Optimise Your Pregnancy Nutrition

Optimise Your Pregnancy Nutrition What You Should Know About Nutrition in Pregnancy ChaptersHow To Get The Best Pregnancy NutritionNutritional And Energy Requirements For a Pregnant WomanWhether you’re already pregnant or you’re thinking about trying for a baby, it’s important to know that your dietary requirements will change while you’re pregnant compared to other times of your life.Although the thought of having a new addition to your family is an exciting time, it also pays to make sure you’re aware of what you should and shouldn’t indulge in once you are expecting, and how much you should be eating of everything to maintain a healthy weight.There could be a chance that a food could give you toxoplasmosis; orThere haven’t been enough studies conducted to know whether a particular food can adversely affect a foetus.Although the below is not a comprehensive list, these are some of the most common foods that the NHS recommends that pregnant women either avoid or approach with some caution when eating:CheeseNot all cheese is off limits (thankfully!) bu t there are some that you should probably just say no to when they next appear on a cheeseboard.Pasteurised soft cheeses, such as mozzarella, feta, and halloumi, are considered safe for pregnant women to eat, as are hard cheeses (pasteurised or unpasteurised) such as cheddar and parmesan.However, soft cheeses with white rinds such as brie, or soft blue cheeses like gorgonzola, should not be eaten cold.Knowing what cheeses you should and shouldn't eat as part of your pregnancy diet is just one of the changes you need to manage while pregnant. (Image Source: CC0 1.0, George Hodan, PublicDomainPictures)AlcoholUnfortunately, to be absolutely safe, it’s recommended that pregnant women don’t have any alcohol at all while they are pregnant. Ultimately, any break from alcohol is only for the short-term and the reward at the end is a little bundle of joy, which often gives mums-to-be the motivation they need to steer clear of alcohol and to continue eating healthy, balanced meals.If you are struggling to cut down on alcohol, it may be best to speak to an organisation that can help, or reach out to your pregnancy health care provider for tips on how to cut out alcohol.Fish and meatFish doesn’t have to be cut out in its entirety but there are some fish that should be reduced or removed from your diet while pregnant. For example, the NHS recommends avoiding eating shark, swordfish, and marlin when pregnant or trying to conceive. However, not all fish is bad for you in pregnancy, and some fish can actually be a good source of omega 3 fatty acids for your growing baby.Equally, when it comes to meat, protein is fantastic for a growing foetus but try to make sure that cuts of meat are completely cooked through before eating them, as raw or undercooked meat may carry a risk of toxoplasmosis.It's also worth noting that the above list is not comprehensive when it comes to getting the best nutrition during pregnancy, as there are other considerations to take into account, s uch as limiting your caffeine intake.Ultimately, any of your favourite foods that you have to say goodbye to when pregnant, whether that’s pâté or rare steak, will only be off your plate for a short time.If you are struggling with what to eat now you are pregnant or would like some suggestions about which foods to avoid, or which non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails are great during pregnancy, feel free to reach out to a nutritionist near me at Superprof for some personalised tips and ideas.A balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is a crucial part of pregnancy nutrition. (Image source: CC0 1.0, Jean Beaufort, PublicDomainPictures)Nutritional And Energy Requirements For a Pregnant WomanThere can be a lot of false information on the internet about what a woman should or shouldn’t eat while she is pregnant, along with how much she should actually eat to maintain a healthy pregnancy.You’ll even hear some misinformation passed down between friends and family, so it’s worth being vigilant and checking with a healthcare professional about what you do actually need to eat when pregnant, and what you should be eating during each trimester.Having said that, there are a few key pieces of information when it comes to pregnancy diet and nutrition that it can be incredibly helpful to know:Try And Take A Pregnancy VitaminIf you’re planning on conceiving, then it’s a great idea to start taking a prenatal vitamin before you actually start trying so that you have plenty of nutrients in your body that can help a baby grow.A pregnancy supplement can either contain a range of different vitamins, or you might prefer to just have a specific vitamin, such as one for folic acid or vitamin D. It can be difficult to find certain vitamins, such as folate and iodine, in everyday foods that we eat, so prenatal vitamins can be a great way to help achieve your daily allowances.Ideally, there are suggestions that you should start taking a prenatal vitamin, or at least a folic acid supplement, every day while trying to get pregnant, which should help give your baby great access to the vitamins she needs as she grows in your womb.If you’ve only just found out your pregnant, then equally it’s never too late to start taking a pregnancy multivitamin for your baby. Such multivitamins can help reduce the risk of a foetus developing problems such as neural tube defects, so it can really be in your best interests to take a supplement as soon as possible.How women react to multivitamins varies from woman to woman â€" some find it easier to take one during their first meal of the day, while others prefer to have theirs with dinner. It’s a case of trial and error to see what works for you!You definitely don't need to eat for two during pregnancy. So there's no need to increase your food intake dramatically during a pregnancy diet! (Image Source: CC0 1.0, tunechick83, Pixabay)You Don’t Need To Eat For Two!This is perhaps the most oft-quoted myth of th em all when it comes to pregnancy! While you may have a little human growing inside you (or maybe two or three!) there is no basis to the idea that you need to suddenly double your calorie intake because you are pregnant.According to the NHS, you should only aim to consume around an additional 200 calories per day during the final three months of your pregnancy. There should be no other additional calories required during the first six months.Although you will end up putting on weight while you are pregnant, and you may well feel hungrier once any morning sickness has passed, try to remember that you don’t need to double your calorie count. If you do this, then ultimately it will make it more difficult to lose the weight once the baby has arrived, and depending on how you get those extra calories, may lead to other pregnancy complications.Of course, if you’re ever in doubt as to what you should be eating when pregnant, then it’s best to consult with a qualified medical profess ional, such as your midwife or obstetrician, as they will have the latest information on pregnancy nutrition and medical guidelines about which foods are safe to have, and which to avoid.Seeing a health professional can be especially important if you are under- or overweight before falling pregnant, as this may influence how much weight you should put on over the course of your pregnancy. Equally, if you’re at high risk of gestational diabetes, a trip to your healthcare provider will be in order.If you’re already aware of what you should be eating, but perhaps want to try and increase the amount of nutritious food you’re consuming as your baby grows, then it may be worth reaching out to a nutritionist who can help with a variety of things including:Suggesting delicious meal plans week to week;Recommending snacks that should help curb your hunger or craving without being high in unhealthy fats or sugars; orTeaching you about the healthiest ways to prepare food, such as steaming or boiling.Superprof has a number of nutritionists that could help you along your pregnancy journey. So if you are worried about your food intake, how many meals you should be eating, or the balance of your diet while pregnant, there’s no need to panic. Simply enter your postcode to find a nutritionist who can help either in person or remotely â€" the choice is up to you!Read about eating healthy as you grow older.Work out how to read food labels properly.Find out about the various diet plans you can choose.

Plan ACT Test Online ACT Prep Online Tutoring Tutorpace

Plan ACT Test Online ACT Prep Online Tutoring Tutorpace ACT exam is a standardized test recognized by all the colleges and universities throughout the United States. ACT test contains four multiple choice sections: English, Mathematics, Reading and Science reasoning. These four sections test the academic knowledge of the student in the basic concepts of the given subjects. There is also a Writing section for students who would like to get their ACT score plus writing. In the Writing section, students have to write an essay about a given particular issue or a topic in 30 minutes. In order to do well in the 4 main sections, students should particularly focus on each subject and must improve their subject skills accordingly. For the English and Reading section, students have to concentrate on improving their grammar and rhetoric skills. Questions are usually asked in usage/mechanics where students must answer questions on punctuations, sentence clauses, proper usage of verbs and pronouns etc. Reading comprehension has some questions on each passage and students have to answer those questions appropriately. In the Mathematics section, students are given multiple choice questions on basic concepts from topics like Algebra, Plane geometry, and Coordinate geometry, Elementary Trigonometry etc. Questions in this section test the logical and conceptual knowledge of the student. Similarly the science section tests the students knowledge in science related concepts. Time given for every section in ACT exam is very limited. Hence students must answer questions keeping track of time and should be able to work on them quickly.

Coisas que o Inglês faz com a gente Dia dos Namorados

Coisas que o Inglês faz com a gente Dia dos Namorados Image courtesy of Toa55 / FreeDigitalPhotos.netHoje é Dia dos Namorados, quem não se deu conta ainda só pode estar vivendo debaixo de alguma pedra em um reino distante. Por causa da data, lembrei de uma situação inusitada que aconteceu comigo há uns anos.Foi em uma altura na qual eu falava Inglês pessimamente, não haja dúvida. Estava tentando explicar o porquê de no Brasil o Dia dos Namorados ser comemorado no dia 12 de Junho e não no dia 14 de Fevereiro (Valentines Day), como acontece nos Estados Unidos e grande parte da Europa. No entanto, a única forma que eu me lembrava para dizer Dia dos Namorados era  Valentines Day. Por isso, acabei por ter uma discussão descomunal com uma garota francesa que tinha acabado de conhecer.No fundo, eu estava tentando dizer que o Dia dos Namorados no Brasil tinha uma data diferente. Porém, tudo o que ela entendia era que no Brasil o dia de São Valentim era comemorado em outro data, na véspera de Santo Antônio, e ela achava isso uma loucura. Se a gente pensar bem, é um pouco louco que o Dia dos Namorados seja comemorado nessa data. Afinal, aqui, esse dia nasceu sendo uma jogada comercial.Para quem não sabe, o Dia dos Namorados, como data comemorativa, foi divulgado no país pelo empresário João Dória, que viu nessa festividade uma boa oportunidade de negócio. A escolha de ser comemorado no dia 12 de Junho, véspera do dia do santo casamenteiro, acredito que tenha sido uma idéia de gênio, até porque dá algum significado espiritual à data.Enfim, voltando ao que aconteceu. Pelo fato de não ter muita desenvoltura com o Inglês naquela época, não conseguia explicar bem o que queria dizer. Repetia continuamente: No, you dont understand. In Brazil, Valentines day is celebrated on June, 12. E a francesa respondia: You Brazilians are crazy. Valentines day is on February, 14!Por fim, consegui que ela entendesse quando disse: In Brazil the saint that helps lovers get married is Santo Antônio, not Saint Val entine. So, we celebrate the day of lovers, the day of girlfriends and boyfriends, the Valentines Day, on June, 12. And we do that because June, 13 is the day of Santo Antônio.Ela riu da minha cara, porque eu não tinha conseguido dizer isso antes. Eu fiquei me sentindo um pouco burra, mas quem não se sente assim quando não consegue explicar algo simples em outro idioma? Pelo menos ela entendeu.Ah, antes que eu esqueça: Feliz Dia dos Namorados! Inez You ´d better say sweetheart ´s day, instead of lover ´s day. Ana C. Pires Hello Inez, while I know now that I probably should have said sweethearts day. Back then, I was not comfortable speaking English. So I said what I had to in order for the girl to understand what I meant. Also, according to my research lovers day is the most common translation, but due to the negative connotation that the word lover has, the use of sweetheart is a safer choice, for sure.

The Tutor Referral Contest - June 1-30 - Heart Math Tutoring

The Tutor Referral Contest - June 1-30 - Heart Math Tutoring The Tutor Referral Contest June 1-30 The Tutor Referral Contest June 1-30 May 31, 2019 EVERYBODY can be a Heart Tutor! To kick off recruitment season we are challenging YOU to recruit more tutors through a friendly contest so that we can serve more schools and more students. No matter the winner, in the end, it all ADDS up to more Heart! The Rules For each new tutor you recruit, you receive 1 point for your 2018-19 school. Whichever 2018-19 school team recruits the most new tutors will receive a special prize for their 2019-20 students. New tutors must sign up through the Heart Tutoring website note their referral tutor or school. How to Participate Join our Contest Facebook Group HERE to stay up to date on standings receive recruitment resources. Get out there! Talk about your tutoring experience far wide to encourage sign-ups. Make sure you are following us on social media for updates, shareable content more! Tutor Recruiting Ideas Utilize your social media channels to share your Heart Tutoring experience. Dont forget the sign-up link! Talk to your book club, Bible study, workout class, neighborhood association, etc. Host a learning session with a Heart Tutoring representative for your company or group. More recruiting tips resources will be provided via the Facebook Group email newsletter. Dont forget to sign yourself up for the 2019-20 school year too!

How to Become an Interpreter A Comfortable 5-step Guide

How to Become an Interpreter A Comfortable 5-step Guide How to Become an Interpreter: A Comfortable 5-step Guide Night after night, you keep having the same dream.You hear voices whispering… then getting louder and louder. Frantic voices.Its dark. The voices around you sound confused. Agitated. Maybe even afraid.At first, you cant understand what theyre saying. Over time, the words become clearer and clearer. Finally, you open your mouth to speak, to explain.Faces around you look hopeful and relaxed. As if by magic, everyone instantly grasps your meaning.Confusion is chased away. Understanding dawns like a bright, new day.You wake up a few hours later, the impressions from your strange dream still floating through your mind. You bridged the chasm of understanding for othersâ€"and you feel exhilarated.What is this reverie that fills your thoughts with a sense of purpose and satisfaction? Do you need dream interpretation?Or are you dreaming of being an interpreter?If its the latter, youre in luck. Because today were serving up a fundamental, 5-step guide to becoming an interpreter.But before we crack open the guidebook, lets set the record straight on the job title. Translator vs. Interpreter: Whats the Difference?Translator and interpreter are often used interchangeably, especially in movies and TV shows.If you want to sit at a desk with dictionaries and other language books and carefully create a document that duplicates the meaning of the originalâ€"only in a different languageâ€"then being a translator might suit you.If youd rather be in the thick of the conversation, helping speakers of different languages understand each other in real time, you may wish to become an interpreter.Future interpreters, read on!How to Become an Interpreter: A Comfortable 5-step GuideStep 1: Begin with the BasicsThe first stop on your journey is self-assessment. Itll help you decide if you have the right stuff to be a professional interpreter. Lets break down the essentials here.Language aptitudeIts likely that, given enough time and creative learning methods, almost anyone can learn a second language, even if its harder for some people than others.That said, theres a difference between learning Italian well enough to order pizza in Rome and having the professional competency to interpret for il Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri (the Italian Prime Minister).Some people seem to have more of a natural aptitude for learning languages, making a career in interpretation a more realistic choice.Like musicians, interpreters also need good ears. Grasping grammar rules or savant-like vocabulary memorization wont help you succeed as a professional interpreter if you cant understand native speakers when they talk at conversational speed… or if you struggle to master a native accent.If you sincerely love the idea of becoming an interpreter but doubt your skills, dont get discouraged! While some people may have a natural knack for learning and understanding spoken languages, others may just need to work a bit harder and get in more relevant practice.With FluentU, you can polish up your understanding of a language through modern, useful, realistic scenarios in videos that allow you to study written language, spoken language, cultural specifics and more all at the same time. FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons. Its great not just for those actively learning a language, but also for those in language-based careers like interpretation who want to keep their skills fresh and current (see below).Devotion to language learningUnless you grew up bilingual, achieving professional-level fluency as an interpreter is not a task for the faint of heart.Although there are many creative ways to help yourself learn a language, like playing video games or writing and translating childrens stories, its still a long-term commitment.To interpret professionally, you must learn your languages to a higher standard than a hobbyist. You have to keep yourself motivate d to strive, because it could take months to master just the fundamentals.And, even when youre officially fluent, you still wont be done.Dedication to ongoing studyYou probably dont think about keeping up to date in your native language. Sure, you might hear an unknown expression and think, Wow, thats a new one! And, if youre a word nerd like me, you might look it up on  Urban Dictionary to make sure you caught all of its nuances.Learning any language isnt one and done or set it and forget it. But if youre not living and working in a country where your second language is used most of the time, youll need to make an even greater effort to keep up with it.Your career as an interpreter depends on how current you keep your vocabulary and cultural references.Cultural interpretationsLanguage is more than vocab and grammar; you need to understand the people who speak it.In order to do so, you have to learn the language in its ever-evolving cultural context.Magazines, newspapers and books a re a great way to dive in, but print media isnt as effective for honing your listening skills. Of course, audiobooks are an exception.Movies, TV shows and videosâ€"like the real-world content found on FluentUâ€"are a dramatically convenient way to understand not just the language, but the people who speak it. With cutting-edge media from around the world, you can travel virtually to anywhere and learn to speak like the locals.Professional selflessnessSuccessful interpreters cant editorialize.No matter how strong your opinions or feelings about a certain subject, you must resign yourself to only expressing what the speaker is saying.The focus in interpretation must be on the speakers, not the interpreters.You can learn a lot as an interpreter by being a fly on the wall through whom all the conversation flows. However, you need to keep your own thoughts silent, acting only as a voice for others.Even if you strongly disagree with whats being said, your job is to render it accurately, w ithout commentary.And its not just the words you sayâ€"youll need to put on your best poker face, so you dont color the speakers meaning in any way.It goes without saying that the conversations you interpretâ€"no matter how juicy or fascinatingâ€"are confidential.Step 2: Decide What Kind of Interpreter You Want to BeInterpreters can work in a wide variety of fields, specializing in certain kinds of interpretation. You might be amazed at all the different career opportunities available for interpreters.Health care interpreterWhat could be scarier than needing medical attention and having to receive it from a doctor who speaks a language you dont understand? This is the situation faced by many patients today, who are either traveling or are immigrants in a new country.As an interpreter working in a hospital or medical practice, you could help speakers of other languages understand their diagnoses, prognoses and treatment options.Health care interpreters are sometimes called medical in terpreters. Those who work primarily in a hospital setting are known as hospital interpreters.Working as a health care interpreter requires the background to understand specialized medical terminology. In addition, youll need to be up to date on all the latest privacy laws when interpreting for patients and medical professionals.Training courses like this one specifically address these needs. Unless you already have a health care background, similar local or virtual resources would be a fundamental part of your professional education.Court/legal interpreterLike a medical interpreter, a court or legal interpreter must work with the utmost accuracy and discretion. The outcomes of courtroom events can have serious consequences in the lives of your clients.A background in lawâ€"for example, paralegal trainingâ€"can be an enormous asset to those who would like to interpret in a courtroom or for a law firm.Business interpreterA business interpreter might help business owners negotiate wit h each other, or help management to communicate with employees who speak a different language.Some business interpreters provide language line services, facilitating phone-based customer support for speakers of other languages.You might work for a language services agency like Language Scientific or ALTA Language Services. Companies such as these cater to the business needs of many industries.Immigration services interpreterImmigration services interpreters work with clients and government agencies, helping new immigrants to understand their rights and legal obligations throughout the immigration process.You might work directly for a government agency, or represent a client for an immigration advocacy group.Diplomatic interpreterIf youve ever seen the headphone-wearing linguists at the UN, sorting through the Tower of Babel to foster conversation among many nations, youve seen a diplomatic interpreter at work.International meetings, such as those between heads of state, are another venue in which diplomatic interpreters are needed.Diplomatic interpreters can also be conference interpreters, although not all multinational meetings are diplomatic in nature… some of them might be business-related or professional conferences.Travel interpreterLanguage apps and phrasebooks are great for travel, but sometimes globetrotters run into circumstances that exceed their limited linguistic repertoires.Travel interpreters help visitors navigate linguistic and cultural barriers in a foreign land, allowing them to have more successful journeys abroad.Simultaneous or consecutive?Depending on your field, you might need to either interpret the speakers words almost immediately after hearing them (simultaneous interpretation) or you might be able to listen to the speaker for a few seconds or moments before starting to interpret (consecutive interpretation). The circumstances or setting often dictate which form of interpretation is chosen.There are actually a few different types of consecutive interpretation; the short form is usually more memory-based for the interpreter, since interpretation is expected to start after the speaker completes a few sentences or paragraphs and then pauses for the interpretation.In the long form of consecutive interpretation, the speaker may complete part or all of an entire speech before the interpretation must begin. Consecutive interpreters often take notes in this situation and may even work from provided source materials to help make their interpretation more accurate.You can get training in either simultaneous or consecutive interpretation. Some institutions offer programs that prepare you to do both.Step 3: Research Needed CertificationsCertifications arent always mandatory, but some can be quite beneficial to your career as an interpreter.Types of certificationsMost certifications match the field of interpretation, testing both your general language ability and your specialized knowledge of the field.For example, the N ational Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI)  administers certification for those prospective interpreters planning to work in a hospital or other medical setting. Both written and oral exams are available in the following languages:Chinese (Cantonese Mandarin)KoreanRussianSpanishVietnameseThe Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) furnishes a similar certification, using third-party testing to verify language proficiency.Court interpreters working in the United States can qualify as certified federal interpreters, or work at the state level with certification from the National Center for State Courts.Benefits of being certifiedMany types of interpretation dont require certification. However, having official certifications can improve your job prospects and help you increase your earnings.Of course, obtaining and maintaining your certificationâ€"which usually needs to be renewed every few yearsâ€"takes time and money. The costs of staying cer tified must be balanced against the advantages of certification.Step 4: Tailor Your EducationMost people know that if you want to become a doctor, you need a medical degree.Wannabe lawyers need to get through law school.However, the training requirements for interpreters arent always clear-cut.How much education do you need?Will a certificate program be enough? Or will you also need a bachelors degree or graduate school education?The answer to this will depend partly on the type of interpreter you wish to become.For instance, at minimum, most health care interpreters need a high school diploma. Sometimes, certificationâ€"and even higher educationâ€"is required. The standards may vary from one medical institution to another.In many cases, a bachelors degree is a necessary first step to becoming an interpreter.Customize your curriculumIf youre earning your bachelors degree with plans to be a professional interpreter, there are several ways to proceed.A concentration or even a double m ajor could ground you in both the language and the specific field of interpretation. If you want to be an interpreter for Austrian businesses, for example, you might double major in business and German.If your parents emigrated from Vienna and you grew up speaking both German and English, you might forgo the German major and focus on business courses.In either case, if your college or university offers a course in interpretation as a profession, it could give you valuable insights and training for your future career.Consider a specialized schoolSome institutions are dedicated to training interpreters and translators.Through Middlebury Colleges highly-esteemed Monterey Language and Culture program, you could earn your Master of Arts degree in Translation and Interpretation or Conference Interpretation.If youre serving in the American military, or you work for the Department of Defense or a related federal agency, you might consider training at a facility like the Defense Language Ins titute Foreign Language Center.The American Translators Associationâ€"which, despite its name, also represents interpretersâ€"offers an extensive list of language schools around the world.Step 5: Practice with Real-world Language ResourcesAbove and beyond formal schooling and certification, aspiring interpreters will want to use supplementary language learning resources.Lend your ears: Listening skillsWeve all had those amusing and embarrassing moments of mishearing someone, even in our native language.You might have native-level fluency in your second language and still mishear something every once in a while.Of course, youll want to minimize the chances of this happeningâ€"especially in a professional contextâ€"by systematically improving your language listening skills, learning to avoid common listening mistakes that could undermine your confidence.Cutting-edge content: Keeping currentSince languages are continuously growing and changing, youll need some way to stay just as curre nt as native speakers who live and work with the language every day.As we mentioned earlier, through the magic of the internet, you can directly access contemporary content in your target language, even if you live half a world away from where its most widely spoken.A little more conversation: Speaking confidentlyA language exchange partner whos a native speaker can be an enormous help to an interpreter or an interpreter-in-training.No matter what the topic, these conversations will help you:Stay current with the language.Boost your confidence as a speaker.Give your listening skills a workout.Dont fret if you cant find a native speaker nearby. Go face-to-face virtually with a language exchange partner, using a video chat app like Skype.Volunteer your timeAlthough your goal is to be paid for your interpretation services, dont overlook the advantages of volunteer opportunities.Sites like VolunteerMatch offer local (and even remote) opportunities for polishing your interpretation skill s pro bono. Job sites such as Indeed have listings for budding interpreters who want to refine their craft through volunteering. Many of these opportunities are in the medical field, although there are some for future court or business interpreters.Internships, both paid and unpaid, can also help you rack up experience as an interpreter.The National Language Service Corps (NLSC) is an American organization devoted to serving civic language needs through U.S. government agencies. Membership in the NLSC is open to any U.S. citizen 18 or older whos fluent in English and at least one other language. There are no fees to join; service through the organization is compensated with an hourly stipend.NLSC members can network together through social media sites, where you could find a job opportunity or a mentor.Mingle with the pros: Professional organizationsSpeaking of mentorship, consider joining an association of professional interpreters. These groups are a fantastic way to keep up with the latest professional news, meet colleagues and learn from their experience.You could find a kindred spirit with many years in the field who would be happy to mentor you and offer career advice.In addition, these organizations often provide formal training for their members. Some will list members in a professional directory that can open up more employment opportunities.You might join a group with a broader baseâ€"such as the aforementioned American Translators Association (ATA), which offers a discounted membership for students enrolled in a translation or interpretation program.There are specialty organizations for certain types of translators, as well. For example, the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters Translators (NAJIT) might be a good choice for a court interpreter. Up-and-coming conference interpreters might join the International Association of Conference Interpreters, which is commonly known as l’Association internationale des interprètes de conférence (AIIC).Future medical interpreters might take advantage of a very affordable student membership in the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC). An NCIHC membership includes training webinars that members can access from anywhere.Whichever path you take, use these resources to guide you on your quest. With careful planning and tenacity, you can make your dreams of interpretation come true.Michelle Baumgartner is a language nerd who has formally studied seven languages and informally dabbled in at least three others. In addition to geeking out over slender vowels, interrogative particles and phonemes, Michelle is a  freelance content marketer and education blogger. Keep up with her latest adventures in language and learning on  Twitter.

Which Language Should I Learn How to Follow Your Heart to Your Next Tongue

Which Language Should I Learn How to Follow Your Heart to Your Next Tongue Which Language Should I Learn? How to Follow Your Heart to Your Next Tongue Wish you had a map and compass to guide you to the perfect language?All you have to do is follow your heart.Choosing a language to learn is a deeply personal process. Theres no one absolute best language to learn. The best language depends on the learner.Your choice  will have a unique effect on  your social life, your neurological anatomy, your professional opportunities, how you experience the world around you  and even your personality.Youve heard all the hype. You know how learning a language benefits your brain, lines your wallet and makes life more interesting.And youve probably found some strong incentives of your own already. Maybe your best friend just got back from a summer abroad and youre jealous of how cool she looks casually chatting with her new Francophone friends, doing activist work with the indigenous language she learned in Peru or fighting off the onslaught of employers desperate to put her Japanese skills to work selling to foreign markets.Maybe youre finally sa tisfied with your skills in your second or third language, and now youre ready to take another step down the road to becoming a professional polyglot.Perhaps you just woke up today and said, Im going to learn a language.Whatever it was that put you over the top, you know youre ready to learn a language, and you know you can do so just as easily as the next person. Which brings you to one of the most momentous and exciting decisions of your newly multilingual life: Which language should  you learn?To decide which language you should learn, the first step is to tune out all the conflicting advice on the best language, and take a look within. Know Thyself: Asking the Right Questions to Decide Which Language You Should LearnSince theres no one objective outright winner in the linguistic derby, how do you decide which foreign language is best for you?Browsing a list of the worlds 7,000 languages will quickly become overwhelming, but limiting yourself to the shortest cut-and-dried listi cles doling out wisdom on the web is too constricting.Why dont you just ask yourself?Language is more than a line on a resume. It mediates your personal life, livens your inner life and, in the end, can often influence your biggest life decisions like where you live, how you develop yourself professionally, who you fall in love with and what ideas you  expose yourself to.Ask yourself the  following  questions to start thinking about which language you should learn.Whats my mother language, and what other languages do I already know?This has a huge impact on your learning experience, and its one of the reasons theres no single best language for everyone.If youre a native English speaker whos learning a new language for the first time, you might want to start by thinking about which languages are most similar to English in their sound, structure and vocabulary. If you already speak English and Spanish, then a Germanic or Romance language might be the easiest pick for you.On the other hand, a very similar language might confuse your Spanish, or you might end up filling your attempts at Portuguese with clumsy literal Spanishisms.Consider your current linguistic array and how strong you feel in any other languages youve learned.  If Spanish is one of your native languagesâ€"or if youve been fluent for many yearsâ€"then picking up a similar language like Portuguese might be very easy and invite no confusion whatsoever. If youve only reached the intermediate level of Spanish or still feel shaky with it, then learning Portuguese might end up getting mixed up with your Spanish.What kind of access do I have to resources like websites, classes and native speakers?Maybe the typical choices leave you uninspired but your ethnographic interests pull you toward a more obscure language like Aymara or Saami. Theres plenty to be said for learning less commonly studied languages, but consider the availability of resources for doing so:Are there courses available online?Any Wikipe dia pages in the language?Will you have to commit to a summer or a year abroad to get access to native speakers, and if so, are you willing to do that?Whats my learning style?Individual learning style can impact how easy or difficult a language is for any given person to learn. If youve got an ear for music and a knack for impersonating accents, you might find it easier to learn tonal languages or navigate the phonological complexities of Polish.If patterns and rules arent your thing, grammatically simpler creoles and languages like Malay or Mandarin with few grammatical categories might be your path of least resistance.What parts of the world intrigue me?Its impossible to separate languages from the people who speak them and the places they live. If youre planning a career as an ambassador or an expert on  Middle Eastern politics, Arabic or Farsi might be the language for you. If West African history, Vietnamese cuisine or the beauty of the Himalayas infect you with excitement, let these geographic interests lead you to learning Hausa, Vietnamese or Tibetan.What professional fields are you interested in working in?Learning a language to get a job doesnt work. This is because you first have to ask yourself, which job do you want to get?Universities and language schools in North America love to push Mandarin and Spanish as the jobs most in-demand by employers, but thats not necessarily the case if your ideal employer is an NGO, a media company or a marketing firm.Read some publications in your field and find out if its Chinese manufacturing, Costa Rican solar panels, consulting for Kazakh firms or Angolan oil thats driving growth, and then follow the money to your ideal language.Why do you want to learn it?This one is most important of all.To figure out which language you should learn right now, start with a little introspection on your motivation for learning a language.Do you want to learn a language to meet nice people, to expand your international friend ci rcle, to challenge yourself by learning a new writing system, to access the ideas of artists and intellectuals in their own language, because you met a special guy or gal, because youre obsessed with  the food or just because you like the way a particular language sounds?There are no good or bad, right or wrong reasons for learning a language. If you follow your passion, learning will be easy, enjoyable and enriching every step of the way.These are just some big-picture questions to get you started. After enough thoughtful introspection, hopefully youll arrive at a sense of knowing what you want out of your language learning experience, and then its time to start surveying the options.Which Language Should I Learn? How to Follow Your Heart to Your Next TongueThere are almost as many languages in the world as there are reasons to learn one. Maybe your motivation isnt one of the seven well list here, but its probably similar to one of these reasonsâ€"just  a little more nuanced and at tuned to yourself and your life.Communicate with More People: Learn the Worlds Largest LanguagesTheres something to be said for raw numbers.The worlds most commonly spoken languages are spoken by hundreds of millions of people, and learning one of them will allow you to expand your potential social network by six digits. Here are a few  of the worlds biggest languages by total speakers.MandarinIts  900 million  total speakers worldwide are just one of the reasons to learn Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese official language  isnt as geographically spread out as some of the other major world languages, but its still growing and not likely to be evicted from its number one spot any time soon.SpanishWith around half a billion speakers worldwide, Spanish is a giant in its own right. Whats more, itll unlock a lot more of the map for you than Mandarin with half the total number of speakers, as its an official or major  language in twenty-ish  countries around the world.ArabicBy most counts the fourth or fifth largest world language, about  300 million people speak Modern Standard Arabic and the many regional dialects  that exist around the world. Like Spanish, its got the geographic advantage over Chinese with its status as an official language in 28  countries.Expand Your Horizons: Learn a Language Known for Its Arts and CultureIf your true love is the arts, you may want to opt for a language with a strong body of art and cultural products, whether it be in the form of writing, performance, music or another language-infused form of cultural expression. Here are a few languages with well-established traditions you can get your hands, eyes and ears on.JapaneseIf youre already watching anime with the subtitles on, learning Japanese by watching anime is only a small step further.  Japanese films will give you plenty of  fodder for couch-based language learning with movies.ItalianSpeaking of movies, Italian cinema is reason enough by itself to enroll in Italian classes right away.  Sit back, sip wine and let Academy Award-winning Italian productions whisk you off to language learning land.AmharicAmharic is the main language of Ethiopia, arguably the country with the most distinctive set of cultures on the African continent, and its impossible to learn their language without learning a bit about Amharic culture. Let Ethiopian food guide you through learning your first words about cooking and eating.PortugueseThe language that brought the world bossa nova and samba is an excellent choice for language learners with an ear for music and a feel for rhythm. If learning a language through singing and dancing sounds like its up your alley, turn on some Brazilian music and start learning Portuguese with songs.Start Quickly and Easily: Learn a Language Thats Easy for English SpeakersIts hard to make a blanket statement about the easiest language to learn, because it depends on a lot of factors, one of which is your mother tongue.Neurologically speaking, your fir st language actually hard-wires your brain for languages in general.Meanwhile, other languages you speak well could cause confusion and other quirky polyglot problems. But if youre reading this blog post in your mother tongue, here are some of the easiest languages for English speakers to get started with.DutchDerived from the same Germanic vocabulary as English, Dutch is one of the closest living languages to English on the Germanic language family tree. Learn a few basic rules of pronunciation and spelling and youll already have a basic vocabulary of a few hundred words as an English speaker.FrenchThe influence of French on English goes far beyond fashionable French loanwords. For four  hundred years the French-speaking Normans  ruled England, and they left their mark on the language. Today English and French, despite their sonorant differences, share up to 45%  of the same vocabulary, largely in the form of loanwords historically borrowed from French or technical words both langu ages derived from Latin.SpanishWhile not as close to English as Dutch or French, English speakers will recognize a great deal of Latin-derived Spanish vocabulary from the start. Moreover, Spanish is a highly but regularly structured language with simple phonetics and a grammar thats nowhere near as intimidating as it looks in Spanish class. Just get down the basic differences between Spanish and English and youll be set.Get Paid: Learn a Language Thatll Land You a JobOne of the many benefits of multilingualism is the one that hits you right in the wallet: People who speak more than one language can generally expect not only a pay raise but a wider range of jobs and careers available to them.Some people earn a living off their language skills, while others use them to advance through different careers, and still other jobs are tailor-made for language majors.Whether your language skills are a career in themselves or a tool for climbing the corporate ladder, here are some of the most lucrative you can get started with.MandarinThe  near  billion speakers of the Chinese state language mean that learning Mandarin Chinese is a smart business investment. Theres hardly an industry left in the world thats not looking for people with the requisite language skills to help them break into or increase their presence in the Chinese market.CantoneseAnother Chinese language, its the one with even more tones than Mandarin and thats spoken in the wealthy financial centers like Guangdong and Hong Kong. Whats more, its the Chinese dialect spoken in most Chinatowns around the world, making it another important language for global commerce.KoreanSouth Korea is one of the Asian economies thats churning out the jobs in tech, telecommunications and manufacturing, as well as being one of the largest employers of foreign English teachers. Whether transferring within your company or striking out on your own overseas,  learning Korean is likely to give you a leg up in the application proc ess no matter what field youll be working in, and its certain to deepen your cultural experience during your stay.GermanThe European Unions economic engine speaks German, and people throughout Europe learn the language in the hopes of getting hired. Things might look uncertain elsewhere in Europe, but German is a good investment for any job-seeker interested in the continent.Stay Ahead of the Global Curve: Learn the Languages of the FutureThe best languages for business are those that are investing in the future of our always growing and changing world. Groups like the International Monetary Fund and Goldman Sachs are constantly forecasting the languages  that are growing and developing most rapidly and are most likely to be world leaders in trade and commerce in our lifetime. Here are a few of them.HindustaniAlthough its regional dialects are called Hindi in India and Urdu in Pakistan, most linguists think of Hindustani as one language with multiple national varieties.Nit-picky det ails aside, learning either variant of the language is enough to have conversations and make yourself understood across a large swath of the Indian subcontinent, putting you in contact with nearly half a billion people in one of the worlds fastest-growing economic regions.PortugueseWith 200 million speakers in giant Brazil alone, Portuguese is a global language in its own right. Across the world, Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries and regions like Angola and Macau are prospering in fields like oil and gas and financial services, making Portuguese one of the most mobile languages for following the money.ArabicIn addition to being a language of evergreen importance in international trade and politics, Arabic is also one of the fastest-growing languages on the web, making it a definite up-and-coming language for our digital future.Travel the World: Learn a Language Thats Spoken Far and WideIf youve got itchy feet and a stamp-happy passport, learning a language is one of the best ways to  open up entire new parts of the world to you. The best languages for travelers are those that are spoken across multiple countries and an extensive geographic area, as well as those thatll bring you closer in contact with local communities youd be otherwise unable to truly communicate with.SpanishStretching from the American southwest to Tierra del Fuego, brushing up on your Spanish travel phrases is the best way to explore the Western Hemisphere.SwahiliWhile many educated urbanites in East Africa speak English, the local lingua franca Swahili is an excellent way for culturally curious travelers to learn about the peoples and cultures of the African Great Lakes region.RussianWhile English will get you through most of Western Europe okay, somewhere east of Germany Russian becomes the language with the widest geographic range. From the Balkans to Siberia, youll encounter Russian speakers and other Slavic languages that your Russian will give you initial insight into.FrenchWh ile its range is limited inside Europe, French is one of the most useful travel languages outside the continent. Still the official language of many countries throughout North and Central Africa and a popularly learned language across much of the world, French travel phrases spoken to the right people can be of use as far and wide as Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Atlantic coast of the United States.Preserve Our Linguistic Heritage: Learn a Minority or Endangered LanguageWhen most of us consider learning a new language, we limit ourselves to the usual suspects, but in some ways its even more important for passionate language learners to pay a bit of attention to the worlds obscure languages.Of the worlds 7,000 languages, about half of them are expected to die out by 2050 as younger generations of speakers opt to learn bigger and more economically-promising national languages. Finding resources for studying endangered languages can be a challenge, but its not impossible. Here are a few examples of languages that are dying for new learners.DakotaOne of the largest living Native American languages, Dakota and the related Lakota language are spoken in the Upper Midwest of the US and parts of Canada. Efforts at revitalizing the language are vibrant, and you can even study it at several universities in  Minnesota.Khoi-SanThe collective name for the famous group of click languages spoken in southern Africa, the Khoi-San languages spoken by people groups like the San of Namibia are rapidly dying out under the forces of development and urbanization, and along with them vital information about not only these peoples and their cultures but a truly unique group of languages.BasqueThe language isolate spoken in Northern Spain has long puzzled linguists with its lack of known ties to any other world language, and if more learners dont pick up the language, it may not be around long enough to find the answers we seek about the worlds cultural heritage.Basque is only considered vulnerable today and is currently enjoying a Basque language renaissance, but sandwiched between big global languages like Spanish and French, its future looks shaky without an influx of motivated language learners.The Means Is the EndHopefully as you read through this list, you realized not only that theres no one language that you should learn, but also that theres no one reason for you to learn it.Languages touch on so many other areas of our lives, from jobs and friends to the food we eat and the way we see the world around us, that we should never think of them just as tools or means to an end.Learning a language is for life, and the means is the end.

How math develops brain muscles, especially for young children - ALOHA Mind Math

How math develops brain muscles, especially for young children How math develops brain muscles, especially for young children 1 Like How math develops brain muscles, especially for young children Early childhood is when brain growth is at its peak. This offers parents a window of time to foster that cognitive development to its fullest potential. Just like weight-training builds the muscles, mathematical thinking develops the brain. Your muscles must be strained and used to get stronger, but many people fail to understand that much in the same way, your brain requires mental exercise to keep your mental skills and memory at its best. Here, math can be a critical element of cognitive fitness, especially for young developing children. New brain research reveals that through hard work and effort, you can improve your intelligence Today you often hear that it’s “nature” over “nurture,” and that people are either born with math aptitude or not, but research shows that this isn’t true. Differences in mathematics learning can be attributed to the experiences that you have had in life that have helped build the brain connections that allow you to think about complex math problems What does that mean for young students? Offering functional and positive math experiences at younger ages is key to architecting brain connections that can be built upon down the road. Math requires you to create connections and recognize patternsThis type of critical thinking builds the brain’s muscles, which spills over into other facets of life, academic and otherwise. Ever wonder why there is a correlation between music and math… there is part of the answer. Studying math can help to boost overall intelligence by developing important skills such as systematic thinking, problem solving, sequence and pattern recognition, etc. These skills not only make a positive immediate impact on children, but also can serve them well in all future endeavors. So, when you hear parents using phrases like “my child just isn’t a math person” remember: people don’t do math because they are smart, rather, they do math because it makes them smarter. We are all born with an immature brain, so start building math muscles in early childhood when development is so important. ALOHA Mind Math offers both enrichment and supplemental math programs that can foster development and academic performance in young children. Please contact your local center to learn more.