English Adult learners in Morocco (Survey...)

 English language learning starts among Moroccan young learners in lower secondary, and ''rarely'' in primary or preschool.However,Adults learn English at universities, vocational institutes and/or private language schools, and specialized centres ...If you are an adult or young adult , living in Morocco ,and you are interested in learning English in a creative,enjoyable and knowlegeable environmant, beyound the ordinary classroom.please fill out this form carefully, and tell us about your motivations to take an English language course.

يبدأ الأطفال في المغرب، تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية في المرحلة الإعدادية أو الثانوية، و''نادرا'' ما يتم ذلك في المرحلة الابتدائية أوالتعليم الأولي .بينما، يتعلم الكبار اللغة الإنجليزية في الجامعات والمعاهد المهنية و/أو مدارس اللغات الخاصة والمراكز المتخصصة... إذا كنت مهتما بتعلم اللغة الإنجليزية في بيئة خلاقة وممتعة، خارج الفصل الدراسي العادي.يرجى ملء هذه الاستمارة بعناية، وإطلاعنا على دوافعك لتلقي دورة في اللغة الإنجليزية

L'apprentissage de l'anglais commence chez les jeunes apprenants marocains dans le premier cycle du secondaire, et ''rarement'' dans le primaire ou le préscolaire. Cependant, les adultes apprennent l'anglais dans les universités, les instituts professionnels et/ou les écoles des langues privées, et les centres spécialisés...Si vous êtes un adulte ou un jeune adulte, vivant au Maroc, intéressé à apprendre l'anglais dans un environnement créatif, agréable et efficace, au delà de la classe ordinaire. Veuillez remplir ce formulaire avec soin, et nous parler de votre motivations pour suivre un cours d'anglais.

TO FILL OUT THE FORM,PLEASE CLICK HERE !

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An introduction to public speaking

Noone can deny the importance of public speaking in business in particular and life in general.Artists, politicians and businessmen use public speaking skills approximately everyday. Here you find a presentation that offers you a general background about PS in addition to some useful tips about oral presentations preparation and delivery.

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Youth and democratic Development Challenges

Zagora, Morocco

Bni Zouli Forum for Development and Communication in Zagora (FOBDEC), in cooperation with the British council, organized a national youth forum, under the theme “Youth and Challenges of Democratic Development”, on April 17, 2016 at Reda Zagora Hotel.

During the day more than 120 participants interacted actively with 12 youth leaders who represented Moroccan youth organizations and/or international organizations working in Morocco.  Here are some of the representatives:

- Policies  Analysis Center for MENA Zone, represented by Zaineb Ben Zima.- Youth for Youth Association, Ahmed Rizki.- Prometheus Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Yasine Bezaz.- “No Hate Speech Movement” national committee, Bouthaina Farsi.

Political participation, human rights, philosophy and politics were among the sub-themes elaborated by speakers in the forum.

Participants between the ages of 18 to 32 showed their happiness in attending the conference.

Latifa, a 20 year old student from Tisrgat near Zagora, said “it’s a great opportunity to be here in this conference.  In fact, I learned a lot about different experiences of young leaders who presented their talks here today. One of them that touched me a lot was a girl who comes from a rural area.  Ms Rkia Qasm, the president of Afra Commune, shared her political experience and her point of view to upgrade young people’s participation in the public issues.”

Mourad, a member of a local association, made this comment. “This forum was exciting because the content was both crucial and interesting. There were speakers and participants from different parts of Morocco who shared various experiences about many issues related to youth.”

Said, a president of a local NGO in a small village called Ait Kajour near Tamgrout, said, “I was invited to this forum by organizers. It was an event that gave young and emergent leaders in Morocco the opportunity to meet and talk different issues that matter as active citizens, who contributed for sure in the political, economic and cultural development of their country.”

Organizing a nationwide event like this one wasn’t an easy task, but it reflected the hard work of the team headed by Khalid Chahid, the FOBDEC president, who told us “this forum aims to discuss youth and democracy issues.  It’s a fruit of a partnership between our organization and the British Council. The event gathers young leaders from four corners of the country to talk about their experiences in networking and political participation among others.

Our hope is to create a strong youth movement to contribute in the democratic development in Zagora and the region.”

The forum was finished by an award ceremony in which Active Citizens program participants received their certificates and posed for a group photo.

http://www.moroccopens.com/2016/06/youth-and-challenges-of-democratic.html

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The Steps in Starting a Business

A-Read this text carefully:

The Steps in Starting a Business

Nearly every person who makes the decision to start a business is an entrepreneur

because he or she is willing to take a risk. Usually people decide to start a business to gain profits and to “do something on their own” or to be their own boss.

Entrepreneurs then gather the factors of production and decide on the form of business

organization that best suits their purposes. Anyone hoping to become an entrepreneur must also learn as much as possible about the business he or she plans to start. This process includes learning about the laws, regulations, and tax codes that will apply to the business.

Elements of Business Operation

To start a business, you must make potential customers aware that your services are

available for a price. You could have one-page fliers printed to advertise your business

and pass them out. You could also buy advertising space in the local newspaper.

Every business, regardless of size, involves four elements: expenses, advertising,

receipts and record keeping, and risk.

Expenses

If you own a painting business, you will need to purchase brushes and paint. As your

business grows, you might invest in paint sprayers so that you can complete jobs faster.

This new equipment would add to your income, but will probably take more money

capital than you have on hand.

Advertising

You will quickly find out that letting potential customers know that you are in business

is costly. Once you have customers, however, information about your business will spread by word of mouth.

Receipts and Record Keeping

No matter how small your business is, having a system to track your expenses and

income is key to your success. All receipts should be safely filed and saved.

Risk

Every business involves risks. You must balance the risks against the advantages of

being in business for yourself - including profit versus loss.

Depending on the kinds of jobs you do, you will need equipment and replacement

parts. At first, you might buy parts as you need them for a particular job: In time, you will

find it easier to have an inventory. An inventory is a supply of whatever items are used in

a business.

Probably one of the first things you want to do, if you have not already done so, is buy

a computer. With the computer, you also should purchase the programs that will allow you to keep track of all your expenses and all your receipts. Many such programs exist and are relatively inexpensive. Programs write checks for you, calculate your monthly profit and loss, tell you the difference between what you own and what you owe (called net worth),and so on. As an entrepreneur, you are taking many risks, but the profit you expect to make is your incentive for taking those risks. For example, if you spend part of your savings to pay for advertising and equipment, you are taking a risk. You may not get enough business to cover these costs.

B- Re-read the text and answer all the questions:

1-What is the general idea of the text?

2-Comment on this quote “Nearly every person who makes the decision to start a business is an entrepreneur because he or she is willing to take a risk”?

3- Decide whether these statements are true or false? Justify your             answers? 

a-Computer programs are so expensive.

b- Only huge companies need accounting records to meet success.

c-To gain money you have to spend money.

d-Every entrepreneur needs to be aware of different laws and regulations related to business.

4- Find in the text words or expressions meaning the same as: 

       a-to set up       b-director       c-charges        d-buy

5- What do the two underlined words in the text refer to? 

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Cultural challenges in business

A-Read carefully the text:

Nobody actually wants to cause offence but, as business becomes ever more

international, it is increasingly easy to get it wrong. There may be a single European

market but it does not mean that managers behave the same in Greece as they do in

Denmark.

In many European countries handshaking is an automatic gesture. In France good

manners require that on arriving at a business meeting a manager shakes hands with

everyone present. This can be a demanding task and, in a crowded room, may require gymnastic ability if the farthest hand is to be reached. Handshaking is almost as popular in other countries - including Germany, Belgium and Italy. But Northern Europeans, such as the British and Scandinavians, are not quite so fond of physical demonstrations of friendliness.

In Europe the most common challenge is not the content of the food, but the way you behave as you eat. Some things are just not done. In France it is not good manners to raise tricky questions of business over the main 39 course. Business has its place: after the cheese course. Unless you are prepared to eat in silence you have to talk about something - something, that is, other than the business deal which you are continually chewing over in your head.Italians give similar importance to the whole process of business entertaining. In fact,in Italy the biggest fear, as course after course appears, is that you entirely forget you are there on business. If you have the energy, you can always do the polite thing when the meal finally ends, and offer to pay. Then, after a lively discussion, you must remember the next polite thing to do - let your host pick up the bill.

In Germany, as you walk sadly back to your hotel room, you may wonder why your

apparently friendly hosts have not invited you out for the evening. Don’t worry, it is

probably nothing personal. Germans do not entertain business people with quite the same enthusiasm as some of their European counterparts.

The Germans are also notable for the amount of formality they bring to business. As an outsider, it is often difficult to know whether colleagues have been working together for 30 years or have just met in the lift. If you are used to calling people by their first names this can be a little strange. To the Germans, titles are important.

In Italy the question of title is further confused by the fact that everyone with a

university degree can be called Dottore - and engineers, lawyers and architects may also expect to be called by their professional titles.

These cultural challenges exist side by side with the problems of doing business in a

foreign language. Language, of course, is full of difficulties - disaster may be only a

syllable away. But the more you know of the culture of the country you are dealing with, the less likely you are to get into difficulties. It is worth the effort. It might be rather hard to explain that the reason you lost the contract was not the product or the price, but the fact that you offended your hosts in a light-hearted comment over an aperitif. Good manners are admired: they can also make or break the deal.

B- Re-read the text and answer all the questions:

1-What is the general idea of the text? 

2-Show the importance of understanding other cultures in business? 

3- Decide whether these statements are true or false? Justify your             answers?

a-Italians don’t prefer to be called by their professional titles.

b- In Germany you are requested to call people by their first names.

d-The rest of Europeans focus on entertaining their guests of business more than Germans.

e-British and Scandinavians prefer to keep more distance while greeting.

4- Find in the text words or expressions meaning the same as: 

       a-worldwide        b-courtesy         c-menu        d-completely 

5- What do the two underlined words in the text refer to? 

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What is business?

A-Read all the text carefully:

What is business?

Business is an organized approach to providing customers with the goods and services
they want. The word business also refers to an organization that provides these goods and
services. Most businesses seek to make a profit - that is, they aim to achieve revenues that exceed the costs of operating the business. Prominent examples of for-profit businesses include Mitsubishi Group, General Motors Corporation, and Royal Dutch/Shell Group.
However, some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs.
Commonly called nonprofits, these organizations are primarily nongovernmental service
providers. Examples of nonprofit businesses include such organizations as social service
agencies, foundations, advocacy groups, and many hospitals.
Business Operations
A variety of operations keep businesses, especially large corporations, running
efficiently and effectively. Common business operation divisions include (1) production,
(2) marketing, (3) finance, and (4) human resource management.
Production includes those activities involved in conceptualizing, designing, and
creating products and services. In recent years there have been dramatic changes in the
6 way goods are produced. Today, computers help monitor, control, and even perform work.Flexible, high-tech machines can do in minutes what it used to take people hours to
accomplish. Another important development has been the trend toward just-in-time inventory.
The word inventory refers to the amount of goods a business keeps available for wholesale or retail. In just-in-time inventory, the firm stocks only what it needs for the next day or two. Many businesses rely on fast, global computer communications to allow
them to respond quickly to changes in consumer demand. Inventories are thus minimized
and businesses can invest more in product research, development, and marketing.
Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that consumers need and
want and providing those goods and services at the right price, place, and time.

Businesses develop marketing strategies by conducting research to determine what products and services potential customers think they would like to be able to purchase. Firms also promote their products and services through such techniques as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to inform potential customers and motivate them to purchase. Firms that market products for which there is always some demand, such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they face competition from other firms marketing similar products. Such


products rarely need to be sold face-to-face. On the other hand, firms that market products and services that buyers will want to see, use, or better understand before buying, often rely on personalized sales. Expensive and durable goods - such as automobiles, electronics, or furniture - benefit from personalized sales, as do legal, financial, and accounting services.
Finance involves the management of money. All businesses must have enough capital
on hand to pay their bills, and for-profit businesses seek extra capital to expand their
operations. In some cases, they raise long-term capital by selling ownership in the
company. Other common financial activities include granting, monitoring, and collecting
on credit or loans and ensuring that customers pay bills on time. The financial division of
any business must also establish a good working relationship with a bank. This is
particularly important when a business wants to obtain a loan.
Businesses rely on effective human resource management (HRM) to ensure that they
hire and keep good employees, and that they are able to respond to conflicts between
workers and management. HRM specialists initially determine the number and type of
employees that a business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then
responsible for recruiting new employees to replace those who leave and for filling newly
created positions. A business’s HRM division also trains or arranges for the training of its
staff to encourage worker productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction, and to promote the
overall success of the business. Finally, human resource managers create workers’
compensation plans and benefit packages for employees.

B- Answer all these questions:
1- Give a definition to the word ‘business’.
2- What is the difference between for-profit and non-profit organizations? Support
your answer with relevant examples.
3- What is production?
4- What is marketing?
5- Define such business operation as finance.

6-What does the HRM involve?

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Introduction to ELT teachers CPD: Three online solutions

Noone can deny the importance of continuing professional development for ELT instructors.It helps teachers to stay up to date with the new methods and procedures of teaching and learning which leads to the improvement of their classes output.Learning was and is still always linked to travel but the only difference between past teachers and actual ones, seeking professional development, is that in the past educators take long real journeys .However , traveling for knowledge in the modern era can also be virtual with same or better results in various aspects.

Introduction to ELT teachers CPD from Mohamed EL Boubakri

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