Spanish Grammar
Spanish is spoken by more than 400 million people. Read on to pick up a tips about this relatively simple language…
Spanish is one of the most commonly used languages in the world. It is also relatively easy to pick up, especially for people who are fluent in English. If you want to learn a new language for the sheer passion of picking up a new language, to learn about a whole new culture or for additional grades in your school then Spanish is the language for you.
At the end of this article you will not be speaking Spanish fluently but I will try to help you pick up a better understanding of the basics of the language.
Spanish Alphabets
The alphabets of the Spanish language are very similar to the most of the European languages. Following is the list of the Spanish alphabets and their pronounciation:
•A – a
•B - be
•C – ce
•CH – che
•D – de
•E – e
•F – efe
•G – ge
•H – hache
•I – i
•J – jota
•K – ka
•L – ele
•LL – elle
•M – eme
•N – ene
•O – o
•P – pe
•Q – cu
•R – ere
•S – ese
•T – te
•U – u
•V – ve
•W – uve doble
•X – eguis
•Y – i griega
•Z – zeta
I would like to highlight here that not all authorities on the Spanish language agree on the list that makes up the Spanish alphabets. The common exclusions are the alphabets ‘w’ and ‘k’. Some authorities are of the opinion that the alphabet ‘RR’ pronounced as ‘erre’ is part of the list. The feminine alphabets are ‘a’ and ‘b’.
Pronunciations – Vowels and Consonants
I had mentioned in the article at the beginning, Spanish can be picked up easily by people fluent in English. This is because the vowels and consonants are pronounced like they are in English. However, the Spanish consonants are softer than their English counterparts while the Spanish vowels are more distinct than that in English. Further, as in most languages, the sounds of the vowels can vary a little with the letters that are before and after them but generally remain the same irrespective of the word.
Purals
In the English language, we have a few common rules for making a noun plural like adding an ‘s’ at the end of the word unless the word end with a ‘y’ wherein the ‘y’ is replaced by ‘ies’. Thankfully, the rules in Spanish are this simple too. In Spanish, if the word ends with a consonant, ‘es’ is added to the word and if the word ends with ‘z’, the ‘z’ is replaced with ‘ces’ to get the plural form. Further, ‘y’ is also treated as a constant when obtaining the plural form of the word.
Like in English, there are a couple of exceptions, but then again I guess the entire point of having an exception in a language is to make it more interesting and keep people on their toes.
Gender
Gender is an inherent characteristic of nouns in the Spanish language and the nouns are classified as either feminine or masculine with no neuter nouns. A very simple rule that can be followed is that the masculine nouns are used with masculine adjectives and articles while the feminine nouns go with feminine adjectives and articles. A useful tip to make Spanish easy is that the masculine words are preceded with an ‘el’ while the feminine words are preceded with ‘la’, both the words meaning ‘the’.
Spanish Greetings
It is very important that you pick up a couple of Spanish greetings before you visit an area where Spanish is the native language. It will help break the ice and the natives will definitely be more cordial when they see that you are making an effort to fit in. Here are a list of some common greetings that should help you get through:
•Hola – Hello
•Adios – Goodbye
•Buenos días – Good day
•Me llamo Anju – My name is Anju
•Bienvenido - Welcome
•Gracias – Thank you
As I had mentioned at the beginning, this article is not going to help you speak Spanish fluently. Although I do hope that I have managed to convey across as to how simple a language Spanish is.
I would like to end this article with the thoughts of Karl Albrecht who said, "Change your language and change your thought".
Friday, December 25, 2009
How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur
How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship requires certain distinctive characteristics. Do you have it in you to be a successful entrepreneur? Check it out here.
Running a business is a challenging, creative and flexible way to chart one’s future and become one’s own boss. Apart from earning a living, it is about creating a new way of life. Becoming an entrepreneur takes foresight, determination and courage. You will be stepping out of the relatively safe environs of the salaried world, where you get regular paychecks, and venturing into the uncharted territory of the business world.
But, how can you know whether it would be better for you to be a salaried employee, or if you have it in you to be a successful entrepreneur? While there is no guaranteed formula for entrepreneurial success, according to studies it has been shown that there are certain characteristics that all successful entrepreneurs have in their persona. Check out these characteristics, given below, to see if entrepreneurship is what you need to opt for.
Having Self-Confidence: To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have tremendous self-belief. Do you really think that you have the willingness to overcome all obstacles and achieve your goals? If you lack that crucial element of confidence in your mental makeup, then entrepreneurship is not for you. Belief in yourself is what gives you the self-confidence you need to be a successful entrepreneur. If you have the self-belief that you can do it, that will give you all the confidence you need. Can you inculcate self-confidence in yourself? Yes, you can, by trying to push yourself to doing a little more than what you are comfortable doing each day. And before long, you will find yourself accomplishing things you would have never thought were possible. Bear in mind, that many successful entrepreneurs that you see, started out with nothing, or very little, apart from self-confidence and self-belief.
Having Belief In Your Business Venture: Put the question to yourself whether you really believe in the business you are venturing into. If you find that you are not completely convinced about it, you need to continue looking until you can pinpoint one that you feel you will be ready to be committed to. To be successful in any business venture, you will have to be focused on it practically 24 hours a day. You will have to continuously be building it, fine-tuning it, and re-inventing it. This requires an enormous amount of self-commitment.
Focusing On Your Strengths: Each person has his/her own strengths as well as weaknesses. In order to be an effective entrepreneur, you will need to pinpoint your strengths and focus on them. You will achieve more success by being able to channelize your efforts into the areas you are best at. For instance, if marketing skills are your forte, then you need to harness the capability, making full use of it in the business. And get assistance in those areas that you may be weak in, like bookkeeping or accounting. You can even turn your weaknesses into strengths by getting trained or learning about those areas.
Having The Ability To Recognize Opportunity: In case your business were to be destroyed tomorrow, how would you look at it? Would it seem like an irreconcilable loss, or would you look at it as an opportunity to make a new beginning – to improve, to grow, to rebuild? Successful entrepreneurs eye everything as a source of opportunity. They have an inquisitive and questioning attitude about everything. No matter what they come across, they always wonder if there is a better way of doing things. And if they do think that indeed there could be a better way, they set about finding the solutions themselves or get help from an expert. Indeed, opportunity can be found in a vast plethora of ways and places, and with the help of the Internet available these days, there is no dearth of opportunities knocking at our computer screens. If you are a true-blue entrepreneur, you will see opportunity everywhere.
Being A Decision Maker: If you required some information, would you be able to get it fast, without having to waste other people’s or your own time? Put differently, if you had to make a decision, would you be able to get the information you need fast enough and then make the decision? Or would you keep procrastinating, until the very fact of your not having made a decision becomes the decision? Being an entrepreneur involves making a lot of decisions, which involves getting information swiftly and making equally swift, albeit informed, decisions. Keep in mind that each decision that is made by you, regardless of how unimportant it may appear at the time, will have an impact on the future of your business in some way. Most successful entrepreneurs have accurate gut instincts, which they use whenever in doubt.
Being A Leader: You will not be able to do everything all by yourself. A time will come when it will be necessary to hire employees, speak to investors, apply for loans – thus, having to assume the role of a leader. If you don’t have the ability to lead, you will not be able to get any followers. As the head of your company, the people you hire will look to you for support and guidance. The ability to give the correct support and guidance will be the basis of your success as an entrepreneur to a large extent.
Thinking success… Being passionate… Planning well… Working hard… Being willing to learn… Persevering and having faith… Leading by example… These are some of the mantras of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship requires certain distinctive characteristics. Do you have it in you to be a successful entrepreneur? Check it out here.
Running a business is a challenging, creative and flexible way to chart one’s future and become one’s own boss. Apart from earning a living, it is about creating a new way of life. Becoming an entrepreneur takes foresight, determination and courage. You will be stepping out of the relatively safe environs of the salaried world, where you get regular paychecks, and venturing into the uncharted territory of the business world.
But, how can you know whether it would be better for you to be a salaried employee, or if you have it in you to be a successful entrepreneur? While there is no guaranteed formula for entrepreneurial success, according to studies it has been shown that there are certain characteristics that all successful entrepreneurs have in their persona. Check out these characteristics, given below, to see if entrepreneurship is what you need to opt for.
Having Self-Confidence: To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have tremendous self-belief. Do you really think that you have the willingness to overcome all obstacles and achieve your goals? If you lack that crucial element of confidence in your mental makeup, then entrepreneurship is not for you. Belief in yourself is what gives you the self-confidence you need to be a successful entrepreneur. If you have the self-belief that you can do it, that will give you all the confidence you need. Can you inculcate self-confidence in yourself? Yes, you can, by trying to push yourself to doing a little more than what you are comfortable doing each day. And before long, you will find yourself accomplishing things you would have never thought were possible. Bear in mind, that many successful entrepreneurs that you see, started out with nothing, or very little, apart from self-confidence and self-belief.
Having Belief In Your Business Venture: Put the question to yourself whether you really believe in the business you are venturing into. If you find that you are not completely convinced about it, you need to continue looking until you can pinpoint one that you feel you will be ready to be committed to. To be successful in any business venture, you will have to be focused on it practically 24 hours a day. You will have to continuously be building it, fine-tuning it, and re-inventing it. This requires an enormous amount of self-commitment.
Focusing On Your Strengths: Each person has his/her own strengths as well as weaknesses. In order to be an effective entrepreneur, you will need to pinpoint your strengths and focus on them. You will achieve more success by being able to channelize your efforts into the areas you are best at. For instance, if marketing skills are your forte, then you need to harness the capability, making full use of it in the business. And get assistance in those areas that you may be weak in, like bookkeeping or accounting. You can even turn your weaknesses into strengths by getting trained or learning about those areas.
Having The Ability To Recognize Opportunity: In case your business were to be destroyed tomorrow, how would you look at it? Would it seem like an irreconcilable loss, or would you look at it as an opportunity to make a new beginning – to improve, to grow, to rebuild? Successful entrepreneurs eye everything as a source of opportunity. They have an inquisitive and questioning attitude about everything. No matter what they come across, they always wonder if there is a better way of doing things. And if they do think that indeed there could be a better way, they set about finding the solutions themselves or get help from an expert. Indeed, opportunity can be found in a vast plethora of ways and places, and with the help of the Internet available these days, there is no dearth of opportunities knocking at our computer screens. If you are a true-blue entrepreneur, you will see opportunity everywhere.
Being A Decision Maker: If you required some information, would you be able to get it fast, without having to waste other people’s or your own time? Put differently, if you had to make a decision, would you be able to get the information you need fast enough and then make the decision? Or would you keep procrastinating, until the very fact of your not having made a decision becomes the decision? Being an entrepreneur involves making a lot of decisions, which involves getting information swiftly and making equally swift, albeit informed, decisions. Keep in mind that each decision that is made by you, regardless of how unimportant it may appear at the time, will have an impact on the future of your business in some way. Most successful entrepreneurs have accurate gut instincts, which they use whenever in doubt.
Being A Leader: You will not be able to do everything all by yourself. A time will come when it will be necessary to hire employees, speak to investors, apply for loans – thus, having to assume the role of a leader. If you don’t have the ability to lead, you will not be able to get any followers. As the head of your company, the people you hire will look to you for support and guidance. The ability to give the correct support and guidance will be the basis of your success as an entrepreneur to a large extent.
Thinking success… Being passionate… Planning well… Working hard… Being willing to learn… Persevering and having faith… Leading by example… These are some of the mantras of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Starting an IT Consulting Business
Starting an IT Consulting Business: The Importance of a Website
IT Consulting Business and websites go hand in hand. Make sure your website has good content, a way to reach you, and personalizations that will connect your customers to your IT consulting business.
It is very important to have a website when starting an IT consulting business. It is easy to tell who is working full time at starting their IT consulting business and who’s not just by looking at their website, or lack thereof.
Keep it Simple
Don’t go overboard on your website. Don’t use flash because you’ll never get decent search engine spidering and you’ll annoy a lot of people with it. Keep it very simple, about 4 or 5 pages.
Your Website Content
Of course you’ll have your homepage. Then, off the homepage you should have a page that talks about the benefits of the solutions that your IT consulting business offers. You should also have a bio page that talks about your background.
Show Your Face
It is important to note that you shouldn’t hide who you are. Often times when you visit a website you can’t figure out who owns the business. Make sure your name is up on your IT consulting business’ website.
You can even put your picture up there. Utilize tools like audio options if you want to build a stronger emotional connection. Definitely make sure that your website conveys who you are as the owner of this IT consulting business.
Make it Easy to Reach You
In starting your IT consulting business and working on your website, ensure you have a contact form somewhere within the site. You may also want to have a links page where you can exchange links and share some traffic with other trusted businesses.
Additionally, you may want to have a hidden referral page on your IT consulting business’ website. This could be a page where it is easy to refer people to.
The Bottom Line about the IT Consulting Business
You should definitely have a website. Write it from the standpoint of what’s in it for the small-business owner. Focus on the benefits and what you bring to the table.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.
About the Author:
IT Consulting Business and websites go hand in hand. Make sure your website has good content, a way to reach you, and personalizations that will connect your customers to your IT consulting business.
It is very important to have a website when starting an IT consulting business. It is easy to tell who is working full time at starting their IT consulting business and who’s not just by looking at their website, or lack thereof.
Keep it Simple
Don’t go overboard on your website. Don’t use flash because you’ll never get decent search engine spidering and you’ll annoy a lot of people with it. Keep it very simple, about 4 or 5 pages.
Your Website Content
Of course you’ll have your homepage. Then, off the homepage you should have a page that talks about the benefits of the solutions that your IT consulting business offers. You should also have a bio page that talks about your background.
Show Your Face
It is important to note that you shouldn’t hide who you are. Often times when you visit a website you can’t figure out who owns the business. Make sure your name is up on your IT consulting business’ website.
You can even put your picture up there. Utilize tools like audio options if you want to build a stronger emotional connection. Definitely make sure that your website conveys who you are as the owner of this IT consulting business.
Make it Easy to Reach You
In starting your IT consulting business and working on your website, ensure you have a contact form somewhere within the site. You may also want to have a links page where you can exchange links and share some traffic with other trusted businesses.
Additionally, you may want to have a hidden referral page on your IT consulting business’ website. This could be a page where it is easy to refer people to.
The Bottom Line about the IT Consulting Business
You should definitely have a website. Write it from the standpoint of what’s in it for the small-business owner. Focus on the benefits and what you bring to the table.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.
About the Author:
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