Managing People

Hey There,

The post today is about mananing people.

"Managing people is nothing more than motivating other people" (Lee Lacocca, US Industrial.

Step 1

Thing about the quote above and answer the following questions:

• What is management for you?
• What words can you come up with from the word "Manage"?
• What is the importance of motivation in managing people?

Step 2

Now watch the movie "Managing people explained in 6 minutes" and discuss with your classmates the questions below:

• What is a good manager according to Mr.Croft?
• What does it take to be a good manager?
• What is the difference of a leader and a manager?
• What is the role of motivation on managing people?
• What are the five why's in management?
• 
  
• Name some of the qualities of a good manager mentioned at the video
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Assigment:

Write a short essay about "What makes you good at managing people"

Have fun

JC / Nevton

Stranded in USA

Traveling abroad is always challenging. This post intends to give you a brief idea about the procedures at the check-in and check-out area. It is an extract from an interesting movie named "The Terminal". Mr. Navorski is an eastern immigrant finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there where he spends 9 months.

Step 1

• Have you ever traveled abroad?
• How often do you travel abroad?
• Where did you go?
• How was the first experience abroad?

Step 2

Now watch the video and try to answer the following questions:

• What is the purspose of Mr. Navorski' trip?
• Does he speak the language?
• What exactly is Mr. Navorski doing in USA?
• where does he want to go?
• What were your overall impressions of this excerpt of "The Terminal ?"

• How would you describe Viktor's character? What do you think of him?
• Why Viktor is told by the immigration officials that he is 'unacceptable' ?

Enjoy it,

JC/Nevton

Collocations?

Hey Folks

Here we go again!

Do you know what collocation means?

"Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are."

So, collocation is two or more words that often go together. Such combinations just sound "accurate" to native English speakers who make use of it all the time.

Therefore, if you want to sound natural and being more easily understood, it is an alternative and rich way of expressing yourself.

Find a list with the most commom collocations, which you can easily found at the following link:

Give it a try! it is a good collocation dictionary.

http://www.lixiaolai.com/ocd/

SOME COMMON COLLOCATIONS
have	do	make
have a bath have a drink have a good time have a haircut have a holiday have a problem have a relationship have a rest have lunch have sympathy	do business do nothing do someone a favour do the cooking do the housework do the shopping do the washing up do your best do your hair do your homework	make a difference make a mess make a mistake make a noise make an effort make furniture make money make progress make room make trouble
take	break	catch
take a break take a chance take a look take a rest take a seat take a taxi take an exam take notes take someone's place take someone's temperature	break a habit break a leg break a promise break a record break a window break someone's heart break the ice break the law break the news to someone break the rules	catch a ball catch a bus catch a chill catch a cold catch a thief catch fire catch sight of catch someone's attention catch someone's eye catch the flu
pay	save	keep
pay a fine pay attention pay by credit card pay cash pay interest pay someone a compliment pay someone a visit pay the bill pay the price pay your respects	save electricity save energy save money save one's strength save someone a seat save someone's life save something to a disk save space save time save yourself the trouble	keep a diary keep a promise keep a secret keep an appointment keep calm keep control keep in touch keep quiet keep someone's place keep the change
come	go	get
come close come complete with come direct come early come first come into view come last come late come on time come prepared come right back come second come to a compromise come to a decision come to an agreement come to an end come to a standstill come to terms with come to a total of come under attack	go abroad go astray go bad go bald go bankrupt go blind go crazy go dark go deaf go fishing go mad go missing go on foot go online go out of business go overseas go quiet go sailing go to war go yellow	get a job get a shock get angry get divorced get drunk get frightened get home get lost get married get nowhere get permission get pregnant get ready get started get the impression get the message get the sack get upset get wet get worried
Miscellaneous
Time	Business English	Classifiers
bang on time dead on time early 12th century free time from dawn till dusk great deal of time late 20th century make time for next few days past few weeks right on time run out of time save time spare time spend some time take your time tell someone the time time goes by time passes waste time Look forward to hearing your comments, JC - Nevton	annual turnover bear in mind break off negotiations cease trading chair a meeting close a deal close a meeting come to the point dismiss an offer draw a conclusion draw your attention to launch a new product lay off staff go bankrupt go into partnership make a loss make a profit market forces sales figures take on staff	a ball of string a bar of chocolate a bottle of water a bunch of carrots a cube of sugar a pack of cards a pad of paper

Coffee Maker Focuses on Freshness to Attract Customers

Hey There,

The post today is about one of the most-consumed beverages in the world, the coffee. Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark, slightly acidic flavor, which is prepared from the roasted seed of the coffee plant. It can have a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content.

Step 1

Think about the following question and try to talk about it with a friend:

• Do you like coffee?
• How often do you have some coffee?
• Does it give you any burst of energy?
• How's coffee seen in your region?
• Is it important to the economy of your city?

Step 2

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

1. Who is James Freeman?
2. What was he interested in?
3. What's Freeman primary goal in the coffee business?
4. How long does coffee beans take to reach customers?
5. What does the wave Freeman feel mean?
6. What did Freeman do when he set up the company?
7. What is the biggest problem of the company?
8. How many cafes does blue bottle coffee company owns in both coasts?
9. What is necessary to the company keeping up growing?

Transcription

My name is James Freeman. I’m the owner and founder of BlueBottleCoffee company.I have no background in coffee or business. I was super obsessed with coffee when I was a clarinet player and I just took the plunge. I was sufficiently burned out and ignorant, I think, in order to not realize I didn’t have enough money or enough experience not to do it. So, ignorance is bliss sometimes.We place a huge priority on freshness. We like to get our coffee beans out the door into our customer’s hands within 48 hours of roasting, so customers know that everything they’re getting is really at its peak. It requires a lot of careful managers, ordering carefully, but we found we hardly waste any coffee at all. I feel like I was living in an alternate universe during the recession. And every time I would look at our shops, they were busier and busier, we were selling more and more coffee. I feel very lucky. I feel like it’s been this great wave that we’ve been riding.All I knew financially was my home checking account. I didn’t spend money I didn’t have. I started super cheap, I was really frugal through the whole process. When I started, I was in a 186 square feet, roasting coffee on a seven-pound batch roaster. And now we’ve got six cafes on two coasts, two roasteries, over a hundreds wholesale accounts.Our biggest challenge is definitely keeping up. Now we’re here in this beautiful building in Oakland, it’s really been helpful.We havetwo vintage roasters, and finally we can go home at a decent hour.You can’t run a company of a hundred employees the same way you ran it with twenty employees, so you have to build in a lot more mechanisms for communication.So like a long-distance romance, you have to work a lot harder. You have to call up, ‘Hey, honey, how’s it going?’I don’t think it pays to think about competition too much.If you think about what your goals are, in terms of your product and the success of your product, people will find you, I really believe.

Vocabulary

To take the plunge – to make an important decision after some hesitation

Burned out - worn out or exhausted, especially as a result of long-term stress
Ignorant - lacking education or knowledge
Bliss - extreme happiness; ecstasy
To ride a wave – to have a run of good luck
Frugal – not wasteful or lavish
A batch roaster - apparatus that roasts a given quantity (a batch) of coffee at a time
A roastery - a business or enterprise where green coffee beans are roasted
To keep up - persevere, carry on, prolong
At a decent hour – not too late

JC- Nevton

What's the best thing about being a man?

Hey There

The post today was a suggestion of teacher Emily Tam. She's been around for such a short time, time enough to start contributing with a post, tough.

She wrote: "I found a video that can help generate discussions. The English is a bit fast, but they use some useful vocabulary in that short video."

By the way take a glimpse at the following links and get to know a bit about teacher Emily.

http://www.myspace.com/emilinhamusique

http://emilinha.carbonmade.com/

http://emilytam.carbonmade.com/

Class #2

Step 1- Discuss this questions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a man?

• supremacy?
• promotion?
• freedom?
• Independence?

Step 2 - Watch the video and discuss what they say about being a man

It is a very interesting page which offers us a list of 100 best things about being male.

http://www.little.org/fun/heehoha/male.htm

Useful language:

• I think the best about being a man is.......
• In my opinion the advantage/disadvantage about being a man is......
• I believe (that).....
• It seems that being a man is only adavantages/Disadvantages, but.....
• What I’m trying to say is…. / The point is……
• In my opinion ….. / The way I see it……
• Basically…./ Essentially……
• Actually…. / As a matter of fact…
• Obviously…. / Clearly…
• In general…. / Overall….
• To put it simply…. / In short….
• In a nutshell.....

Have fun and THANK YOU SO MUCH, Emily.

JC - Nevton

Secrets of Success

Hello Dear All,

step1-Think it over:

What is success?
think about some successful people you know.
Why are they successful?
Why have they succeeded?
Is it because they're smart?Or are they lucky?

Step 2 - Watch the video and think about your answers


Step 3 - Now write down what you have done to be successful, as well as what you can start doing to be successful, to really achieve your goals.

Vocabulary

• BAD
• LITTLE
• GIVE
• THINK
• FAMILY
• POOR
• DAY
• STUDENT
• SEAT
• COME
• PRESENT
• SAY
• WANT
• SIMPLE
• WAY
• START
• GOOD
• ANSWER
• FEEL
• REALLY
• SUCCESS
• TEENAGE
• QUESTION
• PLANE
• ALL
• YEAR
• LEAD
• HOUR
• AGO
• ASK
• MINUTE

"Bear in mind that you are the only one responsible for writing your story".

Best wishes,

JC - Nevton

Live the language

EF - Live The Language - London from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

LIFE IN OUR OCEANS

This is Magic!

It was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan. www.kaiyouhaku.com/​en/​

The main tank called the "Kuroshio Sea" holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.

Take a look at Jon Rawlinson website. He is a filmmaker specializing in documentary and commercial production. Since 2002 Jon has shot and produced a wide variety of projects in a number of different countries.

Website: www.jonrawlinson.com


The music is "Please don't go" by Barcelona.
Barcelona's website: myspace.com/​barcelona
Download the desktop wallpaper: bit.ly/​19rTC5
Ta

Life is the art of drawing

Hey Folks,

I think every part of the video over. It is an amazing video.

Enjoy it,

JC - NE

The 2011 Overture: in 25 short movements from Amy Krouse Rosenthal on Vimeo.

THIS IS MY STORY

Hello Folks

This is my story! What about yours? What have you been doing to write yours?

www.this-is-my-story.com/v/JG5ZL58NGTB3

funny English problems

Hello Dear All,

I've got a great news for all of you. I have finally found a way of releasing videos here. From no on it will start being much more interactive.


Take a look at this video. It is a British television comedy show called "the sketch show". It aired on ITV between 2001 and 2003. A short-lived spinoff of the same title was produced in the United States.


Pay attention to the problem with English each of them has.

Have fun,
JC - Nevton

Visual Thesaurus

Hi Folks,


That is a perfect tool for the ones who want to improve the vocabulary.

Give a try and have fun!

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Cheers,

JC - Nevton

The pillars of the earth

Dear All,

The pillars of the earth is worth watching. A historical novel about the building of cathedral in England. It shows the development of Gothic architecture out of Romanesque architecture and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory against the backdrop of actual historical events of the time.

Have fun,

JC

Movies Segments to Assess Grammar Goals

Hey Dear All,

This is a very good blog to boost your classes. You can't miss it
http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blog

spot.com/

Have fun,

JC - Nevton

Decoreba que nada!

"Decoreba" deve ficar longe de quem quer ser aprovado em exame de proficiência

http://noticias.bol.uol.com.br/economia/2011/08/24/decoreba-deve-ficar-longe-de-quem-quer-ser-aprovado-em-exame-de-proficiencia.jhtm

Leiam e deixem seus comentários, Obrigado

Acompanhe um cozinheiro de mochilas

Hello Everybody,

I have come across with this really interesting blog. "Um cozinheiro de mochila"

Follow him and have fun!









http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8781511119113782576&postID=3056356819008813518


JC - Nevton