On the economic front we were waiting for August's inflation numbers which were announced last Friday. The inflation numbers were right on consensus at an increase of 2.8% year-over-year.
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It is fairly common when moving to or operating in a different country to your own, that the country will require bureaucratic procedure to be carried out in that country’s language. Spain is no different. All official documentation must be presented in Spanish.
And if all your documents are in English, then you are going to need a sworn translator of English to Spanish. This guide will tell you what you need to look for to be sure that your translation is correct and legal.
A sworn translator effectively acts as a notary who attests to the fact the the translated document is a true representation of the original text.
A good sworn English translator will be authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain (MAEC). This essentially means they will be pre-authorised by the Spanish government to carry out this type of work.
They will have had to pass the official exam set by the MAEC, which then gives them the right to register as a notary and use the official stamp that is recognised officially.
If translation was easy, we would all be able to do it armed with Google Translate and a laptop. The truth is it is not easy, and direct translation in specialist subjects rarely works. And that is before you have even considered the grammar.
The chances are that if you are required to have a sworn translation of a document it is an important one. And you need to be absolutely certain that it is accurate at using the correct type of language for the subject at hand.
Any kind of text may need to be translated. For example power of attorney documents, driving licences, passports, bank statements, and birth, marriage or death certificates. You may also need business documents translated such as contracts, patents and invoicing information.
And if you are a British or North American university student intending to complete your studies in Spain, you will need your academic record translated too.
This works both ways, you might also require a Spanish to English sworn translation, and a good sworn translator will be able to do both, and undergo rigorous reviews of the translation before certifying its legitimacy with the formal stamp.
With this stamp your Spanish to English translation will also be recognised by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the British Government.
In addition, we also offer certified English translations in the United States, accepted by the USCIS, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, and even English translations certified and notarized in the United States through our Dearborn, Michigan office. We can also help you if you have to submit a certified English translation in the UK, according to the requirements of the British Government. We certify English translations into any language for the United Kingdom and the United States.
Sworn translations are a specialist skill. As such getting a sworn translation completed can take time, and it is best to be prepared. This may mean getting the stamped translation carried out as early as possible from a different country, and having the document delivered to you well ahead of time.
It may also need to be notarized outside of Spain, for example by a US notary. Be sure to check this service is available from the provider you choose if it is something you will need.
The best translation agencies should be certified according to ISO 9001 standards, and also the ISO 17100:2015 standard for quality translation. The standard requires that both the translators and reviewers must be masters of their native language and with a certain level of university education, typically in translation and interpretation.
It also requires that they be technical experts on the subject matter also, gained through years of translation work.
When a translation agency is held to these standards, you can rest assured that your sworn translation will be of the highest accuracy and quality.
La entrada What to look out for when looking for a good sworn translator of English aparece primero en KSE Academy | Academia de inglés.
When teaching a speech sound in therapy, there are a number of things therapists do to help support the child. Equally, when you are helping a child generalise a sound into their speech at home or in the classroom, there are ways to help as well. Today I’m going to talk about cueing.
Now this is not the sort of queuing we British insist on in shops and so forth and get irate if it doesn’t happen properly! This is cueing, as in to cue or prompt someone. When thinking about speech and sounds I cue in three different ways:-
There are various different styles of cued speech, but the idea is that you make gestures or signs to go along with the individual sounds. This way you are adding a tactile element to help the child remember. In the UK many therapists use a system called Cued Articulation by Jane Passy. I personally love this system and use it every day. It not only gives a visual clue, but shows the child where in the mouth the sound comes from and other information about the sound’s production. It also encourages them to look at your mouth as all the signs are up near your face. For more information about Cued Articulation read our post here. Another system used in many UK schools is the Jolly Phonics actions and I’m sure there are others used in different countries.
There are many uses of cued speech. You can use it as you introduce a sound in isolation to help the child learn and differentiate it. You can use it to highlight the sound a child is missing. This is particularly useful for sounds in the middle and at the ends of words that get missed off. You can also just make the sign without saying the sound as a prompt for the child. By doing this you have reduced the level of cueing but are still providing a little support.
I also use cued articulation with children who don’t have any difficulty making sounds in words, but have difficulties with hearing sounds (phonological awareness) and spelling. When a child is stuck and can’t hear the sound at the end of a CVC word such as cat or log, you can sign the final sound as you say the word to help them.
As well as using signs or gestures as outlined above, you can use pictures. In the UK we use the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme symbols to represent sounds and words or in schools they use the Jolly Phonics symbols. With older children you can use the written letter on its own. Again this gives the brain more information about the sounds, another way to learn and remember them and also another way for the adult to prompt or cue the child when they are practising.
I often find myself saying ‘Remember your snaky sound’ or ‘Where has that snaky sound gone?!’ This is a way of verbally cueing or reminding the child about the target sound. Depending on which pictures you are using, this will influence the verbal cues you use. There is a list here – on the Caroline Bowen Website to give you some ideas.
So if you are working with a child, remember to use all three of the above ways of cueing to really help the child learn and remember the sounds you are working on. Then as the child learns and remembers the sound, you can reduce the level of cueing; maybe just tapping the picture or using the sign to remind them if they forget.
If you would like more information on supporting children’s speech sounds, check out our online course here.
You can also cue different elements of language as well – you can read a post about that here!
The post Speech sounds – how to help a child learn and generalise new sounds. appeared first on Speechbloguk.
Con más de 360 millones de hablantes, el inglés es considerado el idioma mundial/universal de facto. Con esta premisa, cada vez son más las personas que se plantan el objetivo de aprender inglés o perfeccionarlo. ¿Las razones? Tan variadas como personas, hay quienes lo quieren para estudiar, otros para hacer negocios, otros para crecer profesionalmente o para coger la mochila y darle la vuelta al mundo.
En pleno siglo XXI y con formas de vida y trabajo globalizadas y aceleradas saber inglés es un requisito fundamental. Recibir contenidos educativos, de entretenimiento y ocio en inglés es cada vez más frecuente, por ello, saber inglés, hablarlo bien y escribirlo es una necesidad que lleva urgencia.
Si tu objetivo es aprender inglés antes de que acaba el año, debes tener en cuenta que aprender cualquier idioma requiere de mucho tiempo, dedicación y compromiso, pero no te desanimes ¡no es imposible! Si tu motivación es grande seguro que lo consigues.
Pongámonos manos a la obra con 5 consejos que tendrás que integrar en tu día a día para que aprender inglés rápidamente sea divertido y ni cuenta te des.
Nuestro cerebro es maravilloso y estamos aprendiendo todo el tiempo, incluso cuando no estás explícitamente sentado en un mesa con libros en plan “empollando”. Aunque no lo creas, cuando escuchas contenidos en inglés, incluso si no lo entiendes, estás aprendiendo.
El aprendizaje a través de la escucha llega a tal extremo que es posible aprender idiomas que no existen, es decir, puedes aprender e interiorizar cualquier contenido que escuches constantemente, ya sea por la relación de palabras similares a tu idioma materno, a los sonidos o por repetición.
En cualquier caso te recomendamos escuchar tanto inglés como puedas. Cuando mires películas elige la versión original y sacar los subtítulos para que comiences a aprender a escuchar inglésy a entrenar tu oído. Lo mismo con la radio, la música y las noticias.
Cuando lees, pasa algo similar que al escuchar inglés, tu cerebro se va acostumbrando a las estructuras, palabras y a la gramática. Además, la lectura tanto en un idioma nuevo como en tu lengua materna es una forma de aprender vocabulario nuevo y mejorar tus estructuras gramaticales.
La lectura de contenidos en inglés te ayuda a entender palabras que ya conocías pero en contextos nuevos o con otros significados, ya que muchas palabras en inglés pueden variar su significado.
Lee todo lo que llegue a tus manos periódicos, revistas, blogs, email, websites, productos de comida, publicidad. Seguro que cada día encontrarás palabras nuevas o nuevos significados a aquellas que conocías de antes.
Anotar esas palabras que descubres en tus lecturas diarias o que escuchas en esa película que tanto te gusta, es una acción clave. Cuando relacionas el oído, la vista y la escritura completas un ciclo de interiorización de la palabra o concepto que difícilmente olvidarás.
En inglés hay palabras que son tan particulares, comunes o divertidas que se graban fácilmente; pero hay muchas que son importantes y dan una apariencia de un gran dominio del idioma pero que son complicadas. Para no olvidar estas últimas lleva siempre contigo una libreta pequeña y anota todo aquello que sea nuevo o interesante junto al contexto en el que lo escuchaste y si puedes asocialo a algún objeto o idea que te sea familiar. Recordarla será más sencillo.
A veces, una de las cosas más complicadas cuando aprendes inglés es conocer y pronunciar adecuadamente los sonidos nuevos, para ello te recomendamos que no te fijes tanto en las reglas. Presta atención a las similitudes con tu lengua materna de los nuevos sonidos.
Tenemos un cerebro que es perfecto y entre las millones de maravillas que tiene, es capaz de discriminar entre sonidos que tienen sentidos y los que suenan ilogicos. Por ejemplo, si con la palabra Ghastful (espantoso) no sabes si la “h” va al principio; intenta pronunciarla con el sonido “hg” que suena muy complicado y poco probable, tanto a nivel auditivo como visual, “hgastful”. Con este breve ejercicio intuirás el orden y el sonido de la palabra.
Por mucho que te esfuerces a nivel teórico para aprender inglés, si no lo practicas con personas, de preferencia angloparlantes, difícilmente alcanzarás tu meta. Empollar en tu habitación con libros, audios y mucha gramática no es suficiente.
Aprovecha cualquier oportunidad que tengas para hablar inglés cuando vas de viaje a un país de habla inglesa o si conoces a alguien que solo hable inglés. No te cortes, ni tengas vergüenza porque tu esfuerzo demuestra la motivación que tienes por mejorar tu inglés y seguramente que será muy bien valorado por tu interlocutor.
Escucha, lee, escribe, asocia, cuestionate y habla inglés. Si llevas a cabo estas acciones clave y te las tomas en serio seguramente alcanzarás tus objetivos para este año. ¡Ánimo!
La entrada 5 consejos para aprender inglés rápido aparece primero en KSE Academy | Academia de inglés.
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Should you sign with your child?
This is a something that I often get asked about. Often people want to focus on verbal language and think that signing with a child will hold their speech back. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth! Here are some of the reasons why signing can help a child when they are learning to talk:-
What signing system should you use?
Of course, children with hearing difficulties may learn BSL (British Sign Language) or ASL (American Sign Language) and use this instead of spoken language. BSL and ASL (and other equivalent national signing systems) are languages with their own grammar etc. They are designed to be used long-term as a main form of communication.
However, there are many signing systems which are really useful to use alongside speech for babies or people with language or learning difficulties. Sometimes these are adapted from full sign language. Others are developed from scratch. Here are some of the forms of sign language that are commonly used in the UK – Makaton, Sign-Supported English, Paget-Gorman Signed Speech, Signalong.
This may all seem a bit overwhelming. Which system should you use? Makaton is probably the most widely used, especially in education settings. However, it doesn’t matter all that much. Many of the signs are very similar across different systems. It’s good to pick a system and stick to it so that it’s not confusing, but don’t worry too much – the most important thing is to do it.
How can you introduce signing with a child?
It’s a difficult thing to suddenly start signing and people often feel overwhelmed by the idea. So here are a few hints on how to introduce signing if your child’s speech and language therapist has suggested it, or it’s something you’d like to try while waiting for an assessment.
Don’t try to sign every word – just introduce a few signs at a time and try to use them as often as you can. You’ll never manage to sign everything and it would be just as overwhelming as a constant stream of language can be!
How will you learn the signs to use?
We also have a free handout about signing on our FREEBIES page. Do download and use it.
Do you have any tips about how to introduce signing or stories of how it has helped your child? Do share them here.
The post Why you should sign with children and how to start appeared first on Speechbloguk.
You hear that staging your house to sell is important but what even is staging? I have an out of state investor who was having his investment property staged last week (isn’t it stunning?!). The cleaner who was frantically putting the sparkling touches on the home before the stagers arrived asked me, “What is staging?” It’s easy to get wrapped up in our world of real estate and think that EVERYONE knows what a staging is. If you’ve heard that term but don’t exactly know what it means, you’re not alone. And I’m sorry for speaking REALTOR to you. Barbara Schwartz, President of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, defines it this way:
Staging is preparing the home for sale so that the buyer can mentally move in.
Staging can be a wide range of things. A professional stager can use your personal items and make recommendations of what to move or remove, etc. Or they can go so far as bringing in whole truckloads of furnishings, art, decorations, etc. that you rent for a couple of months while you show the house.
Staging allows the buyer to start fall in love with your home…even before seeing it in person! In a 2017 study by the National Association of Realtors, 77% of buyer’s agents say that staging allows the buyer to visualize your property as their future home, 40% said buyers are more willing to view the property in person after seeing online, and 38% said that it positively impacted the home value if decorated to the buyers’ taste. Those are things you want as a seller!
The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA), which surveyed brokers and agents, found that 82% of home buyers are likely to be distracted from important issues when they go through a staged home. These buyers not only fall for the house, but potentially overpay.
Of course, that’s always an option. The question to ask yourself is, “Is that the best use of my time?” AND more importantly, “Is that in my skill set or would hiring a professional be a better option?” Staging your house with items that are classic, trendy, luxurious vs. using a hodgepodge of items you already have or pick up at yard sales will make a significant difference. Some people just have *that eye* and I think it’s best to leave the staging up to the professionals. There are some really great staging companies locally who offer very reasonable pricing. Ask your favorite REALTOR (me!) for recommendations and then take a look at their portfolios to see if you like their style. Most will have packages with different options and they are happy to offer a free quote.
If you can’t afford the investment of staging the whole house, that’s OK! Staging some specific areas will have the biggest impact. Statistics show that the best rooms to be staged are the living room, the kitchen, and finally the master bedroom. If you have a great outdoor space highlighting it is a good option, too. And don’t forget the entry with a new, inviting welcome mat! The secondary rooms are lowest on the list. Small accessories in the kitchen and bathrooms make a big impact, too.
I’ve included the professional photos before and after staging. Same awesome photographer. Aren’t they amazing? The house is stunning anyway but the staging just adds the warmth and appeal to draw you in.
If you’re thinking of selling your Phoenix area home, we can help! Feel free to call/text Shar Rundio at 480.560.7255 or you can email me at shar@phoenixrealestateguy.com
Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.
(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
There are a number of economic headlines I'd like to review this week. The first are the sovereign debt crises in Turkey and Venezuela.
The post Market Update: Global Economic Headlines appeared first on Team RRP.
If you are still unsure if the agent matters, check out this short video I did on what happens when you hire hour ‘homie’ to sell your house and not an executive.
The best strategy is to price your house where it should be. Pricing your house where it should be is going to help get it sold.
You want to depersonalize by getting out anything that is personal and identifies the house as ‘your house’ such as family photos. When a buyer comes through the door we want them to be able to see themselves in the house, and when the pictures of your family are all over the walls and bookcases, they have a hard time doing that.
The last de is de-pet. We know, you love Fido and Whiskers and they are part of your family. But the Jones may not have the same attachment to furry pets. Get all the animal toys out when you declutter and make sure the pets are not there during showings.
There you go. When you are getting ready to sell your house follow these seven things as a good place to start.
Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.
(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
Ah, millennials… People love to talk about them and they always seem to be trying to figure out what they are going to do next.
According to the research, as many as one in five (20 percent) millennial parents said they changed or seriously considered changing their baby’s name based on what domain names were free at the time. – brobible
Please don’t ask me how I found this article on Brobible… Ok, it was in a news feed. I swear, man.
Their study shows a much larger percentage of millennial parents picking the name of their child based on available domain names than the older and wiser Gen X parents. The article also says that “48 percent of millennials believe it’s important for their child to have an online presence early in life, compared to just 27 percent of Gen X respondents.”
I wonder what the online presence of millennial children will look like. I wonder what their social network of choice will be. I wonder if a standalone website will be more, or less, common for the youth of today. Personally, I have “always” felt that it is a good idea for people to “own their own content.” Social networks come and social networks go. Yesterday’s Twitter, tomorrow’s Facebook, etc. There will be new, shinier objects in the future. I guarantee it.
Heck, I have teenagers. They don’t read email. They watch videos, they Snap, they text, they have a much different digital life than I do. We communicate in different ways than I did with my parents. One of the reasons why I bought their domain names when they were born was the fact that I believed it to be a small investment in something they could put to use in the future.
The top two reasons parents said they created a website include for future job searching (48 percent) and college application (47 percent) purposes.
Some parents (37 percent) believe personal websites will take the place of social media, and created a website with this in mind.
Millennials seem to have many reasons for wanting to own their domain names: From wanting to create a digital baby book, to teaching kids how to build websites, showing them what should and shouldn’t be shared online, and for using their own site to apply for college. The reasons seem to be many and they seem to have long term goals.
I’m sure people in our industry will continue to try to predict what is next for millennials and for the market in general. I’m also sure I’ll continue to hang onto my own domain name(s) for a long time.
While it’s not exactly the same as buying the domain name of my children, we currently buy the domain names of homes we have for sale. Maybe we should start offering the sites to people as their own personal nostalgic website?
So, what’s in a (domain) name? Quite a bit, actually…
Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.
(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
As expected, the Bank of Canada held its key overnight rate this morning at 1.5%, asserting that July's surprising spike in CPI inflation to 3% was in large part because of a jump in airfares.
The post Poloz Holds The Line On Rates appeared first on Team RRP.
Goldman Sachs has certainly made a name for themselves as a major multinational investment bank. Their 2017 revenues were more than $37 BILLION. As a major investment banking firm for many very large corporations, they typically are not the first thing you think of when talking about “small” loans in the world of residential real estate.
With the addition of a home improvement calculator being offerd on one of their sites, there appears to be some interest in residential real estate loans. In fact, they are looking to tap into home improvement loans which seems to have been a large part of the market for quite some time.
While the Golden Boys at Goldman Sachs certainly aren’t the first ones to offer home improvement loans, their interest in this space seems to indicate that they feel this type of loan will be in demand for a while and that they can use these loans to benefit their bottom line. We also see that they could expand into life insurance, mortgages, auto loans and wealth management services down the road. Personally, I prefer working with local lenders and contractors as they seem to be much easier to deal with.
The residential real estate industry has been following the trend of home improvement for many years. In the recent past, we have seen people decide to stay in their homes rather than sell their home because of multiple market conditions. Basically, anyone who has purchased a home in the past decade while we have seen historically low interest rates. The combination of the very low interest rate they have on their mortage and the fact that prices have been on the rise, make it more appealing for people to stay put. Why? Because if they are looking to “move up” right now, they get less home for the same payment than what they are currently paying. For most people, it comes down to what their monthly payment will be when deciding to buy or sell a home.
In this video below, the National Association of REALTORS talk about trends, issues, and outlook in the home remodeling business. We hear about home designs and remodeling projects that are in demand, especially by the largest demographic groups, the baby boomers and millennials. They also discuss which home renovation projects appeal most to home sellers and buyers. These are important things to think about as remodeling a home can be a good investment in your future, as well as being something to do for your own personal satisfaction while living in your home.
Double Whammy:
As prices rise and interest rates rise, it is harder to “move up” in to a larger home. This keeps people in their existing home and helps with the “low inventory” issues we see in the current market. Basically, it is hard to find quality homes for people looking in most “affordable” price ranges.
Keeping It Local:
While big banks like to talk about national trends, we think it is super important to watch local markets. Some online calculator from a big giant bank is rarely going to be your best bet. Sure, Goldman Sachs can attempt to generalize your construction costs in Phoenix, or Tempe, or Mesa, Chandler, etc., but I feel like their numbers could be incorrect. Some ginormous bank in New York just might have a hard time estimating values in our market. Just sayin…
If you are ever thinking of buying or selling a home here in Arizona, or even if you want tips on best practices of what kinds of improvements tend to get you a great return, please feel free to give us a call at 602-803-6425. We are always willing to help, and we love to talk about the real estate market in general.
Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.
(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.
