Blood Donation Marketing analysis Research Paper

Blood Donation Marketing analysis - Research Paper Example The collected blood will be supplied to the military camps, churches, community organizations etc for emergency purposes ( American Red Cross, 2010).The guidelines, benefits of the blood donation camp are available for free through social media networks like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (Donate Blood, 2013d). Weakness Recruitment of first time blood donors require extensive identification, education and motivation. Training, educating and motivation these first time blood donors consumes a lot of time (Red Cross, 2010). The trainers have to maintain a record of the first time blood donors since the repeat donors are already provided with an identity card by the blood organizer camp. Apart from time consumption, the blood organizers have to deal with the pre donation anxiety and nervousness of the first time blood donors. Opportunity The benefits about blood donation are being taught to the college children, this has eased the task of the blood donation camps to communicate the benefits of blood donation. Technological development has made it easier for the blood donors to schedule their appointments online (Donate Blood, 2013e).... †¢To develop an integrated marketing communication strategy which motivates current, non and lapsed donors in the target market to increase their blood donations in 2013-14. †¢To improve and increase blood donation accessibility for the 18-24 year-old age group in 2013-14. Issue Analysis In Australia, marketing effort is aimed at attracting and maintaining sufficient numbers of regular, volunteer blood donors in the under-represented age group of 18 to 24 year-olds. It is essential that the Australian Red Cross Blood Service ensures are reasonable and safe blood supply throughout the year. Each week, at least 27,000, blood donations, are required to assist people with serious blood illnesses (e.g., cancer, blood diseases), surgical patients (e.g., open heart surgery, burns), kidney disease patients, pregnant women and traumatic accident patients (Australian Red Cross Blood Service, 2013). Only a relatively small percentage of the eligible population within the 18-24 year-ol d age group donates blood on a regular basis. Furthermore, eligible donors often lapse in their blood donating behaviour after their blood donation. Marketing Strategy Arranging for a blood donation campaign is a challenging task and requires intensive market study, planning and psychological analysis of the blood donors. An effective marketing strategy needs to be developed to ensure the smooth functioning of the blood donation campaign. Marketing Objective To encourage blood donation among individuals aged between 18 to 24 years old from the period 01 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. Budget Allocation The allocated budget for the blood donation campaign would be AUD20 million which would be required to cover the research process, media, medical equipments, advertising

The Purpose of Life Is a Life of Purpose Essay Example for Free

The Purpose of Life Is a Life of Purpose Essay Throughout my life, I have persevered through much pain and misfortune; however, instead of using my experiences as reasons for a life of retribution and reparations, I used these tragedies as motivation to making other people’s lives better. Growing up I witnessed my grandmother assist anybody she saw struggling or needed help. During the 17 years she was a part of my life, I watched her nurse back to health approximately 300 foster children, because nobody else wanted the burden. Despite the odds against her, she went over and beyond to assure that these youth’s necessities were met. Growing up in this environment I constantly witnessed the joy in these kid’s hearts just to experience that feeling of love and support, despite being born in a world that told them they were worthless. I found it nearly impossible not to emulate my grandmother’s mindset and lifelong purpose. In spite of all my adversities, I knew I could overcome any and everything by focusing on improving the lives of others. This in turn brought me back to the abovementioned quote by author Robert Byrne which has intrigued me since I first read it many years ago. Overall I have found throughout my life that there are at least nine vital reasons for leading a life of purpose, which are: maturity, tranquility, buoyancy, confidence. Initially I believe the ultimate gift of leaving a purposeful life is overall maturity. Great American film director John McNaughton â€Å"Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself. † Overall this is how I live my life. Oftentimes, there have been days where I’ve wanted to sleep all day instead of getting up going to class or even on the weekends, but every day I ask myself â€Å"if I don’t do it, who else will? † through all my pain and hard luck I’ve realized that its unnecessary to dwell on events beyond my control. So instead I use my pain as motivation to fuel my love and support for others. One of the greatest benefits of having a mature mind is peace and tranquility. Many times people overlook the joy of being peaceful, they overlook the nights full of uninterrupted sleep, the days of no emergency phone calls, or even the simple joy of having money in the bank with no bills. Tranquility can make a great difference in one’s life. Unfortunately tranquility can be the difference between suicide and being born again. The peace we develop from simple acts of kindness is beyond imagination. No words can express the joy and peace we feel when I realize I’ve helped somebody achieve something in life, when the world told them they were worthless. No words can express the peace I feel when I support someone who didn’t have the will to support themselves. In addition to being peaceful, living a life of purpose will guide many to overcome stereotypes and failures which otherwise would halt dreams. Having a sense of buoyancy is essential to anyone trying aspiring to achieve great things in life. A lot of times in my daily life, there will come times when initial plans or goals are sidetracked by a situation or event. This is where I rely on buoyancy to persevere through this lost and through this failure even though I didn’t accomplish what we wanted, when I wanted. Instead of pondering on the â€Å"what ifs†, I stay optimistic and work harder to get the job done the next time. Furthermore, when I made the decision to dedicate my life to a life of purpose, I also chose to live a life of resilience, tenacity, and unmatched and unscathed confidence. When you have experienced what I’ve experienced and survived what I’ve survived, you create an internal persona that specifically says â€Å"if I can overcome this, nothing short of God can stop me†. Many may take this as a sign of arrogance, but I have always felt that there’s an eventual reason for why I’ve suffered through all the blood, sweat and tears. When you’ve overcome situations that the healthiest, smartest or even the slyest couldn’t survive, then you really have no choice but to possess that feeling of unparalleled confidence. Finally throughout my brief but experienced life, I’ve come to realize that, every situation we go through leaves with a choice. On one hand we have the choice of using outcomes to broaden ourselves and the world around us. We can use these outcomes to the benefit of ourselves through personal growth and development and, we can also use these outcomes to the benefit of others through service, support and sacrifice. On the other hand we have the choice of using the situational outcomes as a reason to blame others, as a reason to be depressed and as a reason to give up on life. Ultimately I chose the better option. I chose to use my negativity and let it motivate me to working harder, focusing deeper, being optimistic regardless of what else happens. In the end this leads to a life of bliss, peace and maturity, and it’s a lot less painful or time consuming. What else could be a better purpose in life than leading a life with a purpose?

Developing MNEs Global Strategy

Developing MNEs Global Strategy How can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement  effective global strategy? Mengdi LIU Introduction Multinational enterprises (MNE) are organizations that provide or control goods or services inside and outside the home country. For example, â€Å"when a company has operations in more than one country or is registered in more than one country, it may be assigned as MNE†[1]. Usually, a multinational enterprise is a great corporation which produces or sells goods and services in various countries. Usually, companies are faced with different types of very important strategic decision, when they engage in international marketing operation. First of all, leaders need to make decisions in principle to submit the corporate to a certain extent of internationalization. More and more companies will realize that if they have a strong global logic requires, they must purse the global marketing for several competitive reasons. Once committed, the enterprise will have to determine where to go, and whether it is specific countries or geographic regions. Global strategy defined in business terms is the plans designed and developed by a corporation or an organization to target its sales’ growth on a worldwide scale. In other words, it is the long-term strategy of multinational entreprises that aims to obtain development and its long-term survival in today’s changing international business environment. Academic research on global strategy appeared in the age of 1980s, the work of Michael Porter and Christopher Bartlett Sumantra Ghoshal are most significant. The forces that are perceived to bring the globalization of competition were convergences in technological change and economic systems, particularly in information technology. All of these factors have facilitated and demanded the coordination of an international firms strategy worldwide. In this article, firstly, I will briefly introduce the goals of MNEs’ global strategy. Then why is global strategy important. Finally, I will apply the knowledge we learned in class to analyze how to formulate and implement an effective global strategy. The goal of MNEs’ global strategy The trend of world economy’s globalization has encouraged many organizations, especially these MNEs with abundant resources, to rethink the way they are competing in this ongoing expanding market. Products, markets, and interdependent financial work are growing at different paces towards a globalized system. The objective of the global strategy is to take the allocation of corporate resources into consideration in the increasingly complex global environment, to improve competitiveness, to enhance their competitive position and to maximize the overall benefits. Multinational enterprise will arrange its facilities in the most favorable countries, and will coordinate and link their activities in different countries. Global strategies help the MNEs to timely transfer achievements in technology development to management innovations, in order to enhance the companys core competitiveness. Why global strategy is important for MNEs From a company perspective, international expansion can provide potential opportunities for new sales and profits. For example, because of low profitability in the Chinese domestic market, TCL the Chinese consumer electronics company, decided on a strategy of going global. Lately, it implemented new offices abroad, new plants and acquisitions to expand its market position in United States and the European Union the two main consumer electronics markets. In addition to new sales opportunities, there are other reasons for expansion outside the home market. For instance, some companies going global in order to take advantage of low labor costs in some countries, which is called efficiency seeking. While sometimes the acquisition of foreign companies can be used to enhance the company’s market position versus competitors, which is called strategic asset seeking. From a customer perspective, international trade should lead to lower prices for services and goods due to the economies of scale and scope, which can derive from a greater global base. In addition, some customers like to own products and services that represent a global image. For example, ‘Manchester United’ branded soccer shirts or Disney cartoon characters. How MNEs formulate and implement the global strategy First of all, multinational enterprises have to figure out what its role is in international arena, what their core competencies are, whether international talents are available, and where the target market is, so that it could avoid the detours in the process of formulating and implementing the global strategy. Enterprises must have a clear strategy plan, and then combine their own characteristics to international environment to choose the right way. As a beginning point, it’s better to some basic international data to analyze different countries. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, and then choose the best path based on strategic priorities and their own ability. New York Fries is a good example. â€Å"New York Fries Company was founded in 1983. And now in 2011, there were more than 190 NYF stores in six countries, with sales in excess of $64 million. Fifteen of the NYF stores were owned by the Company, the rest by franchisees. The biggest advantage of NYF is their product. NYF fries were made from real, not reconstituted, potatoes. They were hand-cut and fried in non-hydrogenated, trans fat-free, sunflower oil.†[2] Obviously, China could be a huge market for an American fast food restaurant, but NYF hesitate to expand into mainland China. So the company’s president, Jay Gould, chose Hong Kong to open their franchisees. At the time of the requests, Gould had never been to Hong Kong; his first visit was to select the new Hong Kong partners and scout locations for the franchise. Within five years, the pace of expansion in Hong Kong and Macau was slower than expected. Gould recognized that opening a location in China would probably take a great deal of time and effort from his head office staff. If NYF expand directly into mainland instead of locating in Hong Kong at first, maybe they would experience the failure as they did in South Korea. The next step is then to discover and identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. For example, the company may have unique brand or some special patents that can be made use of in international expansion. A company could set its international and global objectives after this. Some people may feel surprising of this point of view, while they believe a company should begin by setting out what it really needs to achieve internationally. Why we leave the objective-setting until now? The reason is that our objectives need to be set in the realistic environment of what resources the company has for its international expansion and what opportunities exist in the market place. A simple example: in the year of 2009, the time of US economy recession, the US car market was under heavy pressure, so there would be little point for a car company in setting a target for major expansion. Equally, a small computer services company may not have enough resources for a global product launch. It is better to set its objectives more realistically. How to build an international talents team is a big problem. In a survey conducted by McKinsey, the three-quarters of respondents believe that the talent shortage is the biggest obstacle to its global expansion plans. To respond to this problem, at first, MNEs should make the enterprise localization, and develop a clear strategy to attract international talent with the multiple resources. And leaders should have an awareness of the cross-cultural issue and enhance communication with international talents. Huawei, for instance, has more than 10,000 overseas employees, and is still in a rapid growth. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, is a Chinese telecommunications equipment and multinational networking and services company, whose headquarter is located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Huawei is the largest telecommunications equipment maker all over the world. It has overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei uses a localized business strategy on a global scale. In order to be more closely adapted to the customer’s needs, listening to customer’s needs and respond quickly; Huawei has established 20 regional overseas departments, more than 100 branches. Huawei set up 12 RD centers in the US, India, Sweden, Russia and other places. Each R D centers not only focus on different research direction, but also gathers the advanced technologies, experience and talent to carry out product research. So when Huaweis products enter into the market, its technology is up to date. Huawei also set up 28 overse as regional training centers for local technical personnel. Another example is Trend Micro Inc., a global security software company, was founded in 1988 in Los Angeles. Headquarters were moved to Taipei by its founders, shortly after establishing the company, Now Trend Micro is already the worlds leading anti-virus software company, with 30 branch offices all over the world. It adopts a multi-mode operation headquarters financial centers in Japan, marketing centers in the US, R D camp in Taiwan, global customer service centers in the Philippines and the administrative center in Ireland. It has an excellent international management team. The core management team is made up of only 13 people, from China, Japan, India, the United States, Germany, and Argentina. There exist simultaneously diversity and a strong cohesion in its corporate culture. All branches around the world share the same corporate culture and values. There is another important aspect we shouldn’t ignore innovation and learning. In the era of globalization, enterprise innovation cycles are getting shorter. Essentially, globalization is a new form of competing. The one who consistently stand at the forefront of innovators in this game is the ultimate winner. So in my opinion, MNEs ought to build an environment which is conducive to innovation, knowledge creation and sharing. For example, by changing the design of office space, make the office a place for the staff to exchange information and knowledge, a place where different ideas stir. Meanwhile, let employees and customers become an important source of product ideas. A typical case is 3M Company. The 3M Company is an American multinational conglomerate corporation, being known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company at the first stage. 3M headquarters are in the St. Paul suburb of Maplewood, Minnesota. This company is known for providing innovative environment. It regards the innovation as a way of business growth and the products as its enterprise life. 3M Company develop more than 200 kinds of new products a year. The goal is to obtain 30% of annual sales from the new products which were developed in the past four years. One of the secrets of 3M innovation management is to create an enabling innovative internal environment. For example, â€Å"technical forums provided opportunities to share technology, best practices and procedures; the European Management Action Team (EMATs) Forum regularly brought together relevant personnel from the United States and European subsidiaries to share information and make decisions. Lecture and proble m-solving discussions were also held during the forum. These meetings enabled subsidiaries to present their thoughts and facilitated cooperation and accelerated pace in markets in which there were significant growth opportunities.†[3] The company allows all employees put up to 15% of the time on their professional interest, and failures are accepted. Its slogan is: you only kissed a lot of frogs before they can find a prince. In the era of globalization, cooperating with competitors is an important strategy of multinational companies. A delicate relationship that competitions and cooperation are often maintained between enterprises. Business leaders need to think about not only competition and profitability, but also how to embrace a more open business environment. For example, the consumer product giant PG has launched a program called Connect Developed, spending nearly $ 2 billion to look for its scientists, so that the company can get new technologies from outside suppliers. If RD can be solved through collaboration and outsourcing, what areas cannot? Another example, Japanese multinational enterprise Sony formed several strategic alliances with smaller firms who have complementary competences, which would help it to penetrate new markets. So leaders should increase the openness of the enterprise, in order to attract more dynamic ideas and human resource outside the enterprise. Using strategic cooperative manner to deal with the non-core business allows enterprises to quickly grasp the opportunities during the process of globalization. Haier Group is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company, whose headquarter is located in Qingdao, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells home appliance, such as air conditioners, mobile phones, refrigerators, computers, washing machines, and televisions. In 2002, Haier cooperated with the largest appliance manufacturer in Taiwan Taiwans Sampo Group. Their cooperation covers selling each other’s home appliances, and expanding parts procurement and technology sharing. Alliance with Sampo paves the way for Haier to enter the Taiwan market. This strategy, based on trust between partners, requires leaders of MNEs to focus on the long-term benefits, rather than short-term gains. Conclusion In this paper, we discuss how can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement effective global strategy. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, so that leaders can choose the best path for their companies. The next step is to identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. During this process, an essential element is the use of talents. In addition, both innovation and cooperation are often used by leaders in today’s MNEs. Today’s MNEs use a great diversity of global strategies. In order to acquire the competitive position on today’s global market over a long term, companies have to continually adapt to market conditions, to identify the resources and advantages, and then thus use them efficiently. Therefore they have to come up with the best strategy and redirect it depending on the economic backdrop at the time. A successful strategy is based on the way it makes a difference, on the added value it brings, on the attractiveness of the industry and on the market maturity stage, so that it helps the enterprise achieve a competitive and profitable position. Reference [1] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012) [2] Ruth Mortimer, â€Å"Customer Innovation: Inspirational Customers,† Brand Strategy, London, July 12, 2005, p.24. [3] Palich, L. E., Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (1999). A theory of global strategy and firm efficiencies: Considering the effects of cultural diversity. Journal of management, 25(4), 587-606. [4] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [5] Corina Dumitrescu, Francesco Scalera. Strategies of Multinational Enterprises. International Journal of Business and Commerce, Mar 2012(12-26) [6] Sassen, S. (1998). Globalization and its discontents. New York: New Press. [7] How do you build a global strategy? http://www.global-strategy.net/how-do-you-build-a-global-strategy/ [8] Wikipedia 3M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M [9] History of the Cellular (Cell/Mobile) Phone Companies Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/companies/huawei-technologies.php [10] Wikipedia Trend Micro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trend_Micro_Incorporated [12] Wikipedia Haier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haier [13] Wikipedia Multination Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [14] Wikipedia Global Strategy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_strategy [15] What is global strategy? And why is it important? http://www.global-strategy.net/what-is-global-strategy/ [16] Beck, U. (2000). What is globalization?. [17] à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¦Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã…  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ±Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-. à ¥Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾-à §Ã…“ Ãƒ §Ã‚ »Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ… ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ²Ãƒ ©Ã†â€™Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã‚ ¥. April,2002, p.66-68 [18] à ©Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¥Ã‚ Ã… ½Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ºÃƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥. à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ±Ã… ¸Online. http://cn.ckgsb.com/Article/Detail.aspx?ColumnId=404ArticleId=5853 1 [1] From Wikipedia Multinational Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [2] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [3] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012)

Inflation :: essays papers

Inflation Hyperinflation The term "hyperinflation" refers to a very rapid, very large increase in the price level. Measurement problems will be too minor to notice on this scale. There is no strict formal definition for the term, but cases of hyperinflation tend to be expressed in terms of multiples rather than percentages. "For example, in Germany between January 1922 and November 1923 (less than two years!) the average price level increased by a factor of about 20 billion." Some representative examples of hyperinflation include "Hyperinflation 1922 Germany 5,000% 1985 Bolivia *10,000% 1989 Argentina 3,100% 1990 Peru 7,500% 1993 Brazil 2,100% 1993 Ukraine 5,000%" These quotations from other web pages are given mainly as examples of what people have in mind when they talk about hyperinflation, and I cannot say just how accurate the figures are. In any case, figures for the purchasing power lost in hyperinflations can only be rough estimates. Numismatics (coin and currency collecting) gives some examples of just how far hyperinflations can go: an information page for currency collectors tells us that, in the Hungarian hyperinflation after World War II, bills for one hundred million trillion pengos were issued (the pengo was the Hungarian currency unit) and bills for one billion trillion pengos were printed but never issued. (I'm using American terms here -- the British express big numbers differently). The story behind the German hyperinflation illustrates how all hyperinflations have come about, and is of particular interest in itself. After World War I, Germany had a democratic government, but little stability. A general named Kapp decided to make himself dictator, and marched his troops and militias into Berlin in an attempted coup d'etat known as the "Kapp Putsch." However, the German people resisted this attempt at dictatorship with nonviolent noncooperation. The workers went out in a general strike and the civil servants simply refused to obey the orders of Kapp and his men. Unable to take command of the country, Kapp retreated and ultimately gave up his attempt. However, the German economy, never very sound, was further disrupted by the conflict surrounding Kapp's putsch and by the strike against it; and production fell and prices rose.

Me Talk Pretty One Day By David Sedaris From

Me Talk Pretty One Day – By David Sedaris From his book Me Talk Pretty One Day At the age of forty-one, I am returning to school and have to think of myself as what my French textbook calls â€Å"a true debutant. † After paying my tuition, I was issued a student ID, which allows me a discounted entry fee at movie theaters, puppet shows, and Festyland, a far-flung amusement park that advertises with billboards picturing a cartoon stegosaurus sitting in a canoe and eating what appears to be a ham sandwich.I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language. My school is an easy ten-minute walk from my apartment, and on the first day of class I arrived early, watching as the returning students greeted one another in the school lobby. Vacations were recounted, and questions were raised concerning mutual friends with names like Kang and Vlatnya. Regardless of their nationalities, everyone spoke what sounded to me like excellent French. Some accents were better tha n others, but the students exhibited an ease and confidence that I found intimidating.As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well-dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show. The first day of class was nerve-racking because I knew I’d be expected to perform. That’s the way they do it here – it’s everybody into the language pool, sink or swim. The teacher marched in, deeply tanned from a recent vacation, and proceeded to rattle off a series of administrative announcements. I’ve spent quite a few summers in Normandy, and I took a monthlong French class before leaving New York.I’m not completely in the dark, yet I understood only half of what this woman was saying. â€Å"If you have not meimslsxp or lgpdmurct by this time, then you should not be in this room. Has everyone apzkiubjxow? Everyone? Good, we shall begin. † She spread out her lesson plan and sighed, saying, â₠¬Å"All right, then, who knows the alphabet? † It was startling because (a) I hadn’t been asked that question in a while and (b) I realized, while laughing, that I myself did not know the alphabet. They’re the same letters, but in France they’re pronounced differently.I know the shape of the alphabet but had no idea what it actually sounded like. â€Å"Ahh. † The teacher went to the board and sketched the letter a. â€Å"Do we have anyone in the room whose first name commences with an ahh? †12 Two Polish Annas raised their hands, and the teachers instructed them to present themselves by stating their names, nationalities, occupations, and a brief list of things they liked and disliked in this world. The first Anna hailed from an industrial town outside of Warsaw and had front teeth the size of tombstones. She worked as a seamstress, enjoyed quiet times with friends, and hated the mosquito.Oh, really,† the teacher said. â€Å"How very in teresting. I thought that everyone loved the mosquito, but here, in front of all the world, you claim to detest him. How is it that we’ve been blessed with someone as unique and original as you? Tell us, please. † The seamstress did not understand what was being said but knew that this was an occasion for shame. Her rabbity mouth huffed for breath, and she stared down at her lap as though the appropriate comeback were stitched somewhere alongside the zipper of her slacks. The second Anna learned from the first and claimed to love sunshine and detest lies.It sounded like a translation of one of those Playmate of the Month data sheets, the answers always written in the same loopy handwriting: â€Å"Turn-ons: Mom’s famous fivealarm chili! Turn offs: insecurity and guys who come on too strong!!!! † The two Polish Annas surely had clear notions of what they loved and hated, but like the rest of us, they were limited in terms of vocabulary, and this made them ap pear less than sophisticated. The teacher forged on, and we learned that Carlos, the Argentine bandonion player, loved wine, music, and, in his words, â€Å"making sex with the womans of the world. Next came a beautiful young Yugoslav who identified herself as an optimist, saying that she loved everything that life had to offer. The teacher licked her lips, revealing a hint of the saucebox we would later come to know. She crouched low for her attack, placed her hands on the young woman’s desk, and leaned close, saying, â€Å"Oh yeah? And do you love your little war? † While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of an answer to what had obviously become a trick question. How often is one asked what he loves in this world? More to the point, how often is one asked and then publicly ridiculed for his answer?I recalled my mother, flushed with wine, pounding the table top one night, saying, â€Å"Love? I love a good steak cooked rare. I love my ca t, and I love †¦Ã¢â‚¬  My sisters and I leaned forward, waiting to hear out names. â€Å"Tums,† our mother said. â€Å"I love Tums. †13 The teacher killed some time accusing the Yugoslavian girl of masterminding a program of genocide, and I jotted frantic notes in the margins of my pad. While I can honestly say that I love leafing through medical textbooks devoted to severe dermatological conditions, the hobby is beyond the reach of my French vocabulary, and acting it out would only have invited controversy.When called upon, I delivered an effortless list of things that I detest: blood sausage, intestinal pates, brain pudding. I’d learned these words the hard way. Having given it some thought, I then declared my love for IBM typewriters, the French word for bruise, and my electric floor waxer. It was a short list, but still I managed to mispronounce IBM and assign the wrong gender to both the floor waxer and the typewriter. The teacher’s reaction le d me to believe that these mistakes were capital crimes in the country of France. â€Å"Were you always this palicmkrexis? she asked. â€Å"Even a fiuscrzsa ticiwelmun knows that a typewriter is feminine. † I absorbed as much of her abuse as I could understand, thinking – but not saying – that I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object which is incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to Lady Crack Pipe or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied? The teacher proceeded to belittle everyone from German Eva, who hated laziness, to Japanese Yukari, who loved paintbrushes and soap.Italian, Thai, Dutch, Korean, and Chinese – we all left class foolishly believing that the worst over. She’d shaken us up a little, but surely that was just an act designed to weed out the deadweight. We didn’t know it then, but the coming months would teach us what it was like to spend time in the presence of a wild animal, something completely unpredictable. Her temperament was not based on a series of good and bad days but, rather, good and bad moments. We soon learned to dodge chalk and protect our heads and stomachs whenever she approached us with a question.She hadn’t yet punched anyone, but it seemed wise to protect ourselves against the inevitable. Though we were forbidden to speak anything but French, the teacher would occasionally use us to practice any of her five fluent languages. â€Å"I hate you,† she said to me one afternoon. Her English was flawless. â€Å"I really, really hate you. † Call me sensitive, but I couldn’t help but take it personally. 14 After being singled out as a lazy kfdtinvfm, I took to spending four hours a night on my homework, putting in even more time whenever we were assigned an essay.I suppose I could have gotten by with less, but I was determined to create some sort of identity for m yself: David, the hardworker, David the cut-up. We’d have one of those â€Å"complete this sentence† exercises, and I’d fool with the thing for hours, invariably settling on something like, â€Å"A quick run around the lake? I’d love to! Just give me a moment while I strap on my wooden leg. † The teacher, through word and action, conveyed the message that if this was my idea of an identity, she wanted nothing to do with it. My fear and discomfort crept beyond the borders of the classroom and accompanied me out onto the wide boulevards.Stopping for a coffee, asking directions, depositing money in my bank account: these things were out of the question, as they involved having to speak. Before beginning school, there’d been no shutting me up, but now I was convinced that everything I said was wrong. When the phone rang, I ignored it. If someone asked me a question, I pretended to be deaf. I knew my fear was getting the best of me when I started wondering why they don’t sell cuts of meat in vending machines. My only comfort was the knowledge that I was not alone.Huddled in the hallways and making the most of our pathetic French, my fellow students and I engaged in the sort of conversation commonly overhead in refugee camps. â€Å"Sometimes me cry alone at night. † â€Å"That be common for I, also, but be more strong, you. Much work and someday you talk pretty. People start love you soon. Maybe tomorrow, okay. † Unlike the French class I had taken in New York, here there was no sense of competition. When the teacher poked a shy Korean in the eyelid with a freshly sharpened pencil, we took no comfort in the fact that, unlike Hyeyoon Cho, we all know the irregular past tense of the verb to defeat.In all fairness, the teacher hadn’t meant to stab the girl, but neither did she spend much time apologizing, saying only, â€Å"Well, you should have been vkkdyo more kdeynfulh. † Over time it becam e impossible to believe that any of us would ever improve. Fall arrived and it rained every day, meaning we would now be scolded for the water dripping from our coats and umbrellas. It was mid-October when the teacher singled me15 out, saying, â€Å"Every day spent with you is like having a cesarean section. † And it struck me that, for the first time since arriving in France, I could understand every word that someone was saying.Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It’s a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive. The teacher continued her diatribe and I settled back, bathing in the subtle beauty of each new curse and insult. â€Å"You exhaust me with your foolishness and reward my efforts with nothing but pain, do you understand me? † The world opened up, and it was with great joy that I responded, â€Å"I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus, please , plus. †

10 Modes of Modifiers

10 Modes of Modifiers 10 Modes of Modifiers 10 Modes of Modifiers By Mark Nichol A modifier is a sentence element a word or a phrase that provides details. Three types of modifiers exist: those that qualify by answering the question of how or under what conditions something occurs, those that set conditions or explain circumstances by answering the question of who, what, when, where, and why, and those that provide reasons or conclusions. Modifiers can also be classified into these categories: 1. Initial dependent clause: â€Å"Even though I was tired, I went for a walk.† 2. Initial infinitive phrase: â€Å"To calm down, I went for a walk.† 3. Initial adverb: â€Å"Immediately, I went for a walk.† 4. Initial participial phrase: â€Å"Trying to distract myself, I went for a walk.† 5. Mid-sentence appositive: â€Å"I, in an effort to calm down, went for a walk.† 6. Mid-sentence participial phrase: â€Å"I, trying to distract myself, went for a walk.† 7. Terminal present participial phrase: â€Å"I went for a walk, hoping to distract myself.† 8. Terminal past participial phrase: â€Å"I went for a walk, soothed by the breeze.† 9. Terminal resumptive phrase: â€Å"I went for a walk a walk that did me good.† 10. Terminal summative phrase: â€Å"I went for a walk, an activity that calmed me down and distracted me from my troubles.† And, for a bonus, employ a combination of phrases: â€Å"Even though I was tired, I, in an effort to distract myself, went for a walk, soothed by the breeze.† Thanks to this variety of ways to modify a sentence, writers need not be concerned about producing pedestrian prose. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†What's a Male Mistress?Careful with Words Used as Noun and Verb