I Just Tell It Like It Is and Other Excuses We Tell Ourselves - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / “I Just Tell It Like It Is” and Other Excuses We Tell Ourselves - Introvert Whisperer “I Just Tell It Like It Is” and Other Excuses We Tell Ourselves Have you ever been guilty of saying something like “I Just Tell It Like It Is”? Especially when what you said has angered someone or at least they got “put off”? I know at least a couple of people who seem to routinely say this when they knowingly have left a trail of unhappy people in their dust. I had someone tell me a story where they had left someone fairly enraged. In the story, they had used this as part of the explanation of why they said what they said. I was asked my thoughts on it, as they wanted to know if they were wrong in saying what they had said. My first response to their question of me was to ask them a question. “Is the relationship with this person important to you personally or professionally?” I wanted to know because the response was really most relevant to that one thought. If the relationship didn’t matter, then what they said also didn’t matter regardless of whether or not it angered the other person. The response I got was: “Of course, the relationship matters but I shouldn’t have to tip-toe around this other person. I had to give them my honest opinion.” Here is my perspective on this sort of thing:   There is a difference between giving honest, open input and being rude or thoughtless in how you phrase things. I think people often hide behind rudeness saying they are simply being honest. This is lazy. Think through how you say things to others â€" it always matters. There are 100’s of ways of being honest in what you say to others. Being conscious in what and how you say it will go a long way to preserving the relationship â€" and potentially even inspiring the other person. Not everything warrants comment. Have you ever had someone say something about you or something you had done that was really unwelcome? If you feel compelled to say something, make it useful and constructive. Also realize that if you weren’t asked for your opinion, they most likely don’t want it no matter how constructive it is. Even if you’re the boss, you need to think through the best way to speak about their poor results, when poor results have taken place and impact you in some way. You have to understand that when we do something â€" anything â€" part of us is tied to this thing emotionally. To insult the by-product of anyone’s effort is to insult them at a personal level. If your goal is to correct the result of what another person did, then discuss expectations versus outcome. To flatly say “This is crap” (or a close version) not only lacks any constructive information to do anything with, its insulting and as far from “relationship nurturing” as possible. Don’t fool yourself by thinking its ok to say anything in any way you want. Most of the people in your life and work are people that are important to your future. Invest in your future by honest AND well thought out communication. Go to top OFFICE POLITICS Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today!  Start watching now by clicking here! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

Learn Italian for a Career in Fashion

Learn Italian for a Career in Fashion Learning How to Speak Italian can Help Your Earn a Place in the Fashion Industry ChaptersLuxury Italian BrandsMilan Fashion Week: A Symbol of Italian ExpertiseWorking in ItalyThe Best Way to Learn ItalianLearning any language is a good idea, whether you learn Chinese, learn Portuguese or even learn Arabic.Regardless of your reasons for learning a foreign language, whether you want to improve your career prospects or you’re interested in exploring a certain culture, the language you learn can have an impact on your potential career paths.For this reason, many people who are aiming to enter a certain profession learn the language that goes with it.The Italian language is known around the world for its beauty, and when it comes to the fashion industry, Italian is the language of choice.So, how exactly is Italian useful for fashionistas? DanielaItalian Teacher 5.00 (9) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LuciaItalian Teacher 5.00 (4) £17/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarilùItalian Teacher 5.00 (8) £22/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tut ors MarcoItalian Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AntonellaItalian Teacher 5.00 (2) £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GiusyItalian Teacher 5.00 (3) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors EnricoItalian Teacher 5.00 (2) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FedericaItalian Teacher 5.00 (2) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsLuxury Italian BrandsFashion symbolises two countries in particular for a lot of people: France and Italy.This reputation comes from the successes of many different clothing brands and high-end fashion designers, as well as the style know-how of each country’s citizens.UK fashion designers often take their inspiration from the luxury fashion designers of Italy, adding their own touches along the way.But, historically the top spots in fashion are occupied by France and Italy with their respective big-name haute couture houses:Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier and many others for FrancePrada, Fendi, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Gucci et Valentino for ItalyFor many, these are the brands of their dreams, and the idea of working in the French or Italian fashion industry would be the ideal profession.Italy is home to many big names in fashion ¦ source: Pixabay - Grizzlybear-seFashion is an exciting and ever-evolving world where Italy is a major powerhouse, starting new trends that spread across the world and producing huge profits year on year.To cite an example, in 2014, the Italian fashion industry produced a turnover of around 52 billion euros, an increase of 2.7% on the previous year.Italian exports are also on the rise, with a growth of 3.8% in 2014 and a turnover of 28.5 billion euros.In a world where the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in every country, the luxury industry has never been so successful. The good news for the other side is that Italian high-street fashion is also booming, as the tailor-made looks of the high-end runway make their way into our fashion outlets.Why not take Italian lessons then and become a part of the fashion scene? There are many options available to those who want to learn to speak Italian, getting used to writing in a foreign language and mastering the tricky Italian pronunciation along the way.Milan Fashion Week: A Symbol of Italian ExpertiseThe 4 great emblems of global fashion are the Fashion Weeks that take place in London, Paris, New York and Milan.Seven days dedicated to the biggest fashion houses, featuring fashion parades and models showing off each designer’s creations as they strut down the catwalks and stars gather to discover the latest creations.Of these four unmissable events in the high-fashion industry, Milan is the most highly anticipated.And Milan Fashion Week is doing pretty well as in 2015, Milano Moda Donna saw a 25% increase in the number of events, with an impressive 70 parades and 83 presentations in Showroom.During the same year, more than 40% of participant s in Milan Fashion Week came from abroad â€" and you could, one day, be one of them!If this is your aim, you’ll need to be in a position that means you can travel as part of your job, and to get a job like this, you’ll need to have a good education.For example, you’ll need to demonstrate fluency in your spoken Italian with a relevant qualification such as an Italian degree, or a joint honours degree including Italian.This experience will give you the necessary level of proficiecy (such as listening comprehension, using Italian vocabulary appropriately, faultlessly conjugating Italian verbs and writing fluently with the correct use of Italian articles) to use your second language in your career.You can learn Italian online with a tutor if you have a busy schedule - or find an Italian tutor near you with Superprof.Working in ItalyTaking private Italian language courses through one to one tutoring just once a week can be a rewarding decision that gives you useful language skills you can use for the rest of your life.Learning a new language cannot only work wonders for your confidence on a personal level as you gain the ability to communicate in Italian with those who speak it as a native language, your conversational Italian can also open doors in the professional world.Do your research before you work abroad ¦ source: Pixabay - greekfood-tamystikaAt the end of 2015, the website Italie-France.com found out that there were nearly 47,900 companies working in Italy’s fashion industry with a total of 411000 employees.It may reassure you to know that being a native speaker of Italian is not the only criterion recruiters are interested in. If your first language is not Italian, bear in mind that Italy’s employers are looking for skilled workers, and you should not let your mother tongue affect your career path.To take an example of this, Claudio Marenzi, president of Sistema Moda Italiana (the Italian Federation of fashion and textiles) told the French finan cial newspaper Les Échos:‘We have a hard time finding [skilled workers], and we must not lower our guard in the fight against counterfeiting.’So, the exciting jobs are out there, all you have to do is put in the hard work!The Best Way to Learn ItalianSo, what will you actually need to do to learn a new language in the most effective possible way?There are plenty of opportunities to work and study whilst you learn the language, but a good level of knowledge prior to this is usually required â€" so how do you get started?Here are just some of the many paths you can follow:Study Italian at School and UniversitySome schools offer Italian as a foreign language, which means that if you’re a school, college or university student, you may have the opportunity to gain formal qualifications in the Italian language and culture as a young learner.If you’ve always dreamt of learning to speak perfect Italian, the earlier you start learning, the better.So, as soon as you get an opportunit y to take Italian as a second language and even gain GCSE, A Level and degree-level qualifications, take it.With the help of language professionals to teach you, you’ll quickly get to grips with Italian words and phrases as well as commonly-used expressions which will come in handy in your oral communication, as well as Italian grammar points such as conjugation and learning about the correct use of nouns, pronouns and adjectives, so you can wave 'ciao' to your phrasebook!Thankfully, the Italian alphabet is the same as ours - making learning Italian far easier!Learning a language at an educational institution also means that you will get an introduction to learning about Italy and its culture as you start to learn more about Italia, and you may even get the opportunity to visit the country with your class.One to one Italian LessonsFollow a language learning programme that is tailored to your individual learning needs and goals can make for successful language acquisition, so you'l l be speaking Italian in no time at all!Superprof is a platform where students can find tutors to help them achieve their academic goals â€" including learning languages such as Italian.Tutoring is a great way to improve quickly ¦ source: Pixabay - Free-PhotosLearning Italian on a one to one basis in private language lessons is one of the best methods to learn Italian quickly and effectively.So, if you don’t like the idea of taking several years to become confident in a language, finding a personal Italian tutor is the ideal ways to make significant progress in your Italian learning and become fluent in the romance language.Language Exchange in ItalyTo speed up your learning of a language, spending time in an environment where it is the primary method of communication could be just what you need.The best way to make your Italian speaking significantly more natural and fluent, surrounding yourself with native Italian speakers during a language exchange programme is the most effect ive option.Taking Italian lessons in the very place where the language is spoken will always be more rewarding than taking an Italian language course in your home country â€" and you can even get a holiday out of it!Take a Trip to ItalyIf you’ve got the travel bug, visiting Italy and discovering its rich culture and history with your very own eyes will teach you a lot about the country and motivate you in your learning of the Italian language.Everyone learns differently, and immersion in Italy’s vibrant culture has the potential to teach you a lot more than the grammar exercises and oral tests that so many people loathe.With some basic Italian and some time spent under the Mediterranean sun, you could learn far more than you ever bargained for!Learn to love Italian through the countries fantastic musical heritage  or world famous Italian cuisineCheck out Superprof to find your ideal private tutor to help you master the Italian language:Italian lessons GlasgowItalian lessons Lond onLearn Italian online

Best Practices Study Planning

Best Practices Study Planning Improving Academic Performance Whether the topic is ACT prep or improving performance in a math or history class, developing a customized study plan is without a doubt a critical success factor. It’s something I talk a lot about with parents, and something we constantly reinforce with our tutors. But, what are the key components of an effective study plan? In this blog article, we reproduce and share a “follow up email” sent by one of our most experienced ACT tutors to a new student as a means of illustrating the key issues any good study plan should address. We have changed the names of the tutor and student to protect their identities. Emails like this should be a core element of any effect tutoring relationship. Here’s the full text of the email. Hey Frank It was great to meet you today. I wanted to follow up with you and the team (CCed here), and like I said today, my apologies in advance for the length. Once we get the 'setup' completed, we should be able to provide more condensed updates for everyone. Please feel free to only respond to the relevant sections. Location: I will reserve a study room at the same library roughly 4 weeks ahead of every session (that's when slots become available). If there are ever any dates with no slots available, I will follow up to figure out a spot to meet. Frequency/times/schedule: Given your goals (27 to a 32) and test date, I would recommend starting with two 1.5 -hour sessions per week. This could always be adjusted as we go along depending on progress made, your school workload, etc. Let me know your thoughts on this as well as your general weekly availability given that frequency. I will then generate a list of my availability and send it over. In the past, I've done 3-hour sessions for ACT prep if you'd prefer to do 1 3-hour session per week, but I'll leave that up to you. If you want to do more or less hours, not a problem either. Between-session work: I’ll assign between-session practice problems, as it can oftentimes be helpful to have gone through some problems ahead of time so that we can jump straight to the questions that you missed, rather than working through sections from the beginning. Essay: I generally have students write timed practice essays on their own and send it to me rather than doing a timed essay during our session. You can send a scan or photo of the essay, and I will then type it as-is, provide some edits and general comments, run some analytics (reading ease, grade level, passive sentences), and send it back to you. We would usually briefly review the edits at the start of the next session. Materials: In addition to the Real ACT Prep Guide, I have access to 29 practice tests (7 electronic), so we shouldn't have an issue finding materials. If you try to let me know ahead of time, you can take one of them home for the week for diagnostics or other scheduled practice. Otherwise I included the links if you'd like to get them from Amazon. Meeting Notes: You (and the team) can access all of my extant meeting notes using a link that I’ll send you at any time. The latest notes should automatically sync to the folder within 24 hours of our session. Some sessions have more notes than others -- when you do any timed/independent work, I will record updated scores there. Today's should already be synced to the folder. Contact information: Do you have a cell number I could use in case there are ever any last minute changes? I can be contacted via text/call at 414-550-9109, or via email. Prep plan: Once we get a final schedule down, I will send you a general summary of our prep plan. It will have 3 main components, all based around your official test date in June and your baseline score: (1) session schedule subject designations; (2) between-session work, if any; (3) scheduled full-length diagnostic tests before June. I will use the comfort levels you gave today (available in today's meeting notes) to determine how long we work on each subject, but we'll make sure to update it as we make progress in certain areas. Since you weren't able to complete a full diagnostic before our session today, I've attached a new electronic practice test (2014-15) that you can use if you do find the time to complete a full (~3 hour) diagnostic. I would update the prep plan based on those results, otherwise I will adjust the plan as we move forward in each subject together. Math guide: I will have a hard copy of this next session, but I've attached a copy of a general math guide that I've compiled for past ACT students. Not all of it is relevant, so we will cover what parts to take notice of next session. Please let me know your thoughts on: (1) the schedule/frequency; (2) between-session work; and (3) contact information at your earliest convenience. I'll get a prep plan summary over to you and the team as soon as we get these down. Looking forward to working with you! Best, Michael Obviously, this email is very thorough and quite detailed, but it is a great resource for both tutors and students to recognize all the parts of a strong study plan which will serve as a road-map to a succesful tutoring relationship!

Help Your Child Learn English with 10 Reading Tips

Help Your Child Learn English with 10 Reading Tips Reading is a great way to get your child interested in learning English as well as a fantastic  tool to supplement their English classes by teaching them vocabulary and grammar.Here are ten tips to get your child reading:1. Set a routine. Get children used to a specific time for reading, maybe after their bath or at bedtime. This will get them into the habit of reading.2. Make reading fun. You might want your children to be science whizzes when they are older and that’s great but it’s likely that at a young age books that are too grown will be boring to them and make them less likely to read. If they are interested in puppies and birthday cakes  allow  them to read books with these themes. You will find that this will make them more interested in book time.3. Let them pick out their own books. You will find that children will be particularly interested in reading if they have chosen the books themselves.4. Talk  to other mothers with children of the same age about what their chil dren are reading. You might get new ideas and even be able to swap books with them.5. Don’t promote reading to the extent that you become anti-television. Remember that television series like Angelina Ballerina (see our blog on books for preschool children) among many others are based on books. You might find that your child is more interested in a book if he or she is already familiar with the television series.6. Keep it short and sweet. For young learners it’s a good idea to keep reading time short, maybe between 20 and 30 minutes. This will keep the experience exciting and they will be less likely to become bored.7. Don’t force your child to read. There will be days when your child is simply not interested in reading or books and that’s fine. Leave it for another day.8. Don’t force a child to sit down while reading. Some children like to walk around or play while they are with their books or listening to a story. They still could be paying attention.9. Don’t associat e books with punishment. For example, if a child misbehaves you might be tempted to tell them to turn off the television and go to their rooms with a book. This could be a mistake if you are trying to encourage reading as it  could give the child negative associations with books.10. Sit  with them during their reading time. Children will be even more eager to read in English when they realize that it is an opportunity for them to spend quality time with you.Did you find this article helpful? Please share it on Facebook and Twitter. Also, feel free to contact us if you would like your children to have English classes with a native speaker. Hooptour2 Excellent post we need more READING in this world. I have bookmarked these 10 tips. best rated essay service I guess the most effective to help the children for reading is to inspire them to read different interesting but easy story books. Also that books should be chosen where there will be visual appearance of the narrated story. LO IEnglish Yes. I find that my friends that arent native speakers feel slightly timid about reading books to their children in English, however, it doesnt matter if your pronunciation isnt perfect. It introduces the idea that there is more than one language and that there are several words for one thing. This will allow them to be more accepting of learning a new language. If you have anyone that speaks English pretty well have them read the book to your children too.

5 Ways To Be Professional In Your First Job

5 Ways To Be Professional In Your First Job pexels.com 2. Be polite Being polite is undoubtedly a very vague phrase and can change drastically from country to country and even city to city. However, very few people have been steered wrong by being polite. When being polite, remember the basic rules of human interaction. Reply to people when spoken to, smile whenever seems acceptable, try and keep your body language open and welcoming. Don’t forget to make eye contact when spoken to. Using please and thank you in conversation and in other communication never hurts either. Whenever conversing, try and keep your outlook positive rather than pessimistic. Even if you aren’t an outgoing individual, maintaining a polite, pleasant, and personable persona will enable you to be a welcomed and valued employee. 3. Interact with others You’ll likely be working with a whole host of different people at your new job. Try and interact with as many as possible in a professional and polite manner. Don’t only limit yourself to bonding with the people you work with most often. It is totally okay to try and build connections with everyone, from your supervisors to your janitors. You may feel nervous about building connections, but many positive friendships and partnerships begin with a smile and a simple greeting. If you can, try and find some common ground with the people you meet. Obviously, you’ll have work-related things to talk about, but better connections will be made by finding outside common interests. Even if you don’t particularly like someone and don’t want to hang out with them after work hours, try and be as kind to them as possible. Also, bringing food to the workplace usually doesn’t hurt. pexels.com 4. Be punctual Another great way to be professional is to show professionalism through your actions. One of these is by being punctual. If you are consistently on time and ready for work each day, your coworkers and bosses will notice your put-together demeanor. If you do need to miss work for any reason, be sure to let your work know ahead of time whenever possible, especially if you’re planning a vacation. Also, time managing your work well is a huge advantage in the workplace. If you consistently finish your projects by your deadlines and in good fashion, your employers will notice your work ethic. Your responsibility will begin to shine through and your employers may even begin to assign you more exciting and challenging tasks. They’ll begin to entrust you with work and not feel it necessary to peer over your shoulder constantly. All of these things are essential in maintaining a professional personality. 5. Be interested and involved Aside from the aforementioned politeness, interaction, and punctuality, one of the best things you can do at a job is seem interested in it. If you treat your job as something that you care very little about and have no interest in improving, your employers will be less willing to help you further down the line. When you involve yourself in your job and in your company, you invest your time in your future. These bosses and supervisors may be the ones to recommend you to future, better paying jobs, or even promotions if they feel that you truly enjoy and find worth in the work that you do. When possible, try and go beyond what is simply asked of you. Scraping by may be the easiest thing to do, but it certainly will not help you in the long run. pexels.com In summary, you’ll want to appear as multiple things to your first employer: smart, positive, and most of all, professional. Besides the appearance and the professional lingo, much of being professional revolves simply around having a can-do attitude and a drive to succeed.

Activities to sharpen kids math skills - ALOHA Mind Math

Activities to sharpen kids math skills Math is one of the subjects that can cause a lot of worry in students and concern in parents. However, if handled in an interesting manner from a young age, you will find that your child approaches it with a lot more ease. Here are some tips and math activities by which you can sharpen your kid’s math skills along with keeping it fun and interesting for them: Take your child grocery shopping:When you go to the supermarket to pick up your weekly groceries, take your child along. Give them a budget, and tell them they can pick up a few things they like, but within that budget. With older children, you can even ask them to keep track of the overall shopping by adding up items as you pick them up. This will help your child realize the value of money, as well as the simple operations of addition and multiplication as a mental activity. Photo courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/plong/3103381455/sizes/m/in/photostream/ Bake-a-thon: Helping you measure out ingredients is a good way to make your child aware of weights and measures, and will make her proficient in this aspect. You can even use simple recipes that your kids can try out by themselves with minimal supervision for handling hot objects. Distance and Speed: When going on a long drive, ask your child to keep track of the odometer readings and time taken, and calculate the speed of travel. Doing this for long suburban and out of city drives, as well as for that drive to school or the supermarket will give an idea of how much difference the city traffic makes. Spot quiz: Look around for math related activities for the time that you spend together. From questions like multiplication games, to formulating addition or subtraction problems related to real life, there are a lot of ways you can make your child aware of the practical applications of math too. These are just some of the way in which you can sharpen your kid’s abilities with math, wh ich also help in improving their mental math skills. Do check out our classes at Aloha that are also a good way to introduce mental math to your child. Please visit our website for more details: http://www.aloha-usa.com

New User Home Page

New User Home Page We just wanted to let you know that were planning to revise many features at italki in the coming weeks. Last year we were busy making improvements on the italki marketplace, and now were working on improvements on the social network. We hope that these changes will help make it easier for you (our users) to interact with your italki friends, as well as other language learners who could use your help. Our first change is the user homepage. Weve shifted towards using an Updates section, which is more similar to a newsfeed of what you and your italki friends are doing. Youll be able to quickly see your friends recent activity, as well as see responses to questions or group discussions that youve started. Weve also created a Recommendations box which shows you things like questions that you might be able to answer, interesting group discussions, recommendations of language partners, and more. You can control what you see for your recommendations in the settings area. We have a lot more site improvements coming. As always, please keep sending us your ideas and feedback. We do read all of your feedback, and please just be patient if your suggestion hasnt been implemented yet. As we hear other users make the same requests, it definitely tells us what we need to focus on! Finally, keep paying attention to the site and the blog. We have more improvements coming soon! The italki team New User Home Page We just wanted to let you know that were planning to revise many features at italki in the coming weeks. Last year we were busy making improvements on the italki marketplace, and now were working on improvements on the social network. We hope that these changes will help make it easier for you (our users) to interact with your italki friends, as well as other language learners who could use your help. Our first change is the user homepage. Weve shifted towards using an Updates section, which is more similar to a newsfeed of what you and your italki friends are doing. Youll be able to quickly see your friends recent activity, as well as see responses to questions or group discussions that youve started. Weve also created a Recommendations box which shows you things like questions that you might be able to answer, interesting group discussions, recommendations of language partners, and more. You can control what you see for your recommendations in the settings area. We have a lot more site improvements coming. As always, please keep sending us your ideas and feedback. We do read all of your feedback, and please just be patient if your suggestion hasnt been implemented yet. As we hear other users make the same requests, it definitely tells us what we need to focus on! Finally, keep paying attention to the site and the blog. We have more improvements coming soon! The italki team