You are more likely to make more money with your existing work if you know French. As well, if you are looking for work - knowing French increases your chances of getting a job and opens doors and opens opportunities for you.
Dominique is just the person to help you reach your goals with French. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced - or even if you are fluent and just want someone to practice your written and spoken French with so you do not lose it in a city like Toronto - Dominique is your tutor.
She offers tutoring services in French. She is Quebecois, educated in Quebec at the bachelor's level in translation and has several years of experience at this work. Her rate is $21.00/hr., however this can be negotiated if you are short on funds.
Do yourself a favour and learn French today with Dominique. She can be contacted at (416) 760-4635. Leave a message and she will get back to you right away.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Making Decisions
Going back to school is a very important thing. Sometimes it is also a matter of deciding when it is time to learn from life and to practically apply what you learned in school.
I was going to go back to school at the University of Toronto, however have decided not to do so. The degree would have been a second master's one and I was worried about the money and this was causing a lot of anxiety. I already have a master's degree and the natural next step would be to do a doctorate degree. A trusted confidante of mine says that a doctorate degree may put me out of the job market to the point that employers may not think I would work for a salary. These are things to consider. I do work in education though where having advanced degrees does not tend to be a problem.
Ultimately I had to look at the kind of education I tend to teach in. It is primarily college-based where having practical experience is important, as well as having education is important. I enjoy having this balance. I think it makes for a more well-rounded person at this stage of my life. At least I can say I have done things outside of school, as well as what I am doing right now and into the future.
Do not get me wrong, school is important - however there is a point when it becomes necessary to work on your PhD of life experience. This does not mean you need to buy one to put on your wall, such as the kind of degrees that Belford University offers - however, it does mean that you need to learn common sense as my Mom would call it. Common sense being different from the kind of book knowledge many people learn in school. This includes survival skills and developing the know-how to be successful at whatever you want to do.
I was going to go back to school at the University of Toronto, however have decided not to do so. The degree would have been a second master's one and I was worried about the money and this was causing a lot of anxiety. I already have a master's degree and the natural next step would be to do a doctorate degree. A trusted confidante of mine says that a doctorate degree may put me out of the job market to the point that employers may not think I would work for a salary. These are things to consider. I do work in education though where having advanced degrees does not tend to be a problem.
Ultimately I had to look at the kind of education I tend to teach in. It is primarily college-based where having practical experience is important, as well as having education is important. I enjoy having this balance. I think it makes for a more well-rounded person at this stage of my life. At least I can say I have done things outside of school, as well as what I am doing right now and into the future.
Do not get me wrong, school is important - however there is a point when it becomes necessary to work on your PhD of life experience. This does not mean you need to buy one to put on your wall, such as the kind of degrees that Belford University offers - however, it does mean that you need to learn common sense as my Mom would call it. Common sense being different from the kind of book knowledge many people learn in school. This includes survival skills and developing the know-how to be successful at whatever you want to do.
Friday, May 22, 2009
New Story in the Works
Stay tuned for a story on the New Opportunities Learning Centre. That will be featured in Donna Magazine and I also hope to have it up on podcast too.
Audacity is a wonderful editing tool for those who cannot afford Adobe Audition yet. These are editing software programs. However, Adobe Audition is a great program to have. If you can get it at an educational discount - this makes a huge difference in savings.
Besides the story - I just had a great lunch. Sometimes when I am working I forget to eat. I went to a party at a friend's house of mine where other women shared in that sentiment. You work so much, you forget to eat. Those are the advantages of working from home - it is easier to remember to eat. Like everything, things come with advantages and disadvantages and working from home can be awfully quiet at times.
My mail does not come around in good weather until 2:00 p.m. EST. During the winter and on garbage and recycling days, sometimes it does not come until 4:00 p.m. I am not expecting any mail of crucial importance, however I usually enjoy making the walk around my place to pick it up. I am hoping this will be good exercise for the large lunch I had. My mailman is a really nice guy who can speak French and Italian, as well as English. The occasional time I get to practice my French with him. He speaks well.
Well, blogging after lunch is better than sleeping after lunch. Keeps me more productive any way. I went to bed really early as usual and woke up really early. I even got my exercise in before 7:00 a.m. I was hit with a burst of inspiration. Sometimes cloudy days as it is in Toronto I can find so inspiring. You never know what is hidden behind those gray skies.
Please excuse this indulgent post.
Audacity is a wonderful editing tool for those who cannot afford Adobe Audition yet. These are editing software programs. However, Adobe Audition is a great program to have. If you can get it at an educational discount - this makes a huge difference in savings.
Besides the story - I just had a great lunch. Sometimes when I am working I forget to eat. I went to a party at a friend's house of mine where other women shared in that sentiment. You work so much, you forget to eat. Those are the advantages of working from home - it is easier to remember to eat. Like everything, things come with advantages and disadvantages and working from home can be awfully quiet at times.
My mail does not come around in good weather until 2:00 p.m. EST. During the winter and on garbage and recycling days, sometimes it does not come until 4:00 p.m. I am not expecting any mail of crucial importance, however I usually enjoy making the walk around my place to pick it up. I am hoping this will be good exercise for the large lunch I had. My mailman is a really nice guy who can speak French and Italian, as well as English. The occasional time I get to practice my French with him. He speaks well.
Well, blogging after lunch is better than sleeping after lunch. Keeps me more productive any way. I went to bed really early as usual and woke up really early. I even got my exercise in before 7:00 a.m. I was hit with a burst of inspiration. Sometimes cloudy days as it is in Toronto I can find so inspiring. You never know what is hidden behind those gray skies.
Please excuse this indulgent post.
Update
So I got my book School Works - Other Essays published through Lulu.com. It can bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. I plan to do a podcast about it too to put up on that site which is: http://kakonged.podomatic.com. Yesterday I was teaching my students all about blogs and making money from blogs, so I might as well get right into it myself. Plus, it's a lot of fun.
Still have the marking to do and the email to send out. I will do that right after this. I'm also doing some editing on a former student's script that looks amazing so far. I will be doing training with my web designer later in the day so I can do the updates myself with my official website: www.donnakakonge.com. I need to update my resume on there, as well as feature the new books I have done.
Still have the marking to do and the email to send out. I will do that right after this. I'm also doing some editing on a former student's script that looks amazing so far. I will be doing training with my web designer later in the day so I can do the updates myself with my official website: www.donnakakonge.com. I need to update my resume on there, as well as feature the new books I have done.
School Works - Other Essays
Yesterday I had two classes to teach at Seneca College. They went well. I did more talking in these classes than in the first classes because I had to lay down the groundwork of the some fundamental knowledge, however the class still did go well.
Today I hope to publish my book School Works - Other Essays. I have some editing to do with that book, plus a whole lot of marking to do for assignments at Seneca College. I am hoping that the students understand that if I give them a week to hand in an assignment, they should at least give me a week to mark it. I hope they understand that is fair. I will send out an email about that just to clarify, in case anyone is expecting to get it right away.
Other than that, things are going well. I have a lot of work to do today and have organized many of my stories to put together for my new website (or really revamped from an old one) Donna's Salon Utopia. I have also assembled some stories for my main magazine Donna that I plan to start rolling out closer to June. I would like to work more on podcasts, as well as video work, which I definitely will do. Things are going well. I cannot complain.
Today I hope to publish my book School Works - Other Essays. I have some editing to do with that book, plus a whole lot of marking to do for assignments at Seneca College. I am hoping that the students understand that if I give them a week to hand in an assignment, they should at least give me a week to mark it. I hope they understand that is fair. I will send out an email about that just to clarify, in case anyone is expecting to get it right away.
Other than that, things are going well. I have a lot of work to do today and have organized many of my stories to put together for my new website (or really revamped from an old one) Donna's Salon Utopia. I have also assembled some stories for my main magazine Donna that I plan to start rolling out closer to June. I would like to work more on podcasts, as well as video work, which I definitely will do. Things are going well. I cannot complain.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Inspiration All Around
I just got a really inspiring email from Worldwide Freelance Market while sitting here and listening to Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige. They discussed the common traits of successful, best-selling authors. One of the things they mentioned is perseverance and how important this is. They also mentioned how writing often and wanting to write often is also important. I guess I should see the free time I have right now as a blessing to allow me to get the book I am working on done. Wow...it is funny how a simple email can help to put things into perspective.
I remember a job I had working in a visual library with a public broadcaster - I was dying to write every day. I would spend every available moment I had writing and understood that if I did not do this - my spirit would kind of die too. Now I have more time with a lighter teaching schedule and can make this happen. However, if you are like me the real challenge is to do things when you have less time, not more time. Meaning, I find that with my nature, I am actually more productive when I have more on my plate to deal with.
Well, I am going to get back to writing that book. I would love to hear from you about how your writing, education or other creative projects are coming along. Feel free to be the first to comment on this blog.
I remember a job I had working in a visual library with a public broadcaster - I was dying to write every day. I would spend every available moment I had writing and understood that if I did not do this - my spirit would kind of die too. Now I have more time with a lighter teaching schedule and can make this happen. However, if you are like me the real challenge is to do things when you have less time, not more time. Meaning, I find that with my nature, I am actually more productive when I have more on my plate to deal with.
Well, I am going to get back to writing that book. I would love to hear from you about how your writing, education or other creative projects are coming along. Feel free to be the first to comment on this blog.
Going Back to School
This morning I got up early as usual and wanted to write on my blog right away. I was stumped. I did not know what to write about. With the summer here and things getting quiet, there really does not seem to be a lot to write about on my end.
One thing I can mention though is that I will be going back to school. I will be doing a second master's degree in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. I had received entrance into different programs there since late 2007 and if I had just taken the original offer I could probably have completed my degree by now. Oh well, I guess everything happens for a reason and I hope this degree will help with more financial security for my future.
Why else does anyone go back to school, except to mainly secure a financial future for themselves? Paying for it will be slightly stressful, however I am hoping I can do it without loans because from what I hear - getting loans can be a really stressful experience once you need to pay them back. I have had luck with the two loans I have taken out before and have been able to pay them back relatively quickly.
Part of the reason I did not accept the admission offers I received in the past was because I was determined to do my PhD at U of T, or another school within Toronto. The good thing is that it looks as though I will be able to take doctoral-level courses while doing my master of education. More and more colleges are requiring that professors and instructors have doctoral-level degrees.
A lot of people go back to school in these economic times. I hope for all of you doing it that the silver lining will be there for you once you graduate and you will get exactly what your heart desires.
One thing I can mention though is that I will be going back to school. I will be doing a second master's degree in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. I had received entrance into different programs there since late 2007 and if I had just taken the original offer I could probably have completed my degree by now. Oh well, I guess everything happens for a reason and I hope this degree will help with more financial security for my future.
Why else does anyone go back to school, except to mainly secure a financial future for themselves? Paying for it will be slightly stressful, however I am hoping I can do it without loans because from what I hear - getting loans can be a really stressful experience once you need to pay them back. I have had luck with the two loans I have taken out before and have been able to pay them back relatively quickly.
Part of the reason I did not accept the admission offers I received in the past was because I was determined to do my PhD at U of T, or another school within Toronto. The good thing is that it looks as though I will be able to take doctoral-level courses while doing my master of education. More and more colleges are requiring that professors and instructors have doctoral-level degrees.
A lot of people go back to school in these economic times. I hope for all of you doing it that the silver lining will be there for you once you graduate and you will get exactly what your heart desires.
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