350-018 examination can be said as one of the important examinations that are awarded from Cisco. The examination name for 350-018 is Cisco CCIE pre-qualification lab examination for security. Since this certification is accepted in all over the world, Cisco offers the candidates to write this examination in various language options apart from English. The available language options for 350-018 examination are Japanese, Russian, Spanish, French, Korean, Chinese and Portuguese. Candidates who are willing to write this examination in any one of these available languages should register with a special quote stating with the language option. Only candidates who have mentioned about the language information alone are allowed to write this examination.

Nowadays, candidates are required to certify with special certifications from reputed companies like Cisco in order to stay long term in the information technology field. Candidates who have successfully certified with this examination not only will receive the CCIE lab examination for security certification but also increase in salary.

Additional information:

If candidates are interested in certifying with CCIE lab examination, then they can register directly in Pearson VUE center or through online Pearson VUE website. After or before registration of 350-018 examination, the foremost thing that candidates have to proceed is to gather necessary study materials. There are various resources available for the candidates to get necessary study guides/ materials for the 350-018 examination. It is not mandatory criteria for the candidates to register with the examination only after proper preparation. It is completely candidate’s wish/ convenience in registering with the examination.

350-018 examination fee would cost around approximately 150 to 225 USD. This examination fee does not include any additional discounts or taxes. Local taxes may be applicable and the exam fee will differ and it depends upon from one country to another country.

Spoken English is made up of forty individual sounds including twenty four consonant sounds and sixteen vowels sounds. With only twenty six letters in the ABC’s, the Latin alphabet has never accurately represented English speaking.

While the ABC’s have worked adequately for written English since 1476, there has not been a suitable phonetic alphabet to indicate the sounds of the language until 2001.

The English Phonetic Alphabet

24 Consonants

/b/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /t/, /v/, /w/, /y/, /z/

/CH/, /SH/, /TH/, /th/, /ng/, /Zh/

16 Vowels

/Ay/, /a/, /Ey/, /e/, /Iy/, /i/, /Ow/, /o/, /Uw/, /u/, /^/, /Oy/, /Aw/, /Er/, /Ar/, /Or/

The Impact of ABC’s on ESL – May Chan’s Story

The secretary burst into my classroom. “Can you come – now” she pleaded and disappeared back into the hall. I motioned to my class to work on their own and followed her. From the computer lab at the far end of the school, I could hear the sound of a man shouting. When we entered the lab, he stopped “I can’t understand what she’s saying”, the repairman snapped as he backed away from a young Chinese woman.

The computer lab in our midtown adult community school was lined with second-hand office computers. May Chan, a graduate of our school was employed there as an assistant. It was her job to load the appropriate software into the computers for each class. That day she stood alone pointing to a bulky old unit. A single tear rolled down her cheek. In my experience, Chinese people are model students: they are proud, quiet people. I had never seen a Chinese student cry and it broke my heart. May Chan pointed to the monitor and whispered, “To soun. Eyychoo. To soun.”

She was ashamed of her Chinese accent and the rude technician had humiliated her. I asked her what was wrong and she repeated, “To soun. Eyychoo. To soun.” But I could not understand her answer. “Can you write it down?” I asked, and gave her a pen.

E C H O, she printed, and it all made sense. The computer was sending two sounds; it had an echo. She knew the right word, but in English knowing the right word does not always help. What May Chan did not understand was English, letters do not represent sounds. The connection between English letters and sounds is so weak, no one can speak English from reading it.

The Lesson: Spelling is Random

May Chan was making the classic ESL learner’s mistake of pronouncing a word the way it looks. English does not work like that. Understanding the differences between written English and spoken English is the key. The alphabet, spelling, grammar and punctuation are all about writing and have nothing whatsoever to do with speaking. In English, spelling is random and speaking is not writing said out loud.

When a student’s ability to read and write English far outstrips their ability to speak it, writing it down is a great strategy for communication hiccoughs (pronounced /hik ups/ – case in point). Something ESL students are surprised to learn is that native English speakers do not know how to pronounce words from reading them, either. English spelling has been hopeless for a long, long time.

The Age-Old Problem

English as a spoken language has been developing since 450 AD and commonly uses 40 sounds. The Latin alphabet (or ABCs) with its 26 symbols has only been used by the general public to print the English language since 1476 AD when William Caxton set up his printing press in London. English uses more sounds than it has letters! The Latin alphabet has never accurately represented spoken English.

For example, what is the sound of the letter ‘g’ in beige, garage and genre? What is the sound of the letter ‘s’ in Asia, usual and television? /Zh/ is a French sound and there is no specific letter for it in English.

The Solution that Did not Work

Dictionaries often use a set of symbols known as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Unfortunately, that alphabet does not work well for English. The origin of IPA is French where the letter ‘e’ is known as ‘euh’ and ‘i’ is known as ‘e’ and so on. In spite of the inherent confusion, the IPA had a good run and survived for more than one hundred and twenty years. Today there is little tolerance for the system, because the obscure IPA symbols have no representation on the standard computer keyboard.

The Solution that Worked

In 2001, English finally got its own 40- symbol, computer-friendly phonetic alphabet where each symbol represents one and only one sound in the English language.

Students need to learn their ABC’s for reading and writing and the English Phonetic Alphabet / ingli SH funedik alfabet/ for speaking. When learners can see how words sound, they pronounce them with confidence!

Summary

· Write it down is an acceptable strategy if speaking is not working

· English writing and English speaking are different languages

· The Latin alphabet does not represent English sounds

· The English Phonetic Alphabet (EPA) is a phonetic system that works

And be sure to fire the bastards that make your students cry.

English is Stupid is the definitive resource guide for spoken English in both the academic and corporate speaking world. The six principles that govern spoken English are outlined in the chapters of “English is Stupid”.

There are countless reasons why schools should provide their students with innovative science lab equipment. After all, almost every part of their lives is or has been affected by science. From the local weather to the food they eat, it plays a role.

When school labs are not outfitted with up-to-date materials, supplies, and equipment, it will adversely affect the progress of scientific advances yet to come. The advances in medicine and technology would not be possible without the brilliant and dedicated scientists and researchers. Many of them developed their lifelong interest in the field as soon as they performed their first experiment in the lab of their school.

The intention of most high school curriculum is to ready its students for working or prepare them for higher education. Most colleges and universities demand completion of laboratory courses to be eligible for admission. Studying in this discipline will not only increase their literacy in the field, but also provide a foundation for a future in the scientific and technological labor force.

The discovery of a treatment or a cure for a debilitating or life-threatening disease might never be realized if the personnel shortages that research labs are experiencing now continue. To interest and encourage students in science and related subjects, it is essential for schools to provide a well-equipped laboratory. Being able to design and make new materials, and investigate the things that make up the world around them will prevent the loss of future scientists.

This discipline is different from any other course a student takes in school. It involves seeing, handling, and manipulating real objects and materials. Teaching it requires being in a perpetual state of show and tell. The knowledge one attains in a class is ineffectual without learning about the methods and processes of research.

Science education would not be about science if it did not include opportunities to learn the process. Schools that pride themselves on their innovative approach to teaching know that classroom instruction combined with laboratory experience derives the best results. Evidence shows this method increases mastery of the subject, aids in developing scientific reasoning, and cultivates interest in this subject.

The laboratory provides students the opportunity to interact directly with data gathered from the material world. Here is where they will learn how to use tools and experiment with different techniques for collecting data. They will be using models and implement scientific theories. Experiences like this will help improve overall scientific literacy and prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The benefit of having innovative science lab equipment in the schools is immeasurable. However, an important one is the critical role it plays in the lives of students. Besides the hands-on experience in lab research and experimentation, students also learn how to make a scientific argument. Writing, reviewing information, using the right language, constructing a logical line of reasoning, and responding to analytical comments are a few of the skills necessary to do this. These are valuable skills to have because of their usefulness in any discipline.

Typical office signage includes many phrases that we’ve come to accept as standard within a work environment. Some phrases, especially those related to safety, are often translated into graphic representations to make sure they are understood by everyone regardless of any potential language barriers that may exist.

Examples might include “Fire Exit”, “High Voltage”, “No Smoking”, “Toxic Material”, “Flammable”, and “Radioactive”. We are conditioned to understand what these icons represent when we see them.

Other office signage phrases, however, don’t have a standard iconic image representation assigned to them. If the work environment plays host to multi-cultural visitors, important office signage may need to be translated into commonly used languages to ensure that the messages are heeded.

Keep in mind that if you are replacing one small sign with one that will be accommodating various translations of that phrase, the new sign will likely take up considerably more space. You may need to change the location of the existing sign to make room for the new, larger one.

One such phrase that is ubiquitous in most work environments is that of “Do Not Disturb”. The “Do Not Disturb” sign can be seen in many situations, but it generally does not have a common graphic representation. Some venues that call for a Do Not Disturb sign might include conference or meeting rooms, research labs, dark rooms, movie studios, recording studios, interview rooms, and executive offices.

If you need a multi-cultural office sign for the common phrase, “Do Not Disturb”, here are 12 translations to get you started.

English: Do not disturb
French: Ne pas déranger
Spanish: No molestar
German: Nicht stören
Dutch: Niet storen
Italian: Non disturbare
Polish: Nie przeszkadzać
Portuguese: Não Pertube
Hungarian: Ne zavarjanak
Latin: Operor non perago
Swahili: Usinisumbue
Vietnamese: Không disturb

Of course, the languages you choose for your office signs will depend heavily on the employees and visitors that frequent your site. If you aren’t sure of the most prominent languages used at your site, have all visitors and employees fill out a very short form upon arrival at the workplace for a set time period. One week is often sufficient for a poll of this sort. Once you have sufficient number of forms to analyze, you’ll be able to determine the languages into which you’ll need to translate your office signage.

English is an international language. It has so many grammar rules and each rule with many exceptions. Usually, we write English without paying much attention to these rules and exceptions. But, its good to know as much as grammar as possible especially the exceptions. In this article, I am mentioning some of these unusual facts and rules of English language.

1. A word starting with letter ‘Q’ has ‘u’ as its second letter.

2. If abbreviation ends with same letter as the complete word itself then dot (.) is not placed. For example, we write Dr instead of Dr. for Doctor and Prof. for professor and not prof. But, people unknowingly write Dr. for Doctor.

3. Strange but common. Most of you know that following sentence contains all the alphabets of English language:

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

4. Use word ‘Do’ to emphasize an action. For example, you can write ‘I do go there’ instead of ‘I go there’.

5. Try guessing a word with no vowels in it. Read this article from the beginning and you can find it. Yes, the word is ‘Try’. There are many more such words like ‘Fry’ and ‘My’. Usually, such words contain letter ‘y’ in them.

6. Relationship before a name is written with capital letter and if afterwards then with small letter. For example, “He is Uncle Sam” and “He is Sam, my uncle”.

7. Use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ article depends on phonetics of noun before which they are placed. So, ‘a’ is used before the word ‘user’ and ‘an’ is used before the word ‘honest’.

8. Use of article ‘The’ has many exceptions like ‘the’ is not used before names of the countries except the ‘Netherlands’ and the ‘US’.

For appropriate use of articles, capitalization rules and other English language rules, I recommend you to read articles available at:
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/). You can also visit http://www.usingenglish.com for learning English grammar in a better way.

Syed Feroz Zainvi has obtained M.Tech. (Comp Sc & Engg) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (INDIA). His areas of interests are distributed computing, computer graphics and Internet Technologies. Currently, he is involved in Software Project Planning, Development and Management. His other interests include writing for magazines and contributing utility softwares on Magazine’s CDs. He also have flair for teaching computer science with new teaching methodologies.

Years ago, at the University of Hawaii, in the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lab, I worked with four bottlenose dolphins. It was an experiment to teach them fundamental acoustic sound and gestural language forms. Elele and Hiapo was a male and female pair about four years old. Phoenix and Akeakamai were two twelve-year old-females. We had an immediate bond, a telepathy. Their eyes pierced mine as no human ever had. It was a deep cerebral and spiritual connection that almost bypassed an earthy connection. I even asked myself back then, maybe this is what God feels like?

They had been tutored in a basic vocabulary of named objects, requested actions, and basic sentences. Studies have shown that dolphins have the ability to understand the semantic and syntactic structure of words and sentences. These four could follow instructions. Instructions were given either by a live person giving basic sign language, or through images of signers projected onto video monitors that were seen by the dolphins through underwater windows.

Elele and Hiapo were trained with basic auditory and visual cues. A dolphin keyboard was developed which allowed the dolphins to interact with their trainers and handlers by pressing, one or more of a series of lighted symbols, for requests for more input, or answers to trainer’s questions.

Phoenix, who was previously trained, in the comprehension of an artificial acoustic language, was used in a test to observe if the dolphin could vocally repeat a sound that she had heard. Each segment was either a linear tone sweep or a constant frequency tone. The goal was to have Phoenix listen to a model sound broadcast into her tank underwater and for her to produce a vocal imitation of that sound. She was highly successful at matching the model sound duration and only moderately successful at matching frequency and contour of the sound.

Melody Perception was also part of the daily training routine. Dolphins can recognize melodic contours of music even after the melody has been transformed or broken up in a number of ways. These tests revealed that the dolphin’s auditory capabilities surpassed those of most species.

Phoenix and Akeakamai could follow an action of indicative pointing and could carry out a specific action to a person or object to their right, left or an object or person behind them. Phoenix chose the correct indicated object at about 33%; Akeakamai performed her task significantly better choosing the correct destination by 64%.

I was interested in dolphin’s response to sound, being the creative life force along with breath and water. Sound came forth out of the womb of silence and created all things. Akeakamai taught me to create inner sounds so that we can create outer manifestations because sound requires breath and water. It is the sacred unformed element that we can shape into any manifestation if we know how to combine breath and sound. This dolphin also taught me that I had to change paths, change my breathing patterns, and change my sound. I really enjoyed the work with these four dolphin souls. Thinking back perhaps, they taught me more than I could ever have taught them.

If you ever read To Kill A Mockingbird (or saw the movie for that matter) when you were in school, you may be as shocked as I was to learn that the book is sometimes “deshelved” in school libraries. The reason: some people object to its use of language.

I read about this absurd example of censorship the other day in a national newspaper article. The article describes the trial, which took place in 1960, regarding whether or not Penguin books was guilty of publishing obscenity when they released D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

It’s amazing, isn’t it, that language and the words we use are powerful enough to trigger lawsuits. And today, fifty years after that trial, the controversy over language still flourishes. In fact, according to the newspaper article, last year in the U.S., around 400 books were officially challenged – and the numbers are rising.

What’s even more shocking, some times books aren’t just banned, they’re burned. Among them, is a book by one of our great Canadian authors, Rohinton Mistry. Not only was his book, Such A Long Journey, recently banned by Mumbai University, copies of it were burned on campus! Although the reasons for this extreme reaction are political and complex, objection to the use of profanity was among them.

It may seem difficult to fathom this extreme response to Mistry’s writing, given the amount of profanity that’s visible (and audible!) daily, in our society. But what’s deemed inappropriate or immoral not only changes over time, it also depends on the prevailing social or cultural viewpoint. However, when it comes to business writing it’s a whole lot more straightforward. Of course, the possibility of offending a reader still exists. But if you stick to the following Language Lab business writing blueprint, the chances of banning or burning are slim.

Be Aware: The Language Lab’s Top Five Business Writing Principles:

1. Be aware of your audience. Chances are it’s a client, a potential client or other professionals. Naturally your language should reflect that same professionalism.

2. Be concise. Short sentences and straightforward language will ensure your message is transmitted as clearly and quickly as possible.

3. Be correct. Use correct grammar, spelling and sentence structure that reflect your professionalism and communicate your ideas clearly.

4. Be jargon-free. Using jargon may at best confuse your reader; at worst alienate her or him.

5. Be traditional. When it comes to writing business letters, use correct business letter format. Doing so reflects your professionalism, and the professionalism of your organization.

Meanwhile, I recommend always coming back to the above five Language Lab”be aware” principles in your own business communications. That way you can rest assured you’re unlikely to create a document that anyone will want to ban…let alone burn.

Are you wondering how to learn Hindi? Interest in learning Hindi has grown in the last several years. India’s economic growth and emerging influence on the global political and cultural scene have made it more and more common for business people and business students to be seeking opportunities on the sub-continent. And the best-prepared among them are learning Hindi to enhance their success. Add to that the continued interest in India as an ancient culture, rich with spiritual, philosophical, musical and poetic traditions, and you will see a number of Westerners interested in learning about India, traveling there, and learning one of India’s most commonly spoken languages. As a result, interest in learning Hindi has sky-rocketed over the course of the last decade. More colleges and universities are offering the language as a course program, more private language schools are providing instruction in Hindi, and more online Hindi courses have become available. So there are increased opportunities for any student who is trying to discover how to learn Hindi.

The options available to you if you are interested in learning Hindi are, in general, a university course, a private language school course, a tutor or an online Hindi course. University courses are often excellent but not always very available. To begin with, even with the increase in interest in learning Hindi, there are not that many colleges and universities that offer a Hindi program. Moreover, university Hindi programs are generally only available to students enrolled in the university. Stopping in to take a semester or two of Hindi is not usually an option. When available, a university course is often the most comprehensive, offering a full curriculum of language instruction in addition to such benefits as a language lab and regular conversation hours. These benefits are very helpful for anyone serious about knowing how to learn Hindi.

Private language schools may or may not offer Hindi. It depends largely on location, the size of the community in which the school is located and the availability of a Hindi language instructor. In my experience, those schools that do offer Hindi usually don’t have enough demand to make up a class, so they arrange for private tutoring for interested students. In my experience, language schools can be quite disappointing. The materials can be somewhat limited, the amount of class time is stingy, it is unlikely that you will find a language lab for study outside of class and, although the teachers may be native speakers, their skill and training as instructors is hit-or-miss. Add to all of that the fact that they are pricey, and the result is often a disappointing experience. The same drawbacks apply to a private tutor, too.

If you are not in a position to take a university course, you may find that your best choice for how to learn Hindi may be an online self-study program. Although there is a broad range in the quality of online courses, there some advantages that they all share. First of all, they are as available as your computer. You don’t have to meet at a regularly scheduled class time. On the contrary, you can study your class at your own pace and at your own convenience. Audio files are always a part of an online language course, so you have access to your own private language lab. Good ones will also have interactive quizzes and games, so that you can test your progress. If you are concerned about trying to learn a language without a teacher, be sure to invest in an online Hindi course that has a learner’s forum, so that you can interact online with teachers, other students and speakers of the language. In general, an online Hindi course is not expensive compared to other options, too.

How to learn Hindi has become a more common question in the last several years. You can learn Hindi easily and well with an online Hindi course. That may be an option more available to you than a university course, and less expensive and more helpful to you than a tutor or private language school. It may well be your best option for how to learn Hindi.

Sometimes you may feel annoyed, irked – or even downright furious – with a boss or a colleague. You really want to let fly, say exactly what you think, possibly in the rudest way!

Well, here’s my advice: don’t.

The truth is, speaking in anger can be hugely destructive. Knowing when to bite your tongue can be crucial to success, something the characters in Seinfeld at times had difficulty grasping, especially George. It was George who dared ask for bread in the soup Nazi’s take out restaurant knowing he risked being thrown out- no soup, no bread.

Of course George was just a fictitious character created for the TV show, Seinfeld. But the episode points to a reality about burning your bridges. You may be in the right in a situation of conflict. However, if you are determined to show that you are in the right at any cost, you end up being the one who loses.

Burning (or not burning) your bridges comes from the military expression “don’t burn your bridges behind you.” There was a time when troops would burn a bridge to prevent the enemy from crossing it. But an intelligent military strategist would know that burning bridges also meant cutting off any route to retreat. And that’s something you don’t want to do.

If you figuratively burn your bridge in the workplace, you may find yourself unable to re-forge that relationship. In other words, burning bridges can lead to job loss or an inability to get a reference. Moreover, with today’s social networks, more than ever, news travels quickly. Do you really want to be known as the person who told their boss to “take this job and… “?

You may ask yourself, “but what if I am treated unfairly, can’t I stand up for myself?” Yes, of course you can. But you need to do it in a way that ensures continued income, potential advancement and professional credibility.

The Language Lab’s Top Three Tips for Avoiding Burning Your Bridges

1. Show a little respect: Always treat others respectfully, no matter how they’ve behaved. Rising above the poor behavior of others allows you to maintain your credibility, not to mention your dignity.

2. Think before you speak: It’s better to spend time strategizing about how to politely reframe a difficult situation than it is to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. If you take time to prepare a logical argument and present it courteously, you may get what you want.

3. Cultivate patience: Too often the root of an adversarial situation is really about a lack of tolerance of differing communication styles. It’s an easy default to think we are always in the right. By being patient with someone you feel is difficult, you may find a way to move forward, instead of burning a bridge and ending any possibility of a positive outcome.

Instead of thinking about burning bridges, it’s much smarter to think about building them. It’s always preferable to consciously look for constructive ways to address difficult situations, rather than angry, negative ones.

After all, building a bridge to someone else is what’s called a relationship. And in business, as in personal life, the healthy relationships you create are critical to your success… and happiness.

If your boss tells you don’t write well or you don’t get responses to your email messages, The Language Lab, founded by Dr. Sandra Folk, is a company that specializes in improving the business writing and presentation skills of executives and their employees, both nationally and internationally.

The Language Lab trains both English speakers and English learners to write targeted, effective, and efficient communications without distracting the reader with errors.

The development of communication skills is a dynamic and active process which is shaped by interdependent factors intrinsic to all since birth. But there can be situations wherein this essential element may be missing since birth or lost due to an accident or injury such as brain injury, brain stroke, cleft palate, cerebral Paralysis, delayed development of the body, a mentally challenged condition etc.

Speech pathology or otherwise known as speech language pathology is a field of medical science that focuses on identifying and treating the above mentioned speech defects and helping individuals gain/re-gain speaking ability in the most effective manner.

Work of a Speech Pathologist

When we think about speech-language pathologists, we probably think of someone who diagnoses stutters or lisp. It is true that they do cater to those issues, but their scope of practice has a broader perspective.

Speech-language pathologists screen, evaluate, identify, and treat speech, voice, language fluency (stuttering), feeding and swallowing problems for all age groups as well as advocate the prevention of these disorders. The communication health assistants along with the pathologists work together and play a significant role in this field.

Education Requirement

A relatively new profession introduced to the field of medical science, many individuals are making their way into this discipline to serve the society. Those looking to make a career as a speech language pathologist must obtain a Master’s degree in SLP. A certificate program or associate degree in SLP is the basic qualification required to start practice as a pathology assistant.

Career Opportunities

A career in this field is promising and high paying. In addition to flexible working hours and stable career path. Speech-language therapists can practice their profession in a variety of environments, either independently or in pathology labs, hospitals, clinics, schools, rehabilitation centres, nursing homes, early intervention programmes and more.

Job Responsibilities

The profession is quiet demanding and a speech pathologist needs to custom tailor an individualized plan of care for each of its patient. It is imperative for them to have ample patience and an eye for minutest of details to achieve success in each case taken up. Below mentioned are some of the job responsibilities of speech pathologists:-

· Assess patients based on their needs and diagnose a course of treatment

· Closely work with physicians and other social workers to help patients recover quickly

· Work with teachers in schools

· Use equipment to help fasten the treatment process

· Formulate a daily plan to churn better results

For the List of Pathology Labs in India Click here

The author is an independent speech – language pathologist, who majorly focuses on writing articles and blogs on laboratory procedures. She has been enlightening the readers of the nation about speech therapies, related topics and advancements in the field since 2005. At present, she is working as a health and communication specialist and conducts regular classes helping individuals of all age groups develop speech senses and speak fluently.