Any Foreign Language

Have you ever been anywhere and seen this happen? I see it all the time in Mexico and it cracks me up! Whenever an English speaker encounters a speaker of another language (even in the country where that other language is the norm), they just talk louder thinking that will help "translate" their message.

Don't let it be you! If they don't understand at a volume level 5, cranking it up to a 10 won't help. It just makes you look bad.

Yesterday I put up a feel good quote for you all. Today I am putting up the ultimate feel good (and do good and be good) book. I began reading Life Without Limits a few days ago and it's been well worth the read. I haven't even finished it yet and it has already gotten me to cut back on the whining and get on with the celebrating. It seems that all I see lately is bad news on Facebook, the Internet and TV. This has been a bright ray of sunshine for me and it could be for you too. Get the book, shake off the excuses and go out into the world as your boldest, most inspired, hardest working self!

Need I say more?

If you just love, love, LOVE fried chicken like I do, but need a way to prepare it (most of the time) that is not so bad for your health, I have a little trick that I use.

Instead of breading it in, well, bread, I have found a fantastic bunch of substitutes. Here are some ways to fry it up that are elevate the nutrition levels and keep the carbs down a bit:

Equal parts oatmeal and almonds + garlic powder, salt and pepper in a blender makes awesome "breading"

Oatmeal + ranch dressing packet (if you then bake it with Monterey Jack cheese on top, it's even better)

Equal parts almonds or cashews and unsweetened coconut (you can add oatmeal to this one too!)

Since I am not a chicken skin fan per se, I usually grab a skinless chicken breast, dip it in egg and then pass it through any one of these breadings. Then I fry it or bake it. If you fry any of these in coconut oil vs vegetable oil, the crispiness and flavor will increase all the more. And, if you look it up, coconut oil is actually a very, very healthy oil to eat. In addition, you can do the same thing with other meats like salmon and get awesome, flavorful results.

Get in your kitchen and try it! And if you've got any other recipes you'd add to this, put it in the comments. I am always looking for ways to make boring old chicken taste fresh and new.

I got an idea rattling around in my head and I need some feedback. People who are learning another language often purchase audio programs, textbooks or other resources to learn their language. Once they have learned it (or, even more commonly, lost interest in learning it), they often have materials that are practically untouched and that would serve another person perfectly.

I was thinking of starting up a rental program where someone who was learning say, Spanish, could simply rent out some materials for about $10 a month and then return them once they completed their course or no longer wished to use them.

Does this sound like a good idea? If you were going to learn another language, would you appreciate that as an additional service made available to you?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments (you know, before I go out an buy massive amounts of language learning materials on Amazon and then discover that this was not a marketable idea after all ;p).

And you all think other languages are hard!

My company could not function without people like Minh and Julie Ho! In order to deliver language learning to any corner of the globe, I depend on cutting edge technology that is reliable and super user-friendly. Talk Fusion has met that need for me.

Minh and Julie Ho are one of the top people in that company and they are flying into Houston for a weekend event. Through complete dumb luck I have been able to secure an invitation to attend a private dinner with them a few others who also work for or use the products the company sells. I am beyond excited and cannot wait to meet them and find out even more about Talk Fusion and what it will do for my company and its clients!

I run a lot--even in the summer time. And when the heat index is up over 100 I find that I need a little bit more than just ice water to hydrate me back to a functional human being.

Enter the sports drink. I don't really dig buying a lot of plastic bottles of Gatorade though so some years ago my husband actually found a recipe for making my own at home. I save money, don't waste any plastic packaging and always have it on hand.

Here's the link for the recipe that I use. I do alter some things. For example, I only use sea salt (have no idea what Morton Lite Salt is and don't want to add anything else to buy list of stuff to buy). Also, I use a bit more salt and a bit less sugar than it calls for. It tastes more like Gatorade and less like straight Kool-Aid that way. For an added nutrition boost, you can also throw in a packet of that Emergen C Vitamin C powder in any flavor you like.

Okay, here's the link. Enjoy! http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Damn-Sports-Drink/step4/Final-recipe/

the  devastating  truth  about  learning  another  language That’s it. This blog is staging a day of reckoning right here and right now. In my line of work, I am very familiar with the following complaint, but in the past week, it has come up at least a...

Luz is a former student of mine and she is doing an amazing job as one of my assistants, both in the boot camp and on other projects. She finds it awesome that now, instead of teachers teaching her, she is teaching the teachers. And she's dang good at it too!

She is going into the eighth grade and is already studying her third language (French). Driven, compassionate and just plain happy, Luz is a pleasure to work with.

Take the limits off of your world!

Do you need a job here in Houston?

Every day for the past two weeks I have been getting multiple phone calls per day looking for job candidates who are.... you guessed it.... bilingual!

Are you not bilingual yet? Right NOW, there are about 6,000 jobs just in the city of Houston that CANNOT be filled in teaching, healthcare and oil/gas because they require a bilingual candidate. And those are just the three industries that I keep up with. Outside of those industries, even more opportunities lurk.

Wouldn't it pay to be bilingual? Wouldn't it be awesome to walk into a job interview and pretty much know you have the position because there is literally not another person around who can do that particular job and has the language skills?

I think its fantastic.

Here at Any Foreign Language, for ALL students who are seeking a job, we give FREE interview and job search training that really, really works. Not that you will struggle to find one once you have the skills, but in addition to making you fluent in any language you'd like, we also want you to nail the job of your dreams. With our help, you can't lose!

Wherever you are in the world, we can reach and get our training to you. Don't miss out on these outstanding opportunities!

Like this post if you think knowing another language would help you out on your current job or to get a job in the future. We want to see what you all think!