Experiment Reflection

 

This week I did well with my language practice. It is cool to learn new words and then recognize them when used in later sessions. However, recalling meanings and pronunciation of words by myself can, at times, be a difficult challenge. I am surprised of how well this experiment is going so far (with the exception of bailing out of the 20 minute conversations) but I know my life and it changes from week to week.  Hopefully, I can continue to stick with the program, rather than switching to a song.

 

 

This week I practiced the program for approximately five hours.  Now my hour commute to school is actually beneficial. I have had Onlingo as well as other Spanish language CD’s for a while but never could get into a routine of listening. Mmmm maybe knowing that I would have to blogs about it helps … but maybe not, I could make this all up if I wanted – there is even a booklet with the program I could use to say what I learned.

 

~No worries Dr. Burns, I really am doing my Spanish Enhancement Experiment because I need all the extra help I can get before summer— seriously!

Semana Sies

April 1-6

CD 5 disc 2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                              El Yunque Rain Forrest in Puerto Rico

 

Like all the others, I started this CD by listening to the entire disc before concentrating on sections. I was greeted by the chirps of birds en El Yunque, a tropical Puerto Rican rain forest.

 

 

 

I have been going over el cuerpo humano, or parts of the body.

 

Some that I knew: La cabeza, las manos, la cara, la boca, el pelo, los ojos y los pies.

 

And some that were new to me: los hombros, los brazos, la nariz, las orejas, dedos, piernas, la espalda, estomago.

 

Another focus of this disc is superlatives, which are adhectives stressing importance. To do this you add isimo to the ending of the word.

 

Ex:

                  

Extremely tall (alto/a)	Altisimo/a
Extremely boring (aburrirdir)	Aburrirdismio
Extremely intelligent (inteligente)	Inteligentisimo
Extremely wide (ancho)	Anchisimo

Experiment Reflection

 

This week I did well with my language practice. It is cool to learn new words and then recognize them when used in later sessions. However, recalling meanings and pronunciation of words by myself can, at times, be a difficult challenge. I am surprised of how well this experiment is going so far (with the exception of bailing out of the 20 minute conversations) but I know my life and it changes from week to week.  Hopefully, I can continue to stick with the program, rather than switching to a song.

 

 

This week I practiced the program for approximately five hours.  Now my hour commute to school is actually beneficial. I have had Onlingo as well as other Spanish language CD’s for a while but never could get into a routine of listening. Mmmm maybe knowing that I would have to blogs about it helps … but maybe not, I could make this all up if I wanted – there is even a booklet with the program I could use to say what I learned.

 

~No worries Dr. Burns, I really am doing my Spanish Enhancement Experiment because I need all the extra help I can get before summer— seriously!

Social Networking and Public Relations

Keeping up with ever changing trends, public relations practitioners no longer question whether people are using social networking sites. Practitioners are trying everything to penetrate the market.

“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” said John Burbank CEO of Nielsen Online.

Nielsen’s recent report “Global Faces and Networked Places”indicates that two-thirds of the world’s Internet population use social networking or blogging sites, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all time spent on the Internet. Nelson predicts that the number of social networking users and the amount of time spent on networking sites will continue to rise, without slowing anytime soon. Topping off the Internet’s golden pedal stool is Facebook , usually associated with its younger audience, is gaining new, older demographic users. Facebook’s population of 50-to-64-year-old visitors grew almost twice as much than its under 18-year-old visitor population in the past couple of years.

The dark side of social networking

Social networking offers communicators a way to reach specific audiences but, at the same time, it is easy to get stuck on the networking merry-go-round without the influx of company “buzz” or sales. Social networking has gained a reputation for being an easy way to receive coverage and spread messages but networking plans need to be strategically designed in order to be effective.

• Not having the adequate amount of time needed to monitor, update and respond can hinder social networking efforts.

• Many confuse social networking with advertising, thus damaging their online relationships.

• It is tough to create an online presence when there are enormous amounts of “noise” generated from online users.

“It is a world in which every consumer is becoming a standalone media outlet, indexed by Google.” — PR-squared.com

Networking tips

Larry Brauner gives excellent advice for social networkers on the Sun Times’ blog.

“You aren’t the only networker with an agenda. To be very successful help your networking partners advance their agendas while you advance your own,” said Brauner. “If you want people to be interested in you, be interested in them.”

As with every area of public relations, it is essential to do research. One must know how the online community of interest likes to receive information and what, exactly, they are all about.

 

“Run a Google search on keywords in your business to find out who else and what else is out there in cyberspace, doing what you do … make it a point to read discussion forums and get to know the participants,” said Kate Sheridan  in her Business Tips article.

Internet options are evolving all the time, as are social networks. Companies ahead of the game will find ways to morph with technology.

The focus group explores attitudes and motivations of pre-mass communications majors.

Focus Group Report

 

Three Kings Day                          

In Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking countries, children often don’t receive presents on Christmas. Instead, their presents appear on the third day of el dia de los reyes magos, or three kings day. The three kings represent the three wise men. Children leave grass and water under their beds for the three kings’ camels and in return the children receive presents.

 

 

 

http://www.caribbeanfamilytripper.com/blog/

 

Semana Cinco

Audio CD cinco disc uno 

 

March  23-29

 

 

In this voyage, we start in la capital de Puerto Rico, San Juan. So far I have practiced with the program for an hour each day.

                                                             

I reviewed much vocabulario as well as the present progressive tense, which in English is the -ing ending.  In Spanish, verbs ending in er and ir use iendo and ar verbs use ando.

 

Ex: Bailar, meaning to dance, changes to bailando to mean dancing.

Vendir, meaning to sell, changes to vendiendo to mean selling.

 

 This week I also reviewed the past tense for regular verbs.

I have trouble with conjugations because I have to stop and think of the verb, how it is spelled and then how it should change. I have found that I often pronounce the verb wrong so when I decide which ending it should get the end result is incorrect. I have got to stop thinking in English.

                                   

             Bailar-AR             Beber- IR/ER

YO         baile                         bebi

TU        bailaste                   bebiste

El           bailo                        bebio 

Nos        bailamos                 bebimos  (present tense sounds similar, bebemos)

Os          bailaron                  bebieron

 

Connect the senses through video and audio

 Online advertisements started incorporating flashing, moving and talking methods long ago. Now, it is time for more public relations practitioners to spice up their Web sites and press releases.

 Audio and video are important elements in commuinication because they make content more appealing and interactive so viewers are more likely to stay on the page longer. Graphics and audio are important for times where a reporter or  bogger might like to include a picture with their story but have little tine to spare.  

There are  free press release service sites  allowing users to create content with audio and video and distribute them to numerous search engines, including Google News.

Nathan Hilton, author of  Bullet Proof Internet Marketing blog, said search engines rely on the content surrounding a video for keyword rankings and the title of the video and the description are the main areas to sprinkle keywords. He said another important trick in utilizing keywords is the tile that the video is saved under before being uploaded.

“Build an arsenal of still images, audio and video on your own online newsroom and make sure it is easy to use and the content is formatted for easy download and re-use,”  Jon Fortt, tech blogger and senior writer for Fortune, said.

Central Michigan University’s marketing and public relations ‘ Web site lists tthe following tips as starting points when creating audio and video:

Audio

• Use the appropriate microphone for situation

 • Don’t overpower spoken content with music

• Don’t use copyrighted music

• Apply equalization to correct weak frequencies

Video

• Use a stand if shaky camera movement is unavailable

• Always keep lighting in mind and don’t use dark footage 

• Use visual variety by interchanging  wide, medium and close-up shots

Report of findings.

Podcast: Interview with Amy Summers  President of Pitch Inc., a  publicity firm.

Podcast: Interview with Jeffery Taylor Senior Vice President of International Government Relations, a government relations firm.

Semana Cuatro: No more conversations

Audio CD 4 level dos

February 16-22

 

I will not keep my weekly goal of having a twenty-minute conversation in Spanish but I surpassed my audio goal by spending a total of four hours with the program.

 

I decided to drop the twenty-minutes of conversation because I have a lot going on and do not have twenty minutes a week to spare. Twenty-minutes doesn’t seem like a lot of time but I have found that it is impossible to only talk to someone for twenty minutes— it soon turns into an hour, so if I do happen to hold a conversation in Spanish then it will be a plus.