How English Became a World-Wide Language

English is one of the most popular languages in the world and is known as the official language for travel, business, and leisure. With 360 million people speaking it worldwide, you can almost guarantee to hear it on every continent. The fact that it is one of the easier languages to learn may be part of the reason why it is popular. But how exactly did English became as popular as it is today? Continue reading to find out.

The British Empire

The British Empire had a powerful rule over the world in the 17th and 18th Century. At its strongest, it was the largest empire the world had seen. The British Empire had a goal to spread across the planet and did so through colonization. They were able to get colonies in almost all of the continents through one way or another. The colonization of these new areas of the world also came with a new language: English.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers of the English language. His writing and eventual screen plays, influenced millions of people around the world. Because the English language was still growing and in the process of becoming used as an everyday language, the changes and additions to the language were able to stick around. Most notably, he introduced the word “thou” and added an emotional dimension to words, something that hadn’t been seen before. Shakespeare entertained millions of people and influenced others to learn the language to be able to read and enjoy his entertainment.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution changed and improved many of the technologies of the time. Apart from enabling humans to innovate and create the world that is seen today, the Industrial Revolution also played a major role in spreading the English language. Because it started in Great Britain, the most powerful nation in trade at the time, leaders of other nations had to learn English to be able to grow and achieve the same level of success.

Hollywood

Hollywood, California, the entertainment capital of the world, has evolved into a global powerhouse of entertainment. The influence that Hollywood has had on the world has been seen for years. The reach of Hollywood has spread globally, with many different non-English speaking counties falling in love with characters and shows from the USA. It wasn’t until recently that shows began using voice overs of their own languages, so prior to that, non-English speakers would use subtitles and learn the language.

English Has Spread Like a Wildfire

The English language has spread across the world in the last three hundred years. It is sometimes hard to imagine that a language has the capability to spread generation through generation, across different areas of the world. It makes much more sense now how slang and dialects stay in certain regions around the world. There are still many more people that could learn the language, though. With Brighter Learning, you can take teaching assistant courses that allow you to spread this beautiful language to others.

Garden Renovation on a Budget, How to Make it Happen

Garden Renovation on a Budget, How to Make it Happen

If you own a property with a garden then you will understand just how much of a pain this part of your home can be. The thing is that we all want to look out of our window and see a pretty garden or have a beautiful place t relax in when the sun starts shining. In spite of this, when it comes to spending money on the house, we all know that the living room, kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms will always take precedent over an outside space.

With that being said, none of us want to ignore the garden completely and if you want to give yours a make over, without spending crazy sums of cash, then here are some tips to give your garden a sexy budget makeover.

Pallets

Adding decking to your garden looks awesome but sadly those lush wooden panels come with a hefty price tag. However, you can make your own decking area on the cheap by using some warehouse pallets. These pallets are easy to come by and often either very cheap or free from local factories and warehouses. Once you get the pallets you should sand them down, give them a coat of protection and then paint the the color of your choice before laying them down and creating your very own DIY decking area.

Old Chic

If you want to add a touch of style to your garden then you should look at buying or obtaining some old pieces of metal equipment to place around the garden. When you get things like old watering cans, pots and pans or rusty old bikes in the garden, the distressed look of the metal works perfectly with the freshness and colors of grass and flowers. You can pick things like this up in a scrap yard or thrift shop and they won’t take much time to install.

Mirror, Mirror

Mirrors are another great addition to your garden, they can give the appearance of a larger space and they can also add great patterns when the sun bounces off the glass. Even broken pieces of mirror can look good if you add  a mosaic style design and you can get mirrors for very low prices.

Interesting Pots

If you want to add some potted plants to your garden then you need to start getting creative with the pots you use for a truly unique and exciting look to the garden. You can use any type of container to place the plants in and to make it look cool you should think about using things like old wellington boots or even old pieces of clothing like jeans which you can hang off a wall and place the plants inside.

The key to giving your garden a budget make over is to get creative and understand that you do not need to pay the crazy prices which many garden centers would have you believe that you need to.

What to Consider Before Opting For a House Extension

What to Consider Before Opting For a House Extension

With the property market in a regular state of flux in many parts of the world, more and more people who have found themselves in need of more space in the home are opting to extend the home that they are in rather than buy somewhere new. This is a great option for many who don’t wish to uproot their lives and move somewhere else and for people who simply want exactly what they have, with just a dash more space.

If you are thinking about getting an extension then here are the things which you need to consider.

Money

Housing extensions are not cheap and you need to understand that even if you have been given a quote from a particular building firm, they very rarely come in at budget. For this reason you need to ensure that you not only have sufficient money to pay for the extension itself but also that you have enough money to cover any additional charges which will be added on to the cost of the project. On top of this, you need to ensure that you have enough money to furnish, decorate and kit out the new space which you have created.

Permission

Before making changes and alterations to your property you will need to seek planning permission from your local authorities. This is not always a given and there are many laws in place for the protection of others which could prevent your from making changes to your home. Aside from speaking with the authorities, you should also make the effort to speak with your neighbors to inform them of what will be taking place. It is not just the change to you home which may affect the neighbors but also the amount of noise and construction vehicles which may be coming in and out during the project.

Stay or Go

The ideal situation is that you and your family are able to move out for the duration of the extension. This will allow the builders to get on with their job to the best of their ability, it will ensure that the job is finished as quickly as possible and it will mean that you do not put yourself in any danger whilst the work is completed. Not everyone has the means or money to move out for such a long time however and you should understand the consequences if you are not able to move out of your home during the project.

These are the three key things to consider when deciding on whether a housing extension is a good idea for you. Regarding the planning of the extension it is important that you work closely with the architect to talk about exactly what you need from the additional space and find the best way to do it. Whilst this will be an expense operation, you should bear in mind that you will be adding value on to your home and most extensions actually end up paying for themselves when the home is eventually sold.

Study Hacks to Help you Pass any Exam

Study Hacks to Help you Pass any Exam

Studying is something that not very many of us enjoy but it is a necessary evil when it comes to passing exams. In turn, exams are vitally important for our education and in order to further progress our career or our job possibilities, exam results make a huge difference.

The problem is that sitting and reading from a book can be incredibly boring and whilst it is necessary to do, there are some different methods which you could adopt to ensure that your studying is easier and more successful. Let’s take a look at some study hacks which you can use to pass that exam.

Incentivize

Breaking up your studies is vitally important in terms of your brain best absorbing information and one of the best ways to do this is through an incentive plan. For example, let’s say that for every 2 hours studying, you can spend ten minutes on social media, or eat a snack, or play a game on your phone for ten minutes. Not only will this help to break up your studies, but it will also give you a reason to keep going, as well as reason to stop.

Switch It Up

Many reports have shown that if you study in the same place each time, you are going to be far less able to absorb the information which you are reading. For this reason you need to ensure that you are alternating the place where you study. A great idea is to study outside as often as you can, the air and the tranquil setting can really boost how much information you take in.

Tech for Travel

Now that we have that ability to carry our studies around with us on our smartphones, we can study whilst traveling with ease. A great tip for this is to download a flashcard app and spend some time filling each card out with info. Then all you need to do is whip your phone out the next time you are on the bus or the train, and study away. Flashcards are great because they break information down into small, manageable chunks and your brain can process the information much easier.

Classical

Listening to classical music as you study has been proven to alert brain receptors, the same receptors which process information. For this reason, listening to some Dvorak or Beethoven as you crunch through your study books can give you a great deal of help. Studying in silence can be boring yet music with lyrics can be confusing, the best way to break the silence and avoid the lyrics is to blast out some classical as you work.

Sleeping

Don’t underestimate how powerful sleeping is when it comes to studying, those who want a badge of honor for pulling an all-nighter may have studied longer, but the lack of sleep is likely to have made them forget more than they learned. Sleep well in order to study to the best of your ability.

Few of us enjoy studying but if you follow these hacks, you can make it much easier on yourself.