Greetings and General Information

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As I mentioned in the last issue of our E-zine, I'm proposing to start using this space for learning three major subjects, for the duration of this coming academic year, starting in September 2014 - next week.

Two of them are for learning English: pronunciation and grammar for improving your communication skills.

One of them is for applying your English in website design and development. Not only will this open new avenues for presenting yourself worldwide, but it will also give you the skills for building your own business online, or for developing an otherwise informative and creative website.

18 - 24 August 2014 - A New Chapter Begins

This does not mean that we part ways - on the contrary!

The chapter we're going to start next week will last for the whole duration of the academic year. I shall split our subjects in monthly lessons, as outlined below. The website design course is split into 10 sections, so we shall do the other two courses in parallel, for the same duration – ten months between September 2014 and June 2015.

The difference between what we’ve done so far and what we shall do from now on is that I want to motivate you, my online students to learn actively and to show us all that you are doing so.

I could motivate you in two ways: by fear - you all know what happens if you don’t put sufficient work and dedication into your learning process. You will be left behind by those who actually work hard and achieve their goals and get those good jobs you can only dream of… Or I could motivate you by inviting you to take action and be determined to reach your goalpost successfully and I prefer this alternative.

I propose to implement a point-based reward system, whereby you will receive 1 or 2 or 3 points, depending on how diligently and how quickly you will turn in your ‘homework’ – the answers to our exercises. The first student to answer will get 3 points, the second one 2 points and the third one will get 1 point respectively.

These points will then be turned into ‘money’, by giving each point the value of one Euro. You can accumulate these points and build a substantial sum, which will be used to secure three prizes, as follows:

- The First Prize = a return flight to Spain, and an invitation to join me over there, for a holiday;
- The Second Prize = a website package (paid for the first year of hosting and technical support);
- The Third Prize = a subscription with up to 5 prominent recruitment websites, in line with your background and interests.

The winners of each week’s points will be announced in the "Greetings and General Information" section of the subsequent issue of the e-zine and a score will be kept, until we’ll have some deserving winners in the end.

Everybody can participate, by sending in their answers among the first responses. If your response is not among the first 3 one week, you can still earn points the following week, or the week after – you get the idea. There will be those of you who will never make it to the first 3 responders, but your answers may be correct time and time again nevertheless. If you show diligence in this way and willingness to learn and show your work, we shall have a Surprise Prize for you, which will reward your sustained hard work. I cannot tell you right now what this Prize will be, but I can promise that you will not be forgotten and that you will be mentioned as ‘The Best Response’ for each session when you earn this title.

I hope you will all feel motivated to participate in our quest for better English and I look forward to starting our courses next week.

This Is It, My Friends!

I wish you all a great week ahead and I look forward to embark on our future adventure together! Have fun in the meanwhile, as always!
And, last but not least: keep in touch, my friends!

Lucia da Vinci

Founder of My English Club