My English Language Journey English Language Essay

My English Language Journey English Language Essay My first experience of learning the English language was challenging, demanding, interesting and satisfying. My education in English began at home with my parents communicating with me in English. While my mother was a full time homemaker (housewife), my father was a banker. Since my mother spent most of her time at home, I was able to learn English language more from my mother. My father on the other hand, was the sole bread winner of our family. Nevertheless, whatever time he could muster from his busy schedules, he devoted that to teaching me the English language. This was indeed an advantage for me as I was able to learn the English language from them through our conversations and by listening to the words they spoke to me. Therefore, both my parents were responsible for imparting the education of English language to me. Accordingly, I consider it as a blessing to be born and raised in an English educated family. My first experience at learning English at school After going through one of the best cycles of childhood development, my first baby steps to school started at the age of 5 when I joined the kindergarten. Kindergarten was an entirely new experience for me because of the change in the environment. Also, this was the first time when I was away from my parents. As a result, though I was a bit hesitant initially, but soon I started interacting with new kids of my age. My experience of learning the English language at kindergarten was different than learning English at home because I was exposed to new and sophisticated learning tools. These new education methods included alphabets, writing and image recognition. I remembered that my teacher taught me alphabets at school by showing me a list of alphabets on a piece of cardboard and pronouncing each letter in the list of alphabets. The teacher would then instruct us to read the alphabets aloud by following her pronunciation. After doing that the teacher would then test our memory retentio n by telling us to independently read the alphabets, first in sequence and then in random fashion. The sequence method would be from A to Z and the random method would be any alphabet that the teacher pointed to us. Besides gaining exposure to alphabets, I also learnt new words through image recognition techniques at the kindergarten. I still remember looking at an image of a duck that my teacher pointed to me. Thereafter, she told me to repeat the word duck based on the image shown. In fact I found that learning words through image was easier than listening because of the strength and power of visual characteristic. Moreover, my teacher also taught me to write alphabets and words by looking at the existing alphabets and words taught during the classroom discussion and written in the study guide. Besides, the English language education at the kindergarten was fun and enjoyable with learning through alphabets-memory games. My primary school experience At the age of 7, I entered a new phase of erudition when I joined a primary school. Again this was an altogether new and unparalleled experience for me. As a primary school student, I was taken to a new level of knowledge in learning English. During my primary classes 1 and 2, I remember writing short simple texts such as stories and poems. One of the stories that I wrote was the shoe maker and the Alps. I wrote this story based on the original book story of the shoe maker and the Alps. I truly enjoyed the experience of this challenging task of rewriting and creating the story in my own words. Another interesting challenge in this story writing task was that the number of words required was limited to 150 only. This made me test my mental faculties and write a compelling and believable story within the limited words. These were certainly the best formative years in my learning of the English language. Learning higher rules of English Upon completing my primary school education, I joined the secondary school at the age of 13. It is imperative to mention that at the secondary school and during my form 1, 2 and 3, I had learnt how to ask and answer questions. In addition, I had also learnt to read a variety of different texts. Moreover, I remember when I was in 4th grade, my teacher taught us English with mock spelling tests. So I always memorized various new words and their spellings. This habit inculcated by my teacher in 4th continued for the future too. Furthermore, at a later stage, I began learning fundamental concepts and rules of English grammar. I have gained a fairly good understanding of the usage of an before a vowel. As I moved up to primary classes, 3, 4 and 6, I learnt how to use interesting expressions to write short stories and poems persuasively. Apart from this, I was also exposed to learning higher rules of grammar that are more advanced than the ones in primary classes 1 and 2. I must mention th at my English reading and speaking skills were tested during this time. Moreover, I found that this level of education in English language helped me to improve my reading as well as analytical skills for answering questions. I could see myself growing with confidence in replying to questions in English. With this level of education in English, I was progressing with my interpersonal skills too. Books, Conversations and Films: Valuable for learning English My parents and teachers instilled in me the habit of reading a lot of books. As a result of reading more books, I was able to enhance my vocabulary with each passing day. Furthermore, I was inculcating and developing different writing skills such as articles, composition, dialogue and summaries. When I was in form 4 and 5, I had to analyze situations and find appropriate counter responses. This involved a lot of research, analysis and brainstorming which eventually stimulated me to become more analytical. In addition, one of my most important English learning activities has been conversation. I made friends in class and we spoke about a lot of things at length. The experience of conversing on diverse topics has been very precious to me as it inspired me to improve my communication skills in English. Another of my most enjoyable English language learning experiences has been watching TV. Watching English films helped me a lot to improve my pronunciation, accent and speech in English. Besides, English news channels such as CNN and BBC have been very useful in building the foundation of my English language. Overall, I learnt the nuances of sentence construction, sentence structure, syntax, parentheses and much more through my English language education so far. For the most part, learning English language has been an interesting and a challenging journey for me owing to all the cycles that I have gone through to achieve a certain level of proficiency in English. I have also come to a conclusion that the method of teaching will vary depending on the age factor. I deem that while children will enjoy when learning is fun, the more mature English learners will focus more on self development. Whatever the means and methods be, I believe a learner is always eager to learn English. With English as a tool by my side, I can surely aim to reach the high echelons of my education and career.

The iMac: An Apple innovation Essay -- essays research papers fc

The iMac: An Apple innovation Apple was definitely â€Å"thinking different† when it created the new addition to the Macintosh family, the iMac. It’s creative design and refreshing departure from the computer industry standard of boring beige boxes is gaining this marvel many optimistic reviews. This new personal computer, which is pronounced eye-Mac –the â€Å"i† stands for Internet, combines the computer and the monitor in one unit making it, in effect, an updated version of the original one-piece Macintosh. That makes the iMac ideal for people who want to conserve desk space. The iMac looks different: The iMac is housed in a translucent, two-tone plastic case that is aqua and white. Apple’s industrial designers describe the colors as Bondi Blue and Ice. The iMac’s chief industrial designer, a New Zealander, said the diaphanous blue-green color reminded him of the water off Bondi Beach near Sydney, Australia. Although Apple executives first discouraged speculation about alternative color schemes for the iMac, the company later succumbed to the popular demand by adding four new â€Å"flavors†, grape, lime tangerine, and strawberry. The mouse, the keyboard and even the power cable are translucent, too. The mouse is esthetically pleasing to the eye, but its slippery hockey puck shape has ergonomists shaking their heads. The iMac’s mouse is perfectly round and 3 inches in diameter by 1 inch thick, compared with Apple’s standard 4-inch-by-2  ½-inch mouse. Because its shape and size make it ...

Mcdonald’s vs Burger King Essay

Let’s look at fast food restaurants. When you hear someone say, â€Å"Let’s go to McDonalds or Burger King,† what comes to mind would you consider the Big Mac or a Whopper? Think of how many calories that goes into each one. When you look at the Big Mac your calorie count is, â€Å"540 with 29 grams of fat and 45 grams of carbohydrates. † The Whopper shows, â€Å"670 calories, 39 grams of fat and 51 grams of carbohydrates. †(www. associatedcontent. com) So which is healthier, McDonald’s wins this one. Less calories in the Big Mac than the Whopper even though Burger King promotes flame broil is better and much healthier. When walking in the restaurants of McDonald’s you get the since of not welcomed until it is your turn to order. Looking around the place, it is clean yet not many people stay to eat there. One or two people will sit and chat for a while before leaving and making their order. One thing is true about McDonald’s, if they mess up your order while you are still there, they will make it correctly and bring it to your table nice and hot no matter what it was you ordered. Now for Burger King, when you enter their door the cashier says â€Å"Welcome to Burger King, can I take your order,† this research has been done in several restaurants in the area. Once you have placed your order you are given a number and a cup to fill your drink, by the time you are done filling your drink you food is ready to go. Looking around the restaurant there are a number of patrons sitting eating laughing and joking around with one another so the atmosphere is a warm and inviting one. McDonald’s seems to be more of a get it and go type of place and Burger King was sit for a while and chat. The goals of each restaurant are simple. The customer is first, satisfaction is a must. We all know that it’s not as simple as it sounds. Let’s compare the two, at Burger King’s customers are greeted with a smile when you walk in, when a customer places an order they have a choice of dining in or take it to go. The customer is given an option to say, â€Å"I will dine in or take it to go,† this shows they are given customers a choice of what they want to do. McDonald’s on the other hand, satisfaction is number one also, but you’re not greeted with a smile, sometimes it seems that the cashiers don’t want to work there or they just seem so tired. When placing an order the customer have to wait for at least five minutes before it is ready. Not so good in the fast food world of service, but satisfaction is what they are striving to have. They both share the same goals but one is more of an over all than the other. McDonald’s have a goal of satisfying their customers at 100% but they sometimes fail at making this goal work. How does the public differ in the choices of McDonald’s over Burger King? For one which taste better, which has better quality, would the customer prefer flame broiled over fried. Take a taste test first, McDonald’s signature burger the Big Mac; as the commercial says, â€Å"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle and onions on a sesame seed bun. † When the customer orders it in the restaurant, it is in fact, much smaller compared to the advertisement suggest. When doing this research, two out of five people got what they really wanted; the other three had to ask for more sauce and less lettuce. When the order was received, it was sloppy, sauce on the sides of the bun and not on the burger. The taste was satisfactory but if you present something that isn’t prepared right the taste falls short. Burger King’s signature burger the Whopper; â€Å"Beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, sliced onions, flamed broiled on a sesame seed bun. † Research shows out of the five customers that were tested at Burger King, each customer got exactly what they ordered and was satisfied with the taste of the meal. One even asked for an extra slice of cheese. Burger King satisfied more customers in the area of taste. Which has better quality of food? This falls very hard when thinking about both restaurants. McDonald’s and Burger King have in fact, had good quality but one out shines the other. As it was stated before McDonald’s Big Mac was served sloppy that was not quality service. In terms of Burger King, the customers were very satisfied with the quality of food and service that they received. Looking at the companies goals is a major difference. Let’s take the Mc Donald’s organization, one hundred percent customer satisfaction. When looking at this goal, it’s not always reachable. When this goal is not met, they will do what ever it takes to fix the problem. The next goal that puts them at a higher standard than other competitors, it’s founded on giving back to the community with the Ronald Mc Donald House and Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities. In each restaurant and drive thru there’s a donation box so money can be placed into helping the charities. So many times there have been full boxes of money given. Over the years McDonald’s has given millions of dollars back to communities in an effort to help children in need of care. Burger King was founded in 1953, the worlds #2 hamburger chain since McDonald’s. All of the burgers cooked at Burger King are prepared by grilling over flamed fire. When looking at how the structure works for them, Burger King doesn’t advertise their products like most competitors. There is no way Burger King can produce more sales than McDonald’s due to their marketing strategy which puts them at a disadvantage with McDonald’s. Where they can improve on this, they can do more advertisement of their products and open more chains around the world. Burger King does offer its â€Å"own in house charitable organizations† and programs which is the â€Å"Have It Your Way Foundation,† which is also a â€Å"US based non-profit corporation to alleviate hunger and disease prevention. (http://en. wikipedia. org) However Burger King also offers Scholarship Programs for millions of high school children across the United States which is in the memory of the co-founder James W. McLamore. This year alone they have awarded more than $1. 4 million in scholarship funds to 1,258 students and they also have four new awards that they give out but the major scholarships includes one King $25,000 and three James W. McLamore Whopper scholarship $50,000. (Burger King Corporation) The interaction with the public for both restaurants is very different. When walking in the restaurant the employees are very busy taking orders. The sense of urgency is upon them to get the food out fast and perfect. Once the order is placed, there is no time to talk however at Burger King, while waiting on your order the manager has time to chit chat with you. Managers make sure that the environment is warm and inviting. The employees that are cleaning around the tables and chairs make sure that they do notice you. There have been times where the employee asks if they could get something more or a refill. This is what customer service should be like. McDonald’s, on the other hand, there is no sense of warmth. Maybe one person may look your way and ask is everything’s alright, but that’s as far as the conversation will go. At both restaurants there is a difference between the employee and manager. They both have different shirts and tags. Sometimes though it could be hard to tell the difference because if you go to the restaurant late at night it’s more lax than the day time hours where you will have employees and mangers playing around but still doing their jobs. One other thing that these companies do, they do hire the less fortunate, meaning people with disabilities. Both companies start with their signature logo and end with their logo, major difference McDonald’s only takes the order. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what is being said over the pa and the order may get mixed up but there is time when getting to the window to fix it. Not all the time at McDonald’s does the employee have the food ready so the customer is asked to pull over and food will be brought out to them? On one occasion, while waiting for the order as the minutes passed by, no order was delivered. The customer had to go into the restaurant to get the order and it was still not what the customer ordered. One would wonder how many times this has happen in the past. Is drive thru really fast and easy? Thinking it may be better to order inside so the order can be done properly. Burger King Employees smile when taking and giving the orders. Even in the drive thru, the smile can be heard over the pa when placing an order. If a customer has to wait on their order thru the drive thru, they are asked to pull around the front and someone will be out with the order. It is never long that you will have to wait maybe two minutes at the most and the food is hot when it is received. There are healthy choices on the both menus, but do customers often choose the healthy choice? Not always. Looking at the choices of the menus: In some states McDonald’s is required to show the calorie count for the customers. On their boxes that the food comes in, there is also a calorie count that the customer can look at and see just how many calories is listed for the choice that was made for the order.

The Social Sustainability Of Design - 2119 Words

Sustainability, a common vocab being used in design industry nowadays. It is mean to design something with a well consideration of improve environment, people and economic, which has become the fundamental aspect when comes to initiate the design thinking. According to Oxford Institute for sustainable development, the tools to measure and construct sustainable urban development are prejudicial focus on environmental and economic aspects. Most of the time, ecological and economical sustainability are well concerned but Social sustainable, which merely shown or mentioned on any press or architect’s forum. This essay will talk about the social sustainability in design, by defining the social sustainability in design, the key elements of the†¦show more content†¦Which eventually discourage designer put in effort to considerate the social aspect during design thinking, the word â€Å"social sustainability† were being treated as ideological thought in design until r ecent years, the attention of social consideration in several industry has become mainstream. To giving a definition for social sustainability, Oxford Institute for sustainable development claim that social sustainability is to taking care of individual, societies and communities live together as a whole and start to achieve the ideal developments for themselves, and also look into the relationship between the particular territory of themselves and the planet. In Practical way, Social Sustainability start arises by taking action to extend the social aspect of individuals and societies, which include capacity and skill developments to environmental and spatial inequalities. Which also include the traditional social policy aspects and principles, for instances, the equity of human rights and health, as well as human needs, social capital, economy, living environment, the consideration of happiness, wellbeing and the quality of life. Beside that, from the point of view of The Young Foundation, social sustainability is a way to promote wellbeing and