Learning English For Teens - Why is it Important?

Learning English For Teens - Why is it Important?In our modern society with all the new TV shows and movies, we should be really grateful for the Brits and the British Council for their efforts in introducing learning English to teens. There are numerous reasons why this practice is effective. Teenagers in the UK now have the chance to meet other teenagers from other parts of the world as they are learning English. It helps them to be part of an international club and they get to learn different languages as well.Teenagers, mostly have limited knowledge of English and this results in their lack of communication skills with other teenagers. This prevents them from communicating with friends or relatives. These days, being bilingual means many things but it does not mean that one has to become a business tycoon. Studying English language can now bring a great change on your future life.While deciding to study in a language school, you must consider the places of teen learning. It is al ways better to select a place that helps you meet up with other teen learners from your area and also find other information about the industry and the situation in the other countries where the teens studying English in UK is doing well.While choosing the best school for your teenager, make sure that the school offers quality education along with English language lessons. The school should offer you an array of facilities like tutoring, private lessons, study centers, practicums, seminars and so on. It is good to find out the costs of tuition and expenses of getting a job after completing the studies as these are some important factors to keep in mind while selecting a program.The schools for teens that are making huge success in this industry are more than happy to present their services and facilities to the parents. They give free advice on the best way to use the English language to get the job done. The Internet, which has become one of the most convenient medium to communicat e with other parts of the world, can now be used by teens to find the jobs of their choice, send messages to friends, and even do business with other teen learners from different parts of the world.With the availability of the Internet, the availability of good books and other information regarding the culture and customs of other countries that the teens are studying with, have become a lot easier. There are plenty of websites and blogs about other countries where the teens studying English in UK are doing well in the job market. Find out if there are any such jobs posted on these sites, and go and visit the place yourself to find out the kind of language of the people there.Teenagers who are successfully learning English in UK have a lot to thank the Brits and the British Council for introducing this excellent technique. This was not possible just a few years ago and now it has become really convenient to learn English as a second language.

The Essential Art Equipment for Drawing Painting

The Essential Art Equipment for Drawing Painting Pencils, Paint Brushes and Canvas: The Essential Illustrator Tools ChaptersThe Best Graphic Tablets for Illustrators and CartoonistsOnline Interactive White BoardsFor Those Who Prefer the PencilFirst You Sketch, and then You PaintPaint Brushes Need CanvasThe Cost of Framing a Portrait...Art lovers don't stop at visiting museums to enjoy their favourite canvases; they also take brush to hand to impose their imagination onto canvas or sketchpad... or computer.Expressing oneself artistically has many benefits, one of them being a calming effect: drawing and painting can reduce stress.While sketching, the artist detaches from the strain of today's ultra-connected world.Artistic endeavours work the right side of the brain, improve hand-eye coordination, and can even lower blood pressure.To effectively render art, one must observe nature and be able to faithfully reproduce it, without letting your left brain influence artistic vision.Right brain? Left brain?To fully grasp how the brain's hemispheres influence perception and artistic ability, you should ch eck out Betty Edwards' book: Drawing on the Right Side.As fascinating as the topic of the human brain is, our interest lies elsewhere, at least for this article.While art can be made of just about everything, drawing anything, be it the human form or a rose, requires certain implements.From graphic tablets to charcoal and colored pencils, we now discuss the logistics of art creation.Wacom is generally considered the leader in graphic arts Source: Pixabay Credit: NinjaBeavermodels can even connect wirelessly.It is a pressure-sensitive pad that comes equipped with a stylus; and that is where the resemblance to a graphite pencil and drawing paper end.It can be disconcerting, at first, to trace the tip of the stylus along, with nothing appearing under your hand, as it would if you were sketching on paper.Producing art on a graphic tablet calls for an evolution of your hand-eye coordination. Using this equipment, you would see lines and contour appear on a computer screen, unless you inv est in an LCD tablet, which has a display built-in.Also, whereas traditional artists use an eraser â€" a completely separate tool from the pencil, for shading and blending, graphic tablets have a totally different utility for that purpose.And, while a purist might have a pencil case full of implements of different thicknesses and composition for varying the darkness and broadness of pencil strokes, a graphic artist needs only to press harder on the sensitive pad to make a thicker, darker line.Selecting a graphic tablet comes down to your needs: are you taking a Drawing for Beginners class, and your art teacher requires you to furnish a tablet?Are you a professional portrait artist, ready to modernise your studio?Do you just like cartooning, or drawing cool things?If you are ready to make your mark (pun intended) on the graphic arts world, here is what you should look for in a tablet:the size of the tablet (the area available to draw in)the resolution of the tabletthe stylus and pad sensitivitysoftware compatibility (with your computer's operating system)You can find such tablets at a range of prices, depending on the features and resolution you are looking for.Entry-level ones start at around £50; high-grade tablets can run into the hundreds of pounds.In art circles, the Wacom tablet is generally recognised as the leader in the technology of digital drawing.Online Interactive White BoardsIf you are not quite sure of where you artistic aspirations might lead, you may want to hold off on investing in a digital painting device.Interactive white boards online is an alternative to purchasing a graphic tablet.In an IWB, as such applications are known, you have a collaborative visual communication tool that allows you to create art drawing online.You can share your work and invite your friends' or colleagues' input on the art project.IWBs have been taken out of the boardroom, where they were originally used to brainstorm, mind map, and cultivate ideas.Online, they h ave seduced a wider, more diverse audience, including schools, and individuals who are learning how to draw.These web-based white boards, while great to hone your drawing skills, also suit as:element integrators: you can add photos, music, voice and video to your artistic expressionchat  gateways to other artists; great for developing your drawing techniquesexport portals for your sketches: you can upload them into your blog or other social media outletan open document sharing marketplaceNaturally, each IWB has its own properties. Some permit step by step drawing among a group of artists while others forbid collaboration.Most sites allow basic drawing lessons in  figure drawing with only a login; others demand a fee to access their sites' premium features.If you want to try your hand at perspective drawing or three dimensional art online, here are a few sites to try:FlockdrawDeekitAww appPixiClipWorking on these sites, and perhaps benefiting from drawing tutorials by an established illustrator, makes having a go at these easy drawing pages worth your time.The top names in pencil manufacturers also make quality coloured pencils Source: Pixabay Credit: HolihoSeven different brush heads permit painting anything from the finest of lines and expressive faces to realistically texturing clouds. Absolute beginners would be best served by purchasing a full complement of brushes, ones that come in a packaged set, rather than individual implements. At least until they have decided whether they prefer rendering portraits in oil, as opposed to still lifes in acrylic.For artists ready to graduate from coloured pencils to paint, there is a variety of media to choose from Source: Pixabay Credit: BodobePaint Brushes Need CanvasAs long as you have settled on paint as your medium, you should consider what you will paint on.How should you choose your canvas? And how much will it cost?Any artistic endeavour requires investment: of time, of passion, and, of course, of money. Depend ing on the type and size of canvas you select, your cost can vary significantly.Types of canvas include linen, cotton and synthetic cloth. If you are particularly adept at portrait drawing, you may even invest in what is called portrait canvas: fine-woven linen.Synthetic canvas is relatively new on the art scene. In spite of traditionalists mistrusting this untested material, it is a cost-effective solution to more expensive weaves. Regardless of type and quality of your canvas material, size plays a big part in pricing your art canvases. Canvases are sized in two formats: landscape and portrait. Under each header exists assorted dimensions, ranging from just a few inches square to wall-sized tableaux. If you would like to draw a cat playing with yarn, a suitably-sized canvas will cost substantially less than should you want to depict a realistic drawing of a battle.The Cost of Framing a Portrait...or anything else you draw. After all of your investment in drawing materials and art lessons; learning how to use negative space to highlight your subject... guess what? Unless your medium is online drawing, you should invest in a quality frame to display your work.And, why not? Doesn't your particular brand of realism deserve display?It should come as no surprise that, the larger the frame needed, the more expensive it will be.You can trim your cost by selecting a metal frame â€" suitable if your art follows the style of contemporary artists; or a less ornate wooden frame. In either case, you should opt for an intermediary between the frame and your two point perspective: either a marie-louise or a passe partout. These are a type of mounting that subtly  highlight your painting and help protect it.For oils, it places a barrier between frame and canvas; for oil pastels or mixed media, it keeps  your work off your frame's glass cover. You might know that professional framers, artists onto themselves, are notoriously close-mouthed about the price of framing artwork. H owever, most offer free quotes: take them up on that! Request several, and then choose the best price. Now, you have a general idea of what it take to pursue art as a vocation, or just as a pastime.Unless you are unusually gifted in the field, it will most likely be of no use to watch art videos. Why not take online drawing lessons? Or sign up for an art instruction class at your local community centre? With Superprof you can find drawing courses London, art classes in Bristol or Sketching lessons in Glasgow. The world is your oyster!You can learn shading techniques, how to add texture to your portrait painting; everything from crosshatching to caricature. Once you have masted the basics, you can move on to more complex, exacting work: drawing the human form, accurately draw hands, and even toss out a Chibi Totoro! Surely, you don't need anyone to tell you what to draw...

Five Characteristics That Predict College Success

Five Characteristics That Predict College Success Its impossible to guarantee that your high schooler will go off to college, excel in all subjects, graduate summa cum laude and embark upon an incredible career. But wouldnt it be nice to know that your teen is on the right path? There are a number of benchmarks that are correlated with strong student performance, including a high GPA and taking challenging course work in middle and high school. But there are also certain characteristics that are common among students who do well in college and go on to become goal-driven, lifelong learners. Here are five student characteristics that are predictors of college success and tips on how to build these traits in your teen: Resilience Collegeand life in generalcan be stressful at times. Teens must be able to deal with the everyday challenges and issues that arise in a mature, productive way. Take a step back and let your teen fail and experience disappointments, then help him reflect on what he learned from that failure. This will help your teen build mental toughness and grit that will serve him well later on. Perseverance Students must learn that no accomplishment comes without effort and persistence. In fact, theres a good chance that some of the role models in their lives had to work very hard to get where they are. Encourage your teen to set goals big and smallfor college and beyond. Remind her that everything worth doing requires effort and dedication. Decision-making ability College is a brand-new adventure and it requires that teens be independent. The ability to make decisions is essential in college. Talk with your teen about how to come up with multiple possibilities to solve any problem, weigh the pros and cons of each, and decide/act with confidence. Decision-making and problem-solving go hand in hand. Self-management Self-management is vital as teens move into college. No longer will mom or dad be there to micromanage and keep them on track. You can cultivate this skill in your teen by encouraging her to embrace a growth mindset. Teach your teen to believe that she can always learn, improve and grow with effort. Self-advocacy Hopefully, teens learn in high school how to ask for help and speak up when their needs are not being met. Colleges professors expect that their students will do so, so the more you can step back while your teen is in high school and put him in the drivers seat, the better. If your teen doesnt get the grade he wants on a test, for example, its up to him to talk to the teacher about how to close those knowledge gaps and retake the test, if possible. One last tip for teens as they move toward college: establish a support system. College has its ups and downs. Your teen should feel comfortable reaching out to friends, teachers, family members, or a counselor or other mentor when he needs to. And remember: Huntington is here for your teen as well! Call us if your teen needs help getting prepared for college and you want to ensure she has the skills and aptitudes to succeed.

Timeline of Changes to the SAT and ACT

Timeline of Changes to the SAT and ACT Have you ever wondered where the SAT and ACT tests came from? Or how long theyve been used by U.S. colleges and universities to evaluate students for admission? Heres a quick overview of the history of both exams: The SAT 1900 The College Entrance Examination Board (today simply the College Board), a group of 12 colleges and universities, was formed to simplify the application process for students and college admission offices and administer annual exams to be used for college entrance evaluation. 1901 The first College Boards were administered in June at 67 U.S. locations and two European locations. Most test takers were from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and more than one-third came from private schools, more than one-fourth came from public high schools and the remaining 13% were from other institutions. 1923 Carl Brigham published a book called A Study of American Intelligence, which concluded that American education was on the decline. He was hired to create an exam for Princeton University freshmen and Cooper Union, a New York technical College. The College Board subsequently hired Brigham to develop a test that could be used by many schools, which ultimately became the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). 1926 The SAT was administered to high school students for the first time and replaced the College Board exam. 1934 Harvard University began requiring all candidates for admission to take the SAT. 1947 Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit organization, was founded by the College Board, the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to take over testing activities for those organizations exams, including the SAT, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and others. 1994 The SAT went through a major update, altering the verbal section, increasing passage-based reading sections and renaming a section Critical Reading. The Math section was also updated to include free-response questions and allow calculator use. 2005 The College Board revised the SAT to rename the Verbal Reasoning section as the Critical Reading section and add a Writing section. The score scale of the new SAT became 600-2400 (with three sections: Critical Reading, Math and Writing). 2014 The College Board announced plans to overhaul the SAT, the biggest changes since its 2005 update. The test went back to a 1600 scale (200-800 for math, 200-800 for reading), the essay became optional, a no-penalty-for-wrong answers policy was implemented, and the testing of obscure vocabulary words was removed, among other changes. 2016 The newly revised SAT was administered for the first time in March. The ACT 1959 The American College Testing Program was formed to administer the ACT Assessment, which was designed to help students make better decisions about which colleges to attend and which programs to study, and provide information helpful to colleges in the process of admitting students. The exam was administered for the first time in November, with more than 75,000 students taking the exam. 1989 ACT introduced a revised exam, replacing the Social Studies section with a Reading section and renaming the Natural Science section as Science. Updates to the Math and English sections were also made and the overall ACT became longer. 2015 ACT changed its scoring methodology. Students began receiving four new subscores for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), English language arts, career readiness and text complexity. In addition, the optional ACT Writing test changed, giving test-takers three perspectives on a topic and inviting analysis of those three perspectives. 2019 ACT announced that in 2020, students would be able to test online during national ACT test dates, take single section retests, and report their best individual section scores, also known as superscoring. Of course, both the SAT and ACT have gone through many other changes through the years: splitting into different sections, addition/removal of various content, scoring methodology changes and more. If you have a teen preparing to apply to colleges, well help you learn everything you and your teen need to know about the SAT and ACT, including how to prepare effectively. Learn more about the current iterations of the SAT and ACT by contacting Huntington at 1-800 CAN LEARN. History of ACT exam (ACT.org) ACT timeline History of the SAT (PBS.org)

As English grows in size, knowledge becomes more important

As English grows in size, knowledge becomes more important If you've noticed an extraordinary amount of new English words in use over the past few years, you've noticed one of the most striking phenomena to hit the language in recent memory. The English language has doubled in size over the last century, giving it an unprecedented level of growth. That's according to a new survey by Harvard University and Google, who have found that the language is expanding by 8,500 words a year. There are now 1,022,000 words in the English language and it has grown by more than 70 per cent since 1950. With this unprecedented level of growth, it can be hard to keep up. An English tutor can provide the skills needed to communicate with poise and aplomb. Sorting the wheat from the chaff In the previous century, according to researchers, the English language only grew by a tenth. Now, the rapid rate of growth in the English language means that we need to understand new words on an almost daily basis. Importantly, many of these new words are not included in the official dictionaries. Linguists class these as slang or made-up jargon. The challenge for students of the English language, then, is to learn how to separate 'good' new words from 'bad' new words. Sorting the source It may sound obvious, but for many younger students of the English language, this is an important point. The source of the new word you have just learnt can help to identify whether this word is suitable for use in formal and written communication or not. For example, many children may use a word they have heard on TV in an essay at school. If that word is slang, or even rude, then they will be penalised for it. On the other hand, by reading quality journalism and good books, children can be exposed to 'good' new words as they become part of everyday English. The new word challenge The challenge, then, as speakers of an ever-growing language, is to encourage pupils and students to use new words only when they have seen them used in a reliable source and in an appropriate context. If you or your child needs help getting to grips with our changing English language, why not enlist the services of one of specialists? Simply search our database for a tutor near you.

?? Tutora is becoming Tutorful

?? Tutora is becoming Tutorful Tutora is becoming Tutorful Tutora has become TutorfulFrom the moment we built our first two desks in Scott’s spare bedroom all the way back in August 2015 to launch Tutora, we have always held a very firm vision about who we are and what we stand for.Tutora was conceived from realising the very real pain faced by parents seeking help for their children, and by tutors struggling to position themselves as trustworthy educators in their local area. We built Tutora on a foundation of delivering trust, transparency and an extraordinary level of service for all.Over the two and a half years since, we’ve remained committed to upholding these ideals - an effort which has led to tremendous success in cultivating a talented community of tutors, who believe in our mission. In working together to embody these values, we've earned the trust of parents and, together, we've been able to help tens of thousands of empowered learners.Our Team's VisionMany of you will have spoken to our friendly team of Education Advisors, w ho enjoy getting to know you and your needs. They are part of a wider, close knit team of 20 - a team which shares these common goals…- To help every learner, across every subject, level and age, find the help they need to achieve their goals.- To help great tutors meet students they can truly help.- To help facilitate the best lessons possible and to make tutoring simple.- To build an incredible community, which works together to improve learning for all.In seeking to achieve these aims, we believe that we can help a huge number of people experience the transformative power and joy of learning, whatever the subject, whatever the age, wherever they are.We believe that learning is wonderful. We are Tutorful.The FutureWe're sure that you're as proud as we are to have been able to help tens of thousands of learners to date. We hope that you can see how hard our team, as Tutora, has worked to get to this point, but also how determined we are to do much more, as Tutorful.As you share i n our vision and continue to work with us to further grow our community, we'd love to hear how we can improve the site or our service. We always listen to your feedback and try to make the changes needed as quickly as possible so we can keep progressing in the right direction and to further improve learning together.The Short-TermChanging our name to Tutorful will not result in any change to the way our service works. The website, your dashboard and the process of tutors and learners interacting together will remain exactly the same.We switched over on the morning of Tuesday 12th December. Now we’re back up and running you’ll notice the new Tutorful branding across the site and you’ll be able to find us at our new web address of tutorful.co.uk. Over the remainder of next week you’ll notice other changes such as our email addresses, social media and other links changing. As soon as this happens we’ll update you with our new contact details, but don’t worry as all of our p revious contact details will still work too.We know you may have a lot of questions not answered here about why we’ve chosen to move to Tutorful and about using our platform, so as usual our support lines and email will be fully available to help.To close, we’d like to extend a personal thank you from the entire Tutorful (formerly Tutora) team for sharing this journey with us. We're excited about what the future holds and look forward to continuing to work with you.Scott and MarkCo-Founders @ Tutorful

5 things to focus on when looking at the University of California

5 things to focus on when looking at the University of California 5 things to focus on when looking at the University of California Many students will apply to one or more of the schools that make up the University of California. When applying to college, there are a lot of things students should consider before making their final decisions about which schools to apply to. They may be interested in conducting research and going on to graduate school, they may want to work with certain professors, or they may be looking for a well-rounded education before deciding on a major. There are several things applicants should consider while researching potential campuses our Los Angeles college admissions consultants are here to help you apply to college. 1. Size and location Its important for applicants to think about the size and location of the different universities within the UC system. Is the size of the campus manageable? Is the location close enough to or far enough away from home? Are there job opportunities in the area? Students will be spending a good portion of their day for the next four years on campus, so its important they feel comfortable navigating their surroundings as well as living and working in the local area. 2. Fields of study Most UC campuses offer a broad range of major fields of study. However, some universities are known for specializing in one thing or another, so students should consider what they are thinking about majoring in before narrowing down potential choices. Students should also consider how easy it is to change their major if they start to have different ideas once they arrive on campus. Some students know what they want to study before stepping foot on campus and will need to take several different classes in their first two years before settling on a decision. 3. Career options Applicants should also consider potential career choices once they complete their education. Of course, students can move to a different city to look for jobs, but its often easier to gain an entry-level position in their local area. Students may have made connections through internships, classmates, or a part-time job they had over the summer. A graduates individual needs will be based mainly on their chosen career field thus students might find more or less success in different cities throughout California (READ: Tips From a Los Angeles College Admissions Consultant: How to Prep for College Applications). 4. Research opportunities The University of California as a whole is known for its research opportunities. Whether a student wants to focus on undergraduate research and apply for jobs immediately after graduation or wants to apply to a graduate program, the University of California can be a great option. Students are encouraged to look into the individual research opportunities that each campus offers. If students want to work with a specific group of professors, they should take extra special care to make sure that research opportunities are available with that specific person or department. 5. Extracurricular options Its also important for applicants to look into what extracurricular activities are available to them. Some campuses are really big on clubs and organizations while others are known more as commuter schools where students simply attend class and participate in a few social activities. A students interests will greatly determine which campus will be the best fit for them. From improving your GPA to standardized testing, our private Los Angeles college admissions consultants are here to help improve your college admissions competitiveness. Call us today to learn more. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.