Personal Finance and Investing

Chat rooms or “chats” are one of the most interactive
areas on the Internet and they are regularly visited by children and teenagers. Putting it plainly and simply, a chat room is a place on the Internet where people meet to talk about various subjects. Conversation is simultaneous,synchronous and written. A user writes a message onto the computer and the message is immediately displayed on another computer. From a teacher’s point of view, chat rooms may turn out to be one of the best places to engage our students in real and meaningful language practice. From a student’s point of view, chats are an exciting means of communication and an enriching opportunity to communicate with native or non-native speakers in English.

Generally speaking, chat rooms provide students with a stress-free and uninhibited language practice but most importantly they foment linguistic interaction. Much has already been said and written about the utter importance of interaction in the learning and acquisition of a second language. It has already been proved that the more the student (meaningfully) interacts, the more opportunities he/she will have to learn language and the more language the student learns, more input can he/she can solicit in order to learn more language

So, in order to increase students’s interaction in the English language, we can include chat rooms in our lessons. Students’s active participation will allow them to experience and experiment language as a real thing. This type of interaction, although written and not face-to-face, will prove more authentic than a conversation with the teacher, especially because in a chat
room language is no longer a goal but an instrument to pursue other (real) goals

Precautions
However, despite the inherent advantages of using chat rooms for educational purposes, one must be conscious of some dangers:

Students often have a difficult time using computers, which might endanger the activity. A good solution is to provide students with the basic computer skills (using the keyboard, reading from the screen) Chat rooms users often use acronyms and slang that students may fail to understand. A good way to solve this problem is to introduce students to those particular expressions (for instance, prepare a lesson based on Netiquette, which includes specific vocabulary items used on the Internet). Students may be confronted with harassment situations and/or verbal confrontations. This is why it is of utter importance to develop your activities in a moderated chat room and to create your own chat room. A chat room for educational purposes should have published a list of main topics and subjects currently under discussion.
Activities

As an activity, the use of chat rooms has to be considered fluency work; thus, the teacher should only intervene if the students’ mistakes jeopardise communication. It is also necessary to keep in mind that the teacher should only act (during the activity) as a prompter and a resource, in order to allow real interaction.

Activity 1: Who’s who?
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students should have:

acquired the necessary knowledge about the basic functioning of a chat room (log in, write and read a message, log out); used the English language in a communicative way; demonstrated the necessary skills to make and answer questions; demonstrated their understanding of the dialogue; reflected on their use of the English language.
Procedure:
Students will be told that they will dialog with their classmates in a chat room and that they will play a game called “Who’s who?”. Each student will have a nickname, e.g., a fake identity, and that the objective of the game is to guess the true identity behind the nick. Students must also be instructed to keep their nicknames secret. Students will then be told the address of the chat room they’ll be accessing and, individually, their nicknames. The teacher should help students to log in and make sure everyone is able to send, read and write messages. Students should then approach their colleagues and try to find out who is behind the nicknames. In the end, students will be asked to come to the blackboard and write down the names behind the nicks. It is also very interesting to print and hand out the transcript of one or two dialogues and lead a brief reflection on how students used the English language.

No Comments yet »

A traffic accident is never a think to be happy about. Having even the smallest car accident will surely give you a lot of stress and headache. Not to say that things will be a lot worse if there’s someone injured or the damage to vehicles or property is serious. The best thing to do in such a case is to remain calm and not panic. You will need your cool head for evaluating the extent of damage and injuries before you even contact your insurance company to report the accident. And here are some things to keep in mind if you want to do that right.

Remain cool-headed

The first thing you should do is to calm down. It will certainly be hard especially if you never had accidents before. But this is very important for properly analyzing the situation and helping other people involved if they need help. You have to keep focus on all of the details so you can report them to your insurance agent or the police officer when you will be asked questions.

Call for help first

Prior to evaluating the damage and injuries there’s another thing you have to do. Call 911 and report if there’s anyone injured at the scene. If the accident took place in a location where it is dangerous to remain (heavy traffic, high risk of collision) it is better to move the vehicles to a safer place rather than waiting for the police officer to document the accident. This will save you from additional risk of damage or injury. When you have all of these things done you can take your camera and notepad for documenting the crash.

Gather evidence

Try to get as many pictures and notes from the scene while it is still as-is before the police start moving the vehicles. Then write down how the accident happened step by step as you remember it. If there’s someone who saw it happen around the scene, get their names and contacts, and ask for their version of the accident. It’s not wise to start arguing with them if you don’t agree with them. Just document as many evidences as you can to have plenty of information that can be presented to your car insurance company or the police.

Help the authorities

When the police arrive to the scene you should cooperate and do everything they say. Report everything you are asked about and ask for an additional copy of the report when it’s compiled. It can be a bit stressful to deal with so much documents but it will make it easier for your auto insurance claim to be processed faster.

Here are some things you have to pay utmost attention when documenting the aftermath of the crash:

1. Compile a list of any personal items that are missing after the accident.

2. Document the physical condition of all the people involved in the crash, even if it’s a light headache. Sometimes a light pain in the arm can turn out to be a fracture a few days later.

3. Take pictures of all the damage resulted from the accident. Take close up pictures of the damaged car parts and any infrastructure that has been affected by the crash.

4. Don’t sign any documents or agreements if you aren’t aware of their content. Contact your lawyer or your cheap car insurance company to learn what you should do in such a situation.

No Comments yet »

For anyone who has ever tried to look around for the top paying jobs, the medical career field has likely crossed your path several times. Because of the wide range of jobs within the field as well as the huge number of openings, you are likely to spend a good bit of time actually researching all of the options. While the medical field is certainly not for everyone, a large number of people thoroughly enjoy the jobs and find them highly rewarding. In looking at the field, you can find a range of jobs that vary from office and clerical jobs to those that involve actually working with patients.

Trying to find the exact reason why these jobs tend to pay so well is really difficult at times. Most people find that not only does the medical field tend to require extensive educational training which makes it quite pricy to qualify for, but the increased need to actually have the proper training makes it absolutely essential that qualified applicants available. As most people can readily agree, if you are paying someone what they are actually worth, you will find that they are much more likely to put forth the effort that is required to do an exceptional job.

For most job seekers, the medical field also represents a huge drain on their budget. The amount of money that it costs in order to go to school is quite large and enough that you could quickly and easily find yourself sinking into debt quickly. The high pay amount for medical jobs can help you to get out of debt much faster, but can also serve as a huge bonus in the event that you have secured enough financial assistance that you do not have a massive number of student loans.

For the average person to actually put up happily with the stress that is involved with a medical job it is very important to have the means to actually earn a significant amount of money. Simply paying minimum wage is not acceptable when you are working very long hours, a job that is quite stressful and in a place that requires at least 2 to as much as 8 years of training before you can even be hired. Because of this, it is extremely important that you look carefully to ensure you are getting the best job for your personality, as well as your actual needs and interests.

No Comments yet »

There are many points from where you can start your campaign to get your guy back. Are you confused how to get started? Here’s a word of advice, think of what brought the two of you together for the very first time. No need to put extra stress on your brain, I can suggest that it was the feeling of true love. And he fell in love with you, because your personality was at its peak.

Still wondering you to get your guy back? All you have to do is to regain your lost personality. The two of you have separated because you have changed, so fasten your seat belt and go through the following steps to be yourself again so that you can attract your Ex back into your life:

Take a Positive Approach:

Rather than exhibiting yourself as a desperate person, you would be better off doing it all with a little grace. Take a positive approach while getting your guy back, and make sure you look like the same charming person that you once were.

Giving Some Space is the Need of the Hour:

When two people who love each other have separated and the wounds are still fresh, it is best to keep the distance from one another. Right now you need to give some space to your Ex, while taking some time off and calming down your nerves will be the best thing for you as well. Give him time, and he will start missing your company and you will get your guy back!

Give Time to Your Friends:

Have you observed that you have been ignoring your friends and relatives for the last few months? Well, now that you are away from your Ex, you can afford to start socializing again. Spending time with friends will make you feel more confident while your Ex will also get attracted towards you. You can’t possibly think to get your guy back again by confining yourself to your apartment and look all depressed!

Don’t do things In Haste:

Don’t be hasty in your decisions to get your guy back. The time is on your side, if your Ex still loves you, you will get him back for sure. Just give it a little time!

No Comments yet »

Of course, the environment can be a factor contributing to accident risk. Bad weather, rain, snow, strong wind – the likelihood of an accident to occur in such conditions is certainly quite high. But still, it’s much easier and cheaper to try to avoid an accident rather than having to deal with the consequences. Not to say that accidents are quite hazardous and can be deadly even if you’re not speeding. However, if you faced an accident, it really helps to remember certain things that will help you cope with the situation as effectively as possible. Here are some things to keep in mind that will actually help you.

It would be very good if you’ve had these tips printed and stored somewhere in your car, because it is so easy to forget everything when being in a stress situation. And having an accident, regardless of how serious it is, is surely a stressful situation.

First of all, you should do everything possible in order not to panic. Try to calm down and examine the situation. See what damage has your and the other party’s car sustained, ask if anyone’s injured. Other people’s health and life has priority than car damage, so if there’s anyone hurt call for medical assistance in the first place and then get busy with the vehicles. It may be a single scratch or a serious crash, so being cool-headed and able to evaluate and react accordingly is very important.

Cooperate with the police and tell everything they ask you too. Escaping the scene is not a very bright idea, because it will cause much more trouble and legal action when they find you. And it will be almost impossible to get car insurance coverage if your accident is not documented with the police. No matter who’s at fault in the accident, be there and tell everything as it happened. This will make it a lot easier and faster for everyone involved.

Don’t let yourself go. Try talking only to the policeman, answer all the questions in an informative manner. Of course, it is quite hard to remain calm, especially when you’re not at fault and the other party starts talking to you aggressively. Getting caught in an argue will only make things worse. So keep the conversations to a minimum, speaking in details only to the police and your car insurance company.

Take note of everything you can. When an accident takes place, people sometimes forget to write down the info of the other party involved, which only makes the coverage process longer. Make sure you have all the names, contacts and details written down. Before the police arrive, it really helps to call your insurance agent for an advice, and he or she will surely ask you to learn the other party’s insurance company.

In general, your insurance company should be the first to know about the accident, so it really makes sense of having their contact number somewhere in your wallet. Ask how to proceed and tell everything required as it will ease the process of filing and processing your car insurance claim.

No Comments yet »