2 . Your child is unique, but what all children have in common is natural curiosity and an innate(天生的) ability to learn. Our brains are active all the time, and a baby’s brain is the busiest of all. Research has shown that babies begin to understand language about twice as fast as they actually speak it. By exposing children to other languages at an early age, you are giving them the opportunity to make use of their natural ability to hear and recognize the sounds of other languages, and their ability to make sense of what they are hearing.

Communication is something that children do to help them achieve something else, and they are unaware of the large amount of learning taking place. They take everything in through their senses, making connections between what they hear, see, smell, taste and touch. As long as we provide the right conditions, their learning and development will take place in a natural way.

In your child’s early years, the emotional environment is just as important as the physical environment. Children learn when they feel secure, happy, valued and listened to. This is central to any learning experience in a child’s early years, including learning an additional language. Your child has a trial-and-error approach to their development, and making mistakes is a valuable part of the learning process. Their progress isn’t held up by a fear of getting something wrong, and very young children are simply working their way towards getting it right.

The long-term benefits of learning another language go beyond being able to communicate with others. Studies suggest that children learning an additional language tend to score better on standardized tests because learning languages develops listening, observation, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. These are skills that are of lifelong benefit, both personally and professionally. Encouraging children in a love of language at an early age prepares them well for school and for life.

4 . Counseling(咨询)Services

Counseling Services is a place on campus where you can find someone to talk when you're feeling hopeless, lonely, depressed, confused, upset over a relationship, or just anxious. If you or anyone you know has been disturbed by recent events, please come to Counseling Services, which can provide a safe and comfortable environment for all students.

Counseling Services will be closed from Monday. December 21st 2020 through the beginning of Spring Term 2021. But we will continue to provide Tele-health services by phone and email Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. We will be fully closed on the following dates: December 24th. 25th. 30th. 31st. January 1st. 2021.

To make an appointment, call (715) S36-552I during our business hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 am-12:00 am, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm. We are open 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays.

In addition to services on phones or on line, you can now check out our Attacking. Anxiety and Depression Workshop Videos, or see what our office is up to on Instagram and Facebook. We have also been collecting COVID-19 specific online resources.

If you want to know more, please click here.

6 . A http:/www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/

Fantastic site from CNN. Over 50 news stories categorized under headings such as crime, environment and adventure. Each story has a range of activities focusing on comprehension and vocabulary, mostly of the multiple-choice variety.

B http:/www.npr.org/

NPR is an American radio network with an extensive audio archive—an excellent source of authentic English.

C http:/www.humorlinks.com/

Hilarious site bringing together over 7,000 links to humor of every kind, from American comedy to Australian cartoons. Here you will see the funniest jokes and pictures from around the world.

D http:/www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/

Hundreds of fascinating interviews with famous people from every walk of life: actors, cartoonists, musicians, painters, philosophers, political activists, scientists and writers.

E http:/www.bbc.co.uk/music/listen

Lots of online music from classical to jazz, from blues to rap. You can listen to radio programs or select a range of special features.

F http: /www.onestopenglish.com

Here you will find listening activities—updated each month--from the online magazine from Macmillan.

7 . Every year on April 1, April Fools' Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In France, it's called "Poisson d^’Avril" or "Fish of April”. In Scotland, the holiday is often called "Gowkie Day". In Iraq, the holiday is called "Kithbet Neesan” or "April Lie".

History experts say people have celebrated April Fools^’ Day for a long time. Some believe April Fools' Day comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago, which was a day of playing games and pretending to be someone else.

Others say the day for fooling began in France in 1564. when King Charles changed the yearly calendar. He moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January I Many people did not know about the change because of communication problems then. Some people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people called them April Fools and played jokes on them.

In the United State, April Fools' Day is just a day of joking and playing tricks on friends. These kinds of jokes are also called pranks （恶 作 剧）.These jokes typically end in the prankster shouting “April Fools”!

Simple pranks, like telling a friend a funny lie or making prank phone calls, are still common. But major companies also get in on April Fools' Day in a much bigger way. A few years ago, on April 1, Starbucks announced it was introducing new coffee cup sizes-plenta and Micra. The very large cups, bigger than a human head, remained useful for customers even after finishing all that coffee. According to Starbucks, the cups could be used as a rain hat, a pot for plants, or a lampshade.

It did not take long for customers to catch on to the prank. More and more people use media or smartphone apps to play pranks on their friends on April Fools' Day. One very annoying smartphone app, Cat Facts, sends funny facts about cats to your friends⁵ phones every day.

8 . When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied （欺凌）at school. I felt completely alone in my small town.

But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy 1 shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received, I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.

Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.

After surviving the terrible experiences at school and at home, 1 made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, one I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.

Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone's life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.

9 . Unique and Weird New Year's Eve Traditions

German

In some parts of Germany, they do lead （铅）pouring. Pour a dollop （团）of lead into cold water and the shape it dorms may be telling you about the year to come. A heart shape, naturally, means love will come your way. A crown predicts wealth and fortune. A star indicates happiness. But if you see a cross, you're almost dead!

Latin America

If you are in Latin America, make sure you have some colourful underpants to ring in the New Year. End — of — the — year partiers put on colourful underwear to ensure certain types of outcomes of the following year, red for love and yellow for success.

Naples, Italy

Neapolitans like throwing things out of the windows, at least on New Year's Eve. Furniture, kitchen machines, grandma.. Well, maybe not the last one. Let's hope not, anyway. This tradition is meant to symbolize an out — with — the — old gesture and get a new beginning of the new year. These days people are a bit more mindful of what they throw into the street below.

Spain

In 1909, winegrowers in the Alicante region of Spain had a brilliant idea: Start and promote an annual tradition that would involve people in having to buy and eat more grapes. Everyone must eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve to pray for wealth of the coming year. Now, it's a popular custom in Spain. But the problem is that people have to eat a grape for each bell striking at midnight.

10 . Knowing how to communicate well needs very personal attention between you and another human being. Is there a better way to learn how to communicate effectively? Yes, there is. Please follow the 3 basic steps below.

* Relax and breathe

Whether it's a business meeting or a first date, the first thing you must do in order to communicate is to relax.

When you relax, you are in control. You control your reactions and your reactions do not control you. Breathing is central to relaxation. Take a few deep breaths and your body will begin to be more at ease. This will help you apply what you already know about how to communicate well.

* Think and you will be prepared

Have you ever heard the old saying "think before you speak"? Well, it is true. By thinking ahead about how the conversation might flow, you will be better prepared, more at ease and more confident.

* Follow the flow of the conversation

If you are uncomfortable, being silent will only make it worse and make the other person uncomfortable as well. So when all else fails, follow through with small talk until a common topic appears.

A good way to keep a conversation going is to ask the other person questions. People love to talk about themselves and if you do this, they will leave the conversation, thinking very highly of you. Learning good communication skills is not something out of reach. If you make an effort, you will succeed.