| October 2005 Volume 3, Issue No. 5 |
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Clicktionary® Software Introduces Premium Dictionaries from Oxford University Press | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
These nine OUP dictionaries will be available soon through Clicktionary: • Commended by international language professionals for its comprehensive coverage and accuracy covering more than 157,000 words and phrases and 255,000 translations, the Oxford-Duden German Dictionary (English-German) contains in-depth coverage of all the latest vocabulary from all areas of life today, plus material on aspects of life and culture in the German- and English-speaking worlds. • Acclaimed by language experts the world over and covering more than 189,000 words and phrases and 288,000 translations, the Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (English-French) is a pioneer in modern bilingual lexicography and the first dictionary of its kind to be compiled based on the statistical evidence of vast electronic databanks of real language, both written and spoken. This ensures that it gives a completely accurate picture of how French and English are used today • The Oxford-River Books English-Thai Dictionary is the first English-Thai dictionary of its kind. Offering more than 110,000 words and phrases, and 120,000 translations, this premium dictionary captures the idiomatic, colloquial, spoken, and written character of English and Thai. The extensive and up-to-date wordlist includes terminology from such diverse fields as business and finance, culture and sport, and computing and IT. “We, at Cleverlearn, are very much honored for this licensing pact with Oxford University Press. This means more value to us as well as to our thousands of users, who will now have easier access to first-rate translation content we can offer them,” says Tobias Koenig, Cleverlearn Product Development Head. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education in its worldwide publishing. The preparation of dictionaries and reference books, of all types and for all ages, has been a central part of its activities for more than 100 years. Please see www.oup.com for more details. Click here for free download of Clicktionary.
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Cleverlearn Launches 3-day Free Trial of CleverCourse and Cleverlearn TOEIC® Preparation
 CELI Succeeds in Major Korean Trade Fairs Cleverlearn English Language Institute (CELI), a Cleverlearn Ltd affiliate that provides intensive and enjoyable English learning abroad, participated as exhibitor in two major trade shows held in Seoul and Busan, South Korea. On September 24 to 25, 2005, CELI was among the 185 exhibitors at the Korea Student Fair for Fall of 2005 at the Convention & Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul. Moving to a different venue on September 27, the Student Fair advanced to the Haeundae Grand Hotel in Busan. Known to be the most significant event in the region devoted to international language learning, the Korea Student Fair 2005 welcomed over 30,000 visitors. Organized by Korea Trade Fairs Ltd., it hosted 185 participating schools from 19 countries. CELI stationed a booth where the team received students and visitors and offered free onsite counseling on the services, facilities, and academic programs of the institute. In the 185 participating institutions, CELI was among those able to enlist new enrollees for the coming semester. Headed by CELI Director, Larry Mercado, the team went on to participate in The Korea Study Abroad (Philippines) Fair, an event also conducted in two consequent venues. Held at the Convention & Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul on October 1 and 2, and then at the Busan Lotte Hotel on October 3, the fair is considered one of the biggest Study Abroad events directed to showcase language schools in the Philippines. About CELI An affiliate of Cleverlearn Ltd., the Cleverlearn English Language Institute is an American owned, operated and managed ESL language school, maintaining centers and offices in China, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Thailand and the United States. The institute offers a range of programs targeting the diverse needs of every learner: General English, TOEIC Test Prep, TOEFL Test Prep, IELTS Test Prep, English Action-Adventure Camp, English Explorer Camp, English Culture Camp, Business English, Medical English and Marine English. CELI uses the communicative approach to language learning that employs possible real life situations and authentic language is exploited in the classroom. Vital to this approach is the constant use of English as the target language that becomes a pervasive vehicle for classroom communication. Learners exposed to this communicative approach gain the opportunity to learn about the importance of cohesion and coherence—the properties of language which bind sentences and texts together. Learners will be expected to work with language that is more than constructing sentences but also using English in bigger scope of usage such as a discourse. Students get to study on a 1:1 ratio with native speakers focused mainly on enhancing pronunciation and writing skills. There are also 1:4 and 1:8 classes that are more focused on developing conversation, listening and speaking skills. Language Activities, ranging from Theater and Arts, Public Speaking, Journalism, Poetry and Performing Arts and even to Language Games are incorporated into the curriculum giving students every opportunity to express their ideas, emotions and opinions in functional situations. Making sure that students get to have a fulfilling learning experience, CELI integrates a vibrant and caring community of teachers and administrators to support students throughout their stay. Part of CELI's curriculum is to hold social interaction and experiential studies that are equally meaningful with academic activities. CELI runs two campuses located in Cebu City and in Mactan Island, Philippines. The Bigfoot Center Campus in Cebu City can accommodate up to 200 students, while the Mactan has a 400 to 500-student capacity. The Cebu Campus is equipped with modern amenities and services such as 24/7 wired and wireless Internet access, library, computer laboratory, indoor and outdoor student lounges, gym and fitness center, private balconies, and a posh coffee shop. The modern beachfront campus in Mactan offers great view and access to the best white sand beaches and golf courses in the island. The campus also has an in-house dormitory, computer labs, a theater, tennis courts, a soundstage, a swimming pool, cafes and restaurants, a fitness center and more.
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Cleverlearn China partners with Hewlett-Packard in Shenzhen The Shenzhen agent of computer hardware and digital imaging powerhouse, Hewlett Packard, is Cleverlearn’s newest partner in the promotion of the latter’s online English courses in the China market. Saiweite Industrial Co., Ltd. is an HP sales agent in Shenzhen. For every purchase of an HP notebook in Hewlett-Packard’s Shenzhen outlets, a customer will receive an online course card. With this online course card, the customer can take the General and Business English courses offered by CleverCourse and start learning English for a whole month for free. According to Michelle Wang, Marketing Manager for Cleverlearn China, what a computer buyer only needs to do is to leave his or her name and contact information in order to use a month’s subscription to CleverCourse for free.
Cleverlearn and Clever Publishers Create a Combined Print/Internet Offer for Students Clevelearn Germany has tied up with Clever Publishers to offer students a fun way to learn English. The latest issue of the youth magazine “Clever Update,” released at the start of term, contains the best of Cleverlearn’s English courses. The magazine, which comes out six times a year, has a total readership of about 260,000. “Teachers are still cautious with regards to online learning”, says Sabine Heinroth, Managing Director of the longstanding Clever Publishers in Gauting, near Munich. “Our experience and knowledge in school communications has allowed us to come up with an effective and modern approach to English learning, for both students and teachers, that combine both print and the Internet.” Young students, particularly, will find it easier and more fun to learn English with digitally animated cartoons and colorful graphics, while teachers can take advantage of multi-media as a tool to illustrate their lessons. Starting with the issue released on August 22nd, Clever Update now includes Professor Clever text in its lessons (the text are taken from Cleverlearn’s online English course, CleverCourse). Students are allowed to fill in the missing text, and send their answers compiled after 3 issues to Clever Publishers. After six months, a winner of a high-grade personal digital assistant (PDA) will be picked from all those that submitted the correct answers.
Cleverlearn and TOEIC® Germany Enters Pact to Expand Cooperation at the Zukunft Personal-fair Next Month In a meeting at the “Zukunft Personal”-fair, Angelika Thormann, National Manager of TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) Germany & Austria, and Cleverlearn’s European Country Manager Heinrich Pletschacher together drafted new projects for the future, expanding their cooperation as English learning and testing partners. “We are planning to have a joint exhibition stand with Cleverlearn at the next Zukunft Personal-fair in Austria this November, as well as at the Expolingua-fair, which is taking place in Berlin in December,” says Angelika Thormann. Other projects include joint marketing and online activities. TOEIC has been used, for over 25 years, by institutions, companies, and government agencies worldwide to measure the English proficiency of non-native English-speaking people. Cleverlearn offers those taking the test a complete multimedia TOEIC preparation program with more than 2000 original TOEIC-like questions. “For Cleverlearn, the cooperation with TOEIC is very promising,” says Heinrich Pletschacher after the successful fair-meeting. There were more than 300 exhibitors present in Cologne, demonstrating their latest Human Resources techniques and products. Those that attended the fair came largely from the industrial, commerce and communications sectors. At a joint exhibition stand with Seminus, a seminar provider, Cleverlearn gave a presentation of products like Clicktionary, CleverTrainer and CleverCourse.
Bloom Consulting Subscribes to Cleverlearn Online Tutorials and Courses from New Concept Mandarin As global economy tends to focus more and more on Far Eastern markets, enterprises and business people from all over the world have to face new challenges: They have to be able to communicate with their business partners from the new economic tigers such as Hong Kong, Shanghai or Singapore. Cleverlearn, through its cooperation with the New Concept Mandarin, is bringing online – and classroom -- tutorials that teach Mandarin to people who have a need to communicate in the language. Global companies from across the globe are now recognizing the need to learn Mandarin, as their gateway to the potentially big Far Eastern markets. One of the very first German companies that signed up for New Concept Mandarin’s online tutorials is Bloom Consulting Management Consultancy Company, based in Wiesbaden. “In our business, it is not only important that we can communicate in English. To be able to communicate with our Chinese business partners and customers, we value the need to learn a basic knowledge in Mandarin, through New Concept Mandarin,” says Larry Bloom, owner of Bloom Consulting. The German company’s international clientele is coming mainly from the sectors Customer Service and Sales. Many of them are from China. Reacting to the effects of globalization, Larry Bloom chose to book one of Cleverlearn’s online English Tutorials for his company’s employees, and signed up for a Basic Course with New Concept Mandarin for himself. “I already speak some Chinese, but I wanted to ‘freshen up’ my language skills a little.” Cleverlearn Learning Tools allow users to either learn at home or during working hours, thus giving them the flexibility they need to make use of their available time. Bloom thereby has saved himself a tidy sum of money: There’s no more need to invest in external further education, or face the problem of absence of staff, and the cost it entails, while undertaking their courses.
Cleverlearn® Enters Hong Kong Market; Introduces Innovative English Learning Tools and Services for Individual Consumers and Corporate Accounts Cleverlearn Ltd. has entered the Hong Kong market, introducing its innovative English learning tools and services to both consumers and corporate users.In line with this undertaking, Cleverlearn launched a localized website -- http://www.cleverlearn.com/zh_tw/index.jsp -- for Hong Kong users, giving them ready access to Cleverlearn’s integrated suite of products and services. “Cleverlearn's Online English Courses, fits well into the current needs of the Hong Kong working population and businesses/organizations in raising their standards for English Proficiency. Along with our Hong Kong launch, we have also entered Thailand and Taiwan,” says Andy Leung, Cleverlearn’s Hong Kong Country Manager. Cleverlearn is also present in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Germany, with websites dedicated to these countries. Its online customer base of close to half a million users, however, covers a much wider global reach across the continents of Asia and the Pacific, Europe, North and South Americas, and Africa. Thus, Cleverlearn is targeted to HK’s professionals, while offering English learning packages to small and medium businesses and large enterprises that may benefit from Cleverlearn’s English learning method. “In line with this move, we are also seeking to build partnerships with ESL schools and universities that may find Cleverlearn’s English learning tools and services as beneficial to their teachers and students as they are supplementary in continuing and reinforcing their education,” Mr. Leung adds. Tools and Services for Continuous English Learning Cleverlearn offers Hong Kong professionals several options to learn English and reinforce their learning experience. CleverCourse – http://www.cleverlearn.com/en/courses.jsp – offers online English courses specific to your communication needs. Having the largest online library of English courses, CleverCourse has every course that today’s professionals need to communicate effectively in English in various aspects of the business, no matter what the industry they’re in. Apart from General English, which boasts of an array of lessons for everyday conversational use, CleverCourse offers the following Business English courses:
For professionals who need to take the TOEIC® for employment or job promotions, Cleverlearn offers an online TOEIC preparatory course. The Cleverlearn TOEIC® Preparation -- http://www.cleverlearn.com/en/toeic/main.jsp -- having one of the largest inventories of TOEIC exam-like questions, provides simulated tests and exercises that guarantee to improve your TOEIC test results in less time. * Click here to start your 3-day Free Trial of Cleverlearn TOEIC Preparation. “With Cleverlearn’s readily accessible products and services, you can keep your English learning going as it is now embedded into your lifestyle. Our more personalized and integrated approach in delivering your instruction makes learning easier, faster with lasting results,” concluded Mr. Leung. Sign up for a personalized Cleverlearn account now at http://www.cleverlearn.com/en/index.jsp to access these products and services. If you want a presentation of our customizable corporate product packages, please contact: Mr. Andy Leung Phone: +852-2545-7002
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New Concept Mandarin Opens in Vietnam, Offers Mandarin Courses with Native Speakers New Concept Mandarin, a learning institute offering intensive Mandarin courses with native speakers, has now opened its doors to learners in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. NCM’s learning centers in Vietnam has officially opened on August 15, 2005 and began its four classes—individual and group—by the middle of September. Acknowledging the importance of the Chinese language in world business, NCM provides Chinese language training for individuals and corporations as well as Mandarin learning and Chinese cultural orientation consulting services for business, authorities and schools. With New Concept Mandarin, learners will be able to master the basics in under 32 hours: Mandarin pronunciation, reading and writing Chinese characters, phrases and sentences, as well as day-to-day simple conversation. Students can learn through five programs designed to suit the needs of every learner: CD-ROM course, private course, professional group course, and an online course. Each student can take advantage of total flexibility in course schedules and will be classified based on three course levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The method of instruction is based on more than 20 years of university research on how Westerners learn Chinese in China, Hong Kong, Australia and North America. Top international corporations such as Ernst & Young, Shell, Maersk, BP, and IBM have chosen New Concept Mandarin as their professional language-training provider. For reservations and more information, visit http://www.newconceptmandarin.com/.
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Is “May” Interchangeable with “Might”? In Clevernews’ February issue, we shed light on the correct usage of “bring” and “take” because we realized a lot of people are confused as to when to properly or correctly use “bring” and “take” in different situations. This issue’s Clever Tips will tackle on how and when to use “may” and “might.” Are both of them actually interchangeable? Yes, most of the time, “may” and “might” are almost interchangeable. “Might” suggests somewhat lower probability, while “may” expresses likelihood. But using either one of them in a sentence, within the present tense, you are not likely to commit a mistake. Dictionary.com explains: “The difference in degree between ‘You may be right’ and ‘You might be right’ is slight but not insignificant: If I say you may be right about something, there is a higher degree of probability that you are right about it than if I say you might be right about something.”
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Does New Concept Mandarin Offer Online Courses? Dear Prof. Clever, In your July 2005 issue of Clevernews, you ran a news article announcing the launch NCM or New Concept Mandarin, which I understand, based on the story, is a physical learning center. I am Paula and I work as an account manager in a manufacturing firm in Germany. I’ve been a Cleverlearn subscriber for more than a year now, and I must tell you, I have learned so much from your online English courses and the other services that you offer online. About 3 months ago, I’ve been assigned by our company’s management to handle some accounts in Asia and I need to communicate almost everyday with our affiliate offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in Mainland China. Because of my need to at least speak or understand a little bit of Chinese, I tried learning the language using books I bought at a local bookstore. But when I read your article on New Concept Mandarin in Clevernews July issue, I thought this was what I needed all along. My experience with Cleverlearn’s online English courses has been very fruitful, that’s why I think an online Mandarin course will be very helpful. Does NCM offer such online courses? Best regards, Paula Dear Paula, You are exactly right: NCM also offers online Mandarin courses, apart from the courses being offered at its learning centers. Our online course is composed of 84 functional lessons and 90 structured lessons from beginner level to advanced level. You will learn conversation, reading and writing at each level. By successfully completing the online test in one lesson you can move on to the next, more advanced lesson. Level I Level I is designed for total beginners. If it is your first time to study Mandarin Chinese, you will find it is an excellent way to master the basics: Mandarin pronunciation, reading and writing Chinese characters, survival phrases and sentences, basic daily Mandarin conversation. Level II Level II of Beginners Course is based on Level I. At this level you will continue to develop your Mandarin communication skills especially on social and work-related topics such as hobby, traveling. You will also be able to learn how to make a phone call, or ask for directions. Level III It is highly recommended that you complete Level I and Level II Courses before you go to Level III – that is, if you have not taken Mandarin course before. At this level you will consolidate what you have learned in the previous levels and continue to learn 42 more lessons. You should be able to communicate in Mandarin in a wide range of topics without relying on an interpreter while you live and work in China. New Concept Mandarin fully understands the challenges of Western people to learn Mandarin purely online. Based on our many years research, we have developed a Mixed-Code-Method. Mixed-Code-Way is essentially a matter of mixing sentences and words of Chinese in English text in the initial part of the course (beginner level) and of gradually increasing the Chinese components until the texts are entirely in Chinese components in the latter part of the course (intermediate and advanced levels). By watching our flash movies, and doing the interactive practice online, you should be able to read and write in Chinese and communicate in Mandarin in real life situations at more advanced levels. Cheers, Prof. Clever
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