Can I study online for free? MOOCs are online classes that anyone can take on the internet. Before the internet, students could take classes remotely, meaning they did not attend the class in person. This was called “distance education”. The first ever distance education class was advertised in 1728 in The Boston Gazette. The ad read: a new method of learning – lessons mailed weekly. The professor was Caleb Phillips and he taught “Short Hand” which, indeed, was a method of abbreviated writing. Since then, people have not stopped finding innovative and convenient ways to learn. Although this started with limited participation mailed lessons, we now have ended up with Massive Open Online Courses. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are the latest trend in distance education and learning. What are “MOOCs”? MOOCs are online classes available to people everywhere through open access on the internet. In addition, participation is unlimited so any number of people can take the same class. They can be on almost any topic. MOOCs often provide interactive education modules. Some MOOCs are worth academic credits, but most are not. Some may offer a certificate upon completion, like for instance, computer literacy. What MOOCs can I take? MOOC options are almost unlimited. Nowadays, there are so many online classes that it might be difficult to decide what to take. Options vary from the basics of digital photography, or arts and crafts like carpentry, however, you will find more complex topics like psychology, medicine or even physics and chemistry. Where do I find MOOCs of interest? There are many websites that offer them. Here is a list...
Free Online Language Courses Are you interested in learning a new language? Learning languages has never been easier: Free Online Language Courses are here to help you make your dream come true. When thinking about learning a new language, we usually make up a list of excuses not to. One of them is “I don’t have the time to go to a language school”. There is also “I do not have enough money to pay for it”. This may have been true years and years ago, but not now. Thanks to technology and the Internet, all languages are at our fingertips! We are now able to study languages for free, online, at our own speed, and as many as we want. Yes, it’s true! There are many free online language courses that you can look up before deciding on one. Here we made a list of the four most popular free online language courses. Read this information about the most popular and Free Online Language Courses: Website Pros Cons Languages Prices Duolingo Duolingo itself is free. Lessons go deep. Speaking, writing, listening and reading exercises are equally balanced in each lesson and each language. Good for long-term and committed learners. Mobile app and website offer the same. You can join clubs related to the language you are learning. Duolingo Plus, a more complete version of Duolingo, is paid. Fast conversational skills are not developed, so it is not good for tourists trying to pick the language up before traveling. There is no chat option to interact with native speakers. Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish,...
Useful tips on how to apply if you want to immigrate to Canada. Do you want to immigrate to Canada this year? There are several things to consider when immigrating to a new country. From booking plane tickets to arriving at your new “home”, there’s nothing more important than having legal status when you immigrate. It will give you benefits similar, or very close, to the ones held by citizens. How do I know what to do? To immigrate to Canada, first, you need to decide on a Province and check on the language they speak there. There are two official languages in Canada: French and English. If you speak either, or both of them, your immigration process will be easier. You will need to take a test to prove your language skills when applying for an immigrant visa. For more information on how to immigrate to Canada check the official website of the Canadian government. Are you relocating for work or moving to Canada on your own? If you want to immigrate to Canada for work, employers usually guide workers and/or help them with the relocation process. Companies who relocate workers to branches in other countries are more familiar with the immigration process. If this is your case, contact the corresponding department in your company. If you are immigrating on your own, then you should start by checking if you’re eligible to immigrate to Canada. What kind of visa does the Canadian government offer? To immigrate to Canda, you need to check on visas first. The Canadian government offers several types. The one you need depends on which...
Who was Saint Patrick and what he did. What is the day of Saint Patrick? The day of Saint Patrick is a religious and cultural Irish celebration, held annually on March 17th. Saint Patrick is Ireland’s patron saint. On this day, people in Ireland, as well as around the globe, celebrate Saint Patrick’s traditional death date (AD 385–461). He was a Christian bishop, missionary and apostle in Ireland during the 5th century. Believe it or not, he was not Irish. He was probably born in Scotland, but nobody knows for sure. Why was Saint Patrick famous? Saint Patrick was kidnapped and enslaved by Irish marauders when he was 16. He worked as a herder for the next 6 years. This experience made him very religious. But, one night he had a revealing dream: a mysterious voice asked him to go back to Great Britain, and he did. Once there, he had another revealing dream. In this one, he received a letter titled “The Voice of the Irish”. As he read it, he seemed to hear Irish people claiming his return to their land. He studied to become a priest and then he was appointed as a bishop. What did Saint Patrick do? After becoming a bishop, Saint Patrick went back to Ireland to preach the gospel. He converted thousands of people and built churches. It also said that Saint Patrick baptized hundreds of people in just one day. The three-leaf clover became his symbol as he used one to describe the Holy Trinity. He died in poverty on March 17th, 1461 in a city called Saul. This is the city where...
An Unusual Holiday: There is more to celebrate than just Carnival or Halloween. We have heard of many common holidays. They usually refer to important and remarkable moments that happened in history. But, we also celebrate holidays to emphasize an event associated with specific issues. Also, to encourage people to do something that can have a positive impact in their life or just to have fun. But, what is an “Unusual Holiday”? An unusual holiday is a bizarre, or maybe absurd celebration. Their origins can be related to specific moments in history, like our 9th unusual holiday. They can also be simply made up celebrations to give people a break from stressful days, like our 4th unusual holiday. Here we bring you a list of 12 unusual holidays. There are many more, of course. But, we hope this encourages you to research others celebrated around you. 1st Unusual Holiday: Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day January 17th: This is the day people quit their New Year’s Resolutions list for whatever reason. No need to tell you how to celebrate it. It is not clear who started this holiday or when. What seems clear is the fact that it probably is as old as making a New Year’s Resolutions list. 2nd Unusual Holiday: Public Sleeping Day February 28th: We don’t know who started this holiday. Its first celebration was in 2011. Maybe its creator took a nap while working and forgot to document this detail. The best way to celebrate it? Take a nap in a public place. Or even better, organize a pajama party at a park. You can invite all of...
2018 Resolutions Did you make your list of New Year’s Resolutions? New Year’s is here, and we cannot yet believe it! The magic of Christmas is still in our hearts, but we are already thinking about what we are going to accomplish in this 2018. A new year always comes with lots of wishes, opportunities and the optimism of a fresh start. Are you ready to take advantage of it? What are New Year’s Resolutions? New Year’s Resolutions are things people want to accomplish in the new year. They go from simple activities like planning a trip to more complex ones like changing a personality trait or losing weight. They are meant to help you improve your life. Why can’t we stick to our New Year’s Resolutions? Only about 8% of people stick to their New Year’s Resolutions. There are many reasons why, but the main one might be making too many changes at the same time. For instance, a lot of people want to stop eating sugar, but they don’t start cutting it down a bit at a time so the change is progressive. It is a matter of being realistic and knowing ourselves: what we like, what we can do, and what we can achieve. To help you with this, we came up with a list of 5 popular New Year’s Resolutions and some useful tips to actually achieve them. Losing weight: Stay focused. This is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. People always want to be in good shape but it seems to be really difficult for everybody to make it happen....
