The problems of the young: low incomes, housing problems, lack of entertainments, etc.

Youth is the best time in life of a man. But at the same time youth is the most difficult time, because the most important decisions must be made. Problems of young people are among the sharpest in the world. An economic situation in many countries results in unemployment of young people. The burning issues are as well spending their free time, relations with parents and unhappy love.

Youth is the time when a person is trying to find his place in the world. And while searching he or she comes across different problems which are as sharp as those of the adults. The youth of the twenty first century face almost the same the problems which were acute to their parents when they were young. One of them is a generation gap.

Every generation is unique in its experience. It has its own ideals and a system of values concerning every aspect of human life. Adults always complain that the young are not what they were. These words are repeated from generation to generation. Undoubtedly it is true. In fact today the young are better educated. They grow up more quickly. They derive joy from more freedom. At present the young do not blindly accept the ideals of their parents. For them everything that the adults bear in mind is past history. And this is inevitable, because different generations take different directions. Moreover, the young look forward and the old people look backward. The adult always teach the young how to live. They apply old standards to the new way of life. The past is hanging over them preventing them from appreciating the things around them anew. The young think that the adults have lost touch with everything that is important in life. They are right, because what is important to the adults is the past. The young know what they want. They prefer to make their own mistakes rather than to listen to the warnings of the adults. The past exists to help the young to avoid unnecessary blurs. But they do want to have them. The young want to live their own life. They want to overcome their own difficulties without turning back. Unfortunately the life of the young is frequently determined by the adults. The young and adults have different points of view concerning everything. And it generates the conflict.

Another problem of the youth is the relationship of the young people with their friends and beloved. A person can be on good terms with his or her classmates or university groupmates but have only one or two real friends. The problem of love is very important for the young too. Today they young fall in love when they reach the age of Romeo and Juliet. Romanticism and idealism very often accompany the love of the young. Their belief in eternal love can end dramatically. Today nobody doubts about the depth of their passion. It is regrettable, but the young are not always ready to have stable relations. For a happy family life two people must understand and respect each other.

It should be said that the young have other problems as well. They are concerned with education, money, employment, hobby, spending their free time, communication, and the like. And of course one of the most urgent problems is the accommodations problem. Few young people in our country have their own apartments. In the main they share the apartments with their parents even after getting married.

The next problem that young people face is to choose their future profession. It means that they have to choose the future of their life. It's not an easy task to make the right choice of a job.

One of the urgent problems of the young is unemployment. The percentage of unemployed youth in the total number of the jobless is high. Some young people see no way out and commit suicide. From time to time some may get a hit of luck, but the majority lose their ideals and become disillusioned.

  So, as you see, it is very difficult to be young nowadays, as, indeed, it always was. But you only can be young once, are some wonderful things can happen only when you’re young. So, you are to enjoy youth while it lasts.

Outstanding People & Outstanding Abilities: Connie Talbot has been singing since she was 18 months old

Connie Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English child singer from Streetly, Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands. Connie is best known as the gap toothed 6 year old who stole the nations heart when she stepped out on stage and sang solo in front of the judges of 'Britains Got Talent’. She has been singing since she was 18 months old. The song she is most known for, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, was the song she performed at her grandmother’s funeral at three years old.

She rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent. Talbot was supposed to sign with Sony BMG but the label pulled out of the deal due to her age.

Talbot signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album Over the Rainbow in the UK on 26 November 2007. The album was re-released 18 June 2008 with a new track listing, and the first single from the album, a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", was released on 10 June.

Despite its negative critical reception, Over the Rainbow has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries. Since the initial album release, Talbot has performed publicly and on television in Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, where her music had gained recognition through YouTube. Her second album, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, was released on 24 November 2008; her third, Holiday Magic, was released in late 2009.

On top of her musical career, Talbot continues to attend primary school and lives in Streetly with her family. She lives with her mother, Sharon, her father Gavin, a self-employed property maintenance engineer, her brother Josh, and her sister, Mollie. Talbot sang "Over the Rainbow", her signature song, at her grandmother's funeral, because she and her grandmother had enjoyed watching The Wizard of Oz together. Talbot drew confidence in Britain's Got Talent from the belief that her grandmother was watching, and vowed to win the show in her memory.  Despite Talbot speaking positively of the effects of her fame, her parents spoke of a darker side, including having to change their phone number and hire a bodyguard for their daughter.

IT which are the most effective in EFL class

Nowadays teaching English has become a great tool to improve job prospects and sustain life in a competitive world. It is the need of this hour to implement modern technologies to upgrade the level of English teaching in all respects. It would also ease students' mentality to learn more about English at its best. The English teacher has to play a vital role in bringing the students up to face the competitive world. That’s why modern technologies are quiet useful for them.

Dramatic advances in computers, in digital memory, in internet resources, in audio and visual transmission, in virtual imaging, and in wireless communication have created intriguing new possibilities for the use of technology in the teaching of English. Web publishing, digital archives, digital video, electronic conferencing, blogging, wikis, podcasting, real simple syndication feeds, on-line gaming, virtual reality worlds - these are the potential new tools for teaching and learning English. This approach shows the new technologies as evolutionary, rather than revolutionary.

The use of internet has brought many dramatic changes in English teaching. The contemporary students are upgrading their knowledge by surfing on the net a lot. If the teacher is able to share something new and inspiring, students would pay more attention and concentration to English. Sharing of important ideas through community services would enhance teachers one more level up. Innumerable English learning videos are available through well-known search engines and websites. If one makes use of these, English teacher can make his lecture/teaching more effective and inspiring one. Instead of continuous teaching using black board teachers can use smart boards.

This essay takes a look at blogging, which is becoming increasingly popular as a language learning tool. It gives an overview of blogging websites, suggests why you might want to use them, and gives some practical advice on setting up blogs for use with your own classes.

* What is a blog?

* Types of blogs used in language teaching

* Why blog?

* Where to start

* Tips for managing learner blog settings

* Keeping students interested

* Some ideas for activities

* Pitfalls to watch out for

* Advanced feature

What is a blog?

A blog (short for weblog) is a frequently updated website that often resembles an online journal. It's so easy to create and update a blog - it requires only basic access to the Internet, and a minimum of technical know-how. Because of this, it is one of the easiest ways to publish student writing on the WWW. It's almost as easy as sending an email.

Nowadays, blogs can also display photos and some people are using them with audio and even video, but this article will concentrate on the basics, showing how a simple text-based blog can be used to great effect with your English language learners.

Types of blogs used in language teaching:

* The Tutor Blog is run by the teacher of a class. The content of this type of blog can be limited to syllabus, course information, homework, assignments, etc. Or the teacher may choose to write about his or her life, sharing reflections about the local culture, target culture and language to stimulate online and in-class discussion. In this type of blog, students are normally restricted to being able to write comments to the teacher's posts.

* The Class Blog is a shared space, with teacher and students being able to write to the main area. It is best used as a collaborative discussion space, an extra-curricular extension of the classroom. Students can be encouraged to reflect in more depth, in writing, on themes touched upon in class. Students are given a greater sense of freedom and involvement than with the tutor blog.

* The Learner Blog is the third type of blog and it requires more time and effort from the teacher to both set up and moderate, but is probably the most rewarding. It involves giving each student an individual blog. The benefit of this is that this becomes the student's own personal online space. Students can be encouraged to write frequently about what interests them, and can post comments on other students' blogs. For examples, see the links to learner blogs from the class blog and tutor blog examples above.

Of course, teachers who decide to use blogs often use a combination of Tutor or Class blog and Learner blogs, with hyperlinks connecting them.

Why blog?

So, why should you blog with your students? There are many reasons why you may choose to use weblogs with students. One of the best reasons is to provide a real audience for student writing. Usually, the teacher is the only person who reads student writing, and the focus of this reading is usually on form, not content. With weblogs, students can find themselves writing for a real audience that, apart from the teacher, may include their peers, students from other classes, or even other countries, their parents, and potentially anyone with access to the Internet.

Here are some other reasons for using blogs:

* To provide extra reading practice for students.

This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.

* As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers.

The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.

* To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.

The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.

* To increase the sense of community in a class.

A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their interests, and are responding to what other students are writing.

* To encourage shy students to participate.

There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.

* To stimulate out-of-class discussion.

A blog can be an ideal space for pre-class or post-class discussion. And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.

* To encourage a process-writing approach.

Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.

* As an online portfolio of student written work.

There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.

* To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.

Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.

Where to start

There are lots of sites where you can set up a blog for free, but perhaps the best known and one of the most reliable and simple blogging tools to use with students is Blogger (http://blogger.com). It takes only fifteen minutes from setting up an account to publishing the first post using this valuable tool.

The teacher sets up the tutor blog or a class blog. With a Class blog, students will need to be invited to participate by e-mail. Learner blog accounts can either be set up beforehand by the teacher, or done at the same time with a whole class in a computer room. The former gives the teacher more control of student accounts, but some advantages of the latter is that learners are given more choice (of username, design of the blog, etc) and a greater sense of 'ownership' of their new virtual writing space.

Tips for managing learner blog settings

* Use the 'Settings' in Blogger to add yourself (under Members) as Administrator of the learner blog. This is invaluable if students later forget usernames or passwords, and can also help if inappropriate posts are published

* Make sure you change the setting and turn the 'Comments' feature on. This will allow the others to respond to things the students write on their learner blogs.

* Also in 'Settings', you will find an option to receive an email whenever a student publishes their blog. This will save you time regularly checking learner blogs to see if any of your students have posted. Another way of being informed of this is to use the 'Site Feed' function (discussed further below).

Keeping students interested

Many teachers who start to use blogs find the novelty factor is enough to create student interest in starting to use them. However, blogs work best when learners get into the habit of using them. If learners are not encouraged to post to their blogs frequently, then they can quickly be abandoned. A failed experiment. Here, the teacher in the role of facilitator is vital for maintaining student interest. Here are some ideas to how this can be done:

* Respond to student posts quickly, writing a short comment related to the content. Ask questions about what the learner writes to create stimulus for writing.

* Students should be actively encouraged to read and respond (through the commenting feature of the blog) to their classmates.

* Writing to the blog could be required, and it may form part of the class assessment. Students should be encouraged to post their writing homework on the blog instead of only giving it to the teacher.

Some ideas for activities

* Mystery guest. Invite another teacher or someone from another school or country as a mystery guest to your blog. Ask the students to engage him or her in dialogue and guess their identity.

* Project work. A blog is an ideal space for developing a project, especially if the project is a shared one between several classes or even classes in different countries.

* International link-ups. Contact another educational establishment to see if they are interested in a joint blogging project. Students can write about their lives, culture, interests, etc, and be encouraged to read about the other class and respond by writing comments.

* Photoblog. If you plan on using photographs in your blog, there are lots of tools available to help you. Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) makes publishing photographs to blogs easy. If you want to make photographs central to the blog, however, it is better to use a blogging tool such as Buzznet (http://www.buzznet.com), which is a photo publishing tool and blog rolled into one.

Pitfalls to watch out for

* Unwanted comments. To avoid unwanted comments, you can always restrict comments to people in the class or to registered bloggers.

* Correction. It is difficult to use a blog for correcting students. Student written work can always be corrected before posting to the blog, or you can do class correction sessions using work published in the blogs.

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