Official italki Blog

Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog One important aspect of learning a language is getting connected into a community of students and teachers.  Thats why we revised our Groups function on italki.  We wanted to make it easier to have discussions about every aspect of learning a language.   What weve done is create official italki Groups for every language.   Each language now has five official groups called: Learning the language Teachers and Schools Tests and Exams Culture and Society Travel, Living Abroad and Study Abroad We made this change in order to consolidate discussions in each language.  All of the previous user-created groups still exist, and you can still create your own group.  As with before, each group is basically a forum where members of the group can create a topic and start a discussions with other group members.   We also wanted to highlight a few interesting ways you could use groups. Many teachers have asked us how they can reach students who are interested in paid tutoring sessions.  Teachers can now post information about themselves in the Teachers and Schools Group (example: Teachers and Schools for learning English).  We think this could be a great place for teachers to market to students, and for students to learn more about a teachers background and teaching style. Another interesting use of groups could be for sharing test knowledge (example: Tests and Exams for learning English.   Now if you are taking a language test such as the  TOEFL (Test of English as a Foriegn Language), the  HSK (the main test for Chinese proficiency), or the  AP Spanish test  (US College Boards test of Spanish competency) you should be able to find discussions about how to prepare for them in the Tests and Exams group for that language.   In general, we just wanted to make it easier for the italki community to connect and communicate with each other.  If you have any questions about how to use groups or want to send us any feedback on the site changes, please click on our feedback link or send us an email (feedback at italki dot com). Your opinions really help us understand where we need to improve the site. And keep reading our blog   well be letting you know about our future updates here. Official italki Blog Official italki Blog We want to wish a happy new year to all our members, teachers, supporters, investors, advisers, and staff.   Thank you for a great 2009! And we look forward to an even more exciting 2010. Best Wishes for the Near Year, The italki Team P.S. The December Unwrap the Joy of Learning promotion ends tonight at midnight, China time.   Thats in 6 hours, so hurry now! Official italki Blog Official italki Blog We want you to get the most out of italki, and so were planning to write a series of blog posts for how you can improve your experience. General tips for finding good language partners 1. First, offer to help other users Many users ask other users to become friends by demanding that they help them learn a language.  This isnt wrong exactly, but its always important to think from the other persons perspective.  Ask yourself why this person would want to become your italki friend? * Person A:  Hi * Person B:  Teach me English I wan learn English very mch * Person C:  Salut, I see that you are learning French.   I was born in Paris, and I am native speaker of French.   I was wondering if you could help me with English for practice in French? bad introduction In order to receive help, you must be willing to give it. Especially at the start, its important to let other users know that youre interested in helping them too. 2. Show something real about yourself Profile pictures When youre online, it is harder to build trust, so its important to try to be real. Not having a picture or using fake pictures makes it harder to connect with other users. Which one of these is a real person? Audrey Hepburn did not join italki Profile information Likewise, profiles with no information makes it harder for other users to know if they should be friends with you. The more youre willing to share about yourself, the more likely other people will be willing to share their time with you.  Again, always offer to help people in your profile. 3. Answer questions, ask questions Answering questions is a great way to show other people that you are interested in sharing your knowledge. In addition, other users who have similar questions may view your answer and find you that way. Asking good questions also shows potential language partners that youre serious about learning a language. Some users are looking for longer-term study partners, and showing that you know something about the language helps the community understand who you are. 4. Having discussions in groups Groups is another place to be seen and to participate in a dialogue. In particular, if you are a teacher or tutor and want to let other language learners know that you are available to teach, definitely go to the help offered / schools and teachers group to post an introduction. If you are student looking for help, you should post here. Likewise, if youre a student, go post in a group like learning the language or in the help wanted / tests and exams area. 5. Dont give up It isnt easy to find good long-term language partners, so dont assume after sending five invitations that there is nobody who wants to work with you. Its also important to know there are many reasons why people dont reply or arent interested. Some users already have many friends, and dont want to add new ones. Some users are just too busy. Our main recommendation is just to keep on trying, and keep on coming back to the site. The language partner search results are generally filtered by who was last online so dont wait to be found. Stay online, and get involved! If you have other suggestions or ideas about how to get the most out of italki, please let us know in the comments below! You can also always send us feedback or email at feedback at italki dot com. The italki team Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog Official italki Blog

Wake up your Inner Artist Learn to Draw!

Wake up your Inner Artist Learn to Draw! Passion for beauty and creativity awakened in human soles in ancient times and became one of forces that distinguished mankind from the animal world. Every person has some creative abilities. Some people have bent for music, others for craftwork or dancing. Unfortunately our rapid world and endless pursuit of success in study and career do not leave us much time to  grow our inner artists. However, any creative activity â€"  for example knitting or writing songs â€" can be a nice hobby that helps to relax after hard day or may become even a source of an extra income if the fruits of creative work find some consumers. That is why it is worth to think what can we do to develop the creative skills of ourselves or of our children? Drawing is one of the most popular kinds of creativity. It does not requires specific equipment, it is enough to have a piece of paper, a pencil and several minutes of free time to create a small sketch. A collection of sketches may stay your secret entertainment or you can share it with your friends and relatives. In order to become a professional painter it is necessary to go through a long way of study in an art school or university. But for those who are not dreaming about worldwide fame it is more than necessary just to master some basic drawing skills with a personal tutor or via online classes. In our days there are plenty of websites that offer various courses for painters of all levels. Most of them are focused on computer graphics as the digital pictures are the most suitable for Internet. Computer artwork is very popular among young progressive people. The followers of traditional drawing usually prefer in-person tutoring one-on-one or in small groups. There are many benefits of personal and online learning: freedom of choice (student selects what kind of drawing technique to study and may choose in-person or online tutoring); availability (no need to pass an entrance exams and affordable prices); flexible schedule (student can define convenient time and duration of lessons). It is never too late to recognize your interest in art and start study drawing. Sure, some time, persistence and patience are needed to find your own style of painting. But even simple sketching may vary your everyday routine or may come in handy one day. So if you are feeling a bent for art in yourself or in your child do not miss a chance to realize it. TutorZ.com offers a wide range of tutors who are ready to assist you in any kind of creative activity: painting, drawing-sketching, knitting, music, dance, craft art, digital arts, fine arts, needlecrafts, playwriting, sculpture, song writing and woodworking.