"Coldplay"

"Whatever you are, be a good one", Abraham Lincoln America's 16th president reputedly said. So why not set out to make 2008 your best teaching year ever? How? Well, here are seven suggestions you might want to consider and implement.

The Seven

1. Subscribe to and Read a teaching Technical periodical publication

There are a number of TEFL related periodicals online and in print which can provide you a flow of new ideas, tips and techniques to get you out of your rut and keep you out of it.

2. Create and Post a Video Series

No question about it, video has exploded its online presence in a major way during the past several months. YouTube.com is no small contributor to this phenomenon and there's certainly no reason why you too shouldn't get on the bandwagon by creating and posting videos of your own.

3. Take or Teach an Extension Course

You're already a teacher so why teach during your time off? Simple, teach something other that your principle topics. Try teaching a hobby or other interest, a sport, a skill or other ability you might have and want to expand on.

4. Take a Short Seminar

Long a staple method for rapid improvement, take a short course or seminar evenings, weekends or during semester breaks. There are short and medium length courses from one-day to one month on a myriad of topics, so just take your pick, feed your inner soul and watch yourself grow.

5. Try Some New Didactics and Techniques in Your Classes

Talk with colleagues, former professors, go online, visit websites and chat rooms to get some extra tips and techniques to try out with your learners. Very likely, you'll be glad you did.

6. Go on a Teaching Vacation

What? You say? Take a teaching vacation during my vacation from teaching? Yes, that's right. But this time it'll be different. How? Well, you can teach a short course or summer course in another location. Live in the USA? Then teach a course abroad in Asia, Europe or Latin America. Live in a Latin American country? The go teach in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia or Africa. Are you in Europe? Go to Australia, Latin America, Asia or Africa. The change of venue will charge your batteries like nothing else you can imagine. You could also try changing the learner group you normally teach too. Teens to adults or business professionals, Technical English classes your forte? Swap for a children's summer camp.

7. Get Yourself a Raise

Prepare your accomplishments as a presentation for your administration. Detail your seminars, publications and seminar or short course attendance to boost your image. What do you think would happen if you sent a copy of an article or book you've published to your boss, the administration and the language department heads of every school, institute and related educational facility in your area complete with your contact information and a short introductory note? Nothing? Don't you believe it!

So using any, many, most or even all of these 7 suggestions, you can easily make this year one of your best teaching years ever. Remember Abe Lincoln's advice: "Whatever you are, be a good one". If you'd like even more suggestions for making this year one of your best ever, stay tuned for more coming soon.

For some great tips, tricks and techniques for quickly and easily learning virtually any of the world's 6912 living languages just click HERE or go to:

http://www.escapeartist.com/e_Books/Learn_a_Foreign_Language/Learn_a_Foreign_Language.html

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know", send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

latin music com

The Mystique of Acoustic Guitar Solos

The acoustic guitar still holds a fascination for music lovers even after all these decades of our ears being bombarded by electric guitar music. Electric guitarists love playing with the sounds they get from different tone settings, effects, the use of the different pickups and feedback. The acoustic guitar has only the tone given to it by the wood it is made from and the skill and inspiration of the guitar player. So let us take a look at some acoustic guitar solos and the guitars and guitarists who made them.

If you do not know the name Erik Mongrain, you will find some examples of his guitar playing on video sites on the internet. I came across a very nice solo called Air Tap. He was given an acoustic guitar when he was fourteen, and learnt to play it by ear. While he learnt and experimented with the guitar he discovered the technique of sitting the guitar in his lap and tapping, the strings and body to produce music. If you go looking for him on the web you will find pdf files of his music and tutorials on his techniques.

Paco de Lucia introduced the world to a new brand of flamenco in the 1970's and paved the way for a new generation of flamenco guitarists who were inspired by his passion for oriental scales and jazz influences. Entre Dos Aguas was an improvisation begun during a recording session because the LP Paco and his accompanying musicians were working on was short on material. The resulting rumba was a worldwide hit and established Paco as a force to be reckoned with well outside the boundaries of Spanish folk music. Paco sponsors his own line of flamenco guitars.

Back in the 1990's MTV decided to coax guitar hero Eric Clapton into playing some songs without the adornments provided by an electric guitar and amp. The resulting album won Grammy awards, gave Clapton's career a shot in the arm and reinvented the song Layla as an acoustic showpiece. The solo on Layla is far removed from the original theme conceived by Duane Allman which made the song a rock anthem.

In the late 1960's Mason Williams surprised himself by writing and performing an acoustic guitar solo which became a hit and remained popular for the decades since. The tune was called Classical Gas, and is striking for its simplicity and popular appeal. Classical Gas was born in an era when instrumentals such as The Lonely Surfer, A Walk In The Black Forest and Love Is Blue were standout hits for musicians who were otherwise unknown. But only Classical Gas retains the ability to make people sit up and listen.

So if you play the acoustic guitar a little and would like to learn how to play solos, you can use the world wide web to learn more about soloing techniques for acoustic guitar. One easy way to start is the clawhammer technique used in folk songs, or you could learn to improvise your own licks using the minor pentatonic or "blues" scale. If you are stuck for an idea on how to begin improvising or making up your own tunes, start with a nursery rhyme or some other popular melody, and begin adding notes to it and changing things around to produce something original.

Ricky Sharples has been playing guitar his whole life, and is presently engaged in building a blog called Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free. Ricky's blog features free tools, lessons and resources for guitarists of all ages and stages. Ricky updates the blog regularly so if you are interested in learning to play guitar there will be an enormous variety of tip, tools and tutorials for you.

latin music artists