Learning languages used to be a matter of stamping words into our heads and hoping for the best. Now, there is a whole range of tools that can actually turn language learning visual. That has helped language learns a great deal, seeing as this creates an entire new way for them to remember the words and their relationships, as well as how grammar has been constructed and much more.

One of the best tools devised towards this end has been mind mapping tools. These were previously only possible on paper, which made them hard work to edit, correct and expand. Of course, now we can use these kinds of tools online. There, they can become an integral part your learning process. If used correctly, they can actually physically map the learning process as you go through it. 
But you don’t want to use any old mind mapping app. Instead, you want to know what the best options out there are. That’s what we’ll discuss today.  

Bubbl.us

The great thing about Bubbl.us is that it doesn’t try to pretend to be more than it is. Where many mindmapping packages try to add a whole lot of bells and whistle, with Bubbl.us all that stuff is done away with. Instead, they focus on giving you very high quality mindmapping software that is easy to learn and quick to use.

There are two different tiers that you can use the software at – a free version and a paid version. The paid version puts you back 6 USD per month. The extra features you get by moving from one tier to the next is such things as history tracking (Which admittedly is awesome as you expand your understanding) and collaboration. 

WiseMapping

This free online product runs straight in your browser, which makes it possible to access it from any device without any problems. 
What’s also nice is that because it’s online and you don’t need any software for it, you can also install it into blogs. This is very useful if you’re working together with other people and want to map out things as a group. Similarly, it works well if you want to put things online to help other students. 

LucidChart

Do you find mindmapping restrictive? Would you like to expand it by adding the opportunity to diagram as well? Then LucidChart is for you. It will allow you to create if-then streams, make flowcharts and really visualize the learning process in a wider range than the other mindmapping tools we’ve mentioned so far.
There is a free level, which gives you limited possibilities (though initially you might well find these to be enough). If you want to unlock the full package, this comes with a price tag of 4.95/month. 
 
Ideaflip

Ideaflip one is specifically designed for group work. Which might be exactly what you’re looking for with your class. The great thing is that everything insta-updates across devices, which allows you all to work together and make changes. 
That’s a great way for you to work with other people and have them correct your mistakes as you go (Which happens to be the fastest way to learn). That makes it far more likely that you’ll get the language correct as you craft, say, dissertation proposal assistance at OkDissertations.com.
It is a bit more expensive than the other choices that I’ve mentioned. It goes for 9 USD per month for the individual package. 

Mindomo

The top rated mindmapping app according to PCmag is Midomo. And there is a good reason for that. Mindomo is just a great tool. It’s got lots of features specifically focused on educations, such as the possibility for teachers and students to collaborate, create groups easily, make it easy for teachers to access student’s maps, as well as a fantastic presentation mode to show off what you’ve done to the rest of the class.
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You get three maps for free. If you want to create more, then as an individual you’ll pay 36 USD per six months. This includes playback (like mentioned before), the ability to backup to dropbox and synching between the different platforms so your work carries across. 

Choose your poision 

As you can see, there are many different packages out there for you to choose from. All have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the best thing you can do is create an outline of what is important to you. What are your needs? What can you do without? Of course, I’m going to advocate that you use a mindmap tool to do so. They all have extensive enough software that you can certainly do that without having to pay anything. Then, from there, you can select what works best. Or keep working with whatever software you picked to do the initial mindmap with. It’s your call.

Study abroad programs are an exciting chance for students to gain exposure to different cultures while simultaneously earning college credit. You have likely completed your research and are ready to embark on this adventure, but did you know that your host campus provides services that are accessible to you while you’re studying abroad? These services, such as the diversity and inclusion office and the campus library, provide you with support for the duration of your visit. Here are five campus services to take advantage of when studying abroad:
 
1. Student housing 
When studying in an unfamiliar country, it’s important to feel both comfortable and secure. The student housing office may provide you with a variety of housing options, such as apartments or residence halls. Examine each housing option, and decide which best suits your needs. 
 
2. The diversity and inclusion office
When studying abroad, you are exposed to many different cultural norms. While it’s wonderful to be open to the local culture, you may also find yourself in uncomfortable situations. Your campus diversity and inclusion office can help you find resources and determine a strategy for addressing any concerns that may arise during your stay. 
 
3. Student health and counseling services
No one wants to feel unwell while away from home. Student health and counseling services can assist you with any minor medical problems you may face, as well as provide support if you’re feeling homesick or experiencing other concerns. In addition, health services may be able to provide resources if you have mobility or visual impairments. Research this department to determine all available areas of assistance. 
 
4. The financial aid office
The financial aid office can be a great resource if you encounter financial concerns while studying abroad. You can speak with an advisor about any questions you may have regarding visas, tax concerns if you will be earning money while abroad, student fees you may have to pay, international health insurance costs, budgeting, and banking or access to your money. 
 
5. The campus library 
The campus library can offer you a place to study, research, and improve necessary skills. If you find yourself struggling with projects, or simply want to learn more about the country or culture you are visiting, the campus library will have your answers. Before leaving for your trip, see if the school’s library has a presence online and if so, what types of resources they offer international students. Also remember that your home campus’ library may have an online database that you can reference while abroad as well. 
 
Learning in another country has unique benefits and challenges. The services available to you courtesy of your host campus can give you the tools to meet those challenges and position yourself for a successful study abroad experience.   
 

​Niki Bridges is a contributing writer for UniversityTutor.com, the world’s largest global marketplace for finding independent tutors.

​Damn this language! Why does every grammar rule have so many exceptions and special cases? And which idiot decided the way words are written and how they are pronounced should have so little in common?
English – as so many people have said before me – is easy to learn but hard to master. The thing is, if you’re working or learning in this language and it is not your own, that’s really annoying. Your texts will often be left sprinkled with problems and mistakes. What to do?
Well, there is one big advantage to the English language. Since it is the language of both science and business, a lot of people who speak it regularly didn’t grow up with it. This has left a really big market for companies to offer products to help these people write better. 

Here are some of the tools we personally like to use

Grammarly 

Yup. Right at the top. That’s generally where you’ll find Grammarly on most lists. And with reason. It is possibly one of the best tools out there. It easily rivals the spelling and grammar checker that comes built into Microsoft Office. 
But where you have to pay a huge gob of money to use Microsoft Office, the basic version of Grammarly is absolutely free. Do note, the upgrade is worth it as it will point out a lot of little things that aren’t exactly grammatical mistakes, but will still make your writing better.
One downside of Grammarly: It does not load onto Google Docs. You’ll have to manually move documents into Grammarly to see what you’ll need to edit.

Hemingway App 

It isn’t just spelling and grammar mistakes that sink a non-native English speaker. What also happens a lot is that they write sentences to long and so obtuse that even if the grammar is correct, readers don’t know what to make of it.
To help simplify your language and make it more accessible, use the Hemingway App. Copy and paste your documents into the tool and it will point out long sentences, passive voice, overcomplicated constructions and the overuse of adverbs. 

SupremeDissertations

Apps like those outlined above are great. The only problem is that they’re both fully automated. No human is involved. As a result, they will struggle with difficult constructions that they don’t come across that often.  In nearly every document, I’ll disagree with one of these two programs about something they’ve told me I should fix. 

To solve that, you need a human touch. There are a lot of options out there, but one of my favorites is SupremeDissertations. They’re affordable and yet deliver high-quality texts that you can actually use for classes as well as business. 

Thesaurus.com 

Tired of using the same word over and over again? Then, the tool you need is a thesaurus. Probably the best known online is Thesaurus.com. It offers huge lists of similar words, categorizing them according to how similar they are.

What I really like about the software is that they’re tied up with the equally useful dictionary.com. In this way, after you’ve found a word you like the sound of, you can immediately check what it actually means. That’s important because though many words say almost the same thing, it is rare in English that two words mean exactly the same.

And so, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the meaning down before you confuse your reader by using something that doesn’t mean what you think it does.

Google Translate 

Google Translate is the best machine translating tool out there. And it’s free! It’s great because it doesn’t just translate individual words but sentences, paragraphs, and entire pages. That matters, because often translating the word alone will give you different results than translating the whole sentence. In this way, you’re more likely to actually get close to what the words mean. 
Do note, this is still machine translation. That means that it will give you the right answer most of the time, but it will get it wrong occasionally. That means this isn’t a substitute for a human translator. You can’t just throw your original language text in there and then copy and paste the result into your website. That is almost certain to embarrass you.

At the same time, it will most definitely give you a good idea of what is being said and how things should be translated. In this way, you’re going to spare yourself a lot of work (and leafing through dictionaries). 

Practice, practice, practice
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Ultimately, the only way that you can actually stop making mistakes is to practice. These tools will certainly help with that. At the same time, you do need to pay attention so that you internalize their lessons. 
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Don’t stop there. If a text is important then get people to give you feedback. Often native English speakers will gladly take a look for you. Do note, if they’re not professionals then there is a big chance they’ll still make the occasional mistakes. There are famous lists of mistakes that native speakers still often make. So don’t take what they’re saying as gospel truth. That will just lead to embarrassment (for them and for you).  



Author's Bio: Charles Ebert is a career mentor, motivational speaker & human resources consultant with over 10 years of experience in HR sector. Apart from career mentoring, he loves photography and football. Find him on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook & Google+.

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What’s your dream job? Most people would say a job that allows them to travel the world. What if you could make money, especially at your leisure, from anywhere? Well, you can learn to make money online as all you need is an internet connection and a computer. More and more freelance jobs are popping up, and people are embracing these jobs. Teaching English abroad is one of the methods that have provided numerous opportunities for people to live and work abroad. We bet it never once crossed your mind, and why would it? It is a new profession. Teaching English online is an industry that is vastly experiencing growth in demand.

Here is a guide on how to teach English online and get paid.
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Does One Need to Be a Native Speaker to Teach English?​

One of the most used (if not the most used) languages in the whole world is English. It is estimated that there are over 1.5 billion English speakers around the world. Another statistic is that English is the primary language of ‘official status’ in 67 countries. Moreover, English is spoken as the secondary ‘official’ language.
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Learning English can be rewarding. If you doubt it, then go through the following points to learn how knowing English can change your life.

1. You’ll Get an Opportunity to Study in Various Universities Worldwide
If you’re good at English and you do well in tests like TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), you'll get admission into English-language universities across the world. That would be great, especially if you want to move to or work in an English speaking country or region – a student visa will get you there.

Studying in the US or anywhere abroad for that matter is often a childhood long dream for many. 
Exploring new cities, countries while getting an awesome education seems like a highly desirable proposition. 
Whilst planning your studies can be straightforward, managing your finances, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. 

For starters, studying in the US can be expensive and managing your finances can prove to be a bit tricky.  

Add juggling multiple jobs, maintaining your grades for a scholarship, multiple subscription services like Spotify and Netflix into the mix and your situation maybe a right good mess. 

In this article, we are going to touch on some money management strategies you can adopt to ensure you have a smooth ride. 

Comprehensive Budget 
A plethora of sites talk about how you need to allocate money for social events, eating out, the cinema, books, transport, etc. All these are extremely important but there are other things you need to consider when you estimate how much you might spend. 

What is the average rent in the city or suburb you are planning to stay? 

How much does plan B (in case utilities are costlier than anticipated, for example) set you back by? 

What if your paid internship is far away? 

How much does eating healthy cost? As opposed to just surviving?

How often do health insurance premiums rise?

When answering these questions, it’s always best to plan for the worst. Without compromising on your top priorities, try to see if you have enough capital in case life throws a spanner in the works. Because if it doesn’t, you can always use that capital constructively. 

Thinking “I’ll learn how to cook when I get there” and not following through can be quite alright but adopting the same mindset to budgeting can prove to be costly to both you and your family. 

Laying the Foundation
When traveling to the US, there are a few ways you can convert your currency. You can exchange your own currency for USD at the airport in your home country or even after arriving in the US. Another way you can bring some cash in, is in the form of travelers cheques. This is usually a very safe way to bring some cash. The other of course is through bank transfer. Wire transfers can cost you about $35 so this is another thing you need to budget for. 

You can open a bank account near your university or college, or banks tend to setup stalls during orientation to assist you. 

The supporting documents that might be required of you can include: 

●     Passport

●     Address Proof

●     Letter of enrollment

●     A student ID or other ID

You will get a debit card which is straightforward to use. However, it’s important to remember it’s extremely difficult for international students to obtain credit cards. It is good practice to not rely on credit cards to get you through a semester. Students sometimes get concessions on fees which is why going through the banks on the premises can help. 

ATM Fees, Overdraft fees and transfer fees are something you can learn about and compare before making a decision. It can be useful if your bank allows you a small overdraft buffer too. 

If you are thinking, “Yeah I know all this, is there something else I can do?” 

Absolutely. This is also where you can get really clever especially if you don’t trust yourself to stay accountable throughout the duration of your course. 

Try to set up multiple savings accounts or sub accounts so you can divide your funds accordingly. You don’t need multiple debit cards but this can be a useful way to stay disciplined. Your tuition can be placed along with essentials in one account while you can allocate another for entertainment, automated payments and the likes. 

This helps you gain a clearer understanding of where your expense variation lies and you never have to compromise on your essentials. 

Track your expenditure
Now that you’ve planned, setup your account or accounts it’s pretty important to track exactly where you are spending your money. This is where technology can really prove its worth. There are quite a few money tracking apps around. 

You need a budget – This is one of the cool DIY budgeting apps that are easy to use. It costs $6.99. monthly. 

Setapp – Setapp has a number of useful research, productivity and money management tools and more tools get added fairly regularly too. There is a special discounted education plan for students to take advantage of as well. 

HelloWallet – This app allows you to not only budget but come up with a roadmap to increase your net worth as well. This tool can cost you $9 a month but the iPhone app is free. 

Digit – Digit creates and manages a savings account for you which can help you save your precious earnings for future tuition or other needs. It also understands when your bills are due and then withdraws money for savings when all of that is sorted. 

One common scenario is when you are out with friends and different people end up paying for different things and it can be confusing to figure out who owes what. Apps like Splitwise are pretty useful in these situations. 

Little Drops Make the Mighty Ocean
This is something every student heading to the US or any other country for that matter needs to stay aware of. Money doesn’t generally get spent in large spurts but tends to trickle away. 

Something that seems like its “just $7.99” can add up to become a burden. $4 a day spent on things like chips, sodas and others equates to $120 a month. In order to better understand the big picture you need to get a grasp of the little things. 

Which is why you need to be tactically frugal.

Try to take full advantage of discounts and coupons when you shop for groceries. Cooking at home is always a huge money saver and the healthier option. 

This can apply to when you have to buy stationary or even text books. Make full use of the library or buy used books from places like amazon or even through college Facebook groups. 

Adopting many of the techniques we suggested here a month or two before you go can better prepare you for obstacles that may arise. The value of money management apps shouldn’t be underestimated as they can really make the difference between having a healthy lifestyle and living off ice cream. Most of the points mentioned here are simple habits one can adopt to shape their lifestyle even after graduating.

 
Eugene Kalnyk is a former exchange student and ESL teacher. Now, he’s on the team behind Setapp, the first Mac app subscription service which gives students access to hand-picked apps for every job on their Macs. He’s passionate about Productivity, Education, and petting his cat first thing in the morning. He'll be happy to meet you on Twitter.
 
Photo by William Iven on Unsplash


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