A clip of Teller from Penn & Teller performing his magic trick ‘Shadows’.

Music video by John Mayer performing Shadow Days. (c) 2012 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Where? Some students tell me that it is difficult to do shadowing at home. They have families, and there are no quiet places, or they are busy with family. Other students get home late, and after daily routine activities, there is simply not much time left.

Whatever the reason, some students find it difficult to shadow at home. But they cannot do shadowing out loud while they are commuting. There are many people around, so it would look strange. Or perhaps they are driving a car, and need to give their attention to driving.

Why? Those students ask why it is necessary to do shadowing out loud. There are several reasons why shadowing out loud is effective. To begin with, when you shadow out loud, you are already practicing the mouth movements of English. And of course, practice makes perfect. But more importantly, shadowing out loud gives you instant feedback about your practice. You can hear the speaking you are shadowing and your own voice, and you can compare them. You will instantly know what is correct, and what is imperfect in your speaking.

Another reason for shadowing out loud is that you directly involve the brain more. You have to give your attention to listening and speaking, and this leaves little room for thinking about what you are hearing. That is good. You want to break the habit of thinking about what you are hearing until your listening skill is higher.

Also, after lots of practice, you will find a lot of meaning is already in your head. Shadowing and not thinking about the meaning allows a lot of the content to be registered in your procedural memory. This is where grammar knowledge is. That helps you to understand grammar without consciously thinking about it.

The final reason for shadowing out loud is simply that shadowing silently takes a lot of concentration. You have to work harder to imagine yourself saying the words than you do simply saying them. It becomes easier to stop imagining and simply listen.

Can I shadow silently? Yes, but you should know that it is not as effective. You need to strongly imagine yourself saying the words out loud. You must be careful not to start ‘just listening’ to the words. It is easier to imagine saying the words if you let your tongue move a bit while you shadow silently. Just enough that other people don’t notice you shadowing, but you notice if you stop.

What happens if I stop imagining saying the words? Let’s say you are shadowing silently but you are a bit tired, and without noticing, you stop shadowing and now you are just listening. You still have the benefit of listening to English which is better than not listening at all. That sounds good, but when you are just listening, you may start the old habit of thinking about meaning. This often means translating, which is a bad habit… it slows you down.

The Best of Both If you combine shadowing out loud with silent shadowing you may get the best of both worlds. Do two or three minutes our spoken shadowing at home, perhaps in the morning. Then somewhere during your day shadow silently. For instance, commuting to or from work, or at lunchtime. Just three minutes.

Then you have the experience of shadowing out loud (in the morning), and you can shadow silently and imagine much easier. Simply remember your spoken shadowing session and the feeling of speaking out loud while you shadow silently. Then your silent shadowing serves as a strong review of spoken shadowing.

Summary The key points of this article are: 1) spoken shadowing is best. 2) sometimes we cannot always do shadowing spoken out loud 3) shadowing silently is better than just listening but even that is better than nothing at all 4) shadowing silently can be more effective if combined with spoken shadowing

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As a site focused on engaging its readers, GraphicDesign.com published a controversial feature article this week, “The Sad State of Design 2012.” Written by Neil Tortorella, “The Sad State of Design 2012″ begins, “I’ve been at this design stuff for a while now. All in all, roughly 35 years, give or take. In that time, Ive watched the graphic design profession slowly erode into a shadow of what it once was.”

Tortorella’s editorial begins by pointing out that in the 1960s and 1970s, “Designers had a seat at the Board table, so to speak. Our talents, skills, and opinions mattered and were seen as valuable to our clients.”

Then, the advent of computers allowed everyone with tech-competency to call themselves a designer: “As designers, we find ourselves competing with the likes of an 11-year old who has some computer-savvy, an administrative assistant, and a client’s next-door neighbor’s nephew who ‘does some really nifty graphics.’”

In the current era of graphic design, mediocrity could unfortunately be the norm. The article published exclusively on GraphicDesign.com questions, “When clients don’t give a hoot about how their materials reflect their branding and positioning, what’s a designer to do? Should we become swoosh-ready, clip-art toting graphic decorators, working for a buck-and-a-quarter, rather than strategically-thinking graphic designers?”

Can the glory days of graphic design return? Should GraphicDesign.com readers prepare for smooth sailing, or a rough ride? “My belief is that we have some work to do in educating our clients about the real value of graphic design as a resource to help them reach their business goals if we are to survive as a viable industry,” Tortorella summarized.

At the end of the article, readers face a simple question, the results of which will be released on May 20th at Midnight PT: “Do you believe that graphic design has been devalued by clients?” Those interested in the results of the “Yes” or “No” poll are encouraged to visit GraphicDesign.com on May 21st.

The GraphicDesign.com community has actively been discussing Tortorella’s piece. One poster echoed, “I have around five years of experience in design and my two biggest challenges are cited above: lack of knowledge in everything and clients who say, ‘good enough.’”

Several readers emphasized educating their clients. One such comment read: “I’d say it’s part of our job as designers to educate our clients to the value of the service we provide and what impact it can have on their business.”

One reader believes it’s the designers who are the problem. “Ive encountered all these scenarios and my share of jaded designersbut the problem is not clients. Its US. Excellent work is done for excellent clients. As professionals, we must assert our value and help our clients to understand it”.

GraphicDesign.com will continue to publish interactive content regularly from its stable of skilled contributing writers. Visit GraphicDesign.com and weigh in on the future of the graphic design industry.

ABOUT GRAPHICDESIGN.COM

GraphicDesign.com is a product of Terran Marketing and a leading source of news and information devoted entirely to the graphic design industry. Employers, students, and freelancers come to GraphicDesign.com to read and discuss current news, information, and events in the graphic design industry.

CONTACT:

Julia Wild

Terran Marketing

892 East Steger Town Road, Suite #206

Rockwall, TX 75032

Phone: (540) 908-2195

E-Mail: julia(at)graphicdesign(dot)com

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Badass metal band from japan. Gothenburg melodic death metal. If you like the old In Flames you’re definitely going to love this. They are unfortunately inactive at the moment.

Dark Shadows Trailer. Join official facebook page here : www.facebook.com A movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Thomas McDonell, Gulliver McGrath… A gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts. Based on the cult TV series, Dark Shadows Movie will hit theaters May 11th, 2012. Suscrobe now to get the latest movies clips and trailers !
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Shadows create the illusion that an object is hovering above the slide. They can make shapes look more realistic. In PowerPoint 2007, it’s easy to create soft shadows, but in PowerPoint 2003, you need to use a trick. Here are instructions for both.

***PowerPoint 2003***

1. Insert an AutoShape by choosing AutoShapes from the Drawing toolbar and then choosing the one that you want. I chose a heart. Format it as desired.

2. Duplicate the AutoShape by selecting it, and pressing Ctrl + D or copying and pasting. You now have one in front of the other. We’ll turn the copy, which is on top, into the shadow, and place it behind the original at the end.

Tip: The shadow looks more realistic on shapes without sharp edges. For rectangles, create the copy, select the copy, and choose Change AutoShape from the Draw button of the Drawing toolbar. Then choose Basic Shapes> Rounded Rectangle.

3. Double-click the copy to open the Format AutoShape dialog box. On the Colors and Lines tab, in the Fill section, click the Color drop-down list and choose Fill Effects. The Gradient tab should be on top.

4. Click the Two Colors option. For Color 1, choose black. For Color 2, choose your background’s color.

Tip: If your background is not solid, choose the nearest color. Then, in the Transparency section, set the To value to 100%.

5. In the Shading Styles section, choose the From Center option. In the Variants section, choose the option that shows black in the center. Click OK.

6. Back in the Format AutoShape dialog box, in the Line section, click the Color drop-down list, and choose No Line. Click OK to return to your slide.

7. Drag the bottom-right handle to make your shadow larger, about 1-1/2 times the size of the original.

8. Select the copy, right-click, and choose Order> Send to Back. Adjust the shadow’s size and position for the most realistic look.

9. Compare this to the standard shadow, which you create by choosing from the Shadow Style button on the Drawing toolbar.

***PowerPoint 2007***

In PowerPoint 2007, soft shadows are easier.

1. Double-click the shapde to display the Drawing Tools Format tab. Click Shape Effects> Shadow> Shadow Options.

Change the following settings:

Transparency: By default, shadows are partially transparent, but you can increase the transparency if you want.

Size: You can make the shadow larger.

Blur: This is main the setting that creates a soft shadow. Drag until you like what you see.

Angle: Drag the angle slider to get the angle that you want.

Distance: To emphasize the shadow, drag its distance (from the shape) upward.

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A fresh university graduate confessed in recent post on the companys website about his training as a tender writer for Executive Compass nothing beats kinaesthetic learning paired with personal instruction from the masters.

The young man chose to work for Executive Compass out of university instead of doing manual labour at a popular fast food outlet and wondered why. After securing a degree, he did not count on the six months of his apprenticeship with the bid management company and being under the wings of the masters to be more packed with lessons compared to the three years he devoted to his tertiary education. Intense mental flexibility was required to accommodate all the information in such a short span of time and being thrust into the system relatively early. Naturally, the burger-flipping job seemed more ideal certainly beats thumbing through an invitation to tender for the provision of domiciliary care services!

The personal approach is not something that a lot of companies employ in training new recruits. Often, the tricks of the trade are highly guarded and kept within the business; training newbies can be purely theoretical. Executive Compass is different; it invests completely in training highly-qualified trainees like the young man who even shares in his post, I have been working alongside Michael and Neil, shadowing them as they work through submissions, absorbing as much as possible as I see the tender being put together in front of me. I have also been left to my own devices in managing my own clients and completing PQQs on their behalf, with Michael and Neil reviewing my completed documents to ensure that their quality is of a level they themselves would be happy to submit. I have been getting my hands dirty recently, writing policies for a client, under the watchful eye of Michael; and to date I have successfully completed writing a Health & Safety Policy, Environmental Policy, Equality & Diversity Policy and A Business Continuity Plan! Writing all of these is proving to be an immensely informative part of my training.

The personal approach allows for more exposure and it effectively prepares trainee tender writers for the real gig, giving them enough confidence and solid knowledge to be successful in their first official effort. The trainee also adds, I also have the opportunity to shadow Michael as he travels around the UK delivering training workshops to companies of all shapes and sizes from all industries, which is a real eye opener and not only a great way to learn about the processes that should be adopted for successful PQQ, Bid and Tender writing but also to see the master at work!

The trainee claims that he still has some more learning to do but the path to becoming a bid writing professional is already set for him. Theres no other better place to learn than Executive Compass, UKs top-notch bid management company.

A powerful novel from Michael Morpurgo, the nation’s favourite storyteller! Never have Aman and his mother needed a friend more than when a Springer Spaniel appears — thin and war-ravaged — in the mouth of their Afghan cave. Nursed back to health by Aman, the dog becomes a constant companion, a shadow, and that’s what Aman decides to call her. But life in Afghanistan becomes more dangerous by the moment. Eventually, Aman, his mother and Shadow find the courage to embark upon the treacherous journey from war-torn Afghanistan to the safely of a relative’s home in Manchester, England. But how far can Shadow lead them? And in this terrifying new world, is anywhere really safe!?

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