7 Signs To Become An Entrepreneur

   

🖌image credit to jobcreatorsnetwork.com

     Entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit. So, the individual who creates this business and willing to take the risks is an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is usually seen as the innovator and source of new ideas for goods and services as well as for business operations. 

     Being an entrepreneur is stressful and the success rate is not all that encouraging. But why do people want to become entrepreneurs or wanted to have their own businesses? It could either be that working a job is not enough in terms of financial, time constraints and challenges, or personal fulfillment. Some sorted to home-based business to be with family and to avoid traffic problems in their area.

     What could be the signs that it is time to make a transition from being an employee to becoming an entrepreneur?

1) You have a passion for work but not a job.

A specific business that can give you enjoyment and personal rewards or satisfaction. Have your own ideas on how this specific business should work without setting a particular schedule and workload.

2) You have thought a lot about that specific business.

You are sick and tired of thinking about it. Dreaming enough of it about how you would take charge, lead people and follow your own set of rules. 

3) You have that virtue of helping others.

A desire to create jobs and to give someone an opportunity or job. There is an indescribable feeling of helping others.

4) You have backup support.

There are people around you supporting your ideas and willing to have your back while you are risking out to accomplish your goals. You have these people that will ensure your food and shelter and a shoulder to cry on while you are trying a different route.

5) You have that One Great Big Idea for ventures.

You have that great idea to sell something that has an improvement on what is already available in the market. You have that obsession for a new idea to build a better product or service.

6) You have got a Marketing Plan or Feasibility Study.

To achieve that dream venture you should have a plan based on market research, budgeting, financing, and projected income. This plan serves as a guide to making your vision a reality.

7) You have a strong backup plan.

There should be a strong backup plan to pursue if your first venture failed. This plan should keep you afloat until you could try again. Never put all your eggs in one basket. If you have this backup plan you will not be afraid of failures with your business venture.

Make a list of all these signs and determine if you are ready to become an entrepreneur.

Setting Up A Business in the Philippines

📷 image credit to indiamart.com

Thinking of starting a business in the Philippines? 

First, you have to register your business name with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for a single proprietorship business, or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Partnership or Corporation. After that, you have to secure the permits below from your local government or the city/region where your business is located.

1. Barangay clearance

Where to get it: Barangay hall

Requirements:

Registration certificate from the DTI or SEC and valid/government-issued identification cards. You should also have fire safety and electrical inspection certificates and present the Lease of the Contract of Site. 

Fee: P1,500 (may vary for each municipality or city)

2. Mayor’s permit (also known as business permit)

Where to get it: Municipal or city hall in the place where you will set up your business

Requirements:

Barangay clearance, registration certificate from DTI or SEC, valid IDs, and location map/sketch of your place of business. You will also need to secure a community tax certificate

3. Tax Registration Number (or TIN) 

Where to get it: Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)

Requirements:

Accomplished BIR forms 1901 or 1903, valid IDs, location sketch of your place of business, a copy of your mayor’s permit or municipal license, and registration certificate from the DTI or SEC

Fee: P500 plus 1% of subscribed capital for the documentary stamp

4. Special Permits

Depending on the nature of your business, you may also need to obtain special permits. If your business, for example, will be dealing with food, chemicals,  i.e., cosmetics, medicines; or any health-related product or service, a permit from the Department of Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be needed. 

5. Social Security

If you are hiring employees, you are required to register them for Social Security protection. Of course, you should get one for yourself as well. 

Where to get it: Social Security System (SSS) office

Requirements:

Accomplished SSS Form R-1 for employer registration, accomplished SSS Form R-1A that lists the names of your employees, and Articles of Partnership or Incorporation for partnerships or corporations.

6. You should also provide your employees with memberships in PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) and PAG-IBIG (home development mutual fund), as mandated by the labor law. 

For more info click here.: Department of Trade & Industry

English 101: The Continous Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C5)

          *image credit www.tes.com

     Previously, I have written here the simple tenses of the verb then followed by the perfect tenses of the verb, now we will proceed to continuous tenses also known as progressive tenses of the verb.  Continuous tenses of the verb show an action that is in progress was in progress or will be in progress at a certain period. Continuous tenses are formed by the 'be'-verb + -ing form of the verb. 

Be-verbs: 

am,  is, are + -ing form of the verb = for present tense

was, were + -ing form of the verb = for past tense

will be + -ing form of the verb = for future tense

Past Continuous Tense > it indicates a continuing action that was happening at some period in the past.

Examples:
     1) I was playing mobile games when I heard the sad news.
     2) At the stroke of the clock, they were singing joyously in the place.
     3) She was laughing hard until she fell off the stage.
     4) You were sleeping when she arrived.


Present Continuous Tense > it indicates that an action is still happening now, always happening, and may continue to happen in the future.

Examples:

     1) Eejay is washing the dishes while he plays music from his mobile phone.
     2) I am thinking of what to prepare for today's lunch.
     3) The PlanetShakers are going to perform live at Araneta Coliseum.
     4) Are we taking this jacket on our way to Baguio City?


Future Continuous Tense > indicates an action that will happen in the future and will continue to happen at the expected length of time.

Examples:
     1) He will be sleeping the whole day after all his tasks.
     2) I will be talking at a conference this Friday.
     3) We will be taking Diane and Joan to the party.
     4) Susan and Peter will be joining us later this afternoon.

** Present and Future Continuous use action verbs only and not stative verbs. Stative verbs are state of being that does not show qualities of change. It includes emotions, possessions, and thoughts.

Philippines' DepEd K-12 and SHS Program

     It is actually read as K to 12, Kindergarten to Grade 12. The Philippines was among the three (3) countries and the only one in Asia that offered the 10-year education cycle before entering college. The Philippines before had six (6) years of primary (grade 1-3) and intermediate school level (grade 4-6); four (4) years of high school labeled as 1st-year high=freshman, 2nd-year high=sophomore, 3rd-year high=junior, and 4th year=senior. Kindergarten then is not compulsory, yet schools are offering three levels for Kindergarten, hence, nursery > kinder > preparatory, or nursery > kinder 1> kinder 2, depending on the school rules and policies. 

     Until 2012, Republic Act 10157, known as the Kindergarten Education Act ratified by Congress and signed by President Benigno C. Aquino Jr., compulsory education for five (5) years old before they enter formal schooling, as is considered the developmental years to ascertain their formal school readiness. Likewise, the Republic 10533 - Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 was signed and approved last May 2013, yet implemented a year before for those who have enrolled in grade 7.

     Questions and disagreement have been posed by some parents and students, however, the 1st batch of K-12 Grade 11, Senior High School is currently taking the different tracks the DepEd (Department of Education) is offering. This year's 1st batch is expected to complete the K-12 in 2018. 

image credit to DepEd website

The following information about K-12 and Senior High School (SHS) are enumerated below:

• K-12 is an educational mandatory for parents and school agencies to start education for the children at the age of five (5) through Kindergarten to ascertain the readiness of children for formal schooling. Primary education begins from grade 1 to 6, then four (4) years of Junior High School, and another two (2) years of Senior High School.
• A student who has finished K-10 but does not want to continue in Senior High School may do so but he/she will miss the opportunity of earning a high school diploma, thus, he/she will be called a Grade 10 Completer.
• It does not cost anything to enroll in Senior High School in Public/Government Schools. Tuition fees in private schools are also paid by DepEd thru its voucher program, however, they can top it up with some miscellaneous expenses which students will have to pay separately.
• All Grade 10 Completers from public/government schools get a Voucher for enrolling in a Private or Non-DepEd Senior High School. However, payment of tuition fees is coursed from Government to School Agencies.
• All Grade 10 Completers from private schools who are ESC (Education Service Contracting)* Grantees also get a Voucher for enrolling in a Private or Non-DepEd Senior High School.
• After finishing Senior High School, graduates can apply for employment, be an entrepreneur, pursue higher education (college) or middle skills development (short courses/TESDA)
• Senior High School offers four (4) Tracks from which Grade 10 Completers can choose depending on their interest:

1. Academic Track
2. Technical-Vocational & livelihood Track (TVL)
3. Arts & Design Tracks, and
4. Sports Track. 

• If students will have to choose Academic Track, they have four (4) strands to choose from [1] Accountancy, Business and Management Strand (ABM), [2] Humanities & Social Sciences Strand (HUMSS), [3] Science, Technology, Engineering,& Mathematics Strand (STEM), and [4] General Academic Strand (GAS).
• If students choose Technical-Vocational & Livelihood Track (TVL), they also have four (4) strands to choose from Agri-Fishery Arts Strand, Home Economics Strand, Industrial Arts Strand, and Information & Communication Technology Strand. Each strand has its specialization** depending on what the school agency has to offer.
• Arts and Design Track has six (6) strands: Music, Dance, Film/Media/IT, Visual Arts, Indigenous Arts, and Theater Arts.
• Sports Track includes subjects such as Safety & First Aid, Understanding Human Movement, General Coaching course, Sports Officiating, Fitness Leadership, Sports/Recreation/Fitness Management, Student-Athlete Enhancement & Formation, Fitness Testing * Exercise Prescription, and Recreation Leadership. However, there is a particular sports specialization and fitness to choose from depending on what a particular school has to offer.

* http://www.pnjkis.edu.ph/educational-service-contracting-esc-program

** http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/curriculum-guides/Technical-Vocational-Track

English 101: The Perfect Tenses of the Verb (series 1.C4)

     After detailing the Simple Tense of the verb, we now go to perfect tenses. Perfect Tense is another set of verb tenses. Perfect tenses are actions already completed. As the word implies, perfect means  "completely done" or "made complete". So what's the difference between simple and perfect tenses? The perfect tense is used when the time of an action is not specified, while the Simple tense is used when the details of the time or place of action are given. For perfect tenses, we have the Present Perfect Tense, Past Perfect Tense, and Future Perfect Tense.

It is important to know the regular and irregular verbs with their equivalent past participle in constructing a sentence with perfect tense.

Present Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the present. It is used to express an action that has just or already happened, how often the action has happened, or to emphasize a past action's result or consequence.

Forms: he /she /it /singular subject noun = has + past participle of the verb ;
            I /you /we /they /plural subject noun = have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
          1) She has blown her hair already.
          2) It has happened twice.
          3) Pete has discussed a new lesson.
          4) I have just bought a new cellphone.
          5) We have gone here many times.
          6) The basketball players have shown their best in that game.


Past Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the past. It is used to show an action that has happened before another action happened in the past.

Forms: subject(s) = had + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) They had won the game when he fell.
     2) He had studied the layout before he arrived at the meeting.
     3) The children were sad since she had left the convent.
     4) The men build this dam because the plants had been dying from drought.

* the italicized words are the actions in the past, while the underlined words are the actions completely done in the past before another action.
* conjunctions such as when, before, and since, because are also used to show action in the past perfect tense.


Future Perfect Tense > this is an action completed concerning the future. It is used to show that an action will have been completed at some time in the future.

Forms: subject(s) = will /shall + have + past participle of the verb

Examples:
     1) You shall have arrived by 5:00 in the morning.
     2) He will have been here for three weeks to finish the work.
     3) Joy and Kate will have known each other this coming week.
     4) Won't they have stayed here tomorrow night?

*won't = will not

Presidential, Parliamentary, & Federal - What Are They?

     The Philippine National Election on May 9 has shown that people are becoming excited about who would win the election and the changes that might occur once the popular becomes the president. People are clamoring for changes and sensitivity that they wanted from someone in authority who would overturn the increasing crime, yet approachable that can be easily reached and mindful of the people's plight. Questions as to "would he stand by his promise, when is he going to do it, and how he would do it" are being asked by people. What could be his first task at hand?

     One declaration that elected President Rodrigo Duterte had stated during his campaign, is to change the present form of the Philippine government. There are as numerous as a public classroom students list varied forms of government in the different parts of the world. We mostly hear the anarchy, oligarchy, communist, socialist, Marxist, imperialist, parliamentary, and federal, to name a few. Actually, the different systems or forms of government are being taught as early as grade 4 or 5.

     At present, the Philippines is a republic with a Presidential form of government. Under the Presidential form, our country is divided into three (3) branches with equal powers but separate from each other, as illustrated below.

1) Legislative Division is responsible for making laws and altering or repealing them. The Senate and the House of Representatives or Congress are under this division. Elected by people.

2) Executive Division is responsible for executing and implementing the laws. The President and his Vice President, along with the mayoralty are under this division and elected by the people. The President, however, appoints his own cabinet members (department secretaries) as granted by the Constitution.

3) Judiciary Division is responsible for settling controversies that are legally demandable and enforceable. The Supreme Court and Lower Court are under this division. It has also the power as granted by the Constitution to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or unconstitutional regulation. Appointments are made by the President based on a list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Parliamentary on the other hand consists of two organizing bodies that are closely related and dependent upon each other. The two organizing body share their powers. See the illustration below:

1) Legislature may either be called an assembly, congress, or legislators. It is the law-making body of a government that has the power to amend and repeal public policy; observes and steers governing actions in a government system. Depending on certain countries or states, it may be in the form of unicameral or bicameral.
2) Executive consists of the head of state, it may be a President or Monarchy. As the case may be, they are the head of state but not the head of the government. The majority party that wins the election for Legislature is appointed Prime Minister, also called Premier or Chancellor. The Prime Minister possesses much greater power and status than the other ministers. The President or Monarchy appointed Cabinet Ministers with the advice of the Prime Minister. However, the Cabinet of Ministers is responsible to the legislature for all its activities and policies. The President is elected while a Monarchy is inherited.

A federal system of government is a division of power between a central national government and local governments that are connected by one another by the central national government. See the illustration below to have a clear grasp of how federalism works.

     There are powers designated to the Central/National government and powers reserved for the Regional/State government, but there is also the same shared power depending on what the constitution states. Each regional/state government elected a governor aside from its mayoralty. And just like in the presidential system, the central national government has Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary divisions with separate powers. The idea behind Federalism is to better suit the needs of each area in the country. The smaller branches of government from each region/state could deal with true things that need to be changed.

** images are created by Emily for April Brews, send a message for permission to use.

LINKS for more info:

http://www.bloomp.net/articles/benefits_federalism.htm

http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/

http://www.importantindia.com/12408/features-of-parliamentary-form-of-government/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism_in_the_Philippines

English 101: Simple Tenses of The Verb (series 1.C3)

     Verbs should be studied thoroughly along with subject nouns for they are the basic foundation in constructing a grammatically correct sentence. The time constraints involved in accomplishing the "action word" should be checked if it agrees with the time the action has or had been done. The verb should also agree with the subject noun in a sentence. Tenses tell us about the time when a certain action has been made or happened. The confusion of some students lies in identifying when to add 's' to a verb and what are the regular and irregular verbs. The best strategy for the latter is to memorize all of them, that's why I provided a link where to find this list of regular/irregular verbs. But first, let's start by identifying the Basic Tenses - Present, Past, and Future.

A) Present tense expresses the following actions or conditions:
          -action happening at the present moment
          -an action that happens habitually
          -a present condition
       
* we usually take the base form of a verb when we refer to the plural subject; if the subject is singular, we add "s" to the base form of the verb.
* the am, is, are linking verbs are used when referring to a present condition.

Examples:
     1) The alarms simultaneously ring every morning.
            (plural subject=alarms; verb=ring;
                    every morning=time referred to as habitual)
               
     2) The boys run towards the gate.

     3) We are the facilitator of the event. (are=stating present condition)

     4) Jenny goes home from Manila every summer. 
            (singular subject=Jenny; verb=goes;
                    every summer=time referred to as habitual)
   
     5) The smoke comes from the basement.

     6) She is the mother of the future king.

     7) I am the owner of this site.


B) Past tense expresses action or state-of-being that took place in the past.

* the past tense form of a verb (regular/irregular) is used (see the list)
* the past action uses the time to express past action, i.e.,
yesterday, last time, for, the actual date
* the was, were linking verbs are used to express the state-of-being in the past

Examples:
     1) The man waited for his lady for two hours.
             (take note of the verb-waited & the time-for two hours)

     2) She went to the grocery.

     3) Tom and Jerry played outside yesterday.

     4) Last night, I met my former classmate inside the mall.

     5) The President signed a peace treaty.


C) Future tense expresses an action that would take place sometime in the future. It also expresses a prediction or gives an order.

* the auxiliary verbs will or shall is added along with the base form of a verb
* actual future date or predictors can be used, i.e., soon, next, on

Examples:
    1) The Red Warriors will play against the Green Archers on Sunday.

    2) We shall have to abide by these camp rules.

    3) Will you please stop talking?

    4) The election will be on May 9.

    5) You shall not kill.

    6) Deniece and William will soon get married.

* shall is being used as a future predictor of the action in which the subject has an obligation or responsibility to do the stated action.

Also, check other topics under this category/label, just click the topic link:
Parts of Speech,  Kinds of Nouns,  Singular and Plural Nouns,  Uses of Nouns,  Kinds of Pronouns,  Kinds of Verbs, Characteristics of Verb.

#verb #verbtenses #simpletenses #presenttense #pasttense #futuretense #regular/irregularverb #English101 #grammar #sentenceconstruction

English 101: Characteristic of Verbs (series 1.C2)

Determining what transitive and intransitive verbs are is just one of the students' difficulties in studying English subjects. And this topic would easily enable them to understand another difficulty, identifying the active and passive voice of a verb. 

For previous topics in this series, click the link below:
Parts of Speech
A. Nouns/Kinds of Nouns
     1. Singular and Plural Nouns
B. Pronouns/Kinds of Pronouns
C. Verbs/Kinds of Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

image credit to teachers. onlineenglishexpert.com

A verb is transitive when a person or thing directs the action toward someone or something. The receiver of the action is the object of the verb.

Examples;

1) He composed an emotional song. (the action 'composed' is directed toward something which is 'song')
2) Mother bakes my birthday cake. (the action 'bakes' is directed toward something which is 'cake')
3) She helped the old man in crossing the street. (the action 'helped' is directed toward someone which is the old man)
4) The AFP send their military men to Basilan. (the action 'send' is directed toward someone which is the military men)

A verb is intransitive when the doer of the action does not direct the action toward someone or something.

Examples:

1) The sky darkened in the east.
2) Father already left from his office.
3) The glass broke.
4) Tinay fell.

CLICK HERE for Exercises

Active and Passive Voice

Voice tells whether the subject of the sentence is the doer or the receiver of the action.

The verb is in the active voice if the subject performs the action.

Examples:
1) Mother gave me a new dress. (the subject 'mother' performs the action 'gave')
2) He played the basketball game fair and square.

The verb is in the passive voice if the subject receives the action.

image credit to grammar.about.com

Examples:
1) I was given a new dress by Mother. (the action 'given' is received by the subject 'Mother')
2) The basketball game was played fair and square by the team. (the action 'played' is received by the subject 'team')
3) The messenger was sent to the office.

CLICK HERE for Exercises



            

English 101: The VERB (series 1.C1)

     This is my 6th writing about Parts of Speech in English 101, the Verb. This is the third part of the speech that is being discussed here, after Nouns and Pronoun. A verb is a word that expresses an action or state of being. Action verb denotes an action word such as clap, tap, walk, dance, talk, jump, etc. The linking verb denotes a state of being such as am, is, was, are, or we. We also have what we call the helping verb used with the main verb to form verb phrases.

*credit image to tes.com lessons

Action Verbs > show either a physical or mental action.
    Examples: His plane landed at NAIA two hours ago. (physical action)
                      She always hopes for the best in us. (mental action)

Linking Verbs > used to connect the subject of a sentence with a noun or an adjective identifies or describes the noun or pronoun.

Helping verbs:  be, been                 have, has, had        
                          do, does, did         will, would
                          shall, should         can, could
                          may, might           must

* some words seem to look like an action verb but are used in a sentence as a linking verb.
        Examples:
               appear       get        remain     sound
               become     grow     seem        stay
               feel            look      smell       taste

How do distinguish action words used as linking verbs?
>> Try to replace the word with the actual linking verb, if the thought of the sentence does not lose its sense, it means it is a linking verb,

Examples:  The baby feels agitated when he arrived.
          *The baby is agitated when he arrived.
                 (the word 'feels' is a linking verb)

                   The baby feels the drop of water on his face that made him laugh.
           *The baby is the drop of water on his face that made him laugh.
                      (the word 'feels' is an action verb here since when we replace the actual linking verb, it does lose its sense)

English 101: Pronouns (series 1.B1)

     Another part of the speech is PRONOUN, which is the second Part of the Speech we have to discuss after Noun. What are the importance of determining what a Pronoun is and its type? As we have said earlier it is a substitute for nouns, and in succeeding posts, the kind of pronoun to be used has something to do with the verb and correct sentence construction later on.
     A pronoun is used as a substitute for a noun. The noun that the pronoun replaces is called the antecedent. The kinds of Pronoun are as follows:

image credit from educatorlabs.com lesson plans

1) PERSONAL Pronouns.
    It is used to refer to one or more persons or things.
            ( look at columns 1 and 2 of the chart)

      * Column 1 is the subjective or nominative case of Personal Pronouns.
      * Column 2 is the objective case of  Personal Pronouns

     First Person > refers to the one speaking.

     Second Person > refers to the one being spoken to

     Third Person > refers to the one being spoken about.

    * POSSESSIVE Pronouns. 

        These are personal pronouns used to show possession or ownership.

                (look at columns 3 and 4 of the chart)

        * Column 3 and 4 is the possessive case of Personal Pronouns.

2) REFLEXIVE Pronouns. 

        It is used to indicate that the subject acts to, for, or upon itself. 

        It is formed by adding the suffixes -self  (singular) or -selves (plural)  

           to the personal pronouns. (see column 5)

    * INTENSIVE Pronouns. 

            They are used to draw special attention to a noun or pronoun in a sentence. 

               

        Examples: 

            I myself wrote this post.
           You yourself cannot hide the truth.
           Diana herself was amazed.                    

3) DEMONSTRATIVE Pronouns. It tells which one or which group is being referred to.
                                  

4) INTERROGATIVE Pronouns. It introduces questions.
                                                            

5) RELATIVE Pronouns.

                    It introduces adjective clauses which are word groups
                    that tell which, what kind, or how many.
                                      

                

        Examples:

             He is the boy who rang the bell. (subjective)
             The boy whom you met at the store. (objective)
             The boy whose mother had died. (possessive)

             This is the book which I read in Spain. (subjective)
             That is the book which you are going to buy. (objective)
             That is the book whose author I forgot. (possessive)

             He is the man that broke the glass. (subjective)
             He is the man that everyone hates. (objective)
             He is the man whose gun was confiscated. (possessive)

6) INDEFINITE Pronouns.
             It refers to persons, places, and things in general.
             It can be used without antecedents.
                     
             Singular
                 anybody       everyone       no one  
                 anyone         much             one
                 each             neither           somebody
                 either           nobody          someone
                 everybody   something     anything
     
             Plural
                 both             few                many
                 others          several
 
              The following can either be singular or plural, depending on how they are going to be used in a sentence.
                  all     any     most     none     some

First Aid: When Someone is Choking

     Has anyone from your family experienced this one simple yet deadly emergency situation? When I was a child, I remember my younger brother suddenly coughed up as if he cannot breathe. My mother may be out of the experience knowing what had transpired, made a strong tap on his back, and two small coins suddenly cough out from my brother's mouth. The same thing happened when my eldest was only 6 years old, remembering what my mother had done, tapped on his back too and cough-out a small coin. Another incident was when my daughter, already 18 years old suddenly choked upon a pechay veggie we were eating. Her older brother made an abdominal thrust on her back to cough out the food. Choking is the common cause of death amongst children. Choking can be fatal if not immediately and properly handled. As a mom, in a time like this, we should know how to give immediate action to rescue someone we love. Read on and be informed.

How to recognize when someone is choking?

1. When a person is clutching at his throat and unable to speak.

2. When a person is becoming distressed and panicky.

3. When a person lost consciousness because of an inability to breathe,

What happens when someone is choking?

When we swallow food, a flap of cartilage known as the epiglottis moves downward to stop food from being taken into our trachea or windpipe. If this fails to happen, food becomes stuck in our airways and choking might have occurred.

Choking if not attended to and properly handled may cause brain damage within 3 or 4 minutes due to lack of oxygen.

What are the proper immediate actions when someone is choking?

For Baby:

1. Straddle the baby's face down along your arm supporting his head. Give 5 firm taps between his shoulders.

2, If choking continues, turn the baby over, still supporting his head. Place 2 fingertips between his navel and breastbone. Press forward and downward in quick movements and repeat the movement up to 4 times if necessary.

3. If the baby loses consciousness, seek medical help immediately and begin resuscitation.

For Children:

1. Lay the child across your lap with his head down. Tap firmly between the shoulder blades 5 times.

2. If unsuccessful, turn the child over so that he faces you on your lap. Support the back of the child and give him 5 firm upward thrusts with one hand above his navel.

3. If still unsuccessful, try steps 1 and 2 again. If the child becomes unconscious, call an ambulance /bring them to the nearest hospital immediately and begin resuscitation.

For Adults:

1. Lean the patient forward and give him 5 hard taps on the back between his shoulder blades.

2. If unsuccessful, an abdominal thrust can be performed from behind a patient who is either standing or sitting.  

     a) Pass your hands around the patient and interlock them together just above his navel.

     b) Pull sharply inwards and upwards

3. If the person is unconscious, kneel astride him on the floor and perform a similar abdominal thrust with your hand (one hand on top of the other) just below the rib cage.

4. If you have tried the abdominal thrust 6 times without success, call an ambulance/bring the patient to the nearest hospital and begin resuscitation.

Step 2

Step 3

*Remember not to poke fingers down the choking victim's throat to find the object. But if the object appears in the victim's mouth, you may remove it gently.

Info and images credit to First Aid, Children's Leisure Products Ltd. 1998  published by Geddes&Grosset 

English 101: Singular & Plural Nouns (series 1.A2)

     This is my third in a series of my English 101 on this blog. I am through discussing the different types and kinds of nouns, we will go on how is it when a single noun becomes many.

When we talked about the Number of Nouns, we are referring to Singular and Plural Nouns. Determining the numbers of a noun is vital in sentence construction. Most singular nouns are made plural by only adding "s" to their word. However, there are singular nouns which does not need any changes at all, and some are governed by rules or need changes for most of the letters in a word.

Here are some words which stay the same in plural form:

words with a suffix of -craft, 
sheep, cod, swine, trout, deer, salmon, moose, series, species, Japanese, Chinese, fish (fishes can be used if referring to different species)

Here are the lists of rules for changing singular nouns to plural forms.

1) If the noun ends in  's', 'x', 'sh', or 'ch', we add -es to make it plural.
    Examples: bus-buses, box-boxes, bush-bushes, batch-batches,
 
2) If the noun ends in 'o' with a consonant before it, we add -es,
    Examples: mango-mangoes, potatoes

    If a noun ends in 'o' with a vowel before it, we add -s.
    Examples: igloo-igloos, stereo-stereos

3) If the noun ends with 'f' or 'fe', we sometimes change the f or fe to -v and add -es.
    Examples: leaf-leaves, beef-beeves, life-lives, knife-knives

4) If the noun ends in 'y' with a consonant before it, change the y to -i and add -es.
    Examples: battery- batteries, candy-candies, berry-berries, lady-ladies

5) If the noun ends in 'y' with a vowel before it, we add -s to make it plural.
    Examples: monkey-monkeys, journey-journeys, key-keys, decoy-decoys

And here are the lists of some singular nouns that must change their spelling:
child-children, man-men, woman-women, ox-oxen, mouse-mice, foot-feet, tooth-teeth, goose-geese, louse-lice

Click here for some exercises
Click here for other exercises

English 101 - NOUN (series 1.A1)

     This is the second part of my English 101 series. After a brief discussion on the different parts of speech, this is about nouns, I would say the first and the heart of English sentence construction and word usage. Let's start with what is a word. A word is a group of letters that we utter. The letter m-o-t-h-e-r  is a word we use to refer to a certain person. When there is a group of words, we call it a sentence, phrase, or clause. 

Noun forms part of our everyday words, our speech. Some of my students who have had a weaker foundation in the lesson Parts of Speech confusingly referred to it as Figure of Speech (simile, metaphor, personification, etc). Noun, from the Latin word "nomen", literally means name. A noun is a word that names a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an event, an idea, or a concept. A noun can be divided into Concrete and Abstract.

Concrete nouns > names a material thing, people, place, anything that can be perceived through our senses, or does have a material existence.
Examples: planet, soldier, star, Earth.
The following cannot be perceived by the senses but have material existence: atom, proton, neutron, and cell.

Abstract nouns > names a concept, quality, emotion, condition, and attitude which have no material existence.
Examples:  joy, love, justice, freedom, power

Nouns have two kinds under these two divisions, namely, Common and Proper Nouns.

Common Nouns > names a "general" name of a person, a thing, a place, an animal, an event, a concept, or an idea.
Examples: boy, pencil, city, puppy, birthday, meetings, sports, knowledge, leadership

Proper Nouns > names a specific name of a person, a thing, a place, an animal, an event, a concept, or an idea.
Examples: Prince William, Mongol, Manila, Lassie, April, Olympic Games, Democrats

We also have the gender of nouns, in which we categorize each of them into hers, his, neutral, or common. The purpose is to identify the nouns to whom or which they should be used. The Genders of the noun are Masculine, Feminine, Common, and Neuter.

Masculine Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals of the male kind.
Examples: groom, prince, lad, rooster, king, duke, fiance, lion, uncle, nephew

Feminine Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals of the female kind.
Examples: bride, princess, lass, hen, queen, duchess, fiancee, lioness, aunt, niece

Common Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals whose gender has not been known or specifically stated.
Examples: citizen, visitor, people, student, child, singer, doctor, cat

Neuter Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to objects.
Examples: car, house, ring, blouse, pants

Below are other nouns which are especially important in distinguishing the verb it agrees with. They will be discussed in my next blog post.

Collective Nouns > nouns used to refer to a whole group of people, places, things, or ideas.
Examples:

• Persons = family, committee, team, group, jury, crew, platoon, squad, troop, cast, battalion, bevy, colony, pride, class, coven, congregation, panel
• Animals = herd, club, gaggle, brood, litter, flock, pack, colony, caravan
• Things = bunch, bouquet, armada, fleet, deck, flotilla

Count Nouns > nouns that can be counted such as houses, books, clothes, shoes, etc.
Mass Nouns > nouns that cannot be counted individually, such as the words love, money, food, knowledge, and kindness.

We also have what we call the Number of nouns in which a vital role in sentence construction is very important, the Singular and Plural Nouns.
Singular nouns as the word implied, refer to a single person, place, thing, animal, or idea.
Plural nouns, however, implied more than one.
The list of these nouns with their corresponding plural forms will be provided in my next series as well as the different uses of nouns.

My Site Was Hacked

     

image credits to blog.ipleaders.in

After posting my last blog article two months ago, I found out that readers and I were being redirected to another site whenever there was an attempt to view my site. I can't figure out what happened..did I post or open a malicious link? did I approve a comment? because the first day it appeared, I approved one comment which has a URL link related to, which I think, to my post. For many days, I kept looking through all my links, posts, ads, and HTML affiliates, checking all their contents but I couldn't find what went wrong. I even looked into Google customer service to help me, but none related and no answer to the FAQs I have sent. Searching through for many days, I found a forum on Google for the same problem that I got..."my blog site being redirecting to another site". I found out I am not the only one who had encountered the same problem. There was one blogger with the same fate and was answered by,  I think a Google staff. So I have written mine there since I have read the staff mentioned that even if the same problem occurs, it is on a case-to-case basis. A few days after, I received an email that my query was answered. The staff told me that he found a malicious link in one of my affiliate links. He told me to check on it and delete the said link. I found the one he was telling me and after deleting it, I viewed my site..wow..it worked. From that time on, I cannot write on this site and am also thinking to create another site since I was nearly losing hope at that time. And for all the bloggers out there, always log out and change your password from time to time, every month if possible.

English 101 - Parts of Speech (series 1)

     My first day at school with each high school class started with a review of different parts of speech. It was mostly a disappointment that needed a question rephrasing, hints, and translation for them to remember or rather let them know what it is all about. Sometimes they interchanged it with figures of speech when they started answering metaphor, simile, etc. I can't blame them during their primary/intermediate days, most of them only spent 3 hours in school due to a lack of school rooms. I hope upon writing this, some of them will stumble upon it if not to give them the site's name.

Parts of Speech is a term used for the 8 categories into which words are classified according to their functions in a sentence. This term has been labeled by linguistics into word class or syntactic category. Parts of speech are divided into two, namely, Open classes and Closed classes. Open classes are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Closed classes are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjection.

1. Noun - a word that names a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an idea, or an event. (it is important to note that noun 'names a' not 'name of'. Noun actually give names, not the name of...  
2. Pronoun - a word that takes the place of a noun. The noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to is called the antecedent.
3. Verb - a word that expresses an action or a state of being.
4. Adjectives - words that describe a noun or pronoun.
5. Adverb - a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
6. Preposition - a word that expresses a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
7. Conjunction - a   word that connects an individual word or group of words.
8. Interjection - an exclamatory word or phrase that can stand by itself although it may also appear in a sentence.

 Examples:

1. Nouns: teacher, Emily, city, Manila, cellphone, Sony, dog, Snoopy, compassion, love, birthday.
2. Pronouns: I, me, you, he, she, it, who, which, all, any, few, several, everyone, somebody.
3. Verbs: get, take, hopes, appear, seem, is, was, are, were, have, will, can, may, must.
4. Adjectives: happy, new, tall, helpful, many, more, prettiest.
5. Adverbs: quite, very, so, too, slowly, always, gracefully.
6. Prepositions: in, on, about, over, behind, under, inside, outside.
7. Conjunctions: and, but, or, while, that, thus, so that, however.
8. Interjections: oh! wow! alas! aha! hooray!..

* The category of each word in the Part of Speech is based on how it was used alone or in a sentence.

image credits to the owner

Meet Me In The Stairwell

I stumbled upon a blogsite (clinicallyclueless.blogspot) and found this youtube slideshow and the notes about the 911 tragedy. As the slides roll on, it is as if God is talking to whoever watches, hears, and reads it...

'MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL'

("I WAS THERE") 

You say you will never forget where you were 

when you heard the news on September 11, 2001. 

Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke-filled room 

with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' 

I held his fingers steady as he dialed. 

I gave him the peace to say,
Honey, I am not going to make it, 

but it is OK...
I am ready to go.

'I was with his wife when he called 

as she fed breakfast to their children. 

I held her up as she tried to understand his words 

and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor
when a woman cried out to Me for help. 

'I have been knocking on the door of your heart
for 50 years!'
I said. 'Of course, I will show you the way home
- only believe in Me now.'
I was at the base of the building with the Priest
ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven.
He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes,
in every seat, with every prayer.
I was with the crew as they were overtaken.
I was in the very hearts of the believers there,
comforting and assuring them
that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas, Virginia, California, Michigan, and Afghanistan.
I was standing next to you
when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face.
I knew every name - though not all know Me.
Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them
through the smoke and flames;
'Come to Me... this way... take my hand.'
Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day.
You may not know why, but I do.
However, if you were;
there in that explosive moment in time,
would you have reached for Me?
Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you.
But someday your journey will end.
And I will be there for you as well.
Seek Me now while I may be found.
Then, at any moment, you know you are ready to go.'
I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

~God~

Copyright©2002 Stacey Randall

ANALYSIS...

       
       The writer's tone of the song is nostalgic of that particular event, depicting every situation a person in there can be. The writer nostalgic as it may seem, characterized himself as our God who would be meeting the people in their dire situation only if they have heard of Him what to do and where was the safest place to be if at the last minute of their lives they would call upon Him if they are ready to meet Him on the stairways of heaven and to assure those who had believed that He will surely meet them after this chaos.
    The mood of the song is somewhat sad as one can remember that fatal and horrific day, many lives who have been lost, families looking for their loved ones hoping they are still alive, and people can imagine what transpired what happened in the last minute of their lives.

           The message of the song is fair and clear when one knows he would surely die at that moment, we call our loved ones back home, readying ourselves for what could happen and/or call on to God if they could be spared and hope to live or be just ready to meet Him at the stairwell of Heaven.

    If that same situation comes, I do hope I am ready to meet Him at the stairwell.