February 2, 2009

The Diana Plaza Hotel: Brickbats or Bouquets?

An unusual email arrived in my inbox last Wednesday. The subject line was International Buffet $15 (One Night Only - Friday 30th January). There was no text, just a simple jpg attachment called image001.jpg. OK, so I’m on the Diana’s email list so I thought it safe to open the file - and am I glad I did!

It promoted a $15 per head buffet dinner to introduce their new Executive Chef, Benny. There was a simple call to action; ring to book and so, at 6pm, I rang. No luck as the phone system’s menu led me to an extension that didn’t answer. No matter, I called again at 8:30 on Thursday morning and booked for two.

I asked if I could book for a larger group, say 20 and was told that the manager would have to approve a booking of that size and no, he wasn’t there and no, they couldn’t tell me how many seats were still available. I was told they would call me back at 9:30 so I hustled a few colleagues at the office and got a group of ten together. At 11:30 my phone rang and I was told that they were booked out and couldn’t take more than the two of us…

Being one to put up some resistance when what I consider commercial idiocy presents itself, I asked for the manager and was connected to Jay, the new manager. Jay was delightful; apologising profusely for their error and asked me to make sure I touched base with him on the Friday night.

Just a bit of background here…

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December 11, 2008

Grammatical Punctuation Software

Grammatical Punctuation Software - can it truly improve our English writing skills?

Writing is generally considered more formal than speaking, so it is important to maintain it correct and professional. Read the following review and find out how technology can assist you on improving your English sentences.

Some background

Grammatical Punctuation Software suggests new ways on improving our writing, our writing skills, and our writing style.

By simulating the human mind, this technology analyzes your writing by comparing it to a dynamic large database that contains proper variations of your text.

Grammar writing programs enable us to: text editing and proofreading, correct grammar and punctuation analysis, and automatic spell checking.

Can it make our life better?

Do we really need it?

Well, let's examine what is in it for us:

* Assisting ESL learners assimilating English grammar rules.
* Avoiding common writing mistakes we tend to repeat in our daily writing assignments.
* Significantly enhancing our existing text editors.

Looking closer on this technology, we could easily find other advantages that were not mentioned in this review, as this unique system keeps changing, bringing us new improvements that help us on improving our English writing and editing skills.

Final words

Grammatical Punctuation Software solutions definitely become essential as most of us use writing as their main business and personal communication tool.

Until today we trusted our conventional word processors to help us with spelling errors, but unfortunately it couldn't help us with grammar.

In the next few years we can expect this solution to further develop itself, for one simple reason: writing is among the most significant tools that help us fulfill our daily assignments.

Watch how an advanced Grammatical Punctuation Software analyzes text and learn more about innovative technologies that can help you transform your English writing correct, professional and creative.

Visit: www.englishsoftwareguide.com

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December 10, 2008

Make Money Writing - Write Local

Want to get started writing for money?

Writing makes a great home business.

However, you should forget the Internet, because you can make more money writing local.

I've been teaching my copywriting students to start their businesses by writing local for years.

"Write local" works for other kinds of writing too.

For example, an easy way for new writers to start is by writing resumes for people who are looking for new jobs.

You can advertise your resume-writing services in local newspapers.

Here are some additional ideas of what you could write for local businesses:

* Advertising

* Newsletters

* Articles

* Business letters

* Web sites and Web content

Advertise Your Writing Services - Get Known and Make Money

For local companies to hire you, they must be able to find you.

This means that you need to get known as a writer in your local community.

The easiest way to do that is by advertising.

But what if you don't have an advertising budget?

Advertising doesn't need to be expensive.

There are many cheap ways in which you can advertise.

You can put notices on community notice boards, or print out flyers on your computer and leave them with local businesses.

Another way to advertise without spending money is to get to know your local business community.

Every community has business groups and you can join the networking events at these groups, often for free.

Take along some business cards and hand your card out to everyone you meet.

Don't forget to put your web address on your business card.

Once you've been to a couple of networking events, offer to speak at one of them.

You can give a brief talk on a topic like Internet marketing, advertising online, or creating a search friendly website for example. 

Speaking is a no-cost way of advertising your services, and you will find that any speaking engagement you have result in several new clients.

Writing for local businesses is the easiest way to get started making money writing as a new writer.

You'll find that once you get your first client, your name will be passed around, and you will get more writing jobs than you can handle. Get started today.

Discover how to make money online today with Angela Booth's Sell Your Writing Online NOW at sellwritingnow.com/Home/training.html

You'll learn how to write and sell articles, blogs, ebooks and Web sites for profit, and you'll get complete training in how the Web works, so you can take advantage of the unlimited opportunities.

For free weekly writing information sent to your Inbox, subscribe to Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine at http://fabfreelancewriting.com/ezine/fab-freelance-writing-ezine.html and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report" immediately.

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5 Secrets To Rapid Article Writing

If you are interested in writing articles really quickly, then this article is written just for you!

Writing articles quickly is a challenge for many, but for those who master it, writing articles becomes almost like second nature.

Here are 5 advanced secrets to supercharge your article writing:

1. Break Your Article Into 3 Parts

Create a structure for every article before you begin.

Typically, this will consist of an introduction, the main body and the conclusion.

When you think of your article this way, it suddenly becomes a lot more doable!

2. Write Out The Key Points For Your Body Copy

Your body copy forms the 'meat' of your article! Include 3 to 5 main points in your body copy.

For each main point, write out a few sentences.

Just by doing this, you will have more than a hundred words or even a few hundred words and in a snap your article is almost done.

3. Use Dragon Naturally Speaking

Dragon Naturally Speaking is a piece of software that recognizes speech and turns your speech into text, almost instantly.

It's a super quick way to create content just by speaking!

We all speak faster than we type or write so this is a really easy to crank out articles at warp speed.

4. Leverage On Your Old Articles

If you've written any old articles before, you can take some ideas from them and use them to create brand new articles from scratch!

5. Leverage On Your Other Content Materials

Written some long posts on forums or sent out some long content emails to your mailing list?

You can use these existing content to create new articles.

Just reword them but keep the same information intact, and you'll have a brand new original article ready to publish.

Fabian Tan is a well-known Internet Marketing expert and the author of the popular 51-page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to www.MurderYourJob.com to get your free copy now before it's gone!

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Teaching English for Higher Levels

Teaching English to students who are in higher level should includes the following: reading comprehension, writing skills, listening skills, and speaking skills.

For advanced learners of the English language, it is very easy for them to speak fluent English.

But learning English is not just a speaking skill. It also requires the writing skills.

English is divided into: the speaking skills and the writing skills.

I. Reading Comprehension    - reading comprehension in studying English is very important. In reading Comprehension you will be able to evaluate the capacity and the ability of the student on how they understand each reading material that you let them read.

It also helps them practice their pronunciation.

Here are some of the reading materials that are useful:

a)  Tenstory books - One of the most useful reading comprehension material is the use of tenstory books.

Each story book in the tenstory helps the students to understand English in very easy way.

Pictures are drawn in the story books to be able for the students to understand each story easily.

b)   Reading Newspapers and magazines - It is important that you require your higher level students to read the newspaper and magazines.

Tell them the importance of reading a newspaper and a magazine.

Reading a newspaper and a magazine will help the student to know what is happening in their society locally and globally.

Then you can give them an activity by choosing one topic article on that newspaper and magazine let them summary the article by their own words.

Also make sure that you ask the student questions regarding the chosen article, and never forget to give them chance to talk and interact.

Let them share their reactions and opinions on the certain topic they chose.

Note: Dictionary books are also a helpful way for learning English.

2. Writing skills - checking the writing skills of higher level learners is a basis that they are learning from each reading material that they studied.

In writing skills, you can check the grammar and spelling of your students.

There are students that can speak fluent English but when it comes to the writing skills you will noticed that they are not that good.

Some activities that can be given to your students are let them write essays.

Give them certain questions or topics and le them write it in an essay form.

3. Listening skills -

Listening skills is another important factor in teaching higher level students.

Some higher level students that are good in speaking English lack listening skills.

Sometimes because of lack of listening skills we misunderstood or misinterpret some of the things we hear that may cause miscommunication.

Always remember "A Good Speaker is A Good Listener".

Note: The best way to practice listening skills are by watching news on the television, documentary shows, talk shows and listening to the radio.

4. Speaking skills - what is our goal why we have to reiterate speaking skills.

Well, simply because our aim is to help our higher level students to gin more confidence in speaking English especially if they wee given difficult questions.

 Here are some activities that you can give to test their speaking skills

A)    Ask them difficult questions regarding the lessons that you are talking about.

B)     Encourage your students to join contests such as debates, declamation and oratorical contests.

Note: Conversational talk or free talk is also helpful for students to practice their speaking skills more.

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