--------------------
200 Words a Day CD-Rom to give away each month - won by Dina
--------------------

The first person to be drawn for the ‘200 Words a Day CD-Rom’ is Dina in USA. An email is on its way to you, Dina, and you will need to tell us which language CD-Rom you’d like, and the address for shipping.

Looking at that, it sounds a bit funny just ‘Dina of USA’, but that’s all the info we take to enter the draw! A first name and an email address.

To enter this month’s draw click on the link Enter the Draw. You'll need to answer some easy questions (we even give you the answers...!).

You can re-enter every month if you want to!

--------------------
The Language Show, London, UK - an 11 year old scores 93% with a 375-words-per-day learning rate….
--------------------

We (me, Odette, Tom, Maria, Eduardo) spent three hectic days manning our booth at the Language Show in London, England. Over 6,000 visitors attended and we got to talk to hundreds of people interested in accelerated learning techniques.

One lady teacher insisted that it is IMPOSSIBLE to learn more than 10 words a day! Wow! And that is something that many language teachers have been taught, and some have accepted as fact.

We know that this is simply not true, and it was pleasing to watch an 11 year old girl, Genevieve, sit at the PC, at our booth, in public, do a lesson, score 93% on the first attempt, and learn 24 new Spanish words (and genders) in minutes. The PC calculated and declared her learning rate at 375 words a day (for an 8 hour day - doing about a 12-15 minute lesson per hour).

Not only however did she learn something, get instant positive feedback, plead with her mum to buy a CD-Rom (not a shoot-em-up PC game….), but she was BOOSTED with a shot of confidence and joy at learning more about language. How many parents would prefer their kids to learn a few words of a language instead of blasting more victims in ‘Grand Theft Auto 3’?

So, it is not just the fact one can learn a big batch of useful information from the 200 Words a Day technique, that can fit the giant language jigsaw puzzle, if one gets positive feedback so quickly, one also gets spurred to do more.

Most of our visitors were very receptive and had their eyes open for new ideas and concepts. Many, many teachers and schools were very interested in our ‘Managed Learning Environment’ version of the software.

This can link 100+ PCs to a teacher, who can monitor all the students’ progress. The teacher can also see which words the students are finding most difficult, and build a lesson of just those words for the class. (‘My Worst Words’).

Loads of people asked if we had an ‘Italian 200 Words a Day’ CD-Rom, (….not yet…) so it seems that we’ll have to put in some energy to such a project for a mid-2005 launch.

--------------------
200 Words a Day Excelerated Vocab learning seminar ‘sells out’ first…
--------------------

I presented a seminar, which was well attended. The organiser said that my seminar was the first to ‘sell out’ with all the fr=ee tickets being snapped up before all the other seminars. Luckily the organisers were able to remove the side walls to allow others to stand around the outside and listen.

--------------------
Radio Interview with Brian Hays, LBC - London Broadcasting Company
--------------------

On Sunday evening, 7 November, I was invited to a radio interview after the Language Show, with LBC Radio and was with announcer Brian Hays for 30 minutes discussing our 200 Words a Day language learning techniques, on air.

One interesting point we discussed was the research of the Michel Thomas Learning Centre who said that 97% of respondents in a survey of dating agencies thought that an ability to speak another language made someone more appealing.

Another research finding was that people with a second language earned higher average salaries than those with just one language. Interpolated over a lifetime of work the polyglot was up to $200,000 better off in earnings!

--------------------
Draw from the Language Show
--------------------

We also ran a competition draw during the Language Show London, and the winner of that is announced here also. Anyone visiting the stand was invited to enter for draw for a CD-Rom of their choice.

The winner has been drawn out of the basket and it is: Jane Williams of Stroud, Kent.

--------------------
Feedback from a user….RETENTION……almost subconscious….
--------------------

I received an email last week from a user, Mark in the UK, a clip from which I’d like to share with you. “……..main positive+ is definitely the high RETENTION levels after long periods without learning --- almost "subconscious", I would say. “

------------Yes, the pics do embed in the subconscious and are there for you to pluck when you need them.

--------------------
Spanish & French Tip: Reflexives.
--------------------

Reflexive verbs are verbs where the action is directed or reflected back to the subject as in the following sentence:

‘He kicked himself.’

The action is reflected back to the subject (he).

A handy hint is to remember that many reflexive verbs refer to PHYSICAL actions one does to oneself. One can recognise them by the suffix -se being added to the end of a verb.

levantar - to raise becomes levantarse - to raise oneself, to get up, to get out of bed.

More Spanish examples are:

peinarse - to comb (oneself)
secarse - to dry (oneself)
ponerse - to put on (oneself)
afeitarse - to shave (oneself)
pararse - to stop (oneself)
quitarse - to take off (oneself)
sentarse - to sit (oneself) down
lavarse - to wash (oneself)
dormirse - to sleep (oneself)

Some non-physical examples are: llamarse - to call (oneself)

--------------------
French Reflexives are recognised by the ‘se’ at the beginning of the verb……..
--------------------
… for example…

se lever - to get oneself up (out of bed)
s’appeler - to be called (to call oneself)
se blesser - to hurt oneself
se regarder - to look at oneself (e.g. in the mirror)
se laver - to wash (oneself)
se raser- to shave (oneself)

--------------------
German Tip.
--------------------

German reflexives are recognised by the word ‘sich’ before the infinitive, for example:

sich anziehen - to dress (oneself)
sich ausziehen - to undress (oneself)
sich waschen - to wash (oneself)
sich vorstellen - to imagine (to oneself)
sich aufregen - to get excited
sich auskennen - to know one’s way around

For the ‘sich’ words in the 200 Words a Day German courses, we incorporate a SIKH man from India.

For example for the words ‘sich befinden’ ( to be situated) we have a picture of a SIKH who BE FINDING himself meditating in the mountains.

--------------------
Sample words from 200 Words a Day courses*
--------------------

Click the link for a Spanish Word of the Day, and German and French. And also for the Proverb of the Day.

http://www.200words-a-day.com/word-of-the-day.html

====================

That is it for this newsletter. See you next time.

Hasta la vista...À bientôt...Bis bald.

Kevin Crocombe & the 200 Words a Day Team
www.200words-a-day.com
--------------------
The Team
Tom White; Odette; Nigel; Dominic; Albin Vidal; Maud Wojcik; Germain Tottet; Mariana Averza; Julia Watson; Eduardo Aceto; Maria Llorente; Chris White; Alan White, Sandrine Benoit.

====================

School Programmes are available worldwide. Words in our courses cover the syllabus in most English-speaking countries.

UK Schools qualify for e-Learning Credits.

====================

Trade enquiries are welcome.

====================

200 Words a Day!
32 Alverton, Great Linford, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK14 5EF, United Kingdom.
Tel: (+44) 1908 676 873