English learning resources

English is a language which has great reach and influence; it is taught all over the world under many different circumstances. In English-speaking countries, English language teaching has essentially evolved in two broad directions: instruction for people who intend to live there and for those who do not. These divisions have grown firmer as the instructors of these two “industries” have used different terminology, followed distinct training qualifications, formed separate professional associations, and so on. Crucially, these two arms have very different funding structures, public in the former and private in the latter, and to some extent this influences the way schools are established and classes are held. Matters are further complicated by the fact that the United States and the United Kingdom, both major engines of the language, describe these categories in different terms: as many British observers have had attributed to them,the saying goes that “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

Click here to get English learning resources

 

Learn Indian Languages Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu through English

Why learn a language?

Travel

 Even a little knowledge of the language can make a difference in attitude when you meet people from other countries. Speaking another language helps to break down barriers.

 

Work and business

 

It can help you give an added advantage in your career if you work for an international firm or a company with international customers or contacts.

 

Music, film, arts and culture
f you like literature, fims or music from other countries, learning the language will help your appreciation and understanding.

 

For a challenge
You can learn a language in short, bite-sized sessions and you’ll enjoy a sense of satisfaction from achieving short-term goals, such as learning how to say hello, introducing yourself or numbers 1-10.

 

Click here to Learn to speak Indian languages in English, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu language scripts

 

 

 

Dream Yoga – Morten Tolboll – Free book

The spiritual practice consists of meditation and dream yoga. Meditation and dream yoga are two sides of the same thing. If you nevertheless should try to discriminate, then you about meditation can say, that the three aspects of meditation are relaxfullness, awareness and heartfullness. Dream Yoga is shortly said about realizing the illusory aspect of life and death. Normally Dream Yoga is understood as practising meditation during sleep, about realizing the illusory aspects of dreams, and abou…

 

Click here to get free book

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Time is Precious – Story Time

Clean hands protect against infection

Protect yourself

• Clean your hands regularly.

• Wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly.

• Use alcohol-based hand rub if you don’t have immediate access to soap and water.

How do I wash my hands properly?

Washing your hands properly takes about as long as singing “Happy Birthday” twice,using the images below. 

Modesty Pays – Self improvement story

There once lived a proud driver and he was the driver of the Prime Minister of the state. One day the Prime Minister happened to drive through the street where the driver lived with his wife. Some neighbour’s saw him drive the Prime Minister and were excited.

 One of the neighbours ran to the driver’s home and said to driver’s wife-“Quick! See who is driving the Prime Minister? It is your husband.”

The wife ran out to see her husband drive the chariot of the Prime Minister. She saw her husband drive past her with his head held high up in the air, arrogant and proud. When the driver returned home that evening, his wife did not speak to him.

He asked her, “Why are you unhappy.” She said, “She is not happy living with a person like you.”

The driver got the shock of his life. He said,” Why, what happened?”

She replied, “Look at the Prime Minister, he sat with great modesty in the chariot. You are but his driver, yet you are so arrogant and proud.”

The driver realized his mistake. He understood that the better a person get, more humble should he be to gain respect. From that day onwards, he became more humble. The Prime minister noticed the change in him. He asked the driver, “Why have you changed your manner of behaviour?”

The driver replied, “My wife admonished me, and I think she is right.”

The Prime Minister admired his change in attitude and a praises him as a man of virtue. Because he had the courage to correct his own mistakes. The Prime Minister made the driver an officer at the appropriate time.  He discharged his duties with great modesty, and lived happily ever after.

Personal Balanced Scorecard

Balance is achieved when there is alignment among the components of an entity, whether it is an organization or a human being. In business, a tool called the balanced scorecard was introduced (Kaplan & Norton, The Balanced Scorecard, 1996) to help organizations focus on four key areas: customers, employees, finance, and internal processes. (For further discussion of this tool, see the article

This concept can be applied in many contexts, including one’s personal life. Over the years, I have found the practice of aligning key life elements to be an effective way of creating and maintaining balance. The four areas in such a personal scorecard are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Within each area are one or two measures that indicate progress toward desired goals. Although it’s possible that each area is of equal importance, typically they are not. Consequently we assign a weight to each area in the form of a percentage, with a minimum of 10% per area, to total 100%.

The benefits of using a personal scorecard include the following:

■ Clarity: we are compelled to examine our lives to determine what we want     and how each area supports us in getting there

 ■ Simplicity: there are only two or three measures for each area.

■ Accountability: we have measures to identify our progress and stay on   course.

■ Focus: having only a few measures enables us to concentrate on what’s    really important.

 An example of a Personal Scorecard is illustrated below.

Physical –         Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. –         Exercise at least 30 minutes four days/week. –         Eat three balanced meals each day Weight: 25%	Mental –         Make evidence-based decisions –         Engage in positive self-talk daily –         Create realistic expectations Weight: 30%
Emotional –         Be kind to yourself every day –         Face your fears and doubts –         Do at least one fun thing every day  Weight: 15%	Spiritual –         Follow the lead of your inner spirit –         Listen for guidance every day –         Act on your intuition Weight: 30%

These kinds of tools provide focus and clarity. Setting our own personal scorecard helps us in having a balance of all aspects of our lives and have control in all times not only in times of adversity

Motivational stories

Innovation & Team work wins the race

A hare and a tortoise live in Ahmedabad. They are good friends and like all good friends , sometimes have a dig at each other. One day , in a light mood the hare ridiculed the tortoise for his slow pace. The tortoise reacted by challenging the hare for a race between Paldi to Navarangpura. On the appointed day and time the two assemble at the starting line and start the race. The hare dashes off the start line like a flash. After crossing the midway mark , he feels that a short nap would do no harm. The short nap turned out to be a bit too long. Meanwhile the tortoise crosses the hare and reaches the destination. The hare wakes from the slumber, oblivious of the time, and dashes off towards the finish. To his dismay he finds the tortoise having a nap at the finish line.

The moral of the story is “Slow and steady wins the race.”

The story does not end here…..

The hare goes home and soon understands that complacency and overconfidence were the reasons of his defeat. He vows not to repeat the  mistake again. He then invites the tortoise  for another race. The tortoise agrees to his friend’s request. They meet at the appointed day and time at the starting point. The race starts. This time the hare dashes off to the finishing line without taking a break and wins the race comfortably.

The moral of the story is “Fast and steady wins the race”.

The story does not end here…..

The tortoise goes home and thinks hard. He was aware that the hare cannot be defeated in speed. He then ponders over his  core competence. At last he finds a solution and invites the hare to another race. This time the course is changed. It is from Paldi to Airport. The hare agrees. At the appointed day and time the two meet at the start line and the race begins. The hare dashes off like a flash. Soon he arrives at the banks of river Sabarmati and is overwhelmed by asense of dejection as he did not know how to swim. The tortoise comes to the bank , looks at  the hare with sympathy and coolly gets into the water. He swims to the other side goes to the airport and comes back.

The moral of the story is “Core competence wins the race.”

But the story does not end here…..

Both the friends decide it was enough of racing against each other. Why not think hard and find a way by which they together could travel from Paldi to airport at the minimum possible time. At  the end of a brain storming session they come out with a solution and decide to try out the next morning. At the appointed time  they meet at the starting line. The tortoise sits on the back of the hare. The hare dashes off form Paldi to the banks of Sabarmati. There the hare gets on the back of the tortoise and the tortoise swiftly crosses the river. On reaching the other side the tortoise again sits on the back of the hare. The hare runs as fast as he can to the airport. Thus they both reach airport in the fastest possible time.

The moral of the story is “Innovation and team work wins the race”

____________________________________________

Lessons from Geese

‘Individual empowerment results from quality honking’

Lessons from Geese provides a perfect example of the importance of teamwork and how it can have a profound and powerful effect on any form of personal or business endeavour. When we use these five principles in our personal and business life it will help us to foster and encourage a level of passion and energy in ourselves, as well as those who are our friends, associates or team members. 

It is essential to remember that teamwork happens inside and outside of business life when it is continually nurtured and encouraged.

Lesson 1 – The Importance of Achieving Goals

As each goose flaps its wings it creates an UPLIFT for the birds that follow. By flying in a ‘V’ formation the whole flock adds 71 percent extra to the flying range.

Outcome

When we have a sense of community and focus, we create trust and can help each other to achieve our goals.

Lesson 2 – The Importance of Team Work 

When a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front.

Outcome

If we had as much sense as geese we would stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Lesson 3 – The Importance of Sharing

When a goose tires of flying up front it drops back into formation and another goose flies to the point position. 

Outcome

It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks. We should respect and protect each other’s unique arrangement of skills, capabilities, talents and resources.

Lesson 4 – The Importance of Empathy and Understanding 

When a goose gets sick, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to the ground to help and protect it. 

Outcome

If we have as much sense as geese we will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong.

Lesson 5 – The Importance of Encouragement

Geese flying in formation ‘HONK’ to encourage those up front to keep up with their speed.

Outcome

We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups and teams where there is encouragement, production is much greater. ‘Individual empowerment results from quality honking’

______________________________________________________

Another story about Geese

A flock of wild geese had settled to rest on a pond. One of the flock had been captured by a gardener, who had clipped its wings before releasing it. When the geese started to resume their flight, this one tried frantically, but vainly, to lift itself into the air. The others, observing his struggles, flew about in obvious efforts to encourage him; but it was no use.

Thereupon, the entire flock settled back on the pond and waited, even though the urge to go on was strong within them. For several days they waited until the damaged feathers had grown sufficiently to permit the goose to fly.

Meanwhile, the unethical gardener, having been converted by the ethical geese, gladly watched them as they finally rose together and all resumed their long flight.

______________________________________________________

100 Best Web Tools for Your Self Improvement

Just because you feel like you don’t have time to work on your productivity, budget or goals doesn’t mean you have an excuse to put off organizing and improving your life. Most of us spend an obscene amount of time online anyway, and these web tools will make it easier for you to get in shape, become more spiritual and satisfied, build up your relationships, and more.

Schedule and Timing

Get your meetings and schedule in order when you use these calendars, alerts and alarms.

1. Reminder Fox: This Firefox add-on helps you manage to-do lists and sends you alerts when a deadline approaches.
2. Google Calendar: With Google Calendar, you can manage all of your dates, appointments and meetings from a remote access platform.
3. Freminder: Store important dates with this service, which e-mails you reminders.
4. Outlook Envoy: The Outlook Envoy online calendar is free and sends you voice mails to remind you of important dates and appointments.
5. Online Alarm Clock: This very simple digital alarm clock can be set on your desktop.
6. Todoist: Todoist is a task manager and calendar that works with Gmail, Firefox, mobile devices and more.
7. Monkey on Your Back: Send yourself a virtual monkey for a future reminder of errands you need to run and meetings.
8. Cozi: Cozi is a family calendar that will help all of you remember each other’s games, dates, vacations, meetings and more.

Goals and Dreams

Make your goals seem less overwhelming when you use these trackers that let you see how far you’ve come.

9. Joe’s Goals: This popular but simple goal tracker lets you monitor exercise and diet goals.
10. LifeTango: LifeTango helps you meet “someday” earlier than you thought. Use the community site to brainstorm, list goals and meet others for inspiration.
11. We Endure: We Endure is a social site for endurance sports trainers who need support and goal tracking tools.
12. 43 Things: Here you can post your goals and your progress while meeting others who have similar dreams.
13. Goalmigo: On Goalmigo, you can set, track and share your goals while receiving reminders and support to help you along the way.
14. eLifePlans.com: Sign up to join a community of other goal-oriented individuals who receive life coaching and more.
15. MyProgress.com: MyProgress.com helps you track skills, financial progress, wealth growth and more.
16. Gyminee: Those on an exercise and weight-loss plan can use this great site for goal tracking.
17. SuperViva: Use this site to create “life lists” and track your goals.
18. Goals Together: Make friends and share your progress on this goal-tracking site.

Diet and Wellness

Get in shape and pursue a healthy lifestyle with these tools.

19. FitResolution: FitResolution is a community health and fitness site that provides advice, workout tips and goal tracking.
20. iStats: Here you can keep your exercise and health stats in order. The site also lets you share your progress with others.
21. Heart disease risk calculator: Understand the risks your lifestyle produces when you take this test.
22. Peer Trainer: This weight loss support site has information for dieters and more.
23. The Daily Plate: Use The Daily Plate to count calories and get healthy meal ideas. You can also use the food journal, fitness log and forum for goal tracking.
24. Meals Matter: Look up meal planning resources, a nutrition planner, calcium quiz, food personality quiz and other tools on this site.
25. Heart Health Toolbox: The American Heart Association’s toolbox includes a risk assessment, family history tree and more.
26. Personal Health Record: WebMD allows visitors to create a personal health record on the site.
27. Personal Health Tools: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website offers activity and menu planners, health calculators and other tools for monitoring health.
28. Depression self-assessment: Gauge your mental health and emotional stability with this test.

Finance and Wealth

Get your finances in order, figure out how much you need to save for retirement, and calculate your net worth here.

29. Bankrate Calculators: These calculators from Bankrate.com will help you figure out savings, mortgages, housing affordability, credit cards and more.
30. Compound Interest Calculator: Figure out compound interest with this tool.
31. Kiplinger Tools and Calculators: Use this tool set to calculate everything from loans to stocks and investments to retirement savings.
32. Mortgage Calculators: Find out how much you can afford to spend on a house with these tools.
33. USA Today Personal Finance: This group of calculators from USA Today will help you plan out your savings and spending for taxes, mortgages, retirement and more.
34. Choose to Save: Discover how much you need to save to afford a new car or college. These calculators also help you make sense of bonds, insurance, and credit cards.
35. Net Worth Calculator: Here you can find out how much all of your assets are worth.
36. Millionaire Calculator: This chart helps you determine your chances of becoming a millionaire based on your savings, investments and more.
37. What you need to save: This retirement savings calculator tells you how much you need to put away in order to live comfortably later on.
38. College Planning Tools: Vanguard’s tool set will help you figure out how to make the most of your investments, savings and tax deductions.

Education

Never stop learning when you use these online tools that keep you on your toes.

39. MIT Opencourseware: Take a free class from MIT in chemical engineering, gender studies or anthropology, just to broaden your horizons or brush up on a subject you find interesting.
40. FAFSA: Learn all about federal student aid, for undergraduates, those with dependents, graduate students and more.
41. OEDb: Visit the Online Education Database for online school rankings, career planning tips and more.
42. iTunes U: Log on to iTunes U to access lectures and more from top universities around the world.
43. WeDict: WeDict is an iPhone app that features a convenient dictionary.
44. Google Reader: Use Google Reader to make it easier to subscribe to all of your news feeds and blogs.
45. BBC Adult Learners: This site has learning and educational tools for adults to explore money and finance, foreign languages, the Internet and more.
46. Discovery Channel: Access the wealth of information, including news articles, videos, games and more to learn more about history, different cultures and our planet.
47. Pandia Powersearch: Find search engines and tips on every single subject, including dictionaries and other reference materials.
48. OneLook: This powerful dictionary lets you type in a word or phrase and find definitions, translations and more.

Travel and Exploring New Things

Broaden your horizons through travel and experiencing new cultures and ideas that are just a click away.

49. CIA World Factbook: Discover everything there is to know about other countries and cultures, from flags to demographics to geography to economics.
50. TripAdvisor: Get ideas for different vacations to take by reading reviews and looking up deals on this site.
51. TravelPod: Read blog entries from real-life travelers who share their experiences here.
52. National Geographic Maps: Study world maps at NationalGeographic.com.
53. GoFox: Track travel deals, look up airport codes, view airline seat maps and airport maps, learn about electricity and currency conversions and more on this site.
54. Chowhound: Look up restaurants, bars and popular foods in cities around the country and around the world.
55. Festivals.com: Look up festival dates for all types of events, including Shakespeare festivals, food and beverage festivals, historical festivals, music events, arts and crafts festivals and a lot more.
56. Recipe Atlas: Experiment with recipes from Denmark, Germany, Greece, Brazil and more when you use this site for inspiration.
57. BBC Languages: These audio and video courses can help you learn French, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese and other foreign languages.
58. iTravel Travel Tools: These tools feature a directory of cybercafes, embassies and tourism offices around the world, plus converters for currency, units, times and more.

Relationships

Work on your relationships from your browser with these tools.

59. What is your emotional intelligence quotient?: Take this test to find out if the problem in your relationship is you, not them.
60. Twitter: Use Twitter to stay connected to all your friends and family in one spot.
61. Match.com: Try out a dating site like Match.com to expand your dating pool.
62. MyFamily.com: Here you can build your own family site to share photos, schedules and more.
63. Family, Home and Community: These tools from USA.gov include genealogy resources, community tools for voting and special activities, and more.

Volunteering and Charity

Give your own life more meaning when you help others.

64. Idealist.org: Look up all types of volunteering and travel opportunities on this site.
65. Volunteer Match: Volunteer Match is another site that helps you find enjoyable nonprofit organizations and volunteer projects.
66. Volunteer.gov: This government site features a calendar of events, a searchable directory of projects, and more.
67. Network for Good: Find charities to help through volunteering your time or financial donations.
68. Charity Navigator: Check out if charities that you’re interested in supporting are legitimate organizations here.

Spirituality and Personal Growth

Pursue your spiritual development with these tools.

69. Bible.org: If you’re interested in exploring Christianity, visit this site that’s all about the Bible.
70. The Church Finder: Use this tool to locate mosques, Christian churches, synagogues and more in your area.
71. Holypal: This Christian social network lets you post videos and photos, visit the forum, create a profile and more.
72. Religion Facts: This site is a good place to start if you’re looking for an unbiased resource that supplies information on different religions.
73. Gaiam Life: This popular site has tips and tools for personal growth, spirituality, healing and more.

Environment

Get outside and learn about the environment to boost your mood, help you feel more in tune with nature, and explore something new.

74. Care2: This online network and community supports green living and is a great resource for learning about new environmentally-friendly trends, products, events and causes.
75. The Nature Conservancy: Learn how you can help protect the environment and different natural habitats around the world.
76. OrganicGardening.com: Get organic gardening tips and inspiration here.
77. National Park Service: Look up national parks, history of the land and special events and activities to spend more time outside.
78. eNature: This site is all about “bringing nature to life.” Find resources for travel, exploring your natural habitats, tracking wildlife and more.

Organization and Productivity

Get organized and make your work and personal life more productive using these tools.

79. Backpack: Keep all of your and your co-workers’ to-do lists, projects, announcements and calendars in one spot with Backpack.
80. Remember the Milk: This very simple to-do list will keep you on top of everything from errands to work stuff.
81. Pageflakes: Like iGoogle, Pageflakes is a customizable homepage that organizes your news, weather, calendar and favorite sites.
82. Basecamp: Get more done with this very productive project manager.
83. GoToMyPC: Use this program to access files, e-mail, networks and more for multiple computers.
84. Mindomo: Manage your ideas, goals and plans with this mind mapping tool.
85. Jotcloud: Go crazy adding sticky notes on the web with this tool.
86. Toodledo: Use this task manager to organize notes and to-do lists.
87. Jott: Use Jott to manage Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, calendars, Remember the Milk and other organization platforms with voice communication.
88. Evernote: Evernote is a Windows tool that lets you clip and share notes and pages from the web.

Inspiration and Creativity

These motivating tools will help you be more creative in all walks of life.

89. Picnik: This free photo editor works with Flickr, photobucket, Mac, Windows and Linux.
90. Creativity Portal: Here you’ll find idea generators and other inspiring tools.
91. Beliefnet: On Beliefnet, you can find inspiring true stories from history, the entertainment world, spiritual channels, the health world and more.
92. Photoshop Express: This online photo editing and sharing site lets you create a library and multiple albums.

Career

Give your career life a boost when you research new opportunities.

93. Monster Quizzes: Take practice interviews and test out your resume here.
94. U.S. Department of Labor: This toolset includes tips for dealing with unemployment, a self skills assessment and more.
95. Interview Tips: Learn how to make the most of an interview.
96. Freelance Switch: Even traditional professionals can find great job resources here and tips for being successful.
97. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Research careers and job outlook information here.
98. Job Profiles: Learn about different careers, industries and majors here.
99. Pick One: Money, job, location: Quarterlife Cafe helps young professionals make sense of their rut by evaluating their careers.
100. Linkedin: Join this community to network and build up business contacts online.