Okay, so been putting this off for a bit, now its time to catch up with what's been going on!
1. I'm thinking about going into radio - like a live dj or talk-show person. I did a practicum in college, and thought it was really fun, so that's a prospect.
2. Thinking of doing more things than just writing for a local newspaper. Now I'm turning more options on what I can do to get my name out there. So, I've decided to write articles for the Atlanta Parent Magazine for their "just for kids" section, and hopefully make a little money from doing it.
3. I kept in touch with a radio-personality voice professional named Angelique Perrin, and asked her what I'd have to do to get into the talk-show business. She gave me a lot of ideas, and the one I'm most interested in doing is this one...
4. Pick a topic to talk about - i.e. "finding a job after college" and get kids stories on videos about what they're doing after college. Create a demo reel like Angelique's, put it up on YouTube and other social networks, then shop it around to local news stations to see if anyone bites. I could get into podcasting as well for this kind of thing.
5. Considering jobs in Atlanta before heading to NYC....need to establish myself and get my feet wet before going up there in my opinion.
Ultimately what I'm saying is I'm going to do all kinds of things in the media to get my work published and out there for people to see. Who knows? I could be a talk-show hostess one day....because I'd love to be one!
From now on, I'll be putting up 1 post a week. As far as the choosing of days, I'll decide on the post I'm currently writing. So for this week - last little bit of February and beginning of March - my next post will be on Wednesday.
Night ya'll!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
New languages a click away with Mango
FCPL launches a new software for learning 22 foreign languages |
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February 11, 2011
CUMMING – Going on a trip to Italy, but no parla Italiano? Dining at restaurants, taking taxicabs around the city and checking into a hotel when you don’t speak the language can be frustrating.Denise Leeson, the youth services specialist at the Cumming branch of the Forsyth County Public Library, said the recently launched Mango program can teach the basic phrases to prepare a library patron before a trip.
“Travelers can use it on a short-term basis, and what’s great is you can choose your lessons,” said Leeson.
Leeson said Mango can be accessed for free at any of the three public libraries, or at home at the convenience of a user’s computer.
“Most of the people use it at home, because it is easy to use,” said Leeson. “The website had 877 hits in the month of January alone.”
There are two ways to do it. A user can choose from either the basic course, or the comprehensive course, said Leeson.
For users who want to learn from the comprehensive course, the language is compiled in a number of lessons.
The Forsyth County Schools system has embraced the new software.
“This is an excellent learning resource for students,” said Genise Tworek, workforce development director for county schools. “Students can learn languages that are not currently offered in our school system.”
A local woman who recently adopted a teenage girl from China was among the first to try Mango when it was first offered online, Leeson said.
The adoptive mother will be learning Chinese in order to communicate with her daughter, while the daughter will be learning English to communicate with her mom.
“This is a way for parents to add to the children’s languages they learn at school. We wanted to find a way to accentuate that in order to help them out,” said Leeson.
There are basic or comprehensive courses set up in languages such as Spanish, French, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian, Russian and more.
A headset is all a user needs. Then click the “start learning” tab to speak the words of the chosen language, said Leeson as she demonstrated the program to the Forsyth Herald.
“I especially like it because it shows your voice recognition bar and the comparison from your voice to the narrator’s voice you heard,” said Leeson.
A user can easily depict the difference between how they said a word versus how the narrator said the word.
It costs $6,400 for the library to be able to offer Mango to the community, said Jon McDaniel, the county’s public library director.
The Friends and Advocate, an organization that supports county library programs, donated $2,000 to the purchase.
With the donation, the library was able to buy the extended package, which offers 22 foreign languages and 15 “English as a Second Language” courses.
“Not only does it help the library patrons, but also workers within the international companies that want to improve their English,” McDaniel said.
The Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce will be able to use this program as a marketing tool to help their workers from international companies gain a clearer understanding of English, McDaniel said.
“It was worth it. We hit the jackpot on this.” McDaniel said. “We were surprised at how many people responded so quickly.”
Happy Valentine's Day!
So, Happy Valentine's Day Everybody - hope you all are doing something special with that special someone! Me, I'm going out on a date tonight with a guy I've been talking with for a couple of days now, and I know we'll have a good time tonight, and I wish nothing less for all of you out there!
Anyway, it has been awhile - 13 days to be exact, a 2-week gap there, but no worries! Picking up where I left off, turns out the Mango story was MUCH better than I thought it was going to be - and it is published today in the paper, so I'll be putting it up in a new post shortly after this. And what's more....I just handed in another story to my editor about a local prom fashion show at the South Forsyth High School.
That was a fun thing to go to - absolutely loved the dresses, I mean, who wouldn't? Every girl wants the prettiest dress she can find for her prom. And that's exactly what these dresses were. Definitely will post the finished article as soon as its published next week!
On another matter entirely - I've recently concluded that during the extent of my research in finding jobs in journalism, I've come to the conclusion that most entry-level jobs for journalists start in New York City. That's where you go if you want to be a journalist, and I don't doubt it. So, what I've decided to do is make up a list of editors, writers, publishers in New York City to get interviews, ask for advice, where to look for jobs, networking, etc. And I'm planning on making a visit to New York City to meet these people in person.
Of course its going to take some time - setting appointments, figuring out times, locations, all that jazz....but I find this a fun and exciting enterprise. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to New York if you had the opportunity to do so? And not New York the state - I mean THE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely looking forward to that! I'll let you all know how it goes of course, but this trip is for business - not pleasure.
Meantime, I encourage whoever is reading this, please post some comments! I want to hear your feedback!What do you think about all this? What should I be doing? Or is there something I can help you with? It doesn't matter if I know you - I still value everyone's opinion and feedback here!
Anyway, it has been awhile - 13 days to be exact, a 2-week gap there, but no worries! Picking up where I left off, turns out the Mango story was MUCH better than I thought it was going to be - and it is published today in the paper, so I'll be putting it up in a new post shortly after this. And what's more....I just handed in another story to my editor about a local prom fashion show at the South Forsyth High School.
That was a fun thing to go to - absolutely loved the dresses, I mean, who wouldn't? Every girl wants the prettiest dress she can find for her prom. And that's exactly what these dresses were. Definitely will post the finished article as soon as its published next week!
On another matter entirely - I've recently concluded that during the extent of my research in finding jobs in journalism, I've come to the conclusion that most entry-level jobs for journalists start in New York City. That's where you go if you want to be a journalist, and I don't doubt it. So, what I've decided to do is make up a list of editors, writers, publishers in New York City to get interviews, ask for advice, where to look for jobs, networking, etc. And I'm planning on making a visit to New York City to meet these people in person.
Of course its going to take some time - setting appointments, figuring out times, locations, all that jazz....but I find this a fun and exciting enterprise. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to New York if you had the opportunity to do so? And not New York the state - I mean THE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely looking forward to that! I'll let you all know how it goes of course, but this trip is for business - not pleasure.
Meantime, I encourage whoever is reading this, please post some comments! I want to hear your feedback!What do you think about all this? What should I be doing? Or is there something I can help you with? It doesn't matter if I know you - I still value everyone's opinion and feedback here!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Nothing special today. Just attempted to contact a person on the other line of some 'prayer hotline' where I'm guessing people call in to ask someone pray for them for whatever it is they need to pray for. But that didn't work out because the number I tried was NIS, and the next number I got from the operator kept ringing past 2 minutes.
On point of reference: never ever stay on the line past 2 minutes. That should be a requirement for all of you out there who try to get someone else on the other end to pick up. After 2 minutes, they've had enough time to pick up the phone. So don't bother holding on any longer, its a waste of time if you do.
So now I've got this new story due by Thursday at noon to my editor about a new language software program called Mango. Anyone ever heard of it? Because I haven't until this day, and it looks like a great program if you want to learn the basics of a language before you go travel to that country. So I basically spent today researching and getting an understanding of this program and what it does. Tomorrow will be the hectic day because I got 3 appointments with people I have to meet for the day.
I can share the experience tomorrow, because in a few minutes, I feel a good story-time is in order.
To be advised: any lesson or point of reference, fact, expression I put in the post usually is always related to stuff you could be doing to get yourself a job. Lessons learned today: don't stay on the phone past 2 minutes, get your research and facts together before you make or take interviews, and stay focused on your task(s).
On point of reference: never ever stay on the line past 2 minutes. That should be a requirement for all of you out there who try to get someone else on the other end to pick up. After 2 minutes, they've had enough time to pick up the phone. So don't bother holding on any longer, its a waste of time if you do.
So now I've got this new story due by Thursday at noon to my editor about a new language software program called Mango. Anyone ever heard of it? Because I haven't until this day, and it looks like a great program if you want to learn the basics of a language before you go travel to that country. So I basically spent today researching and getting an understanding of this program and what it does. Tomorrow will be the hectic day because I got 3 appointments with people I have to meet for the day.
I can share the experience tomorrow, because in a few minutes, I feel a good story-time is in order.
To be advised: any lesson or point of reference, fact, expression I put in the post usually is always related to stuff you could be doing to get yourself a job. Lessons learned today: don't stay on the phone past 2 minutes, get your research and facts together before you make or take interviews, and stay focused on your task(s).
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