
Present Simple II
Adverbs of Frequency
Present Continuous
Present Continuous II
Present Simple vs Present Continuous
Past Simple. Regular Verbs
Past Simple. Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative
Comparatives and Superlatives
Past Continuous
When or While?
FUTURE: Be going to
FUTURE: Will
FUTURE: Be going to / Will
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
First Conditional
First Conditional. Negative Sentences
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Relative Clauses. Grammar
RELATIVE CLAUSES
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
FUNCTION
|
PEOPLE
|
THINGS/ANIMALS
|
Subject
|
1 who/that
|
5 that/which
|
Object
|
2 (whom/who/that)
|
6 (which/that)
|
preposition
|
3 (who/that)
….preposition
|
7
(which/that)…..preposition
|
Possessive
|
4 whose
|
8 whose
|
9. PLACE --> WHERE I know a place where you can buy anything for €2 . (adverb)
10. TIME -->WHEN There was a time when people didn’t use computers. (adverb)
1. This is the girl. She is waiting for you---- This is the girl who is waiting for you
2. This is the girl. I met her last summer---- This is the girl (who/whom/that) I met last summer
3. This is the man. I live with the man---- This is the man (who/that)
I live with
4. I can’t see the woman. We found her glasses.—I can’t see the woman whose glasses we found
4. I can’t see the woman. Her son died yesterday---I can’t see the woman whose son died yesterday
5. This is the dog. The dog attacked me---- This is the dog which/that attacked me
6. That is the house. We bought it yesterday—That is the house (which/that) we bought yesterday
7. That is the bus. We are waiting for it. --- That is the bus (which/that) we are waiting for.
8. We saw a wolf. Its
teeth were very long. We saw a wolf whose
teeth were very long
9. They went to a castle. They found a ghost there. They went to a castle where they found a ghost
10. They took the exam a day. It rained a lot then. They took the exam a day when it rained a lot
NOTE: 3. This is
the man with whom I live. 7. That is
the bus for which we are waiting
(formal)
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
FUNCTION
|
PEOPLE
|
THINGS/ANIMALS
|
Subject
|
1 who
|
5 which
|
Object
|
2 whom/who
|
6 which
|
preposition
|
3 who ….preposition
|
7 which…..preposition
|
Possessive
|
4 whose
|
8 whose
|
9. PLACE --> WHERE I've decided to go to that shop,
where you can buy anything for €2 .
10. TIME --> WHEN I started studying in 1979,
when people didn’t use computers.
This is Mr. Jones, who writes horror stories.
I can
see that old house, which
was built in 1876.
I passed
him a large glass of water, which he drank immediately.
Mary’s brother, who
is sitting next to Olivia, has won the competition.
The Lord of the Rings, which was written long time ago, has been made a film.
The small man in the coat, whom nobody recognized, turned out to be
her husband.
We’re
having the party at Maxim’s, where
parties are great fun.
11. When
a relative pronoun refers to the whole action we use WHICH
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Rubik's Cube 40th Anniversary. Quiz
The Rubik’s Cube has finally hit its mid-life crisis as it reaches its 40th anniversary this year.Invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and architecture professor Erno Rubik, the Rubik’s cube has challenged and frustrated countless numbers of players who have ever picked up the 3-D toy puzzle. While the Rubik’s Cube reached its peak popularity in the 1980s, the more than 350 million cubes sold since then make it one of the best-selling toys of all time.
In celebration of the Rubik’s Cube’s 40th anniversary, International Business Times took a look back at the history to bring you some facts about the 3-D cube’s rise to fame.
How much do you know about the Rubi's Cube? Take the quiz
- How many combinations are there in the Rubik's Cube?
- In 1982, the first world record was set for solving the Rubik's Cube.
- How long did it take Ronald Brinkmann to solve the cube?
- How long did it take the inventor of the Rubik's Cube to first solve his puzzle?
- What is the highest amount of twists needed to solve the Rubik's Cube?
- What year was the Rubik's Cube invented?
- How many individual pieces is the Rubik's Cube made up of?
- How many different faces are on a Rubik's Cube?
- Although there have been many different sizes and shapes of the Rubik's Cube, what was the most popular shape?
Click here to check your answers.
Imperatives: grammar and exercises
IMPERATIVES
We can use the imperative to give a direct order.
Take that chewing gum out of your mouth.
Stand up straight.
Give me the details.
We can use the imperative to give instructions.
Open your book.
Take two tablets every evening.
Take a left and then a right.
We can use the imperative to make an invitation.
Come in and sit down. Make yourself at home.
Please start without me. I'll be there shortly.
Have a piece of this cake. It's delicious.
EXERCISES
Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5 Exercise 6 Exercise 7 Exercise 8
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