Daily Words

• foolscap
• /FOOLZ-kap\

• DEFINITION
• 
  

noun

1

: a cap or hood usually with bells worn by jesters

2

: a conical cap for slow or lazy students

3

: a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain; broadly : a piece of writing paper

• EXAMPLES
• 
  

The exhibit includes a number of early legal documents written on foolscap with quill and ink.

"In 1894, Lincoln's personal secretary, John Nicolay, published what he called 'the autograph manuscript' of the Gettysburg Address. The first page was written in pen on lined stationery marked 'Executive Mansion'; the second is in pencil on bluish foolscap." — Allen G. Breed, Watertown Daily Times (New York), November 24, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?
• 
  

These days, we are most likely to encounter "foolscap" as a reference to a sheet of paper or, more specifically, to a sheet of paper that is similar in size to a sheet of legal paper. In the mid-1600s, when the use of "foolscap" was first attested to in English, we would have encountered it as a reference to an actual fool's cap—the cap, often with bells on, worn as part of a jester's motley. How did we get from this colorful cap to a sheet of paper? The connection is attributable to the former use of a watermark depicting a fool's cap that was used on long sheets of writing or printing paper. There are various explanations for the introduction of this watermark—including the claim that a 1648 British parliamentary group substituted it for the royal arms during exceptionally turbulent times—but such explanations remain unsupported by historical facts.

Rajasthan, Rajputs and their history.

The history of human settlement in north Indian state of Rajasthan dates back to about 5000 years ago with parts of north Rajasthan at the heart of the Indus Valley Civilization. This region was long known as Gurjaratra that is country protected or ruled by the Gurjars before it came to be called Rajputana, early in the Muslim period.

Ancient history

Parts of Rajasthan may have been occupied by the Indus Valley Civilization (Harappans). Excavations at Kalibanga in northern Rajasthan around 1998 revealed the existence of human settlements of Harappan times on the banks of a river that dried up later, which some people believe to be the Saraswati.

Rajasthan's geographic position in India has caused it to be affected by the expansionist efforts of various empires.^[3] It was a part of the Mauryan Empire around 321-184 BCE. It had also been a part of Republics like Arjunyas, Hunas, Kushans, Malavas, Saka Satraps and the Yaudheyas. The Guptas reigned in the 4th century. Some Buddhist caves and Stupas have been found in Jhalawar, in the southern part of Rajasthan.

The decline of the 300 year old Gupta Empire in the 6th century led to the political unrest in the Northern India and was followed by an epoch of instability as numerous chieftains tried to gain power. The situation was stabilized when the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the earliest of the Gurjar clan emerged around 700 CE.^[4] Gurjar pratihars were well known for their hostility towards Arab invaders.The Arab chronicler Sulaiman describes the army of the Gurjar Pratihars as it stood in 851 CE, The king of Gurjars maintains numerous forces and no other Indian prince has so fine a cavalry. He is unfriendly to the Arabs, still he acknowledges that the king of the Arabs is the greatest of kings. Among the princes of India there is no greater foe of the Islamic faith than he. He has got riches, and his camels and horses are numerous.^[5]

Medieval period

Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, Hindu Emperor of Northern India

Maharana Pratap, a Rajput ruler and great warrior of his time. Mughal emperor Akbar sent many missions against him. However he survived and ultimately gained control of all areas of Mewar excluding fort of Chittor.

Prithviraj Chauhan defeated the foreign invader Muhammad Ghori in the first battle of Tarain in 1191 and in fifteen further battled before himself being defeated. After getting defeated for sixteen times, Ghori begged for his life saying a sentence with a literal meaning "I am your cow, Forgive". In the seventeenth battle, a traitor from Chauhan's kingdom supported Ghori's army and landed up in the defeat. What happens after this is clear from the local folk songs still prominent in Rajasthan. It is said that Prithviraj was taken to Afghanistan along with his raj-kavi cum friend, Chandbhar. In Ghori's court, Prithviraj and Chandbhar were brought in shackles. Prithviraj was asked to show the art of archery, wherein he could aim and shoot just by hearing the sound. It is also known as Shabdbhedi-baan. Ghori asked him to show him this art. To make game interesting for himself, he got his eyes pierced with hot iron rods. Chandbhar says, "A king, though as a prisoner, can receive command only from a king. So it would be an honour if you command Him to shoot". Then he says few verses or poetry, few of those lines were, "Char baans chobis guz, aangal asht pravan, taa upar sultan hai, mat chooko Chauhan". Chaar baans meant four bamboos stick, chaubis guz as approximately 24 yards, aangal asht praval meant eight fingers width. All this combined gave the exact location of Ghori sitting on his throne i.e. 4 bamboos stick high, 24 yards away and exactly eight fingers up was the Ghori sitting. "Go ahead O Chauhan and don't miss the aim". This is how Prithvi Raj kills Ghori in his court and obviously to meet his own death. Grave of Prithvi Raj Chauhan is present till date next to Ghori's grave.^{[citation needed]}

After the defeat of Chauhan around 1200, a part of Rajasthan came under Muslim rulers. The principal centers of their powers were Nagaur and Ajmer. Ranthambhor was also under their suzerainty. At the beginning of the 13th century, the most prominent and powerful state of Rajasthan was Mewar. The Rajputs resisted the Muslim incursions into India, although a number of Rajput kingdoms eventually became subservient to the Delhi Sultanate. Mewar led others in resistance to Muslim rule: Rana Sanga fought the Battle of Khanua against Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.

In between 1540 to 1556, Afghans were in control of most of North India. Rajasthan born Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya also called Hemu,the Yadav Rajput Rulers who started his career as a supplier of various merchandise to Sher Shah Suri empire held various positions in capital Delhi as 'In charge of Food Affairs', 'Minister of Internal Security' and 'Prime Minister-Cum-Chief of Army' with Islam Shah and Adil Shah, who ruled from Punjab to Bengal. Hemu crushed the first rebellion in 1553 at Ajmer where he killed the Afghan Governor Junaid Khan and appointed his own man as governor. Hem Chandra won several battles (22) against Afghan rebels and Mughal king Akbar and won all of them without losing any. He defeated Akbar's army at Agra and Delhi in 1556, and became a 'Vikramaditya' king after 350 years of foreign rule at Purana Quila in Delhi. Hemu lost in the Second battle of Panipat on 7 November 1556, and was killed.

In order to gain the trust of the Rajput rulers, the Mughal Emperor Akbar arranged matrimonial alliances. He also sought reconciliation with the hostile Rajputs after performing the matrimonial alliances. He himself married the Rajput princess- Jodha Bai who was the daughter of the Maharaja of Amer. He granted high offices to a large number of Rajput princes and this maintained very cordial relations with these Rajputs. Soon most of the Rajputs were transformed into friends of Akbar from adversaries and many of them surrendered their kingdoms to Akbar. Rulers like Raja Maan Singh of Amer were trusted allies. However all Rajput rulers were not ready to accept Akbar’s dominance and preferred to remain independent. One such ruler was Raja Uday Singh of Mewar, who founded the city of Udaipur. He never accepted Akbar's supremacy and was at constant war with him. Akbar forcefully seized Chittor, his capital. After his death, this struggle was continued by his son – Rana Pratap. He fought a terrible battle with Akbar at the Haldighat pass where he was defeated and wounded. Since then Rana Pratap remained in recluse for 12 years and attacked the Mughal ruler from time to time. He fought valiantly throughout his life never ceded his independence to the Mughal ruler.

An ancient ruin in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

The traditional sacrifice and the self-respect of the Rajput women are also worth mentioning while discussing the imperial rule of Rajasthan during the medieval epoch. When the Rajput rulers were forced to surrender their kingdoms to other invaders, the Rajput women in order to protect their chastity and self-respect used to light up a pyre and together they used to jump into the fire thus sacrificing and ending their own lives. This custom of collective sacrifice was known as Jauhar.

Rajasthan's formerly independent kingdoms created a rich architectural and cultural heritage, seen today in their numerous forts and palaces (Mahals and Havelis) which are enriched by features of Muslim and Jain architecture.

Maratha Empire

Since the early 1700s, the Maratha Empire began expanding northwards, led by Peshwa Baji Rao I of Pune. This expansion finally brought the newly founded Hindu Maratha Empire in contact with the Rajputs. Rajasthan saw many invasions by the Marathas, under military leadership of Holkars and Scindhias. Most of Rajputana passed under the control of the Maratha Empire and continued to pay tribute to Pune till the British East India Company replaced the Marathas as paramount rulers.^[6]

British India

The arrival of the East India Company in the region led to the administrative designation of some geographically, culturally, economically and historically diverse areas, which had never shared a common political identity, under the name of the Rajputana Agency. This was a significant identifier, being modified later to Rajputana Province and lasting until the renaming to Rajasthan in 1949.^[7][8]

The Company officially recognised various entities, although sources disagree concerning the details, and also included Ajmer-Merwara, which was the only area under direct British control.^[7][8]

Area	Controlled by[8]	Designation
Ajmer-Mewara	Direct British control	Chief Commissioner's Province
Alwar	Kachwaha Rajputs	State[7]
Banswara	Gahlot Rajputs	State[7]
Bharatpur	Jat	State[7]
Bikaner	Rathore Rajputs	State[7]
Bundi	Chauhan Rajputs	State[7]
Dholpur	Jat	State[7]
Dungarpur	Gahlot Rajputs	State[7]
Jaipur (Amber)	Kachwaha Rajputs	State[7]
Jaisalmer	Jadon Rajputs	State[7]
Jhalawar	Jhala Rajputs	State[7]
Jodhpur (Marwar)	Rathore Rajputs	State[7]
Karuali	Jadon Rajputs	State[7]
Kishangarh	Rathore Rajputs	State[7]
Kotah	Chauhan Rajputs	State[7]
Kushalgarh	Rathore Rajputs	Chiefdom[8] (Not referred to by Gupta & Bakshi)
Lawa	Kachwaha Rajputs	Chiefdom[7] or Estate[8]
Pratapgarh	Gahlot Rajputs	State[7]
Shahpura	Gahlot Rajputs	Chiefdom[7] or State[8]
Sirohi	Chauhan Rajputs	State[7]
Tonk	Pathan	State[7]
Udaipur (Mewar)	Gahlot Rajputs	State[7]

Of these various areas, Marwar and Jaipur were the most significant in the early 19th-century, although it was Mewar that gained particular attention from James Tod, a Company employee who was enamoured of Rajputana and wrote extensively, if often uncritically, of the people, history and geography of the Agency as a whole.^[9][a]

Alliances were formed between the Company and these various princely and chiefly entities in the early 19th century, accepting British sovereignty in return for local autonomy and protection from the Marathas. Following the Mughal tradition and more importantly due to its strategic location Ajmer became a province of British India, while the autonomous Rajput states, the Muslim state (Tonk), and the Jat states (Bharatpur and Dholpur) were organized into the Rajputana Agency. In 1817-18, the British Government concluded treaties of alliance with almost all the states of Rajputana. Thus began the British rule over Rajasthan, then called Rajputana.

Post independence

The name of Rajasthan was probably popularised by Tod and during his lifetime some people believed that he had coined it.^[11] Although he claimed that it was the classical name for the region, the term seems first to be documented in an inscription dating from 1708 and to have become popular by his time.^[12]

It took seven stages to form Rajasthan as defined today. In March 1948 the Matsya Union consisted of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dhaulpur and Karauli was formed. Also, in March 1948 Banswara, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kishangarh, Kota, Pratapgarh, Shahpura and Tonk joined the Indian union and formed a part of Rajasthan. In April 1948 Udaipur joined the state and the Maharana of Udaipur was made Rajpramukh. Therefore in 1948 the merger of south and southeastern states was almost complete. Still retaining their independence from India were Jaipur and the desert kingdoms of Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. From a security point of view, it was vital to the new Indian Union to ensure that the desert kingdoms were integrated into the new nation. The princes finally agreed to sign the Instrument of Accession, and the kingdoms of Bikaner, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur were merged in March 1949. This time the Maharaja of Jaipur, Man Singh II was made the Rajpramukh of the state and Jaipur became its capital. Later in 1949, the United States of Matsya, comprising the former kingdoms of Bharatpur, Alwar, Karauli and Dholpur, was incorporated into Rajasthan. On January 26, 1950, 18 states of united Rajasthan merged with Sirohi to join the state leaving Abu and Dilwara to remain a part of Greater Bombay and now Gujarat.

In November 1956 under the State Re-organisation Act, 1956 the erstwhile part 'C' State of Ajmer, Abu Road Taluka, former part of princely State Sirohi (which were merged in former Bombay), State and Sunel Tappa region of the former Madhya Bharat merged with Rajasthan and Sirohi sub district of Jhalawar was transferred to Madhya Pradesh. Thus giving the existing boundary Rajasthan. Today with further reorganisation of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Rajasthan has become the largest state of the Indian Republic.

Location of historical Sunel-Tappa region,shown with red colour in map.

The princes of the former kingdoms were constitutionally granted handsome remuneration in the form of privy purses and privileges to assist them in the discharge of their financial obligations. In 1970, Indira Gandhi, who was then the Prime Minister of India, commenced under-takings to discontinue the privy purses, which were abolished in 1971. Many of the former princes still continue to use the title of Maharaja, but the title has little power other than status symbol. Many of the Maharajas still hold their palaces and have converted them into profitable hotels, while some have made good in politics. The democratically elected Government runs the state with a chief minister as its executive head and the governor as the head of the state. Currently, including the new district of Pratapgarh, there are 32 districts, 105 sub-divisions, 37,889 villages, 241 tehsils and 222 towns in Rajasthan.

Gurumukh Nihal Singh from Rajasthan was appointed as first governor of Rajasthan. Hiralal Shastri was first nominated chief minister who worked from 7 April 1949, after two more nominated chief ministers Tikaram Paliwal became first elected chief minister from 3 March 1951.

Rajputana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rajasthan was known as Rajputana before its reformation in 1949. The map illustrates the situation in 1909.

Rajpootana region - as depicted in the Map of India by Anthony Finley in 1831.

Districts of Rajasthan. Present Day Rajasthan

Rājputāna (Hindi: राजपूताना) was the name adopted by British government for its dependencies in the region of present-day Indian state of Rājasthān.^[1] Rajputana included 18 princely states, two chiefships and the British district of Ajmer-Merwara. This British official term remained official till its replacement by Rajasthan in the constitution of 1949.^[1]

Contents

• 1 Name
• 2 Geography
• 3 See also
• 4 Notes
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Name

George Thomas (Military Memories) was the first in 1800 A.D., to term this region as Rajputana.^[2] The historian John Keay in his book, India: A History stated that the Rajputana name was coined by the British, but that the word even achieved a retrospective authenticity: in an 1829 translation of Ferishta's history of early Islamic India, John Briggs discarded the phrase Indian princes, as rendered in Dow's earlier version, and substituted Rajpoot princes.^[3] It was essentially the country of the Gurjars.^[4][5] Historian R. C. Majumdar explained that the region was long known as Gurjaratra early form of Gujarat, before it came to be called Rajputana, early in the Muslim period.^[6]

Geography

The area of Rajputana is estimated to be 343,328 square km (132,559 square miles) and breaks down into two geographic divisions:

• An area northwest of the Arāvalli Range including part of the Great Indian (Thar) Desert, with characteristics of being sandy and unproductive.

• A higher area southeast of the range, which is fertile by comparison.

The whole area forms the hill and plateau country between the north Indian plains and the main plateau of peninsular India.

*The above information is taken from Wikipedia so that readers may get information at one place!

Enjoy reading!

How to choose a right smartphone?

Shopping for a new handset? Great! You can finally buy that device you've always wanted. But how do you navigate through jargon like dual- and quad-core , GHz, mAh, and megapixels? What makes one operating system different from the other? After reading this primer, you will be sufficiently armed with answers to help you pick a phone that's right for you..

Operating system
Make no mistake, it's the OS that puts the 'smart' in your smartphone, so before buying, it's always a good idea to know about the different ecosystems that exist...

Android OS promises native integration with Google services that include Search, Gmail, Maps, Hangouts, YouTube, etc. Besides, you get access to over a million apps in its Play store. The best part? Titles that might be paid downloads on iOS and Windows Phone are sometimes available for free here. Another advantage of an Android handset is that these are plug-and-play . You can simply connect it to your PC via a USB cable to begin transferring files to and from the device with zero hassles. Also, you can choose from phones—costing as less as 4,000 right to those that are priced at over 50k—from vendors such as HTC, LG, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, and even from local players like Karbonn, Lava, Micromax, Spice and Xolo. Just remember, Android versions are alphabetically named, and the latest in the market are Jelly Bean and Kit-Kat . Make sure you're putting your money on either of these.

Windows Phone is now playing catch-up with Android and iOS - and at last count, its app store just had over two lakh titles. Still, most popular apps have already made their way to this platform. Also, WP handsets in India primarily come from Nokia - and while the OS needs improvements, you get really good hardware for the price you pay. Plus, these devices come with subscriptions to free content like music and movies (depending on the model you buy), and also Here Maps and Drive+, which are arguably the best map and navigation services in the country.

iOS , only found in iPhones, is extremely intuitive to use - and since Apple vets every title that makes it to its App store, you're promised high-quality digital content in the form of educational material, music, videos and apps. The OS itself promises smooth operations, and you'll find very rare instances of iPhones freezing during use. On the downside, you'll have to use iTunes to connect the handset to your PC, and this can prove to be quite annoying. And yes, only buy from local authorised dealers; iPhones picked up from abroad are not covered under local warranty.

Processors
When shopping, you are bound to hear about dual-core , quad-core , and even octacore processors. But what should you put your money on?
While a greater number of cores are supposedly better, it does not give you a true picture of how a smartphone may perform. Why? Well, not all cores are designed identically. UK-based ARM, which designs these chips, licenses different architectures - with names such as Cortex A5, A7, A8, A9, A12, A15 - to manufacturers. Here, higher numbers mean better chips. In effect, a phone that uses a quad-core A15 will definitely be more advanced than a handset with a quad-core A5. In fact, there might be instances where dual-core processors might fare better than quad-core chips.

Also, a lot of how a processor performs depends on how the OS utilises its abilities. So an iPhone on a dual-core processor could be a bett er performer than many quad-core Android phones.

That said, these are some of the names you can expect to hear when shopping... Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 600 and 800 chips, Samsung's octacore Exynos, and Apple's dual-core A7 (found on the iPhone 5s, and not to be confused with ARM's Cortex series) are the top dogs in this market.

Devices like the Nokia Lumias use mid-range dual-core Qualcomm S4 chipsets that are also seen in handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro and the Sony Experia M. Older iPhones use a dualcore A6 processor (again, not to be confused with ARM Cortex).
In the mid- to low-price brackets, you'll find dual-core Intel Atom chips, the quadcore MediaTek MT6589, and Qualcomm's dual-core Snapdragon 200 and 400.

Display
The best way to judge a smartphone's screen is to look at it from different angles for changes in colour, and also in varying lighting conditions for visibility. Invest in a Full HD (1080p) display if you're buying a phablet. On the other hand, HD (720p) screens work well for devices up to five inches in size. On smaller devices, load a web page to see if the text is crisp, and can be read without any strain to your eyes.

In any case, avoid smartphones with lesser than WVGA (800x480px) resolution. AMOLED screens are best when it comes to displaying punchy colours. LCD screens with IPS technology comes a close second, while TFT LCDs should be avoided if you can.

RAM
It's plain and simple: more RAM is always better.

Storage
We carry our world - e-mails , social networks, photographs, videos, music - with us on our smartphones, so when buying, always budget for a phone that comes with ample storage. Generally, if a phone lists its capacity as 8GB, only about 6.5GB will be available to the user. So if you need 4GB, buy a phone with 8 to 16GB.

More megapixels and HD video recording capabilities result in images and videos that occupy more space. Also, if you plan on watching Full HD movies on your phone, ensure you have at least 32GB storage.
If possible, opt for a model that supports microSD cards of up to 64GB so you can always add more memory when you need it.

Size

In our experience, a screen of four to five inches works well for most purposes.

A phone that has a screen bigger than five inches could be slightly uncomfortable to use with one hand. Also keep in mind that big-screen phones are heavy, and can be uncomfortable to carry in your pocket.

On the flip side, large screens allow for a better experience while watching movies, playing games and browsing the web.

Camera
A 5MP camera is capable of 8x6-inch prints even at 300dpi (dots per inch), which is the standard resolution used in professional printing.

So, if you're looking for a good camera phone, dump the idea that more megapixels will give you better pictures. Instead, look for phones that boast of good camera optics (go for devices that come with Carl Zeiss lens). Remember, a high-resolution camera with a low-quality lens will only give you low-quality pictures in high resolution.
In any case, if you need a snapper only for photos you'd like to share on social networks or Instagram, a 10MP camera phone is going to be overkill.

Opt for cameras with BSI (backside illumination) sensors for better low-light photography; make sure it comes with an LED flash.
In our experience, if you want a good shooter, you have to shell out extra bucks. Good photos are a result of adequate megapixels, good lens and sensor technology, as well as high-end processor chipsets. The Nokia Lumia 1520, 1020 and 925, the Apple iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S4 Zoom, LG G2, and HTC One are known for their good snappers.
For your front-facing camera, one megapixel is more than adequate.

Battery
You may have the best hardware at your disposal, but if you keep running out of battery, your handset is quite useless...
Bigger screens, extra cores, and more sensors mean greater power consumption. If you're considering a smartphone over 4.5-inches in size, look at devices that come with at least a 2000mAh (milliamp-hour) battery. The higher the mAh, the longer the battery will last.
If possible, select devices that come with lithiumpolymer batteries over lithium-ion . The former are lighter, and also retain their charge for longer.

And yes, preferably, buy a device that comes with a user-replaceable battery (although a handset like the Lenovo P780, which comes with a 4000mAh non-removable li-polymer battery, could prove to be an exception to the rule).

Note:
Established brands tend to have better after sales service. But if you're opting for a handset from a lesser-known manufacturer, check for its service centres in your city. A web search about a company's track record should give you a fair idea if the organisation is in a position to meet its warranty commitments.

* The above information is taken from Google to help readers at this blog!

Tips for learning English!

**Formula# 1: A person should always Study and Review Phrases, Not Individual Words.

A person should never study only a single, individual word. Never.

When you find a new word, always write it down The Phrase it is in. Always.

When you review, always review all of the phrase,.. not the word. 

for example- Would you like to go to the down street market with me?
Collect phrases.

Your speaking and grammar will improve 4-5 times faster. Always write the

complete phrase.
 A person should never again study a single word. Never write a single word in your notebook,

Learn Phrases Only.Phrases are GROUPS of words that naturally go

together.

**formula# 2: Don't Study Grammar Too much, don't be obsessed about grammar rules.

 

Whenever you speak to someone, just don't think too much about grammar rules, a person should speak throughout. If you engage yourself thinking about grammar rules, it would be hard to speak on the time.

You should try to speak English as you speak your own native language; without thinking about dialogues! It should be an automatic natural process.

**Formula # 3: The Most Important Rule--Be A Good Listener!

What is the rule that Humberto found? Simple. The rule is listening.

Listening, listening, listening.

A person should watch English news, movies and some good English programs. You might like to give a try for English radio. More you listen, more you speak. Just be a good listener first! It's not a bad idea to study textbooks and such, but your main focus should be on listening. A person spend most of their study time listening- that is the key to great speaking.

**Formula # 4: Slow, Deep Learning Is Always Best

The secret to speaking easily is to learn every word & phrase DEEPLY.

Its not enough to know a definition. Its not enough to remember for a test.

You must put the word deep into your brain.

To speak English easily, you must repeat each lesson many times.

You must learn English deeply.

Learn deeply, speak easily.
Learn deeply, speak easily.

How do you learn deeply? Easy-- just repeat all lessons or listening many

times. For example, if you have an audio book, listen to the first chapter 30

times before you go to the second chapter. You could listen to the first

chapter 3 times each day, for 10 days.

**Formula #5: Use Point Of View Mini-Stories

I call these stories "Point Of View Mini-Stories". They are the most powerful

way to learn and use English grammar automatically.

Use Point of View Stories for Automatic Grammar
Use Point of View Stories for Automatic Grammar

You must learn grammar by listening to real English. The best way is to

listen to the same story... told in different times (points of view): Past,

Perfect, Present, Future.

How do you do this? Easy! Find a story or article in the present tense.

Then ask your native speaker tutor to write it again in the Past, with Perfect

tenses, and in the Future. Finally, ask him to read and record these stories

for you.

Then you can listen to stories with many different kinds of grammar. You

don't need to know the grammar rules. Just listen to the Point of View

stories and you will improve grammar automatically!

**Formula # 6: Only Use Real English Lessons & Materials

You learn real English if you want to understand native speakers and speak

easily. Use real magazines, audio articles, TV shows, movies, radio talk

shows, and audio books.

Learn Real English, Not Textbook English
Learn Real English, Not Textbook English
To learn real English, you must listen to English that native speakers listen

to. You must watch what they watch. You must read what they read.

Listen only to real English
Listen only to real English
Listen only to real English

How do you learn Real English? It's easy. Stop using textbooks. Instead,

listen only to real English movies, TV shows, audio books, audio articles,

stories, and talk radio shows. Use real English materials.

**Formula# 7: Listen and Answer, not Listen and Repeat

Use Listen & Answer Mini-Story Lessons
Use Listen & Answer Mini-Story Lessons

In each Mini-Story Lesson, a speaker tells a short simple story. He also asks

a lot of easy questions. Every time you hear a question, you pause and

answer it.

You learn to answer questions quickly-- without thinking. Your English

becomes automatic.

How can you use Listen & Answer Stories? Easy! Find a native speaker tutor.

Ask him to use this method: Ask him to tell a story... and to constantly ask

you easy questions about it. This will teach you to think quickly in

English!

You can also find Listen & Answer lessons. They will teach you to think 

The last formula- You might like to try some decent social language learning sites. Such sites are full of native speakers where you can discuss your topics and problems directly with them, plus you always have a chance to have voice conversation with them.   Enjoy learning!