Education

Picture languages or pictograms were the first written languages. Picture languages are difficult to earn because the symbol for each word has to be memorized. Although many of the people of the Ancient World needed to use written languages, very few learned to write themselves. Instead, they paid scribes to write for them. The scribes probably began learning to write when quite young and would go on learning until they were sixteen or eighteen years old. They were often the sons and daughters of scribes who passed down their skill. If not. they went to school much as we do now. Writing seemed mysterious and strange to people who could not do it. and the scribes became important and respected.

A scribe needed a tool and a surface to write on. Various materials were used and this affected the appearance of the writing. In Sumeria the signs were pressed into soft clay with a stick tor stylus) which made wedge-shaped marks. The writing came to be known as cuneiform. meaning wedge-shaped.

In China the oldest writing that has been found was cut into metal or shell. and the pictographs were made of straight lines. Rut later the Chinese scribes used ink and brushes, and wrote on silk. The straight lines were turned into curves by the brush and the characters appear soft and flowing.

The Egyptians invented a set of pictographs in about 3000BC These were often used in carvings on their tombs and temples. and they are called hieroglyphics. which means ‘holy carvings’. You can see from the picture that the shapes are stiff and like stone. The Egyptian scribes needed another writing material which could be carded around. They used squares of wood, but their most important ic invention was paper. They made it from a type of rush plant called papyrus that grew in the swamps around the Nile River. The stems of the plant were beaten into thin strips. They were laid edge toedge and a second layer of strips was pasted across them. Then the whole sheets were beaten flat and rubbed smooth with a stone before being joined together into a long roll of paper. The scribes wrote with a reed dipped in paint. They chewed the tip of the reed so that it worked like a tiny brush.

To make writing really useful for everyone. This was the alphabet. Seven alphabets are used in the world today. but they are all based on the same idea of a set of signs. each standing for a single sound. These can be used in any order to make any word. They are not quite perfect, and one sign sometimes has to stand for more than one sound (for instance. ‘c’ in ‘court’ and ‘palace’). This depends on how the letters are placed. But if you see a word written for the first time you can usually tell how it sounds if you know the rules.

The Phoenicians were a group of people who lived on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Their land was poor and so. instead of farming, they became traders. They sailed all round the Mediterranean, and met people from every other Middle Eastern city. As a result. they learned many different languages and new ideas. Cuneiform and hieroglyphics had been used for more than a thousand years. and though they were still used for important documents. the scribes no longer had time to use them for everything.

By 1000BC the Phoenicians had an alphabet of great practical value. which spread East and West. It was adopted by languages as various as Arabic. Hebrew. Persian and Hindi. In the West the Phoenicians taught their alphabet to the Greeks. At this time the alphabet had twenty-two characters. all consonants. The Greeks added five vowels. These sounds you make with little or no use of your tongue or lips. The Latin alphabet is adapted from Greek and is the one used for western European languages, such as English. Cyrillic. the Russian alphabet. comes from Greek too. The alphabet made writing much easier and meant that many more people could learn to do it. Reading and writing at last became useful tools for all kinds of communication.

You can truly add a bit of style to your next project with patterned vinyl. It is the hottest new item in the crafting universe of vinyl sign making. The patterns regularly obtainable consist of zebra print, houndstooth, polka dot, and damask only to label a few.

The sky is the limit on patterned vinyl if you have your own personal printing equipment, but unfortunately this is truly pricey, so the regular crafter is at the mercy of companies that are capable of providing these prints.

It all begins by having an untouched white printable substrate. One of the most preferred medias is Orajet material manufactured by Oracal. This is a high quality vinyl with exceptional performance characteristics. This material is designed to be printed on with high quality solvent and latex based printers.

These types of printers perform notably like your inkjet printer at home, nevertheless they have one major variance, aside from their measurements. These wide format printers make use of a heating element to cure the inks so that they don’t smear and run.

Still with such high tech printers and all they do the patterned vinyl they make is still a fairly vulnerable product. Because the printer ink is much like paint on a car it can definitely be scratched or damaged by UV rays. That is where vinyl laminates join the show.

Vinyl laminates are purely a clear layer of adhesive vinyl that protects the patterned vinyl providing UV and scratch protection. Of course since they are clear the printed pattern shows through. Laminates are best applied before cutting something from your patterned material.

Much like printing on a piece of paper the pattern that is printed on the vinyl has small impact on the rest of the qualities of the vinyl. These patterned materials will run through your Cricut or Silhouette just like just about any other sheet of vinyl. The application procedure continues to be the same as well.

One of the great features of patterned vinyl is that it can be utilized on its own or paired with regular solid color vinyl. As with all adhesive vinyl it can be layered on itself. This pattern material can easily be used as a background or a foreground material.

These professionally manufactured items are awesome, but of course the makers of them are somewhat limited. For a truly custom project you will have to seek for an ink jet printable vinyl material.

The best investment ever is in a good education.

All of us have some inherent talent and deep potential. A good education brings out the talent within us and helps us uncover our hidden potential. It builds our character and builds in us a respect for our fellow men. It teaches us patience and humility. A good education develops our thinking prowess, and teaches us to think. Critical thinking will enable us to analyse any problem from various angles and come up with different solutions, and thus help us solve the;problem. A good education teaches us to learn and how to access the knowledge we need. This is important since learning should not stop at school, it should be life long. When we learn how to learn we are better equipped to face life.

A good education would of course equip us with the knowledge and skills needed to embark on a chosen career and earn a living.While we should not confuse between a good education and a good degree, it is a fact that getting a good degree from a good school can open the doors to getting a high paying and satisfying career. Today a graduate with a sought after degree such as computer science, engineering, law, management etc from a highly esteemed (by the corporate world) school can start a career with a pay several times that of a ‘plain’ graduate from a lesser known school.

Getting such a degree would entail a significant investment of time and money. Such an investment may even be beyond your reach. But this is an investment that can pay very rich dividend, if you consider that you might be able to earn so much more. In my part of the world for instance a ‘plain’ graduate might get a job as a clerk in an office or retail counter at say Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000 or so per month; but if they were to undergo the sacrifice needed to invest 3-4 years and several lacs of rupees as course fee for a ‘professional’ degree, they might start out with a salary of Rs. 25000 upwards. If you consider the difference in what you can earn in life-time, you will see what a wonderful investment it is.

Of course it is not enough to merely make the investment. You have to work to get the best of it. You will see that in any graduating class the difference between the top placed candidate and the bottom could be significant. IT is not uncommon to see a top salary of say RS. 50,000 and a bottom one of say Rs.20,000. So you need to work hard on your investment to get the best return.

Remember, also education is a safe investment. There is no risk of ‘default’. You can lose all your money, your job or even your house in very bad times (may they never come!). But no one can take away what you have learnt. Your education always remains with you.

The nursing profession has been around for a very long time. It is a profession that is considered more of a calling than just a career. It’s also considered a very noble profession that has never had enough workers. The reason it is considered more of a calling is the fact that at the point of caring for people you are bound to be required to go an extra mile to help them recover. It is also very likely that you will become emotionally attached to your patients in the course of your work. The empathy you have for patients’ families will also drain you and sometimes leave you vulnerable to trauma and or the family members taking advantage of you.

However beyond the passion and caring nature, one requires sound academic qualifications to make a good nurse. There are various nursing degree programs that will ensure you have the requisite theoretical and practical training. Unlike earlier years’ nursing which was considered a non academic field that only called for compassion for the sick, today nursing is a very academic intense profession with programs from certificate, nursing degree programs, masters and doctorate levels.

There are several avenues for joining the nursing profession. One can begin by studying for a nursing diploma or for a two year nursing associate program both of which concentrate on the technical aspects of nursing. However today it is more common and advisable – due to market demands – to pursue a nursing degree program for individuals starting out a career in nursing. A nursing degree program is also a good option for those with associate nurse qualifications but wish to advance their knowledge as well as their careers.

Studying for a nursing degree program will open up numerous career opportunities. There is a huge short fall of nurses in the public institutions. Private medical centers, clinics, schools and not for profit institutions also need nurses. Nursing degree programs have the advantage of being general or specialized depending on ones choice. This option makes it easier to chart out a career path in the area that you are most comfortable in and where one has a keen interest.

The areas of specialization in nursing degree programs include cardiovascular care, pediatric care, neonatal care, surgery and primary care. In a general nursing class the subjects you expect to learn include: nursing skills, biological sciences, social studies, clinical theory and research methods. Nursing degree programs whether general or specialized require a great interest in biological studies and a passion for clinical studies.

The nursing profession is not for the weak willed. It demands long working hours, passion and will tax you emotionally. As much as nursing has become a lucrative career the world over due to shortages of nurses against an ever growing demand, nursing should be for those with an inner motivation to help patients. Pursuing a nursing degree program is the easier part however working as a professional nurse requires full dedication. The beauty of it is that it is extremely rewarding with very visible success results.

Sophia P. is the editor of http://www.about-elearning.com and http://www.colleges-and-careers.com, Information and resource guide e-learning and college education. Resources include information on campus and online distance learning, books, software, and tools.

Public Schools in most parts of the United States are facing a major uphill battle in regards to teaching our children. We have even labeled schools and districts as “at risk.” It would take on the same meaning if you were looking for a house. You have selected the house and the realtor asks you if you are sending your children to private or public school. You make the comment that you will be sending your children to the local public school. The realtor informs you that the house you are highly interested in is in a high “at risk” area. Now, would you be purchasing anything in that area? It will send a red flag up not only for the schools, but also for the community, and you may want to keep on looking. What a plight on the schools, kids and area that brings.

The alliance that the schools have with teacher’s unions and the traditional way of giving school work to children is playing havoc on our kids. Some kids to not have books, nor do they get homework assignments.

Most school programs in America urgently need a highly non-traditional accelerated learning program. This program must be loaded with special features like short cuts to learning, and test taking. It must have a handle on the testing system. In fact, the entire testing system would have to be overhauled.

What would be recommended is to put in place a pilot program in all of the “at risk” school areas.

The caliper of testing would be more involved, more detailed, and more dynamic than the one that is in place at the moment. Accelerated learning systems have something to prove, so they must be able to show that the children are learning and learning very well. It will show long ranging effects.

There is a downhill side of this issue. The schools will refuse to set up a program even as a pilot one. They are petrified of what may happen. The kids, parents and teachers may love it. This system is easier on the students, and whatever is easy for the kids and they are learning you will have happy parents and the teachers will be astonished at the effects of their efforts. What is shocking is that we have been already offering accelerated learning type programs at the so called good schools. Private schools make it a point to introduce their student body to accelerated learning programs.The instructors will see that what they do will have immediate results for the kids.

Alfred Porter is an International Educator, Author, Learning and Study Skills specialist. He is also a senior accelerated learning trainer. Professor has a community college life-time credential and holds a PH.D in Metaphysics. He has taught at UCLA, Pepperdine University, and many private and public colleges. He taught and had residency in Spain. Professor has done much research in the Middle East, the Far East, Africa and Europe. He was a consultant for Ohio University in Saudi Arabia.

When students learn Spanish in Chile, they typically get some exposure to the current politics of the region during their stay. As a result, it makes sense to have some knowledge of recent history so that you can participate in some of these discussions in a knowledgeable manner. After all, if you show up to Spanish immersion school in Santiago completely aware of the modern political situation, you will be putting yourself at a major disadvantage when it comes to your cultural immersion.

In recent history, the Pinochet regime is important to understand. In 1973, the country’s economy was in dire straits and the GDP was falling quickly. Inflation rose about 800% when Senator Salvador Allende Gossens was president. Allende came to power in 1970 was a member of the country’s Socialist Party. After Allende was removed from power by a military coup, a military government took over. The Commander of the Army, Augusto Pinochet led this regime. He made himself the new head of a junta.

Immediately, after Pinochet came to power, there were human rights violations under his control. For example, the Caravan of Death killed about 70 people in 1973. Ultimately, thousands of people were killed while he was in power up until 1990. Many people also simply left the country. According to estimates, about 30,000 people decided to move elsewhere. There were also over 2000 cases of people who simply “disappeared” during this time period, and studies have shown that at least 30,000 people were tortured. To good news is that by the late 1980′s, things weren’t quite as dire, as the government began to allow freedom of speech and assembly as well as market reforms. By a 56% to 44% vote, Pinochet did not receive power again in 1988.

You will definitely notice that the climate is much calmer as you learn Spanish in Chile. Things began to shift in a more stable direction in 1989 when Chile elected a new president, namely, Patricio Aylwin who served until 1994. Another democratic leader Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle followed. Most recently, in 2006, Chile elected Michelle Bachelet from the Socialist party. This was the country’s first female president.

Today, the president of Chile is Miguel Juan Sebastian Pinera Echenique. He is a former Senate member who is also an investor and capitalists. In fact, he is one of the richest people in the whole country. Pinera’s win seems to indicate that Chileans are currently leaning towards the right. It is interesting to note that Pinera was the first leader from the right-wing party in 52 years. He is also the country’s first billionaire to be president.

As you attend Spanish immersion school in Santiago, be sure to read the newspaper and watch the news broadcasts. The media should answer many of your questions about modern history and politics. As your Spanish improves, you will be able to understand more and more of this information.