Sam's Class: 2006

Here is a link to Voice of America. As I've mentioned before, they have an excellent site called "Special English" in which you can both hear and read along with articles at the same time. The person who is doing the reading is doing so much more slowly and distinctly than usual, so it will help you in your reading, your listening skills and also your pronunciation. Just choose one of these topics and click on it and you'll go to the next page. Under the title of the topic you'll see 3 possible ways to listen to it. Each of them has a little speaker icon (symbol) after the words. Choose the third one, where it says "Listen to American Mosaic" and click on that. A small window will appear called "Real Player" and in a few seconds you'll begin to hear the reader. Now, minimize (make it smaller) that window so that you can see the written article so that you can follow along.

VOA News - topics_summary

The only problem that you may have is that VOA only uses Real Player and not every computer uses that service. If you have your own computer you can get it for free by going to this site.

Rhapsody & RealPlayer — the best audio and video players — Real.com

Now, look to the right of the page for the yellow bar that says "Free Download" and click on that. NOTE; Do not click on either of the other yellow bars where it says Try Super Pass or 14 Day Free Trial as you'll be charged for those. Click on "Free Download." On the next page look to the right where it says "Basic Player." Under that click on where it says "Get Real Player Free" and just follow the directions.

Learn English and use English chat at English, baby!

Business English : Negotiations in English (EnglishClub.com)

Business English : Meetings in English (EnglishClub.com)

News From The Associated Press

USATODAY.com - How Americans see Americans

NPR : StoryCorps: Recording America

Listen - StoryCorps

20 Jobs

About this post; Although I'm including this article for your information and interest, it is very important to note that having a college degree will always put you in a better position both when you are looking for a job and after you find one. If an employer has to choose between 2 equally qualified job applicants and one has a degree and one doesn't, the one with the degree will almost always get the job. In addition, if 2 equally qualified employees are up for a promotion and a raise in salary, the one with the college degree will generally get the promotion. Having an American college degree is particularly important for immigrants as most employers see it as confirmation that the new citizen has self discipline enough to work to the point of graduation and that he or she has made a commitment to their new life in the US. AOL Jobs - Articles- 20-great-jobs-that-dont-require-a - AOL Find a Job

Friday, June 30, 2006

NEW VIDEO 6/29

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Reading, Cloze Quizzes, July 4th, Computer Tips

The Learning Edge

NBC: How does it feel to be a new American? - Being an American - MSNBC.com

Voices from Lady Liberty - Being an American - MSNBC.com

FOXNews.com - 100-Year-Old Woman Becomes Naturalized American Citizen - Local News News Articles National News US News

Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search

http://answers.yahoo.com/

Computercloze

Internship cloze

Grandparentscloze

Resume Workshop

Cover letters

Celebrate Independence Day - History and Origin of Independence Day

History of July 4

Declaration of Independence: The Declaration and Its Importance

NARA The National Archives Experience

Komando.com, Website for The Kim Komando Radio Show®, Kim's Tips

Smart Computing Daily Tip Archive

MapQuest.Com: Maps, Directions and More

TriMet: Public Transportation for the Portland, Oregon, Metro Area

Friday, June 23, 2006

NEW VIDEO 6/23

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Jobs, Listening, Grammar

Immigration-Coming to America - AOL Pictures

Complete Story: Coming to America

Job Application Form

Sample Job Application Form

How to Complete a Job Application

Job Application Center: In-Person Job Applications Entry Level Resumes

JobWeb - Resumes & Interviews
About Job Search - Job Search and Employment Guide

Sample Cover Letter - General

AOL Jobs - Articles- seven-days-to-a-new-job - AOL Find a Job

craigslist: portland, OR classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

Practice Your Listening Skills

Selected MP3 Files for EFL/ESL Students
Note: Click next to where it says MP3 and then wait for a minute or so while the file
downloads. Then, just click on the arrow beneath the player to start it.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/Opinions/Chat/Audiofiles/060620-Koontz.mp3
Note: This is an interview with the popular writer Dean Koontz. Both the person
asking the questions and Mr. Koontz are speaking at close to or perhaps even
a little faster than normal American conversation speed so understanding what
they're saying will be a bit of a challenge. You can of course rewind the
interview and listen to it again though. This is very good listening practice!

Working on Grammar

theiyre Quiz 1

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Quiz 2

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Quiz 3

Just For Fun

Foon.co.uk - Avoision XP Pro

Friday, June 16, 2006

Jobs and Resume Info

Where to look for jobs.

Below is a link to "The Oregonian." After you click on it, look to the upper right part on the page and you will see the word "Marketplace." Under that word click on the word "Jobs." On the next page you can eiher enter a keyword (the name of the kind of job that you're looking for) or look down the left side of the page for more information.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/oregon/index.ssf?/pages/ornews.html

Below is a link to Jobdango which is another good site for job hunters. When you click on this link look to the left side of their homepage and you'll see the words "Quick Job Search." Under that you'll see a box where you can enter keywords. Again this is where you can put in the name of the job that you're looking for like Sales, Bank Teller, Teacher or Truck Driver for example. Under that you'll see where it says "Job Catagories." Do you see the little arrow that is pointing down to the right of the words? This tells you that there is a pull down menu. If you click on that little arrow you'll see a list and if you find the kind of job that you're looking for on the list you should click on it. Below that is another box that says "All Metro Areas." Again, click on the small arrow and you'll see a list of cities. If you're looking for a job close by click on "Portland Metro." After that just click on where it says "Search" and you'll go to the next page which has a job list.

Oregon Jobs, Washington Jobs, Job and Employment Search Engine - Jobdango

Below is a link to the Oregon Employment Division. When you click on it you'll go to their homepage and the you should look to the right upper part of the page where it says "Helpful Links." Under those words you'll see "Find a Job" and you should click on that. If you look to the right part of this page you'll again see where it says "Helpful Links." Under that you'll see where it says "Oregon Jobs" and you should click on that. Do you see where it says "Search Jobs By?" Under that you'll find the word "Occupation" and if you click on that you'll see a list of available jobs. You can also search by location so if you want to work locally you should choose Portland or Portland Metro.

State of Oregon: Employment Department

Writing a resume

CNN.com - Write your resume in an hour - Jun 14, 2006

Resumes, Resume Writing Services, Free Resume samples, Free Resume Examples

Resumes, Resume Writing Services, Resume samples and Examples

eHow.com - Job Search - Learn from our How-to Guide