I Wish I Worked There

Here's a new book that caught my attention. I'm not sure how great it would really be to work for Bloomberg or Nike, but it would be fun to see their facilities and get ideas. Here's an excerpt from the press release about the book:

Imagine you worked for a company that had slides instead of stairs, a medieval maze to stroll through during your private mediation, or perhaps an airline bed to sit on whilst brainstorming ideas with your colleagues …
I Wish I Worked There! reveals some of the world’s most inspiring and innovative places to work and shows the reader what it might be like to actually work there.
This new book goes behind the scenes of 20 famous brands, such as Lego, Urban Outfitters and Virgin, who place innovation and creativity at the heart of their working culture...

For more information, you can visit http://www.iwishiworkedthere.com/


Thanks to http://www.dezeen.com for the image and text!

Check out Posterous

You probably know about this already, but if you do, you haven't told me, so I'm just finding out about it. It's Posterous, a wonderfully simple and minimalistic posting platform which you can find at http://www.posterous.com/. Here's a little copy from their "about" page:

Posterous is the dead simple way to put anything online using email. We launched in July 2008 and we've been steadily growing and adding features.
We love sharing thoughts, photos, audio, and files with our friends and family, but we didn't like how hard it was... so we made a better way.
That's posterous. We're super excited to see what happens when blogging becomes as easy as email, and we hope you enjoy posterous as much as we do. Thanks for trying it.

The feature they're promoting here is the ability to email posts to your Posterous site, but you can also just use the online posting function, which is like a blog but a bit simpler in terms of steps. Also, photos look fantastic here! For me the lack of advertising is another plus; as much as I admire targeted online marketing, sometime it makes me just a little bit t-i-r-e-d.

P.S. If you're a reader of Presentation Zen, you might be interested in Garr Reynolds' Posterous site, where he puts a lot of great pictures. You can find it at http://www.garr.posterous.com/

Here's a photo of his of the Oregon coast.

The beauty and functionality of the iPad

Wow!

I got to see one for the first time today and I was really impressed. One of the best features in terms of English is the ability to scroll over a word and get the definition; this is elegant and absolutely useful. Also, flipping the pages of the digital book is fantastic. Finally, the display provides a great mobile theater for video with the sense of a large screen. Step one, check bank balance. Step two, run to Apple store!

Below I've posted Apple's video presentation of the iPad.

Apple iPad Demo

Bloomberg Innovators TV Series

Given that everyone is always talking about "innovation, " it might be interesting to start a conversation here about what that actually means. I have to admit I'm not really sure, especially since whenever a word is very fashionable, the meaning of it may start to get lost. Looking around the web, I found this program you might like to check out:

http://www.bloomberg.com/innovators/index.html

The main question is, what does innovation mean to you?

There's still time...

to make a contribution as a guest blogger. Here are the steps:

1. Email me your idea at coultonv@yahoo.com by Monday, May 31.
2. Write your post.
3. Edit it together (if needed) by Monday, June 7.
4. Let me post it during the month of June.

It's worth noting that your post can be anonymous if you prefer.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Time and materials

I wonder how many expressions there are with time? Hackneyed ones like "time is money" or "time flies," but also "love's not time's fool" and "time, the real murderer." Time is the only nonrenewable resource we have. We speak of saving time, spending time, wasting time, making time for something, managing our time well or badly. Spending quality time with our lovers and families. When the plumber comes to fix the leaky pipe, we're charged for time and materials. Time is attached to the words for the seasons, except autumn; wintertime, springtime, summertime, "when the livin' is easy." Everyone has a personal sense of time. For some it passes very quickly, for others the minutes seem endless. What about you? Is "time on your side?"

Great American road trips

Now that the wonderful weather is here and we're starting to plan our vacations, it's a nice time to dream about trips we might take someday, if not this summer. Here's a link to an article about Ten Great American Road Trips. It includes some classics, like the California coast, and some others you might be less familiar with. Here's the link:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-34348817

And, in honor of one of the great original road trips, the lyrics to a famous Nat King Cole song:

Route 66

If you ever plan to motor west,

Travel my way, take the highway that is best.

Get your kicks on Route Sixty-six.

It winds from Chicago to L.A.,

More than two thousand miles all the way.

Get your kicks on Route Sixty-six.

Now you go through Saint Louis, Joplin, Missouri,

And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.

You see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico,

Flagstaff, Arizona. Don't forget Winona,

Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino.

Won't you get hip to this timely tip:

When you make that California trip

Get your kicks on Route Sixty-six.

Collage Barcelona

Collage Barcelona is a learning center not far from Metro Lesseps. They offer really great English programs for kids and adults, specializing in learning English through art, dance, and other creative pursuits. If you're looking for a place for your kids to learn, you should take a look at their after school programs! Also, they have a summer camp which begins at the end of June.

http://www.collagebarcelona.com/index.php?lg=2

Article: What top CEOs have in common

To have something in common with someone is to share something, especially something personal like a hometown or an interest. In the case of this article, the subject is what characteristic Chief Executive Officers of major companies share. Can you guess what it is?

Something else to note is that in American English, we usually say resume instead of CV, and we pronounce it like the French word. Here's the link:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/What-the-Resumes-of-Top-CEOs-usnews-1845675616.html?x=0

It would be interesting to hear what you think about this article.

Stop Making Sense Original Trailer

Stop making sense

Somehow I can't resist posting this trailer as part of our conversation about making sense. It's from the 80s, when pterodactyls flew overhead, and I hope you enjoy David Byrne dancing around in his big suit...

Making sense (Make, part 7)

Someone with a very nice command of English suggested a post about making sense. If something makes sense, it's understandable. This is a very good quality in things that are supposed to convey information, like financial reports. If your boss comes to you and says, "these number don't make sense," a slightly nervous feeling may attack your stomach. On the other hand, it's great when you explain everything to her and she says, "ok, now it all makes perfect sense."

To make sense of something is to make it understandable for yourself or someone else. For example, people say it's not easy to make sense of signs when visiting China or Japan.

There's another nuance with make sense, though. When we want to comment on something as being commonsensical, we say "it makes sense." For example, it makes sense to try to get the best conditions when you're negotiating something, like a contract, mortgage, etc. Likewise, it doesn't make sense to spend money foolishly.

Finally, we often say "it makes sense to me" or "it didn't make sense to him."

Does all this make sense to you?

P.S. Thanks again for the suggestion!

Thinking of you

This blog is called Thinking in English because the idea is for you to think in English rather than translate from another language. Usually, however, we use of or about with the verb think. For example, when people used to send postcards from their trips and vacations, they would often write, "thinking of you and wishing you were here." So, we think of people, which means that they come into our minds. We also think about people and things.

When asking a question with think, you can use of or about, especially when asking for an opinion, like "what do you think about the new policy?" or "what do you think of the new mayor?" If you want to know what someone is thinking in a certain moment, you can ask, "what are you thinking?" or "what are you thinking about?" This question is general, just to find out what someone is thinking.

Mostly sunny

I've just put a link for Barcelona weather from Yahoo. Please note that you can change the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius at the top. When we talk about the weather, we often say it, as in, "it's going to be sunny and warm this week." Yay!

Fast Cities 2010

Every year, Fast Company features cities that are doing innovative things. Barcelona was on the list in 2008, and it's interesting to see who is on the list this year and why.

www.fastcompany.com/cities/2010

(Special note: check out San Francisco's use of social media to help inform the city government...)

No obligation (don't have to)

Don't have to means there's no obligation to do or be something. You can if you want, but it's not necessary. If something is free, you don't have to pay. If something is optional, you don't have to do it.

To help you remember, here are some lyrics from the Prince song Kiss:

You don't have to be rich
To be my girl
You don't have to be cool
To rule my world

Of course, it helps to sing these in a really high voice. I would be happy to sing them with you. But you don't have to sing them if you don't want to...

What's your point? (Make, part 6)

When we're explaining an idea or arguing for an opinion, we're making a point. For example, "the point I'm trying to make is that we need to plan our presentations further ahead of time." The point is the main or primary idea. We can see someone's point or not. We can say, "I don't see your point," or "I don't get your point." The point is also the reason for doing something. If something is pointless, it means that we don't see the point of it. Then we can ask, "what is the point of this?"

Start With Why

Below we have a presentation from Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why. Please note that you can turn on English subtitles for this, and even though Mr. Sinek speaks very clearly and precisely, it might be interesting to use them.

Some key vocabulary for this presentation:

tipping point: the moment at which there is enough momentum to change something.

to get it: to understand something

recipe for success: a formula for achieving your objective

gut decision: decision based on your intuition

hands down: adjective meaning absolute or indisputable, as in hands down winner

IPO: Initial Public Offering, or when a company starts to be on the stock exchange

For more about Simon Sinek and his ideas, visit http://www.startwithwhy.com/

Presentation: start with why

What do you think of this? Does it follow the principles of being simple, showing something, and teasing before you tell (the ones Dan Heath talked about)? What do you think of the ideas expressed here?

Youngest and second oldest

Two headlines caught my attention today:

California woman earns college diploma at age 94(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100515/ap_on_re_us/us_graduating_at94_3)

Australian finishes round-the-world sail at age 16(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100515/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_young_sailor_19)

Stories like these always remind me not to put too much stock in age!

Help wanted: guest bloggers

Before the internet, we used to look for signs like these!

As I'll be away for most of June, I thought it would be interesting to have some guest bloggers. Here's the idea:

1. Have a concept for a post, involving an English expression, vocabulary word or grammar point OR something interesting about business.

2. Email me with your idea at coultonv@yahoo.com so we can talk it over.

3. Write your post, send it to me, edit it together (if needed) and publish it.

4. Do all of the above by then end of May so we have enough time.

Don't be shy... I need your help!

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

I'm completely absorbed by this book. If you're interested in how the Internet and social media in particular have changed and are continuing to change people's participation in groups and in society, you should read it!

It's interesting to notice that the word people is plural, so we say, "people like hot dogs." But everybody and nobody are singular and we say, "everybody knows that pigs can't fly", or "nobody still believes in Santa Claus." The same thing is true with somebody, as in "somebody keeps stealing my chair."

We use anybody for questions, like "does anybody know where the cookies are?" And also for negative sentences, like "I didn't know anybody at the conference." A different kind of negative sentence has nobody as the subject, and then the verb is positive, as in "nobody answered my email."

We use somebody when we know that a person did or said something, but we don't know who it was, or we don't want to say who it was.

P.S. I've added a link to Amazon. If you've never ordered books from them, I highly recommend trying it. For one thing, books coming from the U.S. are really inexpensive, especially with the high euro. Also, Amazon was an internet pioneer and a number of things we take for granted came from them.

Thank you!

When people make you feel welcome, it's a wonderful gift! I want to thank everyone at InfoJobs for making so much effort to welcome me. Although I've always felt "at home" with you, having a place to come in from the rain makes all the difference...

Show me the money (Make, part 5)

Below, you can see the famous scene from Jerry Maguire in which Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays a football player who demands that his agent, played by Tom Cruise, show him the money. This became a very popular expression, as you can imagine, and one that still comes up in business when we're talking about possible projects or deals.

Most of us aren't athletes, celebrities or dealmakers, though. Most of us simply make money by working for ourselves or someone else. Technically, it's correct to say earn when you're talking about money you work for, but the best way to say it is with make. As in, "I don't make a lot of money but I make enough and I really enjoy my work." You can also make money by selling something, like a house or a stock. We say that a company makes money if it's profitable. In this case, the opposite of make money is lose money.

Jerry Maguire - "Show me the money" sequence

"Different" and "Anti-Creativity Checklist"

I've just posted two videos by Youngme Moon. Here's her bio:

Youngme Moon is the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Her research focuses on marketing innovation and brand differentiation.
At the Harvard Business School, Youngme teaches one of the most sought-after courses in the school’s curriculum. She has received numerous awards for teaching excellence, and has published some of the best-selling case studies in the world.

It would be great to hear your thoughts about these videos!

Finally, I really recommend reading Youngme Moon's author notes on her website at www.youngmemoon.com. She speaks of taking risks, speaking her mind, and becoming more authentic, and the surprising results she experienced.

"Different" by Youngme Moon

"My Anti-Creativity Checklist" by Youngme Moon

Microcredit (Make, Part 4)

In class with Anna Q on Friday, she showed me the website of the Kiva foundation: http://www.kiva.org/. This is a non-profit organization which connects people with small business owners who need to borrow specific amounts to develop their businesses. The majority of the borrowers are in the developing world. Businesses range from farms to shops and you can make an investment of as little as $25. Your money is paid back on a schedule, without interest, and you have the option of making another investment, taking the money, or donating it to Kiva. Anna has made multiple investments with this foundation, and I found the concept really intriguing.

Make an effort (Make, Part 3)

In American schools when I was growing up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), we had grades. A was the best, B was good, C was passing. D was very bad and F was the worst. F meant you failed. These could be modified with plus or minus, except for F, which was just F. These were the grades that we received on tests, papers and the report cards we took home at the end of every term. Good teachers generally noticed if students made an effort, and an expresion was born: "you get an A for effort." People say this when the result is not great but the intention is good and the person in question has worked hard.
Obviously it's important to make an effort to improve, to do a good job, to get good results. But I've come to think that the most important thing about making an effort is clarity. It's sad (and inefficient) when people make a lot of effort in the wrong direction. So it's important to be really clear about what kind of effort to make. Sometimes it's not obvious, either.
It would be great to hear your thoughts about this, especially about the idea of an "A for effort." Are the result and the effort made equally important, or is one more important to you?

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

You've probably seen this before,

but when it comes to taking risks (and making mistakes) Steve Jobs is hard to beat!

On making mistakes (Make, Part 2)

First of all, thanks to everyone who visited the blog today and emailed with encouragement and positive feedback; this is every blogger's dream! I hope that what you find here will continue to make you (insert desirable adjective here)...
You may have noticed that we use make with presentations. We also use it with mistakes. What I want to suggest is that making mistakes is potentially fantastic and people might consider doing it more often!
I'm not talking about hurting people on purpose or being stupid or lazy. All I want to suggest is that taking the risk of making a mistake is a good way to learn, and that when you make a mistake you have an opening to change something.
I've made some truly impressive mistakes, and not just momentary ones but repetitive ones that continued for a long time. Now these have more value for me than the non-mistakes I made! One anecdote about Microsoft is that in their recruiting process, they look for people who've made some real mistakes in business, because they take this as an indicator of willingness to take risks.
This is not a bad idea in learning English. When you're speaking, you can take some risks. You might make a mistake, but in taking that risk you'll be giving yourself the opportunity to learn more than you would have if you had played it safe. Most surprisingly, the more risks you take as a student, the fewer mistakes you tend to make... And as for those repetitive mistakes you make that we're working to correct, just keep practicing. One day you'll stop making them! And it will be hard to remember that you ever did.

Making presentations that stick

If something "sticks" it means that people remember it. Here is Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick, giving us some tips on how to make effective and memorable presentations. Thanks to Presentation Zen for the clip!

Make someone happy (Make Part 1)

Wow! How many different phrasal verbs (don't be afraid!) and expressions do we have with make? Tons! Today in class we were talking about one which is very important: make+person or thing or pronoun+adjective, as in "you're making me crazy!" Or, better, "this makes me happy." We want to work with companies and providers and consultants who make us happy. We don't like those who make us unhappy. We really despise the ones who make us furious. It makes me happy when people learn new things and correct old mistakes. It makes me really happy, actually. People, things, and situations can make you angry, tired, crazy, hungry, and sad. We like people who make things fun and easy! We don't like people who make things difficult and nasty.

People like hot dogs

Why have I given this blog a URL which includes the line, "people like hot dogs?" Because it's a line from one of my all time favorite films, Big Night, and because it contains a subject-verb agreement which my students find challenging. Who knows how many other great lines there are including people and a verb? Probably millions. Right now, people are eating hot dogs in New York City and people are watching baseball games. People are going to meetings and arguing about things. People are making deals and having babies and coming up with brilliant ideas. People are drinking that first sip of beer which is always the best. People are protesting and laughing and taking naps and worrying and falling in love. People are daydreaming and writing novels and poems. People are traveling or dreaming of the next trip. People like hot dogs, and beer, and all kinds of things. What about you?