The Most Famous Yoga Poses

The Most Famous Yoga Poses What Are the Typical Yoga Positions? ChaptersYoga MudrasSun Salutation: Yoga’s Most Famous PoseThe Cobra, An Effective Daily Yoga PoseThe Clamp, A Simple and Effective PoseThe Candle, a Fundamental Yoga PoseTwisting, Basic Poses that Are Easy to ExecuteThe Triangle, Yoga Standing Up“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” - Swami SivanandaWhen people think of a yoga session, yoga positions, or just the practice of yoga itself, they think that yoga is just about meditating. However, this isn’t the case! More and more people are taking up yoga not just for the mental and spiritual benefits but also for the physical benefits.A lot of people do yoga in order to balance their life, achieve mental clarity, and relax or reduce stress. There are plenty of reasons to do yoga. However, before you start, you need to adopt the right pose!There are plenty of different types of yoga. However, pretty much all of them will include doing different poses. Even when you first do a yoga for beginners class or yoga for weight loss classes, you can bet that you'll end up doing some stretches before going into a basic yoga pose designed to relieve anxiety and tension in one way or another.In this article, we're going to look at a number of different yoga asanas and poses that you can do and that most budding yogis should be aware of. CarleyYoga Teacher 5.00 (5) £100/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GenYoga Teacher £45/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JulieYoga Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LynnYoga Teacher 4.89 (9) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AliceYoga Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LauraYoga Teacher 5.00 (6) £70/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors UndramYoga Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LottieYoga Teacher £10/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsYoga MudrasThere are plenty of yoga poses to learn when you first start doing it. It’s very ea sy to drown in all the new information you have to take on board when you start practising. However, with the help of an instructor or tutor and the right resources, you can get started with a bit of alignment whether you practise yoga on your own or in a group class.Yoga mudras will come up again and again when you practise yoga. Mudras are gestures that are regularly used in yoga. The term means “seal” or “closure” and many of these mudras are achieved by created a circuit with parts of your body that are said to aid the flow of energy.You can think of them acting in a similar way to electricity flowing around a circuit or a river flowing. You need to hold these positions as you manage your breathing. You should regularly practise these mudras during your yoga sessions. As they’re quite simple, they’re great for beginners.Sun Salutation: Yoga’s Most Famous PoseSimple, quick, and effective, the sun salutation is a yoga fundamental that every yogi should be familiar wi th. This sequence of poses can help blood flow as you change from positions that have your head lowered and raised and your back straight and curved. There are different types of sun salutations and you should get your instructor or tutor to talk you through them. Just make sure you manage your breathing as you do them.The sun salutation is a common sequence of yoga poses. (Source: AndiP)This sequence can help you improve a large number of aspects of your life and energise you in the morning. The sun salutation can aid digestion, loosen up muscles, and gently wake you up. In short, this sequence is great for getting to know about yoga!The Cobra, An Effective Daily Yoga PoseIf there’s a typical yoga pose, this is it. The cobra is the type of yoga pose that beginners can immediately start feeling the benefits of. To recentre yourself, improve your balance, and increase your flexibility, the cobra is king. This asana (pose) focuses on and strengthens your spine, which can prevent con stipation and benefit your kidneys.After a few lessons, you'll move onto the cobra pose. (Source: Cuyahoga)The idea is to lie on your stomach, place your hands flat alongside your shoulders, and lift your torso off the ground while keeping your feet on the floor. Along with the right breathing techniques, this is a hugely effective pose. You’re more than capable of doing the cobra pose. CarleyYoga Teacher 5.00 (5) £100/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GenYoga Teacher £45/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JulieYoga Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LynnYoga Teacher 4.89 (9) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AliceYoga Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LauraYoga Teacher 5.00 (6) £70/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors UndramYoga Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LottieYoga Teacher £10/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsThe Clamp, A Simple and Effective PoseYou’re probably familia r with the clamp position from primary school PE lessons or gymnastics. This is the one where you have to touch your feet. Welcome to yoga classes near me where this pose is called the clamp. While seated on the floor, you just need to touch your feet while breathing in deeply. On the way back, breathe out in the same way and enjoy the inner peace that comes with the simple act of deep breathing.The clamp position is one of the most common yoga poses. (Source: silviarita)The effects of the clamp are simple. This yoga pose can make your spinal column more flexible, preventing sciatica, and also tone your sexual organs, regulate your appetite, and aid renal function. It’s a great way to rejuvenate our bodies, which will allow us to enjoy all the benefits of yoga!The Candle, a Fundamental Yoga PoseThere’s also the half shoulder stand (or half candle) for those who can’t manage to do the candle pose in its entirety. The candle is a common yoga pose since it’s quite simple and he lps improve cardio, is good for meditation, and strengthens muscles. You just have to lie on your back and then bring your legs towards the sky and keep them there.This position can help you focus, relax, and adopt a position which, while not natural, is often really good for your heart and your circulation. However, this pose isn’t a good idea if you’ve just eaten, are having digestive problems, or are menstruating. Aside from that, this is a great yoga pose that requires a relatively small amount of effort.Twisting, Basic Poses that Are Easy to Execute“The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.” - B.K.S IyengarTwisting poses are some of the most important yoga poses to learn as they’re quite simple to do and you can do them while sitting on the floor with your feet and hands together. You turn one way and then turn the other, helping your digestive organs and your kidneys.Each yoga pose has different benefits. (Source: evitaochel)This posi tion can also help improve your flexibility, especially in terms of your spine. It can also help you to let go, eliminate toxins, and improve your overall wellbeing.The Triangle, Yoga Standing UpSimilar to the clamp, the triangle is a simple yoga pose or posture and you can do it standing up. With your legs apart, take a deep breath and place your hand onto your right foot as you breathe out. You then do the same but from the other side, ensuring that you control your breathing as you do. You’ll feel a pull in your muscles as you do this so make sure that you do it slowly and be mindful of what your body’s telling you.Thus, you can work on your flexibility, alleviate back pain, tone up, and prevent urinary problems. This is a position that has a lot of physical advantages rather than focusing on your vital organs like a lot of other poses. So get your mat!Yoga is a simple yet complete activity that is both delicate and powerful. It welcomes beginners while also rewarding those w ho are driven and committed to doing it. With sun salutations, twists, and other poses, there’s something for everyone. In just a few sessions, you’ll be well on your way to getting to know yoga.There are so many yoga postures with plenty of different benefits. However, they're not necessarily easy. So whether you do a downward facing dog, mountain pose, tree pose, triangle pose, pigeon pose, or a headstand, make sure you ask your yoga teacher about stretching beforehand, pranayama (breathing techniques), and what parts of your body you'll be using.Some poses can place a lot of stress on your thighs, knees, toes, ankles, pelvis, and even your tailbone. Make sure you check with a doctor or a yoga instructor before you go about strengthening them in a beginner yoga class. The same is true if you're considering changing your diet to match your new yoga lifestyle.Don't forget that yoga is about more than just balancing on a yoga mat and doing a warrior pose. You've also got to integ rate your breathing into each and every pose in order to get the most out of them!If you're interested in doing yoga, consider finding a yoga instructor on Superprof. On the platform, you can find face-to-face tutors and online tutors.Online tutors provide instruction using a webcam and a programme like Skype and tend to be cheaper than face-to-face tutors because they have fewer expenses. However, having someone there physically is actually much better for you when it comes to doing the different poses. You could always get a few friends together to split the cost if it's too expensive.

College Tutors From Tutor Pace

College Tutors From Tutor Pace Struggling with math scores? Fearing about your next SAT/ACT exam? I don’t know if you are or aren’t, but I am not. All thanks to the wonderful college tutors from Tutor Pace.   College Tutors: How Tutor Pace’s college tutors have changed me I had been afraid of math throughout my school days. Then in college, I got quite scared to see algebra, calculus, and trigonometry. Since, I was not good at math earlier; I took it for granted that my college math will also be bad. But, then Tutor pace came in my life and everything changed. Now I’m able to: ? Perform much better in my math tests and college exams ? Keep pace with my teacher’s lectures ? Finish my math assignments on time ? Prepare with great technique for my upcoming SAT/ACT ? Better my math skills from time to time ? Have confidence in the subject College math tutor: How my college math tutor helps me 24/7 help from my college math tutor is a standout feature. I work with math experts as per my schedule. I just tell them when I want to learn and they get connected right away. Whether morning or night, I get a tutor as per my comfort. I learn in interactive virtual classrooms that are much better than real classrooms. I use whiteboard to solve problems. I interact freely with math experts on live chat. The easy and light learning environment adds a fun element to my learning. I get immediate answers to my math problems on instant live tutoring. I ask problems and my college math tutor gives me step-by-step solutions. Since, I’m an active sports student in my college. I usually don’t have time to take tutoring sessions each day. I can only learn when I’m free. So, I schedule my sessions on schedule based tutoring from Tutor Pace. An expert comes connects with me on weekdays, weekends, and anytime. Online tutoring: Why I  couldnt  get better online tutoring than Tutor Pace You see, I remember things for little time. So, home  tuitions  and coaching classes were never beneficial. Being a little lazy, I didn’t like  making notes either. So, I wanted an ever-ready personal guide for myself. Thanks to the session replay feature, I can anytime visit my previous sessions to refresh concepts. From calculus to algebra, all my topics are covered in my online tutoring. Whether algebra 1 or algebra 2, Tutor Pace has me covered. I get full homework help directly from the experts. They help me with every single math question. Also, I get math project guidance and exam-prep tips on time. I practice math problems using high quality math worksheets now and then. My online tutoring is all about ease, comfort, learning, and performing. In other words, it has all that I want and all what you want. So, be happy just as I am and get college tutors from Tutor Pace right now!

How to Speak up When Youre Hurt at Work - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / How to Speak up When Youre Hurt at Work - Introvert Whisperer How to Speak up When Youre Hurt at Work Sarah Landrum July 25, 2016 Communication, Dealing with Fear, Office Politics No responses Go to top If you’re naturally introverted, you might characteristically go about your job and scarcely speak up unless answering a direct question. However, when you’re injured at work, being assertive by letting someone know what happened is a necessity. Otherwise, you might end up with an untreated injury that’s more severe than you first realized. There are several reasons why people feel nervous about telling their supervisors they’ve been hurt, including: A fear that people won’t believe the injury claim Uncertainty about whether their supervisors will care and take appropriate action Being under the impression they may lose their jobs or be subject to disciplinary action by disclosing their injuries Worry about the lost income they could be subjected to if their supervisors ordered them to stay home to recover Thinking fellow coworkers might feel jealous if the injuries require them to take time off work, but are eligible for worker’s compensation These stresses are all compounded if you’re very quiet and tend to go about your business without wanting to bother anyone. By following some actionable steps, it should be easier to keep your head clear and feel more confident about letting a superior know what happened. Know Your Company’s Policy for Reporting Injuries Most companies have specific guidelines in place that instruct people how to file reports about being hurt at work. Unless the business has fewer than 10 employees or is part of an industry that’s considered exempt, it’s required to report accidents on a particular form to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). If you’re not aware of the policy that applies to your workplace, getting educated offers a good opportunity to become more comfortable with being assertive. One easy thing to do is to speak up after getting some safety-related information at work. Simply say something like, “I think it’s great that you offer such clear instructions so everyone knows how to operate that piece of machinery safely. Out of curiosity, is there a procedure in place for reporting workplace accidents?” At the very least, you’ll learn something new that might come in handy for yourself or someone else. Plus, your decision to ask a question benefits everyone within earshot who also might need to know the answer but didn’t make that fact known. Notify the Appropriate Person Immediately As soon as the injury occurs, communicate with the designated individual who can help you file an accident report. If the injury is so severe that you are unable to notify that person yourself, send someone to do it for you. On the other hand, if you apparently aren’t badly hurt, you may be tempted to finish your shift before notifying someone about what happened. It’s essential to speak up about your injury right away rather than waiting. The timing of the accident is usually a crucial part of filling out an accident report. If you wait for days or even weeks before letting a supervisor know about the injury you’ve suffered, there’s a good chance you’ll be asked to provide a valid reason for your delay. Be Aware of Your Average Income If the injury requires you to receive worker’s compensation payments, the amount you get is calculated based on the amount you earn. Laws vary by state, but in Pennsylvania, injured workers should receive 66 ?% of their average gross weekly wages through compensation payments. Eventually, you’ll get a calculation from the worker’s compensation insurance company that describes the amount of compensation you’ll periodically get while recovering from your injuries. Check the form carefully and assertively tell your workplace if a mistake has been made. If you know the portion about your earnings isn’t accurate, it may be necessary to confirm the discrepancy by showing pay stubs to your employer. Fill out the Accident Form Thoroughly When officially documenting the injury, you may feel very timid about describing the extent of your injuries, and possibly even be tempted to downplay what happened. However, doing anything except providing an honest, full and accurate account of what occurred could negatively affect your ability to get compensation. You’ll also probably need to list the associated medical treatments you’ve received, if applicable. Be sure to follow your employer’s instructions about whether you must only get treatment from particular healthcare providers. Document How the Accident Has Affected Your Ability to Work When following up your worker’s compensation claim, make sure to keep records that discuss how being hurt has adversely influenced your ability to do your job. It may be appropriate to focus on factors such as: Whether it takes longer than normal to do certain things If you experience pain that didn’t occur before you got hurt Whether the pain has worsened, moved or otherwise changed since the accident How it’s become necessary for you to take more rest breaks than usual because of the injury By providing those kinds of details, you’ll be able to give evidence to your workplace about how your life has been since getting injured. In the same way it’s essential to be truthful and thorough when documenting the injury, don’t leave out pertinent details when describing how the injury impacts your life. Informing superiors about getting hurt at work is something that can cause even the most self-assured workers to feel uneasy. If you’re so anxious that you think it’d be better to keep quiet, reshape your perspective by remembering how your decision to disclose injuries promptly should make it easier to get the required treatment so you can get back on your feet as soon as possible, and hopefully not suffer any long-term effects. Go to top Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today!  Start watching now by clicking here! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

How To Navigate Russian Grammar

How To Navigate Russian Grammar Basic Russian Grammar for Beginners ChaptersVerbs in RussianSome Basic Russian VerbsBuilding Russian SentencesUsing Games to Learn RussianFind Russian Lessons Near YouEager to start learning Russian and find out more about the land of the Tsars, maybe even take a trip to Moscow or St. Petersburg? Learn to read Tolstoy or Pushkin or other greats of Russian literature in the original language?Wonderful! This Slavic language is spoken by about 154 million people worldwide, and while at first, it may seem daunting to learn a whole new alphabet, Russian grammar, while quite different from English in many ways, is in others also much simpler.So once you have mastered the Cyrillic alphabet and learned a few basic Russian words and phrases, it’s time to study the core of the Russian sentences and how to build them - and how to continue your Russian lessons London and make learning Russian fun!EditAspectGroup lessons Private tutorTimeforce you to take time to learn - great if you always have an excuse for rescheduling.adapt t o your schedule if your job doesn’t leave you time off at the same time every week.TeachingStrict curriculums and set exercises. Wonderful if you tend to go off on tangents when learning.Adaptable curriculum that lets you advance at your own pace. Perfect if you find learning a language difficult.Feedback. You can learn from the questions other students ask - the ones you didn’t realise you needed to ask, too.Your teacher will help you ferret out and work on your weak points.Motivation.Other students are in the boat as you. You will have a support structure and study buddies if you revise best in a group.Your teacher will notice a lack of motivation and help you overcome it by adapting their teaching style or offering a mix of games and study.Missing a lesson.You’ll have to catch up!No need to make up that lesson since it simply didn’t take place. Continue where you left off when you see your Russian tutor again.With the help of Russian language tutors, you can learn how to read this sign. Photo credit: Ilya Khuroshvili on VisualHuntFinding Russian teachersAssuming you live somewhere where Russian is not a popular language to learn and you need a private tutor. Where can you find one?Here are a few tips:Is there a university near you? If so, you can look for Russian private tutors either at the Russian faculty if they have one, or simply go around campus putting up leaflets looking for a Russian native speaker. Russians studying in the UK may be eager to earn a few extra pounds by teaching you their language and culture!Is there a Russian community in your town or near it? Look for Russian Orthodox churches online and contact them to see if it’s all right for you to put a leaflet on their message board, or if the priest might recommend someone to you.Or look online! Here at Superprof, we have hundreds of Russian tutors eager to give you private lessons at home or via Skype.Check out our platform for the best  Russian teacher.With these tips, you are primed and ready to take the leap and improve your listening comprehension and accent at a more advanced level, perhaps even with language immersion or a trip to Russia!

A New Perspective on Academic Success

A New Perspective on Academic Success Improving Academic Performance The average person probably believes that a critical key to success in life, particularly one’s academic life, is intrinsic intelligence as measured by IQ. Yes, most of would say, hard work matters a lot too, but at least in many academic situations, no amount of hard work can really make up for a lower level of raw intelligence or aptitude for certain types of academic or cognitive skills. Some of us are “math people” and some of us just aren’t, right? Not really. A large body of academic research has been developed over the past two decades which suggests that the above sentiment is fundamentally misguided; it’s much closer to wrong than right. And as Mark Twain once said, it’s not what we don’t know that gets us into trouble, “it’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” In this “Ted Talk,” the popular author Malcom Gladwell explains how the story of David and Goliath, where David, a small, unarmed underdog carrying a few rocks, slays Goliah, a giant-like, fully armed warrior, is one gargantuan misconception and mischaracterization of the facts. For literally thousands of years, people have used the David vs. Goliath analogy to describe situations where a smaller, weaker, opponent with very low odds of success somehow miraculously pulls off a victory. If you watch the video, it turns out David may have been a sharp shooting, battle trained member of the artillery, firing rocks out of a sling with the force of a modern day revolver. Goliath, on the other hand, may have been a giant with a medical disorder that made him move slowly and suffer from double vision. In other words, David was the favorite. He was more likely to win. But consider this. When people misuse the “David vs. Goliath” analogy, it doesn’t actually matter that the original story might not be true. There certainly are many cases of “underdogs” who are underestimated and thus able to pull off a victory, so the analogy is still useful in helping people understand and frame situations the encounter in their lives. But, when parents and students believe that success in general, or even in certain classes or areas, is in large part pre-determined by IQ or natural aptitude, that can be a huge, debilitating problem that prevents students from realizing their potential. It leads to lower levels of effort, higher stress, and poor academic outcomes that the student believes were pre-determined, but which actually were not. Academic success is actually a very complicated process to understand, and much more in every student’s control than many parents and student seem to believe. In fact, your raw intelligence is somewhat “malleable” â€" it can improve over time. Most cognitive or “pure” academic skills (i.e., mathematic, reading comprehension, etc.), like those tested on the ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT, which seem to correlate with IQ, can clearly be developed with practice. Even performance on IQ tests themselves can change over time (i.e., there is evidence that simply having more education seems to lead to improved IQ scores). And in any case, non-cognitive skills unrelated to IQ, like the ability to pay attention, be curious, plan ahead, and persevere through initial failure and adversity, may be what really lead to success in high school, college, and beyond, anyway. The academic research that supports the above points is generally very strong. But, our society’s general understanding of why some people succeed in school while others don’t has not kept up. The emphasis is still on IQ and aptitude, when it should be on practice and perseverance. There have been a variety of entertaining, insightful, and award winning books based on this research with titles like “The Talent Code” and “Brain Rules” and “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” We feature some of these books on our virtual bookshelf. Each of these books, in its own way, tells part of the “story of academic success.” A parent or student, after reading one of these books, walks away with a few new insights and more tools to increase the odds of success in school, at work, and in life in general. There is a problem, however. The problem is that success is not easy to understand. The true story of academic success is a complex one. Even though it may not be true, it’s easy to understand the idea that your IQ in large part determines how well you perform in your math class. In fact, it’s even an excuse, or at least an explanation, for any given student’s average or worse performance. In that sense, it’s a belief that some may want to hold on to on some level. Particularly when you are starting from the above point of view, the idea that how well you perform is actually a function of your mindset about intelligence in general, your ability to pay attention, how you approach homework, how well you plan ahead, and how you deal with obstacles, etc. just seems hard to digest. Based on my understanding of the current research, I’d like to introduce a framework for understanding what leads to academic success. In future blog articles, we’ll explore each element of this framework. From my perspective, academic success is a function of: Recognizing that cognitive (math, reading comprehension) and non-cognitive (grit, work ethic, etc.) skills are equally important and complementary PLUS Developing the right mindset about intelligence and cognitive skills PLUS Practicing deliberately to build your cognitive skills PLUS Building non-cognitive character skills, like curiosity, determination, and perseverance PLUS Developing non-cognitive executive functioning skills, like the ability to focus, plan ahead, and self-monitor PLUS Bringing it all together through longer term, strategic educational planning To learn more about these topics, you can continue to read future articles on this blog, check out our virtual bookshelf, or sign up for our book summary distribution list, where we’ll systematically and concisely summarize some of the most important recent research on what really explains academic success. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, 'bf23a065-a3c9-4ac9-bab1-42400c7da48e', {});

Free practice SAT and ACT tests

Free practice SAT and ACT tests As we head into the holidays, just a friendly reminder that AJ Tutoring offers free practice SAT and ACT tests for current clients at our San Jose, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park offices.   Practice tests are offered most Saturday mornings at 8:30 am, and the tests are concluded by 12:30 pm.   The tests are administered and timed by one of AJ Tutorings test proctors, and tutors provide detailed feedback on test results.Practice SAT and ACT tests are an integral part of AJ Tutorings SAT and ACT prep programs.   Students who complete at least three full practice tests show better score improvement and feel more comfortable on the actual test.   Just like training for a marathon you wouldnt run the race without training for months beforehand! its vitally important to practice for the SAT and ACT marathon.   Each test takes close to 4 hours, which requires no small amount of concentration.   Make sure you have the right preparation by taking AJ Tutorings practice tests!For AJ Tutorings curr ent practice SAT and ACT test schedule at the San Jose, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park offices, please consult  our website.   If you would like to sign up for a practice test, please email info@ajtutoring.com or call (650) 331-3251.   Were looking forward to seeing you on a Saturday morning sometime soon!

Language Learning Gamification Why It Works, How to Use It and 5 Games to Play

Language Learning Gamification Why It Works, How to Use It and 5 Games to Play Language Learning Gamification: Why It Works, How to Use It and 5 Games to Play “Quit playing that game and do your homework!” your mother would always say.But what if I told you that you really don’t need to turn your games off?What if I told you that you can actually play more games to learn a language?Sound tantalizingly fun?Welcome to the world of language learning gamification, where new words and grammar rules meet points, quests and trophies.If youre looking for new motivation to learn a languageâ€"or you just want to shake up your study routineâ€"weve got five recommendations for game-based tools thatll get you racing to fluency.But firstâ€"what the heck is gamification, exactly, and how does it work? Language Learning Gamification: Why It Works, How to Use It and 5 Games to PlayWhat Is Gamification?First off, let’s clarify the term “gamification.” It simply means to make a game out of something.Let’s say you’re on a camping trip with your family. And you’re now gathering wood for the night. A run-of-the-mill chore, right?That is, unt il one of your cool uncles says, “I’ll give $10 to the person who gathers the most firewood in 30 minutes.”That instantly perks you up, right? And not just youâ€"your siblings and cousins are getting into it, too. And now grandma has a glisten in her eye.You start moving faster, the promise of a prize echoing in your head. Just to make things even more exciting, your uncle adds, “And I’ll give a $5 bonus to the person who gathers the most maple and oak. They’re the best for campfires.” So you scurry back to the forest with even more enthusiasm. The stakes just got higher and you want to win it all.That’s how you make gathering woodâ€"or any other taskâ€"exciting. You make a game out of it. You “gamify” it. You add game elements like prizes, missions, points and rankings. And you could apply that to any human activity from washing dishes to coding computer programs to, of course, language learning.Note:  Gamification is a little bit different from Game-based Learn ing (GBL). While gamification involves applying the rules of a game to a task or lesson, GBL involves using an actual game to teach something (like this board game that teaches middle schoolers about math).Both gamification and GBL can incentivize learning with competition and fun. Here, well point you to language resources that make use of both techniques.But first, an important question: Do they actually work?Do Gamification and Game-based Learning Work?What do the experiments and examinations into gamification say? Heres a look at some recent research.Gamification ResearchA New York University journalism professor injected his 14-week course with gamification. He took the class to Wall Street for some journalistic sleuthing and turned information gathering into a healthy class competition.When tested on the material a week later, students recalled more of their gamified scavenger hunt than information they read just a few minutes earlier!This aligns with a 2006 report from the Su mmit on Educational Games by the Federation of American Scientists that claims students recall only 10 percent of the things they read and 20 percent of the material they hear. But when experiencing the material themselves, even if it’s just in a simulation or a game, recall can climb as high as 90 percent.Gamification has also been adopted by corporations in the hopes of boosting customer engagement and increasing bottom lines.For example, even Domino’s Pizza is getting in on the action, gamifying the ordering process through their app. Gamification has also been tapped to influence health and lifestyle choices, from Nike’s FuelBand, which gamifies feedback about physical activities, to Piano Stairs, which saw a 66 percent increase in people’s use of stairs.So whats this all mean for language learners? Gamification has been shown to increase peoples interest in and engagement with even boring tasks like ordering pizza or taking the stairs. That makes it a great resource for shaking up your study regimen and practicing grammar, vocabulary and more.Still don’t believe that gamification can work? Here’s a list of 90 gamification applications and some stats on how successful they’ve been.Game-based Learning ResearchA University of Florida study reported higher math achievement by students who played math computer games.Students said that the game was fun and challenging, while teachers concurred with the quantitative results, noting that said students did indeed have improved understanding of the subjectâ€"and added that the game overcame their math phobias and made them want to learn.Well, thats all well and good. But how about games applied to language learning?Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have examined the effectiveness of todays gamified second language learning apps. They found that these apps have benefits for efficient learning and that the way information builds on itself (like in-game levels) can reinforce previously learned lessons.They also found strong initial motivation for these apps, but it should be noted that dropout rates are also high. Researchers emphasize that gamification can be an effective learning tool but should probably not be anyones sole study method.That said, there are some exciting gamified and game-based tools out there for language learners (well point you to some great ones later in this post) and with some smart strategies, you can get the most out of them based on your learning style and goals.How to Make Language Learning Gamification and GBL Work for YouOverlearn the levels. Repeat the whole game if you have to.  Your ultimate goal is to learn the language. Remember that. It’s not to beat the game or rack up as many points as possible. The game and the different gamified elements are just vehicles to a more important goalâ€"learning the language.So if you’ve passed a level, or even finished the game, don’t think yourself too cool to go over the whol e thing again. Going back to corners you’ve gone before not only cements what you’ve already learned, it serves to remind you why you’re doing it in the first place.Practice in a non-game environment.  Maximize those gamification and GBL apps by bringing their lessons outside the game environment. That is, try to actually use the skills that youve learned in real life. For example, look for native speakers to try new vocabulary out on. Apps like Bilingua and HelloTalk can help you find language exchange partners.You can also integrate the vocabulary words into your day. Use sticky notes to label objects around the house as constant reminders. Or work the vocabulary into a deck of flashcards and start flipping.Track your progress and mark your language weak spots.  Gamified resources are famous for giving you this type of data before you even ask for it. Built-in progress tracking tools help you pinpoint areas of the language that you need to work on. If you heed the data, youl l get insights that ensure every minute in the game is time well spent.If need be, get a journal and write down some notes. Are there specific words you have trouble with? Are there specific rules of grammar that always trip you up? Being honest with yourself and consciously getting a picture of your present language skills puts you in a better position to consistently improve.Cross train by having multiple games targeting different language skills.  Theres no one game, no silver bullet so perfectly fashioned that it delivers language fluency. So you’ll have to play many games and repeat them several times.Different games focus on different language skills and have different learning approaches, as youll see below. Even if you start encountering the same words or concepts, the different environments, graphics and audio will help cement them in your memory.Connect with other language learners.  A sense of community is very important for language learning. You cannot be an island un to yourself.The names on those leaderboards arent merely a set of letters. There’s a breathing human being behind those names. And while you may not be able to get in touch with them directly, you can definitely meet kindred souls in language forums or language exchange sites and apps.Dont give in to the temptation that says, “I’ll just keep to myself for a few months. When I’m ready, I’ll engage.” No, engage now. Find somebody. Don’t hide behind the games.Try to create your own gamified learning experience! You dont need to be an app developer. You just need pen and paper. Make rules. Make it fun for you.It can be a series of tasks in the tradition of “Mission Impossible” for example, where you give yourself different tasks for a whole weekâ€"like collecting things in your house that start with the letter s in French.Youll quickly see that even before you start playing your game, the mere act of gamificationâ€"thinking about key concepts, words and goals in your t arget languageâ€"will get you engaged and motivated to learn. Creating this type of game will make you a winner in more ways than one.Get Fluent with Games: 5 Addictive Language Learning Gamification OptionsMindSnacksMindSnacks, “games for your brain,” is one of the App Store’s 2011 winners of the “Best Education Apps of the Year.”It’s really an awesome collection of games that you can use to learn Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Chinese and Japanese. There are around nine games for each of the offered languages, and about 1,000 vocabulary words up for mastery.For example, MindSnacks offers a game called “Swell” that’ll really keep you on your toes. Imagine this: You’re staring at your screen, which features a lone fish peacefully swimming about when suddenly the water level starts dropping.Youre then presented with a vocabulary word and given two choices for its translation. Choose the correct one and the water level pops up a bit (before beginning to drop again as you’re presented with a new vocabulary word). Pick the wrong translation and your poor fish instantly dies and goes to heaven.What happens is, as you get more questions right, the water level drops faster and faster and you have less and less time to think about your answer before the water reaches the bottom, killing your fish. You’re given three live fishes before the game is over.Then there’s “Belly,” a picture recognition game where you help feed a hungry frog by pairing a word or phrase with its corresponding picture. The little frog then unleashes his sticky tongue to snatch the picture from the screen and into his belly.As a player, you have an avatar, which levels up the more you play the games. MindSnacks keeps you interested because it’s like youre taking care of an evolving avatarâ€"which starts from being a harmless egg to an increasingly awesome creature. You get the feeling that you’re raising a pet while learning the target language.The MindSnacks graphics may look all cute and cuddly, but this is one seriously useful app that’s great for all language learners.LanguagenutLanguagenut is a complete language learning platform containing stories, songs, tests and games. It was originally designed to be seamlessly integrated into classroom instruction. But that doesn’t mean individual language learners can’t take advantage!Of interest for us here are the games and the gamified language learning elements. With Languagenut, you don’t just win points and gold medals. You actually see how well you’re doing compared to other learners on a leaderboard. It’ll give you the spark, that inner motivation to work on the program moreâ€"if only to see your name on a higher rank.Speaking of games, there are over a dozen here, some of them involving an educational twist to a classic game.For example, in Tic-Tac-Toe you still get the traditional nine-square playing board. But this time, there’s a picture or image behind e ach of the square. You can only mark that spot with your “X” or circle if you can give its name in the target language. So for maximum chances of winning, youve got to learn the previous vocabulary lessons really well.In their version of Hangman, the stakes are even higher. You don’t just gradually see a human figure about to get the noose. This one has an environmental spin to it. To begin, you see a picturesque backdrop on your screen. Youre still given blanks corresponding to every letter of the answer, but every time you guess a letter wrong, something happens in the picture that turns it into something awful.Maybe your grassland turns into a toxic dumpsite. Then your waters become polluted and animals start dying. Every wrong turn is bad for nature, so you have to know the answer early to avoid the total destruction of your scenery.A lesson in nature preservation embedded in a language learning game? Sounds awesome to me!FluentUTo truly get fluent, youll need to hear your target language the way native speakers really use it. FluentU is a unique tool that manages to combine the fun and motivation of a game with authentic target language resources.With FluentU, you get to watch diverse video clips including real-world interviews, movie trailers, YouTube clips and much more.  The magic starts to happen as you watch and explore the interactive subtitles. Click any word you’re interested in and youll get a definition, translation, pronunciation and usage. You can even cross reference the word and see other videos that contain it, so you can have more contexts for its use.After youve watched a video, the game elements kick in. Youll get quizzed on the new words you learned with fun exercises and visual learning tools. Youll be given performance indicators so you can track your accuracy as well as the percentage of the video that you mastered or learned.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Each day as you watch and complete exercises, youll earn virtual currency and build up learning streaks. Plus, FluentU remembers what youve studied and suggests new content based o n that info, so you get a truly personalized game-learning experience.All while absorbing your target language the way it really sounds!The Language GameThe Language Game is a fun tool composed of mini-games. It’s something you can play with another language learner, perhaps a friend, a family member or relative. You don’t need an internet connection to play this one since you’ll download it to your computer.The unique thing about the Language Game is that it can create competition even when two people are studying different languages. So if you’re studying Spanish and your friend is learning French, you can still go head to head because the game will adjust to your target languages when it’s your turn to play.If you know  â€œBlockbusters,” the game operates along the same lines. Youll see a screen that’s populated with hexagonal tiles. Each tile represents a task: answering a multiple choice question; pairing a picture with its translation; etc.The mission is to get t o the other side of the board by strategically choosing hexagonal tiles. One player will go from left to right, and the other will go from right to left. The player who gets to the other side of the board using continuous tiles wins. (The twist is that when you’re able to “sandwich” your opponent’s tiles, that tile becomes yours and is flipped to your color.)Whats especially motivating is that instead of some anonymous learner on the other side of the world, the person you’re playing with is someone you know. You can trash talk and tease each other, in real time. It makes language learning not only fun but also very competitive and challenging.DuolingoWith over 100 million downloads, you know this app is doing something right.Duolingo gets you to do a series of gamified language learning tasks, such as translating words and phrases back and forth, listening to a phrase and typing what you hear, pronouncing target language words into your phone’s mic or building sentences in your target language.These tasks are delivered through micro-lessons arranged by theme. Each question that you answer correctly slowly fills up your progress bar.  When you successfully complete a lesson, youre rewarded with virtual currency, which you can use to buy yourself prizes (everything from extra lessons and bonus skills to cool outfits for the Duolingo mascot, Duo the owl).And then there’s the “Double or Nothing” wager, where you bet your currency as a wager. And the deal is that if you’re able to go on Duolingo every day, for a full week, youll earn another five.If these points and prizes arent enough motivation, Duolingo also peppers highlights of your achievements throughout its lessons. For example, there’s the “Sharpshooter” badge given to somebody who completes a new lesson without getting anything wrong. There’s also the “Triple Digits,” given to the user who earns 100 points in one day.With Duolingo, you feel you’re constantly progressing toward something, and every minute feels like you’re winning. It’s very difficult to let go of that feeling. You always want to keep playing, keep winning (and keep learning)!So, there you go!You now know what gamification and game-based learning are all about. You have the resources you can tap and some tips on how to make them work double-time for you.Can you imagine how easy learning a language can be if it’s mostly fun and games?What are you waiting for?Let gamification lead the way. Make a game out of your language journey.

Tips for last minute Teach Away applications

Tips for last minute Teach Away applications If you’re submitting an application for a teaching job abroad that begins in just a couple of months, or even sooner, you can increase your chances of a successful placement by taking into account the following.1. Make yourself availableBefore you can be considered for any one of our teaching roles overseas, all candidates must go through a thorough screening and interview process. We may need to set up phone or Skype interviews at short notice, so ensure we can contact you. Reliable responses and good communication from candidates shows us that they’re taking their application seriously. Above all, it’s essential that you’re certain that you can commit to the start date of your potential contract.2. ResearchInitially, the idea of setting off for a new life in the Middle East or other region may sound fantastic. However, every country has a very different culture and the way you’ll be expected to behave may be unusual compared to what you’re used to. It’s important you know what to expect. Making sure you are well informed will help you to decide whether teaching abroad is the right choice for you and avoid any surprises later on in the process. There are hundreds of sites and blogs online, many written by expats, that can give an insight into life and teaching overseas.3. Is the move abroad realistic?How easily can you pack up your life at home? Do you have any important family commitments coming up that you just can’t miss? How about any dependents? These are all important questions you need to ask yourself before you continue.4. Have the right documentsIn order to teach abroad, you’ll need to secure a working visa for the country you plan to travel to. To obtain one, you’ll need to show proof of your qualifications and teacher certification, as well as hold a valid passport. Your passport will need to be valid for the full time of your contract. Passport applications can take months to process so make sure you have one that’s in date, o therwise you should apply for one immediately.5. Complete your applicationSubmit your application only when it is 100% complete. Attach your most recent resume, upload your photo and provide the most accurate, up to date information.Ready to go? Register and apply now.