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Monday, January 31, 2011

Are you to old to go back school...........?

You want to go back to school and continue your education. Perhaps you'd like to earn your first degree or ou'd like to earn a new degree in a different field. You've been dreaming of that degree but haven't dared believe your dream can come true because you think you are too old.

You aren't. It really is that simple. I don't care what your age is, as an experienced college-level educator I can assure you that you are not too old, because there are many nontraditional students on college campuses today (and likely some of those are older than you are), your life experience gives you many advantages over more traditional students, and with the growing nontraditional population many colleges have programs and services especially tailored for the nontraditional student.

I went back to school in my 30s and today I teach college. Yes, I have many traditional students in my classroom but every semester I have a large percentage of nontraditional students as well. I have studens in their late 20s as well as 30s, 40s, 50s, and up. I have students who have retired from one career and are looking to move into another. I have students whose children (or grandchildren) have left the nest so they are looking to enter a new stage in their life.

I also have many students balancing school with work and family. I have students who are the traditional age but are in nontraditional circumstances including children and family, work and military service, as well as sports and other activities. You are a unique person, but your situation is not as unique as you might think.
In many ways, your age, or rather your life experience, will be a tremendous asset for your return to school. Nontraditional students understand much better than traditional students how to manage their time and prioritize tasks. In addition, nontraditional students are often much more motivated and goal-oriented than their more traditional counterparts. Finally, your life experience also gives you a great deal of knowledge and experience to fall back on or pull from when it comes to understanding, applying, or adapting the new knowledge you gain through college. I regularly see my nontraditional students outperform traditional students in many ways, but it ultimately comes down to a maturity of thinking and reasoning that can only come with growing up. I know when I returned to college as a student after working for a number of years that I did much better in the classroom and also handled my work load much better than I did when I was a more traditional student

Today colleges recognize they have a changing student population and offer classes in a variety of formats including on campus, off campus, televised, and internet as well as a range of schedules including days, nights, weekends, and accelerated. In addition, there are now support services available for students who fall outside the traditional student role. Many financial aid and scholarship programs also exist specifically for the non traditional student.

In the end, it really comes down to your own gut feeling. Do you really want that degree? Are you ready to change your life? You can do it and there will be help and support available for you. Don't use your age as an excuse not to pursue your dream.

Based on Article from;
http://www.readbud.com/Articles/Adult/Are-You-Too-Old-To-Go-Back-To-School_63_

Sunday, January 23, 2011

10 Tips for Aspiring Freelance Copywriters

Here is the tips................

Every days I found a fact from people who seeking advice on how to get into freelance copywriting. While there's no simple answer, and no answer which applies to everyone, there are a few tips that i found from another source which I believe will help most people make the move into freelance copywriting, and survive the first few months at least.

1) Invest in a website


The best place for any freelance advertising copywriter or website copywriter to start is to fork out for a website. A website is invaluable because when you cold call and email prospects, you'll need to direct them somewhere that gives them more information. Keep your website simple, include a portfolio page, add any samples of any sort of copywriting you've done, talk about the places you've worked, the clients you've written for, and include any testimonials you've received. Make sure you include your address and contact details as well, so people don't think you're a fly-by-night operation. Of course, it doesn't hurt to include a photo either. If you can't say much about your experience, don't say much. It doesn't even really matter if you don't say anything. Remember, just like any other form of advertising copywriting, writing about yourself requires the art of subtlety. If you lack experience, but you're confident you can do the job, you can be very clever in what you don't say, and most people will read it the way you intended.

2) Don't target agencies

If you've never worked as an advertising copywriter or website copywriter before, don't target advertising agencies and web design agencies. They know exactly what they're after, so if you don't have a portfolio, you won't stand a chance. Managing an inexperienced copywriter and controlling quality takes a lot of time and introduces risk. Most agencies are too busy to give unproven copywriters a break, even if you're prepared to do the work on spec. Target end-clients directly.

3) Cold call, cold call, cold call

One of the best ways of generating business in the early days is to cold call potential end-clients. It's hard work and very time consuming, but you can generate some very qualified leads. For more information on cold calling, take a look at http://www.divinewrite.com/coldcallingcopywriter.htm.

4) Use a contacts & jobs database


No matter where you're at in your freelance copywriting career, you NEED a database of contacts and jobs. Kind of a scaled down CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. Use it to record everything! Particularly names, phone numbers, and the details of any correspondence (especially phone calls). I created my own database using Microsoft Access. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com/downloads/contacts and jobs.mdb to download a 208KB working copy for FREE. You'll need Microsoft Access 2000 to run it. I'm no database expert, so it's not a work of art. It'll certainly get you started though. (TIP: When using the database, press Ctrl + ; to enter today's date.)

5) Write a few samples
If you're targeting specific clients or industries, don't be afraid to write a few samples and send them through. You can offer the pieces free of charge (everyone likes something for nothing) or at a discount, or you can use it as an incentive to sign them up for future work. It all depends on the type of work and the type of client. The important thing to remember is that samples are virtually as good as a portfolio to most prospective clients.

6) Invest in an accounts package

Don't be fooled into thinking you can handle your accounts manually (or with Microsoft Excel). Even if you only have a few clients, you NEED a proper accounts package like MYOB or Quicken (they both offer small business versions). You'll understand why the first time you do your GST reports or annual taxes. In fact, you'll understand why whenever you need to chase down outstanding invoices

7) Give great service

This may seem like an obvious one, but it's important to remember that "great service" means different things to different clients. Most of the time you'll be working with direct clients (quite often startup businesses) and agencies. Both appreciate great service, but define it entirely differently. Agencies rely on their freelance copywriters to meet strict requirements (get the work done well, get it done on time, don't exceed the budget). They have end-clients breathing down their necks, so reliability is as important as writing quality. End-clients, on the other hand, need an advertising copywriter or website copywriter who sees their business the way they do, and can convey that vision. They'll probably need a lot of guidance as well, particularly if they're just starting out themselves. If you can, help them understand that copywriting isn't just about telling people what products and services the business offers; it's about conveying the benefits of those products and services. A good advertising copywriter or website copywriter will be able to help their client think in terms of benefits instead of products and services.

8) Expect hard times

The first year or two as a freelance advertising copywriter or website copywriter will be difficult. It takes a while to generate momentum and during that time, you'll probably find yourself wondering if you've made the right career choice. While it's possible to earn six-figures each year, you have to be patient (so it's not ideal for new or intending parents or anyone with huge mortgage commitments).

9) Don't spend too much on training

In my humble opinion, no money spent learning is wasted. However, you have to weigh up the return on investment. I don't know much about what copywriting courses are available, but if they're expensive, I'd think twice. In my experience, most clients (be they agencies or end-clients) value copywriting ability over training.

10) Know you can do it

Confidence in your copywriting abilities is a must. If you're not adamant you can produce the results the client is after, you'll never be able to convince the client. Remember that everyone feels daunted at the start of a new copywriting job. There's always a steep learning curve in copywriting, and generally quite a bit of time-consuming labour. Don't fall into the trap of focussing on what you don't know and what you haven't done.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Boost Your Vocabulary and Become a Better Learner

If you want to be a great communicator, do you need to have a great vocabulary?

You might be surprised to learn that a really big vocabulary is not necessary in order to express yourself clearly and to move others with your words.

Some of the most dramatic messages that have ever been uttered in the English language actually used very simple words to stir the blood, or touch the heart.

Look at any well-known passage in the Bible. Chances are that the passage does not rely on sophisticated words to create its power.

Think of Lincoln's Gettysberg Address. Although President Lincoln spoke in a style that is very different from the way we usually speak today, his words still have the power to move us deeply with their clarity and their deep emotion. During the darkest days of World War II, Winston Churchill's rousing speeches to the British people used very simple, common, powerful words to successfully ignite the courage and determination of his people.

So if it's possible to communicate effectively without using a lot of very big words, why should we bother to try to expand our vocabulary? The reason is that learning new words expands our understanding and improves our "mental muscles". Every new word we learn entices our mind to stretch into new areas.

When we have a larger bank of words to draw on, we improve our ability to think and express ourselves. Our thinking will become more fluid and supple, and we will understand more of the world around us and within us, when we have a larger vocabulary. In the modern world the ability to use words effectively is often highly rewarded.

The English language has an enormous number of words, perhaps more than half a million of them. Most people however, use a vocabulary of just a few thousand common words on a daily basis. It is possible to get by in the English language with a limited number of words, but you expand your options as you expand your vocabulary. When you understand very few words, you are limited in your ability to learn new information.

If you want to increase your vocabulary, there are many approaches you can use. One good way is to read books or articles that are slightly more difficult than what you are accustomed to. When you come across a word you don't know, see if you can figure out its meaning from the context. Look at the way the word is made up, with its letters and syllables. Does it remind you of any words you already know? What parts of it are familiar?

Many words in the English language are made up of common roots they share with other words. You may be able to deduce the meaning of the new word from the way the syllables are put together and the way it is used. You should consult a dictionary to be sure.

If you come across a word you don't understand during the course of a lecture or a conversation, you can ask someone to explain the meaning of the word. Many people are reluctant to do this because they are afraid of exposing their ignorance by asking.

It is occasionally true that other people may choose to look down on you if you confess that you don't understand a certain word. On the other hand, they may be happy to teach you something new. If you decide you don't want to ask anyone else for the meaning of words you don't know, be sure to make a note of those new words and look them up later.<

Should you try to learn new words directly from a dictionary? It depends on your learning style and your preference. Some people will become bored very quickly while reading a dictionary, while others will find it fascinating.

All dictionaries are not alike, and you may find a certain version far more useful than the rest. Good dictionaries will do more than just give a definition of a word. Some will show you an example of the word used in a sentence. Often they will show you alternate spellings, and give the plural forms of nouns and the past tense of verbs. Most dictionaries will show you correct pronunciation. Some will tell you the historical derivation of the word. Many English words have their roots in ancient Anglo-Saxon, French, or German.

Language is always evolving and new words are being created every day. New words can come from technology, from scientific discoveries, from other languages, from pop culture, and from the streets.

When learning new vocabulary, you can better integrate it into your brain if you actively involve yourself in the learning process.

When you encounter a new word, write out a definition of it in your own words, and write one or more sentences using the new word in context. Visualize the word in its printed form. Say the word out loud, and spell it out loud. Say a sentence out loud that uses the new word. Make up an image in your mind that will help you remember the word. If you make the image funny or bizarre, you will probably remember it better.

To improve your use of language and your ability to think, practice summarizing the theme of an entire article or book using just one or two paragraphs. After you have read an article or book, try writing out two different versions summarizing your ideas. Do one version using very simple, everyday words. Make it as clear and simple as you possibly can while still maintaining accuracy. Do another version that uses very complex sentences and advanced vocabulary, like you imagine a university professor might write.

This will give your brain a good work-out and increase your verbal and mental flexibility.

If you are committed to expanding your vocabulary, how many new words should you try to learn in a day? It's up to you. Just two new words a day will add up to more than 7000 words in ten years. Ten words a day would add 36,000 words in ten years.

Once you have learned a lot of new words, should you work them into your conversation every chance you get? The kind of vocabulary you use should always be appropriate to the context in which you are writing or speaking. For example, if you are speaking to a group of high school dropouts you may want to use different words than if you are speaking to a group of scientists.

Don't use an impressive vocabulary merely as a means of showing off, always using big words when small ones would do. People can often intuitively feel when you are using fancy words merely for effect, and not because you need them to communicate.

But if your new vocabulary really has become a part of you and has a useful place in your writing and conversation, by all means, go ahead and use it!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

learning Spanish Submerge In Yourself Speech

One of the most effective ways to learn Spanish is through what is known as immersion, where the language student not only spends a portion of their time in a classroom environment, but also lives within a Spanish speaking community for a period of time. Whether you visit Madrid or Mexico, living and breathing the Spanish culture and language will help you reach fluency faster.

Spanish immersion programs have been popular for many years for one simple reason – they work. And the logic behind this success is simple. Studying in the classroom necessarily lasts a couple of hours at most, for reasons as wide ranging as teacher availability to the duration of student concentration. Learning Spanish through an immersion program, however, takes learning out of the confines of the classroom and releases into the realm of real life.

Immersion language learning works as simply as it sounds – the student is immersed into a Spanish environment that does not cease to educate after an hour, as learning in the classroom does. Immersion learning works best, however, when combined with classroom sessions, as the Spanish-speaking environment affords the student an opportunity to practice what they have learned.

Learning Spanish is not a theoretical process, it is one that involves practical use of what is being learned. By being immersed in a Spanish-speaking community, the student cannot simply the leave the classroom behind, along with what they have learnt that day – the environment demands that their new knowledge be utilized every time they visit the store, or take a bus. It is practice that is the key to acquiring the comfort and familiarity with a language that leads to fluency, and by implementing Spanish immersion in a student's training, this familiarity is quickly earned by speaking the language all the time.

An added benefit of most Spanish immersion programmes is that they involve the participation of a Spanish speaking family with whom the student resides. The friendly environment found in a family home is the perfect place to take those first, faltering language steps. Involvement in a family also gives the student a realistic flavor of Spanish culture, expanding the learning experience and bringing the language alive.

So learn to speak Spanish the best way – with real people, in the real world.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A challenge to learn chinnese language

Chinese is a language, or a group of languages, spoken by 1.3 billion people worldwide. If you believe Chinese to be one language, rather than a grouping, it is the single most commonly spoken language on the planet. It is spoken in countries like China, Taiwan Singapore, and Malaysia. If you are interested in learning Chinese, it can be intimidating and challenging. But learning Chinese can also be rewarding, and knowing it can have benefits for your career, and help to improve your travels to Asia.

If you decide to learn the Chinese language, there a number of ways you can go about doing so. As a college student, you can study Mandarin Chinese and earn a degree in it. Earning a college degree in Chinese will provide you with a solid knowledge of formal, or Mandarin, Chinese. You will also be proficient in reading and writing the alphabet, which is a standard alphabet throughout the Chinese-speaking world. If you are established in your career, and find it necessary to learn Chinese for business dealings and /or business-associated travel, you can enroll in an accelerated Chinese language course online, or by purchasing audiotapes that teach quick techniques, which will help you to rapidly learn how to speak basic Mandarin Chinese. Learning to speak Chinese this way is convenient if you need to learn it before an important business trip. There are several learning centers that provide accelerated online programs in Chinese, and many lesson on tape available for purchase.

If you are a student majoring of minoring in Chinese, or if you are a tourist with a desire to travel to Asia, an ideal way to learn the Chinese language is through participation in an immersion program. By doing this, you will not only learn how to speak Chinese, but you will learn about and experience Chinese culture. By studying Chinese in a city like Beijing, where the language is natively spoken, you will become part of the life and culture, and you will find learning to speak the Chinese language is much easier than you thought. Since it is a total immersion into the Chinese world, you will learn all conversational and idiomatic styles of the language. You will interact everyday with people who are native speakers of Chinese, and who can't or won't speak English with you. You will be taken on guided tours of the famous landmarks, as well as the everyday places. You will grow to understand and recognize the value of the ancient Chinese culture: the history, the art, the architecture, the food, and the people. You will attend courses in which you will learn the complex Chinese alphabet, how to read it, and how to write it as well. Learning the Chinese language by attending an immersion program is an ideal way to go.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Exploring Spanish Cultures

Introduction and Philosophy
In today's foreign language classroom, there is a tendency to focus on the language while either ignoring culture altogether or relying on culture notes in textbooks to fulfill curriculum requirements. Vocabulary is often taught with no attention given to the cultural connotation of the words. Tragically, this produces students who have learned a lot of vocabulary but who are still unable to effectively communicate in the target culture. Students may find themselves in the target culture understanding the words that people say but not understanding the strange looks that they are attracting or why humor seems to slip past them. Despite having learned all of the necessary vocabulary involving visiting a restaurant, a student might find himself confused about how to secure a table, the proper way to attract the attention of a waiter or what to expect in terms of service. The student might interpret the waiter's refusal to bring the check without being specifically asked for it as bad service instead of a polite way of not rushing the customer. For this reason, teaching culture should not be divorced from language learning.

Culture should not be taught separately in the form of culture notes or as tidbits of trivia, but instead integrated into the curriculum in a way that allows the student to acquire the culture at the same time that he or she absorbs the language. It is important that students understand that many of their own opinions and behaviors are a product of their enculturation. Students must not simply memorize the similarities and differences in culture as dry facts, but they must learn to ask why the differences are there in the first place. It is impossible for an educator to teach every cultural difference to a student, but if a student has been taught to analyze the target culture in terms of the values of that culture, then
that student will have a framework by which to process unexpected differences that they encounter in the target culture. Teaching the student to investigate the reasons behind cultural differences teaches him to eventually view culture from the perspective of a native and makes it possible for him to more easily acculturate.

Understanding the relationships between products, practices and perspectives is at the core of any successful culture plan. To facilitate the understanding of these relationships, students should be helped to understand the value systems that govern the target culture, be taught the principles of ethnographic investigation, be exposed to culturally authentic images and be exposed to examples of target culture customs and scripts.

It is important that students understand the underlying values of a target culture in order to fully grasp the relationship between products, practices and perspectives. To help students to gain an initial understanding of the values of the target culture, students can work with a tool such as the Zanger chart. I would begin work with the Zanger chart in level one and refer back to the chart and expand on the information in the chart through level four. Working with the Zanger chart in the beginning of the language learning experience gives students a structure with which to begin analyzing the products and practices and perspectives of the target culture. First, I would take a continuum and assign a numerical value to each notch on the continuum so that it looks like this:

Tradition 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Progress
Loyalty 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Competition
Social Harmony 10..9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Personal Fulfillment
Tranquility 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Efficiency
Modesty 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Assertiveness
Equality 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Social Hierarchy
Enjoyment of Life 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Work Ethic
Cooperation 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Individual Achievement
Independence 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Family Obligations
Religious Piety 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Material Comfort

Next, I would have some native informants fill out the continuum for me and take an average of each answer to make a master chart for the target culture. At the beginning of level one, I would have students take the continuum to several friends or family members and have them fill out the continuum. I would take an average of all of the class's results and make a master chart for our native culture. We would discuss our results as a class and post both charts in the classroom. We would reference these charts throughout levels I-IV. By using these charts, students have something to draw from to help them analyze differences and similarities in the target culture that they will encounter in the classroom and in their own ethnographic research.

Through ethnography, students can gain a profound understanding of products, practices and
perspectives of the target culture. Individual and group research on topics of personal interest via the Internet, interviews with native informants and written publications can expose students to the target culture and help them learn a process which they can use throughout their lives to expand their cultural knowledge. Ethnography requires deep analyzation and reflection that helps students to understand more about their own culture as well as the target culture. Ethnography can be adapted to any level and can either go along with the set curriculum or be a supplement to the curriculum. I have included some type of adapted ethnography in most levels of my culture plan.

Equally important in understanding the relationships between products, practices and perspectives is exposure to culturally authentic images of target culture products. As the students are taught vocabulary, they should not be taught to link the words to images that they already have in place, but to a culturally authentic image. For example, it would be more effective to teach the word “milk” while showing the students a typical box of Spanish milk than by showing them a jug of milk exactly like the one they are used to seeing in their grocer's cooler. Better yet, allow the students to actually taste some of the boxed milk and let them realize that it is served room temperature and tastes slightly sweeter than the milk that they are used to. Have students to speculate reasons why milk might be processed in a way that allows it to sit on a pantry shelf instead of being served fresh like it is in the United States. 
When is milk typically served in Spain? With what types of food? Who drinks it? Is it cooked with more than consumed as a beverage? Why or why not? This simple exercise links product, practice and perspective as it relates to one vocabulary word. It is all too common to allow a teachable moment such as this to slip by and simply offer a target language word to replace the native language word as if it were an exact translation. Presenting culturally authentic images with new vocabulary can be used as a springboard for connecting the products, practices and perspectives of the target culture because the imagery often provokes questions and generates interest. If a culturally authentic image is put in place each time the student learns new vocabulary, this gives the student more and more of a cultural schema through which to filter new information.

In order to help students acquire the new culture and to make connections among the products, practices and perspectives of the target culture, it is important that students see examples of the practices of the target culture and become familiar with the scripts that exist for common situations. Whenever new vocabulary is presented, it should be presented within a culturally authentic context. Students can be exposed to examples of customs and scripts through video snippets and can practice the new information through roleplay activities. With each new example, the students' schemata are added to, which results in more accurate interpretations of new information. My culture plan utilizes these tools.

An Introduction To Spanish Grammar

When learning a new language, it is always useful to be familiar with its main grammatical units. This constitutes the first necessary step in order to understand and create meaningful speech.

Here are the main grammatical elements in Spanish and some useful information about them:

Nouns:
A noun is a word which is mostly used to refer to a person or thing. All nouns in Spanish have a gender, meaning that they are either masculine or feminine. For example, "niño" (boy) is masculine and "niña" (girl) is feminine. The best way to identify gender is undoubtedly experience, although here are some general guidelines which may be useful at the beginning: usually nouns ending in –o are masculine and nouns ending in –a are feminine. Of course there are always exceptions.

For example, "mano" (hand) and "radio" (radio) are feminine. On the other hand, words of Greek origin ending in –ma, such as "dilema" (dilemma) or "problema" (problem) are masculine. When you are learning new vocabulary, it is recommendable that you learn a noun together with its corresponding article. That will help you to remember their gender. For example "la niña", "la mano" or "el problema" and "el niño".

Adjectives:
Adjectives are used to qualify a particular noun, to say something about it. It is important to remember that in Spanish they are usually placed after the noun. Since adjectives are always related to a noun, they have to agree with them in gender and number.

This means that if you want to say something about the noun "niño", which is masculine and singular, the adjective that you use will also have to be masculine and singular. Thus, you can say "niño alto" (tall boy), "niño pequeño" (small boy), etc. If, on the other hand, if you were talking about a girl, you would have to say "niña alta" and "niña pequeña".

Sunday, January 9, 2011

North Europe Expansion

Beginnings Of North European Expansion

European overseas expansion after 1600 entered a second phase, comparable to developments at home. As Spain declined, so did the Spanish empire and that of Portugal, which was tied to Spain by a Habsburg king after 1580 and plagued with its own developing imperial problems. These new conditions afforded opportunities for northern European states. The Dutch, between 1630 and 1650, almost cleared the Atlantic of Spanish warships and took over most of the Portuguese posts in Brazil, Africa, and Asia. The French and English also became involved on a smaller scale, setting up their global duel for empire in the eighteenth century.

The Shifting Commercial Revolution

Behind this change was a decisive shift in Europe's early commercial revolution. Expanding foreign trade, new products, an increasing supply of bullion, and rising commercial risks created new problems, calling for energetic initiatives. During the sixteenth century the Spanish and Portuguese had depended upon quick profits, and because of weak home industries and poor management, wealth flowed through their hands to northern Europe, where it was invested in productive enterprises. Later, this wealth generated a new imperial age.

European markets after the sixteenth century were swamped with a bewildering array of hitherto rare or unknown goods. New American foods included potatoes, maize (Indian corn), peanuts, tomatoes, and fish from Newfoundland's Grand Banks. In an era without refrigeration imported spices, such as pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, made spoiled foods palatable. Sugar became a common substitute for honey, and cocoa, the Aztec sacred beverage, spread throughout Europe. Coffee and tea, from the New World and Asia, soon produced new social habits throughout Europe. North American furs, Chinese silks, and cottons from India and Mexico revolutionized clothing fashion. Luxury furnishings, using rare woods, ivory, and Oriental carpets appeared more frequently in homes of the wealthy. The use of American tobacco became almost a mania among all classes and contributed further to the booming 

European market.

Imported gold and, more significantly, silver probably affected the European economy more than all other foreign goods. After the Spaniards looted Aztec and Inca treasure rooms, the gold flowing from America and Africa subsided to a trickle, but seven million tons of silver poured into Europe before 1660. Spanish prices quadrupled and, because most of the silver went to pay for imports, prices in northern Europe more than tripled. The influx of bullion and the resulting inflation hurt landlords depending on fixed rents and creditors who were paid in cheap money, but the bullion bonanza ended a centuries-long gold drain to the East, with its attendant money shortage. It also increased the profits of merchants selling on a rising market, thus greatly stimulating north European capitalism.

At the opening of the sixteenth century, Italian merchants and money-lenders, mainly Florentines, Venetians, and Genoese, dominated the rising Atlantic economy. The German Fugger Banking house at Augsburg also provided substantial financing. All south European bankers, particularly the Fuggers and the Genoese, suffered heavily from the Spanish economic debacles under Charles V and Philip II. As the century passed, Antwerp in the southern Netherlands became the economic hub of Europe. It was the center for the English wool trade as well as the entrepot (way station) for southbound trade from the Baltic and Portuguese goods from Asia. It was also a great financial center, dealing in commercial and investment instruments. The Spanish sack of Antwerp in 1576 ended Antwerp's supremacy, which passed to Amsterdam, where it furthered Dutch imperial ventures.

Meanwhile, north European capitalism flourished in nearly every category. Portuguese trade was rivaled by that of north European merchants in the Baltic and the North Atlantic. Northern joint stock companies pooled capital for privateering, exploring, and commercial venturing. The Dutch and English East India companies, founded early in the seventeenth century, were but two of the better known stock companies. In England, common fields were enclosed for capitalistic sheep runs. Throughout western Europe, domestic manufacturing, in homes or workshops, competed with the guilds. Large industrial enterprises, notably in mining, shipbuilding, and cannon-casting were becoming common. Indeed, the superiority of English and Swedish cannon contributed to the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the Catholic armies in the Thirty Years' War.

The Dutch Empire

By 1650, the Dutch were supreme in both southern Asia and the South Atlantic. Their empire, like the Portuguese earlier, was primarily commercial; even their North American settlements specialized in fur trading with the Indians. They acquired territory where necessary to further their commerce but tried to advance their interests by pragmatic policies, in accord with native cultures, rather than by conquest. Unlike the Spanish and Portuguese, they made little attempt to spread Christianity.

Systematic Dutch naval operations ended Iberian imperial supremacy, beginning in 1595 when the first Dutch fleet entered the East Indies. Dutch captains soon drove the Portuguese from the Spice Islands. Malacca, the Portuguese bastion, fell after a long siege in 1641. The Dutch also occupied Ceylon and blockaded Goa, thus limiting Portuguese operations in the Indian Ocean. Although largely neglecting East Africa, they seized all Portuguese posts on the west coast north of Angola. Across the Atlantic, they conquered Brazil, drove Spain from the Caribbean, and captured a Spanish treasure fleet. Decisive battles near the English Channel coast of Kent (1639) and off Brazil (1640) delivered the final blows to the Spanish navy. What the English had begun in 1588, the Dutch completed fifty years later.

Trade with Asia, the mainstay of the Dutch empire, was directed by the Dutch East India Company. Chartered in 1602 and given a monopoly of all operations between South Africa and the Straits of Magellan, it served to concentrate resources and eliminate costly competition. In addition to its trade and diplomacy, it sponsored numerous explorations of Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the South Pacific. With its great concentration of capital, larger than the wealth of most states, the company could easily outdistance its European rivals.

The Dutch empire in the East was established primarily by Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629), governor-general of the Indies between 1618 and 1629 and founder of the company capital at Batavia in northwest Java. At first he cooperated with native rulers in return for a monopoly of the spice trade. When this involved him in costly wars against local sultans as well as their Portuguese and English customers, Coen determined to control the trade at its sources. In the resulting many conflicts and negotiations, which lasted longer than Coen's time, the Dutch acquired all of Java, most of Sumatra, the spice-growing Moluccas, and part of Ceylon. They began operating their own plantations, supplying pepper, cinnamon, sugar, tea, tobacco, and coffee for a fluctuating world market.

Although commercially successful in Asia, the Dutch were not able to found flourishing settlement colonies. Many Dutchmen who went to the East wanted to make their fortunes and return home; those willing to stay were usually mavericks, uninterested in establishing families or permanent relationships. After 1620, the Dutch East India Company experimented with a policy of bringing European women to the Indies, but such efforts were abandoned when they failed to enlist much interest at home or in the foreign stations. Consequently, the Dutch colonies in Asia, as well as those in Africa, the Caribbean, and Brazil, remained primarily business ventures, with little racial mixing, compared with the Iberian areas.

After resuming war with Spain in 1621, the Dutch formed their West India Company, charged with overtaking Spanish and Portuguese holdings in Africa and America. The company wasted no time. It soon supplanted the Portuguese in West Africa and by 1630 dominated the slave trade with America. After driving the Spanish from the Caribbean, the Dutch invited other European planters to the West Indies as customers, keeping only a few bases for themselves. The company then launched a successful naval conquest of Brazil, from the mouth of the Amazon south to the San Francisco River. In Brazil the Dutch learned sugar planting, passing on their knowledge to the Caribbean and applying it directly in the East Indies.

[See Batvia: Batvia(present-day Djakarta) on the island of Java became the headquarters of the Dutch East Trading Company when the Ditch ousted the Portuguese and took command of the East Indies trade in the 17th century. Courtesy]

Dutch settlements in North America never amounted to much because of the company's commercial orientation. In 1609 Henry Hudson (d. 1611), an Englishman sailing for Holland, explored the river named for him and established Dutch claims while looking for a northwest passage. Fifteen years later, the Dutch West India Company founded New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island; over the next few years, it built a number of frontier trading posts in the Hudson Valley and on the nearby Connecticut and Delaware rivers. Some attempts were made to encourage planting by selling large tracts to wealthy proprietors (patroons). Agriculture, however, remained secondary to the fur trade, which the company developed in alliance with the Iroquois tribes. This arrangement hindered settlement; in 1660 only 5000 Europeans were in the colony.

The French Empire

French exploration began early and was followed by attempted settlements in the New World, but no permanent colonies were established until the opening of the seventeenth century. France was so weakened by religious wars that most of its efforts, beyond fishing and privateering, had to be directed toward internal stability. While the Dutch were winning their empire, France was involved in the land campaigns of the Thirty Years' War. Thus serious French empire building was delayed until the reign of Louis XIV.

Early French colonization in North America was based on claims made by Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485-1528) and Jacques Cartier (1491-1557). The first, a Florentine mariner commissioned by Francis I in 1523, traced the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Newfoundland. Eleven years later, Cartier made the first of two voyages, exploring the Saint Lawrence River. These French expeditions duplicated England's claim to eastern North America.

A wilderness stretching hundreds of miles separated the early French Canadian colonies from their English counterparts. A first French settlement was made at Port Royal (Nova Scotia) in 1605. Three years later, Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635), acting for a French-chartered company, founded Quebec on the Saint Lawrence. The company brought in colonists, but only a few came before Champlain's death in 1635 and only 2500 had arrived by 1663. The company's emphasis on fur trading, the bitter cold of the winters, and the
nearly continuous skirmishes with the Indians retarded growth. Montreal was established in 1642, after which French trapper-explorers began penetrating the region around the headwaters of the Mississippi. New France soon expanded over a wide area, but population remained sparse.

Elsewhere, the French seized opportunities afforded by the decline of Iberian sea power. They acquired the Isle of Bourbon in the Indian Ocean (1642) for use as a commercial base. In West Africa, they created a sphere of commercial interest at the mouth of the Senegal, where they became involved in the slave trade, with only slight opposition from the Dutch. Even more significant was the French presence in the West Indies. They occupied part of Saint Kitt's in 1625 and acquired Martinique and Guadeloupe ten years later. The burgeoning sugar trade helped make the French islands profitable, but fierce attacks by the Caribs limited colonization and economic development.

The English Empire

In terms of power and profit, English foreign expansion before 1650 was not impressive. Like French colonialism, it was somewhat hampered by internal political conditions, particularly by the poor management and restrictive policies of the early Stuart kings, which led to civil war in the 1640s. A number of circumstances, however, promoted foreign ventures. The population increased from three to four million between 1530 and 1600, providing a large reservoir of potential indentured labor. Religious persecution encouraged migration of nonconformists, and surplus capital was seeking opportunities for investment. Such conditions ultimately produced a unique explosion of English settlement overseas.

During the sixteenth century, English maritime operations were confined primarily to exploring, fishing, smuggling, and plundering. English claims to North America were registered in 1497-1498 by two voyages of John Cabot, who explored the coast of North America from Newfoundland to Virginia but found no passage to Asia. For the next century, English expeditions sought such a northern passage, both in the East and in the West. All of them failed, but they resulted in explorations of Hudson Bay and the opening of a northern trade route to Russia. From the 1540s, English captains, including the famous John Hawkins of Plymouth, indulged in sporadic slave trading in Africa and the West Indies, despite Spanish restrictions. Their encounters on the Spanish main generated the exploits of English "sea dogs," like Sir Francis Drake, whose raids on Spanish shipping helped prepare the defeat of the Armada.

After failures in Newfoundland and on the Carolina coast, the first English colony in America was founded in 1607 at Jamestown in Virginia. For a number of years the colonists suffered from lack of food and other privations, but they were saved by their dauntless leader, Captain John Smith (1580-1631), whose romantic rescue by the Indian princess Pocahontas (a. 1595-1617), is an American legend. Jamestown set a precedent for all English colonies in North America. By the terms of its original charter, the London Company, which founded the settlement, was authorized to act as a miniature government for the colonists, who were to enjoy all the rights of native Englishmen. Consequently, in 1619, the governor called an assembly to assist in governing. This body later became the Virginia House of Burgesses, one of the oldest continuously operating representative legislatures.

[See Jamestown In 1607: View of Jamestown in 1607 drawn by John Hull. Surrounded by water on three sides, the marshy peninsula on the James River seemed an easy-to-defend and thus ideal location for the Jamestown fort. By 1614 there were "two faire rowes of howses" protected by a palisade. Courtesy A.H. Robbins Company]

Shortly after the founding of Jamestown, large-scale colonization began farther north. In 1620, a group of English Protestants who called themselves Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Despite severe hardships, they survived, and their experiences inspired other religious dissenters against the policies of Charles I and Archbishop Laud. In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company settled a number of English Calvinists near the present-day site of Boston, where they were given the rights to virtual self-government. From this first enclave,
emigrants moved out to other areas in present-day Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Before 1642 more than 25,000 people had migrated to New England, laying the foundations for a number of future colonies. This exodus firmly planted English culture and political institutions in North America.

Life in the North American English settlements was hard during those first decades, but a pioneering spirit and native colonial pride was already evident. In all areas, food was scarce, disease was ever present, and Indians
were often dangerous. Yet from the beginning, and more than in other European colonies, settlers here looked to their futures in the new land because they had left less behind in Europe. Most were expecting to stay, establish homes, and raise families, as well as make their fortunes. The first Puritans included both women and men. A shipload of "purchase brides" arrived in 1619 at Jamestown to lend stability to the colony. This was but the first of many such contingents, all eagerly welcomed by prospective husbands. In addition, many women came on their own as indentured servants.

American colonial women were legally dependent upon their husbands, who controlled the property and the children. A widow achieved these rights, but it was not easy to outlive a husband. Hard work and frequent pregnancies-mothers with a dozen children were not uncommon - reduced female life expectancies. Nevertheless, women developed a rough endurance and gained confidence and practical independence. This independent spirit was revealed by Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643), who was banished from Massachusetts for preaching her own religious beliefs and then founded a settlement in Rhode Island. Another example is Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612-1672). Although made painfully aware that men considered her presumptuous, she continued to write thoughtful and beautiful poetry.

The English government considered the rough coasts and wild forests of North America less important in this period than footholds in the West Indies and Africa, where profit were expected from planting and slave-trading. A wave of English migrants descended upon the West Indies, after the Dutch opened the Caribbean. In 1613, English settlers established themselves on Bermuda, and by the 1620s others had planted colonies on Saint Kitt's, Barbados, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua, and in the Bahamas. Tobacco planting was at first the major enterprise, bringing some prosperity and the promise of more. The white population expanded dramatically, especially on Barbados, which was not subject to Carib attack. There the English settlers increased from 7000 to 37,000 in seven years. As yet, however, there were few blacks on the English islands, although some were already being imported for the sugar plantations.

Meanwhile, English slaving posts in West Africa were beginning to flourish and English adventurers were starting operations in Asia. Captain John Lancaster, with four ships, visited Sumatra and Java in 1601, returning with a profitable cargo of spices. His voyage led to the founding of the English East India Company, which was chartered in 1609. But expansion outside of the Caribbean was difficult, because the Dutch were uncooperative. In the Moluccas, for example, they drove out the English in the 1620s, after repeated clashes. The English fared better in India. By 1622, the English East India Company had put the Portuguese out of business in the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, the English established trading posts on the west coast of India at Agra, Masulipatam, Balasore, and Surat. The station at Madras, destined to become the English bastion on the east coast, was founded in 1639.

To Be a Good Translator

In addition to being a member of our country, we are members of the world community, and this gives us a global identity. Therefore, it is quite natural for us to think about world affairs and cooperate in solving the world's problems. To do so, the first and most important tool is "language," which is socially determined. Our beliefs and ideologies are always reflected in our way of talking, although the connections are hidden and only "critical language study" reveals these hidden connections in discourse.

Furthermore, we know that a nation's culture flourishes by interacting with other cultures. Cultural variety opens our eyes to human rights, but cultural variety can only be recognized through discussions, which leads us back to the major tool for discussion: "language."

The role of language in the developing world is materialized through "translating," and since critical language study is concerned with the processes of producing and interpreting texts and with the way these cognitive processes are socially shaped, it can be considered as an alternative approach to translation studies.

The world is becoming smaller and smaller as the systems of communication and information are developing and becoming more and more sophisticated. In the process of such a rapid exchange of information and for the purpose of improving cultural contacts, one thing is inevitable, and that is "translating." This is why there is a need for competent translators and interpreters.

As mentioned earlier, the whole world is undergoing complex changes in different areas such as technology and education. These changes necessarily have an important bearing on systems of higher education, including translator training programs.

According to Shahvali (1997), theoretical knowledge and practical skills alone are not adequate to prepare students to face the developments in the field. There is a need for ability to adapt; therefore, it is necessary to focus on students' self-updating and to develop their relevant mental, communicative, and planning skills.

Training translators is an important task which should be given a high priority. The service that translators render to enhance cultures and nurture languages has been significant throughout history. Translators are the agents for transferring messages from one language to another, while preserving the underlying cultural and discoursal ideas and values (Azabdaftary, 1996).

The translator's task is to create conditions under which the source language author and the target language reader can interact with one another (Lotfipour, 1997). The translator uses the core meaning present in the source text to create a new whole, namely, the target text (Farahzad, 1998).

Bearing these facts in mind, the question is: what skills are needed to promote translating ability? And how can one become a good translator?

The first step is extensive reading of different translations of different kinds of texts, since translating requires active knowledge, while analyzing and evaluating different translations requires passive knowledge. Therefore, receptive skills should be developed before the productive ones; i.e. by reinforcing their passive knowledge, students will eventually improve their active knowledge. Receptive skills improve the students' language intuition and make them ready for actual translating.

A good translator is someone who has a comprehensive knowledge of both source and target languages. Students should read different genres in both source and target languages including modern literature, contemporary prose, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, announcements, instructions, etc. Being familiar with all these genres is important, since they implicitly transfer culture-specific aspects of a language. Specialized readings are also suggested: reading recently published articles and journals on theoretical and practical aspects of translation. The articles will not only improve the students' reading skill in general, but also give them insights which will subconsciously be applied when actually translating.

"Writing" skills, i.e. the ability to write smoothly and correctly in both source and target languages, are also important. Writing is in fact the main job of a translator. Students should become familiar with different styles of writing and techniques and principles of editing and punctuation in both source and target languages. Editing and punctuation improve the quality and readability of the translation (Razmjou, 2002).

Moreover, translation trainees should have a good ear for both source and target languages; i.e. they should be alert to pick up various expressions, idioms, and specific vocabulary and their uses, and store them in their minds to be used later. This is in fact what we call improving one's "intuition." Intuition is not something to be developed in a vacuum; rather, it needs practice and a solid background. It needs both the support of theory and the experience of practice. Language intuition is a must for a competent translator.

One of the most important points to consider in the act of translating is understanding the value of the source text within the framework of the source-language discourse. To develop this understanding, the translator must be aware of the cultural differences and the various discoursal strategies in the source and target languages. Therefore, the hidden structure of the source text should be discovered through the use of various discoursal strategies by the translator.

A good translator should be familiar with the culture, customs, and social settings of the source and target language speakers. She should also be familiar with different registers, styles of speaking, and social stratification of both languages. This socio-cultural awareness, can improve the quality of the students' translations to a great extent. According to Hatim and Mason (1990), the social context in translating a text is probably a more important variable than its genre. The act of translating takes place in the socio-cultural context. Consequently, it is important to judge translating activity only within a social context.

After developing a good competence in both source and target languages, actual translating may begin. But there is a middle stage between the competence-developing stage and actual translating: becoming aware of various information-providing sources and learning how to use them. These sources include: different monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the Internet.

Using dictionaries is a technical skill in itself. Not all students know how to use dictionaries appropriately. Words have different meanings in different contexts, and usually monolingual dictionaries are of utmost value in this regard. Students need a great deal of practice to find the intended meaning of words in a particular context, using monolingual dictionaries.

Translation trainees also need to be familiar with the syntax of indirect speech and various figures of speech in the source language such as hyperbole, irony, meiosis, and implicatures. Awareness of these figures of speech will reinforce students' creativity and change their passive knowledge into active skill.

While there is a strong emphasis on developing source and target language competencies, the ways in which students can develop them should not be neglected. Group work and cooperation with peers can always lead the translating process to better results. Students who practice translation with their peers will be able to solve problems more easily and will also more rapidly develop self-confidence and decision-making techniques (Razmjou, 2002). Although there is a possibility of making mistakes during group work, the experience of making, detecting, and correcting mistakes will make the students' minds open and alert.

Another important point is that successful translators usually choose one specific kind of texts for translating and continue to work only in that area; for example a translator might translate only literary works, scientific books, or journalistic texts. Even while translating literary works, some translators might choose only to translate poetry, short stories, or novels. Even more specific than that, some translators choose a particular author and translate only her or his works. The reason is that the more they translate the works of a particular author, the more they will become familiar with her or his mind, way of thinking, and style of writing. And the more familiar is the translator with the style of a writer, the better the translation will be.

Translation needs to be practiced in an academic environment in which trainees work on both practical tasks under the supervision of their teachers and theoretical aspects to enhance their knowledge. In an academic environment, recently published articles, journals and books on translation are available to the trainees, who thus become familiar with good translators and their work by reading them and then comparing them with the original texts. In this way, trainees will develop their power of observation, insight, and decision-making, which in turn will lead them to enhance their motivation and improve their translating skills.

Therefore, translation studies has now been recognized as an important discipline and has become an independent major, separate from foreign-language studies, in universities. This reflects the recognition of the fact that not everybody who knows a foreign language can be a translator, as it is commonly and mistakenly believed. Translation is the key to international understanding. So in this vast world of communication and information overload, we need competent translators who have both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to do their jobs well. The importance of theoretical knowledge lies in the fact that it helps translators acquire an understanding of how linguistic choices in texts reflect other relationships between senders and receivers, such as power relationships, and how texts are sometimes used to maintain or create social inequalities (Fairclough, 1989).

Finally, it is important to know that it takes much more than a dictionary to be a good translator, and translators are not made overnight. To be a good translator requires a sizeable investment in both source and target languages. It is one of the most challenging tasks to switch safely and faithfully between two universes of discourse. Only a sophisticated and systematic treatment of translation education can lead to the development of successful translators. And the most arduous part of the journey starts when translation trainees leave their universities.

Works cited

Azabdaftari, B. 1997. Psychological Analysis of Translation Process. Motarjem Journal, Mashhad, Iran. 21 & 22: 7-12 (Translation).

Fariclough,N. 1989. Language and Power. London, Longman.

Farahzad, F. 1998. A Gestalt Approach to Manipulation in Translation. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 6 (2): 153-233.

Hatim, B. & I. Mason. 1990. Discourse and the Translator. London: Longman.

Lotfipour, S.K. 1985. Lexical Cohesion and Translation Equivalence. Meta, XLII, 1, 185-92.

Razmjou, L. 2002. Developing Guidelines for a New Curriculum for the English Translation BA Program in Iranian Universities. Online Translation Journal, V. 6, No.2 http://accurapid.com/journal/20edu1.htm

Shahvali, M. 1997. Adaptation Knowledge, the Passage of Success and Creativity (Translation).

Road To Prototype Curiculum

C oinciding with the commemoration of Teacher's Day on November 25, 2021 in Indonesia, the  Ministry of Education and Culture, Mr. Anwa...