Wisdom

 "Wisdom protected the father of the world, the first man to be formed, who was created alone. She delivered him from his fault and gave him power to govern all things."

- Wisdom 10: 1-2

LISTENING

 Sponsored article by: www.kcsmartfusion.com (KnC), Audifonos Bluetooth

"A good listener is not only popular everywhere but after a while, he gets to know something" 

- Wilson Mizner

Listening is not something we do automatically. We need to be taught to listen. Listening requires focus and concentration. It requires mental discipline. It also requires us to think about what another person is saying.

We suggest some steps for straight thinking: 1) Listen carefully until the speaker has finished, 2) React to the complete message, 3) Weigh what the speaker says in order to judge the difference between fact and opinion, truth and falsehood, and various points of view on a topic, 4) Summarize the main idea of the speaker and be able to state them in your own words, and 5) Express your approval and agreement (or disapproval and disagreement) with the speaker in a polite way.

Listening to Newscast: Listening skills are especially important for staying informed about current events.  Since most current events come from different media (television, radio, podcast, youtube channels, etc.), we need to be able to listen accurately and critically to the news.

Remember the following items:

1.  The whole story has not been told. Make a habit of asking yourself questions such as: "What facts have been omitted?" "What other information do I need?"
2.  Most issues and problems are not as simple as they appear.
3.  Strong emotions or visual images can fool you. They are no guarantee of sound judgment.
4.  News seems too good (or too bad) to be true must be questioned.
5.  News reports may contain hidden editorializing, hidden details. 

Insights on Learning English Part I, Take the Ride

Sponsored Article: Click on the links for your support. My Sponsor1    My Sponsor 2 

Learning English is a little bit intimidating when you do not know how to start. In this post, we will give you some insights to learn English even outside the classroom.

Many have been asking me, "Teacher, can I learn English in 3 months?" I would answer most of the time, "It depends". Some will tell you, YES immediately on this matter. It is really variable. If you really want to acquire the language very quickly, you have to consider the following actions:

1.  Identify the purpose - Why do you want to learn ENGLISH in the first place? Would it be for travel, for a promotion at work, to use it in your college or university admission, for your career, etc?  It is very crucial to have a goal in mind before starting your journey.  

2.  Have the willingness and open-mindedness to learn new things.

3.  Have the timeline - When do you want to acquire it? Set a specific date or month that you want to have it as your second or foreign language.

4.  Where do you want to learn it? Choose a place to get started. It could be a special English Academy, tutorials, regular schools, or university, etc.

5.   Understand how you would like to learn the language.  This is the one that chokes most of the learners. They do not know how to do it. 

The last point is something that we have to reflect on since it will impact the WHEN part.  The very basic is to know the four competencies that you have to embark on to make sure that it would be holistic.  The competencies are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They come in order in such a way that you have to give priority to listening well in many aspects. This is the normal process of learning a new language. 

When you were a child, you started listening to sounds, words, and phrases from your parents. That is the beginning of acquiring your target language. In retrospect, you have been already listening to a lot of sounds even when you were inside the womb of your mother. So, you have to find a way of listening to many resources in English. I highly suggest that you listen to some music, talks, forums, podcasts, watch movies, and the likes. It is the key, to begin with, your speaking part. At the initial part, you may just be mimicking the speakers. Take note that we have the accent as a general part of it and broken down to pronunciation, intonation, and connection of the words. I call those three elements of ACCENT the three musketeers. "One for all, All for one", they said. They are inseparable from one another when you speak. To be good in this, you need constant practice, you would like it and enjoy it along the way. Passion is an addition to the concoction of this learning process. In my experience, practicing at least thirty minutes a day helped me a lot on this.

Another competency that you have to consider is reading. Reading a lot helps you grow your vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, techniques and many more in expressing yourself. It nourishes your mind like a bank.  It deposits treasures that can be mined at a later time when you most need them. Take for instance, you are inclined to science, then read a lot of books that are talking about the field that you chose. Then, expand in other areas as you will need them too. As suggested, you may begin with a favorite novel of your liking (Harry Potter , Percy Jackson as examples), newspapers, magazines, quotations and proverbs or anything that awakes your being but in the target language. You may not understand every word in the text, it is not important. As you go along you will understand. A dictionary would be a great ally in this case. It could be digital or in print. Whatever is your choice, it should be functional. 

What about writing?  Indeed writing is very important also. It is part of the civilization that made humans the greatest creation of the world. This is the most difficult part for many learners, however, it can be achieved with dedication and focus.  This is one of the competencies, that externalizes your thoughts. Writing gives you the prowess to communicate with high regard specifically in your career. You may have the gift to transfer your ideas into letters.  Novelist, a poet that you may be in the future. Time will tell. 

More on the specifics of every competency will be discussed in the next posts. Just remember, Learn with PASSION and PERSEVERANCE. You will gain whatever you want in the course.

New to Photography? Understand your DSLR Camera.

Sponsored Article by: DSLR Cameras of your Choice

One of the first things that uninitiated photographers will be looking for when buying a
camera is the number of pixels that the camera uses on an image. These are little dots that
make up an image and theoretically the more you have available, the better the quality of
the image. However, this isn’t where it all starts or ends. Let’s try and explain the way
around your camera so that you gain a better understanding.

Before doing that, you need to decide the kind of photographs that you are likely to take,as this will determine the kind of camera that you buy. For example, will you be taking distance shots of nature or sports? If so, you will need a camera with a telephoto lens. Will you want to use a macro or close up lens? Is there one available for the camera you are looking at. It isn’t just about pixels. It’s about the features that a camera has in relation to your use of that camera.

The key in owning your camera is in understanding its parts and how they work in relation
to the kind of photos that you want to produce. In this section, you will learn about the
most important parts of the digital camera and what roles they play in capturing beautiful
moments.

Don’t worry, this discussion will not get too technical, but will include just a few bits and
pieces that will help you understand how your camera works and find your way around the
different features.

1. The Body - The body encases the entirety of your camera. While it does not affect the
quality of your photo, it plays a huge role in comfort and confidence while you are taking
pictures. When buying a camera, look to see if the body looks solidly made because some
are very cheap packages that are intended more for the child market. The body should be
of a sturdy build and it’s worthwhile holding it in your hands to see where the buttons are
in relation to your fingers. Some are a little awkward to use, so choose a camera which fits
your hand and which has a solid body and a great manufacturer’s guarantee.

2. The Lens - The lens is perhaps one of the most important parts of your camera when
you are concerned about the quality of photos. The photographic process begins here once
the light enters the camera. Some cameras have a fixed lens, meaning you cannot change
it. Others have interchangeable lens— and this feature allows you to switch from one lens
to another depending on your need. These are particularly useful for professional work or
for specialty work such as nature pictures, sports images etc. You also have through the
lens or TTL cameras, SLR or single lens reflex and of course, optical zoom lenses,
meaning that the lens is built in but that it extends to form a longer lens for close-up work.

Since the discussion about focal points can be too technical, we will just discuss the
different kinds of lens and how they affect the photos you will capture.

a. Ultra-wide angle - As the name suggests this lens can be used even when you are
near the target of your photo, but even though you are very close to the subject, the
whole frame will still be covered by it. This is useful for taking pictures of large
crowds so is ideal for the wedding photographer or those who wish to produce
images that incorporate a lot of detail over a wide space.

b. Wide-angle - Is almost the same with the Ultra-wide angle, but obviously not
quite as wide. This is used for group photographs or scenery where you want to get
more into the picture than the simple photograph lens would achieve.

c. Fish-eye - Fish-eye lens is most commonly used for added effect, since it will
produce photos with curved appearance. This is often used for scenery to distort the
image intentionally to give you a really cool effect.

d. Standard - Is also called the normal lens, this is the lens used by photographer
when they want their photos to like exactly the way the human eyes can see it. So,
there are no effects, and there is no emphasis. However, not all standard lenses are
alike. This depends upon the make and the quality of the lens. You can be pretty
sure that your standard lens will be adequate if you stick to buying from
manufacturers who have a good guarantee and who are well known in the field of
photography.

e. Short telephoto - This is the lens used when you want to take a portrait photo.
This lens allows you to capture subjects close up without needing to cover distance.
Thus, for studio work or a study of a face or facial features, this lens will do the job
very adequately. The short telephoto lens comes with a quality camera where you
have interchangeable lenses, although in a cheaper camera, this would be covered
by the zoom feature which is a general purpose lens for close up work.

f. Long telephoto - This lens is the opposite of the short one, and it is used to
capture events that you cannot get close to, such as a sports moment or a long
distance sunset.

3. Viewfinder
This is the part of the camera that you have to look into to be able to see what your photo
will look like. Some digital cameras now are using LCD screens as the viewfinder. It’s
extremely important that you stand at the shop window and try the screen style
viewfinders in natural light. The problem is that many are not built to give you a very
good image outside and the reflection of the sun can actually impede seeing what it is that
you are about to take a photograph of. Look for those which are non-reflective and which
give the same quality of the image on the LCD screen no matter what the light conditions.

These may have a light shield, which means that the LCD is protected from light, thus
enabling you to be able to see perfectly clearly. On some cameras, the LCD screen pivots
and this is helpful for awkward shots.

The viewfinder on a TTL camera means that what you see is what you get, though on
cheaper cameras, what you see is through the viewfinder, while the actual lens that takes
the image is further down and to the right or left. Thus, this accounts for why people end
up with images that appear to cut off part of the picture, as the adjustment was not made at
the time of taking the photograph and this is important with cheaper cameras that do not
have the through the lens feature.

4. Memory card -
Most people take this part for granted as it is very small, but remember that this is the part
where you will store the photos. The amount of storage capacity and quality of the flash
drive are also important. Don’t just buy any memory card you can get your hands on. Ask
for the best because your images deserve to be kept on a card that gives you the best
storage coupled with the best quality.

If you don’t have a computer slot for your card, you can buy an adapter that will allow
you to view your images on your computer screen and this is helpful to look at your
images in detail. On the back of the camera, they never look as detailed as they do when
displayed on the computer screen because the size gives you more clarity.

5. Aperture -Can be considered as the camera’s eyelids or even the iris. It controls the amount of light
that will be absorbed by the lens. Some cameras have fixed apertures, while some have
adjustable apertures. The narrowest is f/16 while the widest is the f/1.4. A wide aperture
can capture a shallower field (just the subject) with sharpness, good for when your target
is close up, while a narrower aperture can capture the subject and the background with
sharpness and clarity, good for when your target is far away. This aspect is called the
“depth of field.”

Most photographers take a liking to use the narrow aperture because it brings everything
into focus. The only dilemma there is the fact that the use of a narrow aperture can result in less
natural light. It’s also not the best setting to use if you wish to blur the background and
make the central figure or feature of your image sharp against that blurred background.

6. Shutter release -This is the button that you press to be able to take the photos. It is also important to
understand the shutter speed. Shutter speed is the amount of time during which light
can enter the camera, or simply the amount of time the lens is exposed to light. Slow
shutter speed is often used for night photography since it gathers as much light as
possible. However, if you want to capture “fast” moments, you might want to have a fast
shutter speed. There is a lot of variation with cameras, and many have settings that show
you what they are going to do. For example, some allow for portrait work while other
speeds are used for close up nature work. Look at the back of your camera as you change
the shutter speed and there is usually a good description that comes up in the menu.

Many people don’t use all of the features that are on their cameras and that’s a shame
because manufacturers have built-in all kinds of aids for photographers, such as being able
to take two images simultaneously – one with flash and one without – so that the
photographer can achieve great results and choose the best between the two.

7. LCD screen – This is important as stated above. You need to be able to see this
clearly in all light, so do test the camera near to a natural light source, to find an
LCD screen which shows very clearly what is being displayed. Since the LCD
screen houses all of the menus of your camera, you need to be able to see it clearly.
This is where you can change settings to suit yourself. Many users of digital photography
rely too much upon the external buttons and do very little adjustment using the menus on
this screen. However, if you want to make the most of your photographic experience, it
pays to read the literature which comes with your camera and to play around with the
menus to work out the settings that give you the best images in different circumstances.

8. Flash - The most professional of photographers out there seldom uses flash as they
want to capture natural lighting, but flash can be a great help for beginners. It can
also help in low light situations where studio lights are not used. Flash simply gives
instant light to a scene that you are trying to photograph and can be the cause of red-eye. If you have ever seen images where the eyes are red, this is caused by directly
looking at the camera or the flash. If subjects turn away a little, this avoids red eye.

9. Lens Cover – You may see this as being unimportant, though it’s vital to keep the
lens covered at all times when not in use. If you have a more expensive camera, it
would be worthwhile buying yourself a daylight filter that is screwed onto the
end of the lens and which will always protect the glass the lens is made from. That
way, if you forget to replace your cover, your lens will not get damaged. Filters are
much cheaper than lenses and thus this makes sense.

Other adjustments and buttons will be available on cameras which allow you to playback
your images on the LCD screen, so that you can see pretty well straight away whether you
need to take another shot. That’s one of the great things about digital photography. Unlike
traditional photography which had a film with a set number of frames, digital photography
allows you so much flexibility that taking an extra shot really won’t use up much space on
your card and will help you make sure that you get the photo you are after, even if it takes
several shots to do so.

Extra features which are useful

Tripod slot – On the bottom of a good quality camera, you will find that there is a screw
fixing to put a tripod. If taking very detailed photographs and wanting to avoid any
movement at all, a tripod holds the camera firmly while you take your shots. It’s also very
useful for video shots and will not give the same wobble that a camera will. Some cameras
have built-in stability and this helps a great deal through the tripod is the best way to ensure
that your shot is completely stable. Choose an appropriate tripod size for the make of
camera, so as not to damage the camera by using one with too long a fixing.

Settings buttons – At the top of the camera you will find the area where you can adjust the
camera to take different styles of pictures or videos. You also have the option to use
manual settings or automated settings. Most people use automated settings until they are
more familiar with the camera and what it can do, although there are amazing effects
available today allowing people to take not only wide pictures but also panoramic
pictures, and the setting for the different uses of the camera lens is changed by this
setting. Read your manual as there may be more settings than you think.

Special tones – Sepia-toned pictures are very attractive. Inside the camera, there are
features that can be accessed via the menu which displays onto the LCD screen. Many
cameras these days incorporate the ability to change the quality of the images to get more
images onto a card. They also allow for changing the tone of the image to sepia or black and white. It’s worthwhile trying different settings and finding out what they do.