4 Superb School Trips for Modern Foreign Language Students

School trips are an important, almost invaluable aspect of teaching modern foreign languages. Taking students to a country where the language they are learning is spoken natively offers unparalleled opportunities to improve their listening and speaking skills – in comprehension and vocabulary – and even pick up local newspapers and books to test their reading abilities. The languages learnt at schools are varied, giving organisers a broad range of destinations to choose from for educational travel. Four top destinations for four (or five) languages are Bilbao and Cantabria in Spain, Brittany in France, Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia, and Beijing and Xian in China.

Bilbao and Cantabria (Spanish)

Bilbao and Cantabria, in the northwest of Spain, are known for the especially “pure” Spanish spoken there. For Spanish students looking to concentrate on their core Spanish skills on school trips, Bilbao and Cantabria are ideal, with numerous chances to practise Spanish-speaking skills. The region is also testament to Spain’s long cultural history, beginning with the Caves of Altamira and the spectacular prehistoric paintings of animals that date to up to 35,000 years ago. More recent artworks are on display in the European Guggenheim, in Bilbao.

Brittany (French and Breton)

Brittany, in northwest France, is a land of 300 Catholic saints, ancient megaliths, Celtic culture and a delicious marine and sweet cuisine. School trips to Brittany will focus on French, spoken widely as the dominant language of the region, but Brittany is also the home of Breton, a Celtic language most closely related to Cornish. Students can see how the two languages co-exist in Brittany, most noticeably in the signage. Combined with that, the unique culture of the region will make the trip a particularly memorable way to visit France.

Moscow and St Petersburg (Russian)

Learning Russian invites students on an educational excursion to the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, two vast and brilliant cities that have played an important role in Russia’s tumultuous history. Visiting them, students will gain an increased understanding of Russian history, as well as language-enhancing conversations with Russian people on the Moscow Metro or sampling Russian food. Moscow and St Petersburg are both well known for their central political spaces: Moscow’s Red Square, with the Kremlin on one side and the onion-shaped domes of St Basil’s Cathedral at the far end, and St Petersburg’s Hermitage at the Palace Square.

Beijing and Xian (Mandarin Chinese)

As China’s political power grows ever greater, many schools are recognising the value of teaching their students Mandarin Chinese. School trips to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Xian give students a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the Mandarin language, as well as seeing some of the most famous historical monuments in the country. In Beijing, students can visit the vast Forbidden City and go on an excursion to the Great Wall. At Xian, they can discuss the remarkable imperial burial of the Terracotta Warriors. Throughout, the possibilities to speak to Chinese people will take their language skills to the next level.

Travel Books – Know the World Around You

“The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it”, quotes James Bryce. This adage is applicable for academic and hobby reading as well. The reader gains insight into diverse range of subjects and is in control of utilizing the knowledge, thus gained. The ideal ways in which mental interpretation may be presented include speech and writing. The advantage of having thoughts, knowledge and interpretability in the written form, provides scope for long term reading and one may preserve the literature for centuries.

Books that divulge details about exotic locations, travel options and most suitable methods to plan a tour are included in this specific category. Travel books offer a fascinating experience of knowing the pros, cons and the best things to expect after getting there, not to mention the typical weather, landmarks, festivals and other significant events. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to traverse the globe through books? There are different categories that cater to a wide range of travelers and they are explored as follows:

Adventure:
Books in this category, incorporate details on a wide range of adventure travel destinations. Readers may avail information on the exotic wildlife safaris of Africa and the expeditions of Antarctica. A comprehensive data on exploration of countries like Vietnam, China and Japan or the islands of Lakshadweep and the Andaman are incorporated. All this and more, are included in books that deal with adventure travel. Information on trekking, hiking, water rafting, snorkeling, shark diving and much more may be availed from this category.

Culture:
Culture is a wide subject that is seldom encompassed in a single book or volume and is best when read in categorically earmarked pages. Most travel guides that take you on a cultural expedition are magazines that deal with cultural predispositions of a defined region, in the most elaborate and enthralling manner. Cultural adventure is ideal for travelers, keen on participating in the cultural extravaganza of a chosen destination. These books deal with time and season bound events and the detailed information provided, makes it an ideal choice for travelers.

Recreational:
Recreational travel is the most popular category as it can be held any time of the year and is not limited by geographic boundaries. Each destination is blessed with its own unique culture. Travel to amusement parks and nature’s very own paradises across the world, is made easy with travel books. You may get a glimpse of Tarzan’s tree house or take a trip to the wondrous Egypt. There is a surfeit of information available on the ‘how’ and ‘where’ of tour planning and the places to avail best deals. The type of journey and the ‘must-see’ places are lucidly presented in travel books.

The most well known publication houses that deal with travel books include ‘The Lonely Planet Guides’, Michelin Guides and ‘The Moon Guides’ which are apt for an adventure loving traveler. The internet is another important source for availing information on the most visited tourist destinations. Reviews from travelers offer detailed preview on the pros and cons of the trip and help the reader plan one that is ideally suited. Books on travel may have been replaced by the electronic media which is the present trend, yet exclusive books on travel will never go out of style.

Multi Level Marketing Tips – Grow Your Multi Level Marketing Business The Easy Way

When growing your multi level marketing business, there’s three things you must know and be able to do. I’m going to share with you some multi level marketing tips that will show you how to grow your MLM business the easy way.

Multi Level Marketing Tips #1:

The first MLM tip that you must know and understand in order to grow your business is to understand the benefits of your products or service. As easy as that sounds, you may not know how your product will help your consumer. What I mean is this, you need to understand what people are looking for in relation to your products.

Examples would be if you market weightloss products. The person who’s trying to lose weight is trying for a very specific reason. It could be because they’re tired of not fitting in their jeans. Or it could be for health reasons that a doctor has mention to them

Or if someone travels with their family every year. They may do that not to just have fun, but to spend quality, precious time with the people they love.

Being able to understand this will have you adding dozens of people a week into your MLM business.

Multi Level Marketing Tips #2:

The second MLM tip that will help you grow you multilevel marketing business is to know your target market (people who have a need or want for what you have to offer). These are people who will want what you have to offer. An example would be if you market weightloss, your target market could be people who work out at a gym, purchase weight loss magazines, eat healthy foods, or maybe someone who has a home gym.

Another example would be if you market skin care products, your target market could be people who already uses skin care products, someone who use cosmetic products, or someone who’s concern with the condition of their skin.

When you’re able to find your target market, you’ll be able to attract people to you and your multilevel marketing business.

Multi Level Marketing Tips #3:

The third MLM tip that will help you grow your mulitlevel marketing business is to automate the process described above. This will make training your downline easy. They’ll be able to get started on the right foot and be able to add people into their downline the very first week they sign up. A cool way to train them is through a conference line. You can get a free conference line at MrConference.com.

By teaching your downline these tips, you’ll be able to grow your organization by dozens of people a week. Not only that, but you’ll have people glad they joined you in your business. And it’ll improve your retention rate.

Use these multi level marketing tips to grow your MLM business the easy way. These tips will not only help you grow your business, but help you attract the right people to you.

This article can be freely published on a website as long as it is not modified in any way including the author bylines and activehyperlinks.

The Customer Service Must Do’s For Your Restaurant

Many restaurant visitors that are looking for a local restaurant are motivated by one clear factor – They want a taste of the local charm and uniqueness. This is not usually present in many of the large restaurant chains. The individually is what makes a local restaurant seem more attractive than heavily marketed Italian, Steak and American style restaurants.

Returning visitors and satisfaction are increased when the patrons receive good details from the trained restaurant staff.

So training your restaurant staff about the local area and the history of the restaurant is as important to your business as the food you serve.

Local restaurant visitors like to experience the history and culture. They like to find out as much details as they can as it increases the charm of the place.

It is therefore important that all the staff working there know everything about the history so that they can converse with the customers to paint that picture that they are looking for. Whether it’s the chef or service staff – anyone who is likely to speak with the customers should know all the information.

It is also essential that your staff know the items on your menu. Far too little restaurant staff know how to describe the items and be able to answer any questions directed at them.

Being armed with this vital information helps to develop strong relationships with their customers and keeps them coming back time after time. A meeting with the chef to explain all the dishes will allow the details to be passed on. Even taste testing of the dishes would give the staff more of an understating.

The most decorated sales staff in any field know, to the highest level of knowledge, exactly what they are selling is made of and what it does. They can be asked any question about the product and straight away know the most informative and helpful answer.

Use this advice when training your restaurant staff as they are the face of your business and can paint a picture that you want your customers to imagine to make your restaurant stand out from the rest.