Watch This Guy Speak 9 Languages Like A Native

Matthew Youlden speaks nine languages fluently and understands more than a dozen more. He’s what is known as a polyglot, a member of the multilingual elite who speaks six or more languages fluently. He’s also a sociolinguist who studies the revitalization of minority languages. But to see him in action on a daily basis – deftly and comfortably talking to native-speakers in their own languages – suggests that he’s more than a polyglot. Matthew, who is originally from Manchester, England, is a language chameleon: Germans think he’s German, Spaniards think he’s Spanish, Brazilians think he’s Portuguese (he proudly speaks the good-old European variety).
By his own account, Matthew has mastered a staggering number of languages by utilizing abilities that we all possess: persistence, enthusiasm and open-mindedness. If your classic polyglot is an über-nerd who studies languages full-time, then Matthew is something different. His version of multilingualism doesn’t isolate him in an ivory tower; it connects him to people all over the world. According to Matthew, the more languages you speak, the more points of view you have:
“I think each language has a certain way of seeing the world. If you speak one language then you have a different way of analyzing and interpreting the world than the speaker of another language does. Even if they’re really closely-related languages such as Spanish and Portuguese, which are to a certain extent mutually intelligible, they are at the same time two different worlds – two different mindsets.
“Therefore, having learned other languages and been surrounded by other languages, I couldn’t possibly choose only one language because it would mean really renouncing the possibility to be able to see the world in a different way. Not in one way, but in many different ways. So the monolingual lifestyle, for me, is the saddest, the loneliest, the most boring way of seeing the world. There are so many advantages of learning a language; I really can’t think of any reason not to.”
Watch the video above to see him flex his skills in Irish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew and German.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z-tTFKra3Ik
Write your opinión. 200words

Why This Alligator Lived in a Los Angeles Family's Backyard for 37 Years

A Los Angeles family says they are heartbroken that a “beloved” 8-foot-long alligator they have raised for 37 years since it was a baby was taken away by L.A. City Animal Services.

The investigation into the illegal pet started late last year when Animal Services received a complaint, the agency said. They weren’t able to find the alligator at the time and believed it was relocated, so they decided to do a surprise visit at a later time, Commander Mark Salazar told ABC News today.

The surprise happened Monday after the agency received a new tip from a neighbor reporting an alligator in the backyard of a house in Van Nuys. 

 he homeowners told ABC News that they refused to let the officers come in because they said they wanted to protect their pet. However, after obtaining a search warrant, officers discovered Jaxson, an 8-foot-long alligator in a box under leaves.

She was bought from a pet store in 1977 and considered a pet and family member, owner Laura Mattson told ABC News.

But there was another surprise.

"What was disturbing was that there were two small animal carcasses that appeared to be cats in the box,” Salazar said. 

Mattson said she has cats of her own and even takes care of feral cats, but she has never fed Jaxson cats.

“I don’t like the fact people are insinuating Jaxson ate cats in the neighborhood,” Mattson told us. “She was perfectly docile.”

Her brother, Ron Gorecki, who also lived in the house with Jaxson, said they only fed Jaxson meat from the groceries.

“We fed her chicken legs, hot dogs, turkey,” he told ABC News. “No live food. No kittens. No cats.”

The siblings said that they believe that feral cats are being poisoned and that two must have wandered into Jaxson’s box and died in there sick from poison.

Salazar said he remains skeptical. He is asking anyone who has lost small pets over the past few decades in the area to come to them with information for the ongoing investigation.

Jaxson has since been captured with the help of reptile experts from the Los Angeles Zoo. The 37-year-old alligator is currently in the quarantine area of the zoo, a spokeswoman said.

The owners are facing citations for maintaining a wild animal without proper care and maintenance, and without proper permits. They could face further criminal charges as well, Salazar said.

It is illegal to keep wildlife without permits in Los Angeles.

Gorecki said that he and his sister want to work with the zoo to make sure Jaxson gets the perfect home.

“We’re going to keep calling and visiting the L.A. Zoo to make sure we still see her and stay in contact with her because we love her. We’ll always love her.”

Have you got a pet? Would you like to have one? Write 200 words about it

Should tourists be banned from Antarctica?

This season around 37,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctica - home to about 20 million pairs of breeding penguins. But is it ethically acceptable to go on holiday to such a pristine environment?

Enfolded in two glacial arms the bay before us sparkles ultramarine, the water flecked with ice-lilies and dotted with bits of floating icebergs.
A sheer cliff towers dark above us, flanked by snow slopes as pure white as the glistening fronts of the little Adelie penguins whose spectacled eyes peer curiously around as they waddle and toboggan about their business just a few feet away.
This is Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula and togged up in layer upon layer of fleece, topped with vivid red wetskins I am all too aware that this is not my habitat.
Which begs the question: Should I be here? Am I, just by setting foot on this extraordinary continent, disturbing a pristine environment and polluting the last great wilderness on earth?
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709924
What is your opinion?

In search of a personalised diet

Forget the latest weight-loss fad - science may already have worked out what diet is best for you. Experts say a personalised approach could transform the way people lose weight.

January is a month when many go on a post-Christmas purge and start dieting. It's also the month when many fail and go back to their bad eating habits.
Scientists say this isn't just down to a lack of willpower. It is due to a person's individual make-up - their genes, hormones and psychology.
The latest weight-loss theory is that instead of reaching for a one-size-fits-all diet, people should follow one that is tailored to their individual needs.
For the first time leading obesity experts and BBC Science have put this theory to the test nationally. Over three months, 75 dieters were put through a series of tests and monitored at home. The study was overseen by scientists from Oxford and Cambridge and their research teams.
 The study looked at three types of overeaters. Feasters who find it hard to stop eating once they start, constant cravers who feel hungry all of the time and emotional eaters who turn to food when they get stressed or anxious.
The study looked at three types of overeaters. Feasters who find it hard to stop eating once they start, constant cravers who feel hungry all of the time and emotional eaters who turn to food when they get stressed or anxious.
If you want to read the whole article:  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709297
What do you think of diets? Write more than 200 words on it.

Desk hacks: Must-have gadgets

If a grey office cubicle leaves you feeling unmotivated, you're not alone.
Simply by customising your workspace to your own tastes, you can improve your job satisfaction and morale, studies show. In fact, allowing employees to personalise their work environment can positively impact a company's bottom line by increasing productivity and reducing staff turnover, noted a 2007 study Workplace Personalization and Organizational Culture.
A 2010 study from two occupational psychologists at the University of Exeter found that employees who were permitted to decorate their small office as they wished were more productive than those who had no control of their area's appearance.
Whether you have a corner office or an open desk in a cubicle farm, there are plenty of ways to incorporate your own personal style that go beyond adding a bobble head figurine or a few picture frames. If creativity, fitness or ergonomics is your thing, you can transform your work area from a basic space into a mini art, entertainment or fitness center — no standing desk treadmills required.
How would you decorate your class or your desk? 200 words

Gap year for grown-ups?

Soon after he turned 50, Mark Perriton realised he needed a change.
“I was pretty miserable,” said the former managing director of an office refurbisher. “I was turning up for work ... not feeling fully engaged ... going through the process of working and living. Eventually I looked in the mirror and said I want to change something.”
That change came in the form of several months off and a nearly round-the-world cycling trip taking in parts of North and South America and South East Asia.
“I have come back and now I am much more enthusiastic and focused than I was before,” Perriton said.
He now works as a consultant in the same industry, making as much money as he did before but working just eight months each year. He uses his free months to pursue his passions, skiing and cycling.
Perriton is just one of many senior executives who take time off work, often to rethink their careers or sometimes simply to recharge their batteries, eschewing the idea that if you’re gone from the game, you’ll quickly be forgotten.
Indeed, career break numbers are rising according to Susan Griffith, author of Gap Years for Grown Ups, partly because “50- and 60-somethings are feeling far more fit and adventurous than in previous generations”, she said.
She predicts that reports of recovering job markets “will inspire more to step off the treadmill” because people will have less fear of joblessness upon their return. Dan Clements, author of Escape 101: The Four Secrets to Taking a Sabbatical or Career Break Without Losing Your Money or Your Mind, agrees.
He said, anecdotally, economic growth is leading to a rise in so-called 'elective sabbaticals' where executives choose to take a step back from their careers – just like Perriton. What’s more, people who are more established in their careers and have risen the ranks in their industry are more likely to have the financial means to take a break, often funding them with savings and investments built up over the course of a successful career.

 What would you do in a gap year? Write about it in 200 words

Good Omens: How Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a book

Cult novel Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, has been adapted for radio. Here Neil Gaiman tells the story of how it came to be written.
Terry took the first 5,000 words and typed them into his word processor, and by the time he had finished they were the first 10,000 words. Terry had borrowed all the things about me that he thought were amusing, like my tendency back then to wear sunglasses even when it wasn't sunny, and given them, along with a vintage Bentley, to Crawleigh, who had now become Crowley. The Satanic Nurses were Satanic Nuns.
The book was under way.
We wrote the first draft in about nine weeks. Nine weeks of gloriously long phone calls, in which we would read each other what we'd written, and try to make the other one laugh. We'd plot, delightedly, and then hurry off the phone, determined to get to the next good bit before the other one could. We'd rewrite each other, footnote each other's pages, sometimes even footnote each other's footnotes.
We would throw characters in, hand them off when we got stuck. We finished the book and decided we would only tell people a little about the writing process - we would tell them that Agnes Nutter was Terry's, and the Four Horsemen (and the Other Four Motorcyclists) were mine.

The second draft took about four months, as we took what we'd done and did our very best to make it look like we knew what had been doing all along. Pepper became a girl, and so did War. I went to stay with Terry at the end of the book, to patch it all together and make sure it worked, and slept in his spare room. The window was open, and there was a dovecote nearby. When he woke me that morning, the air of the bedroom was filled with fluttering white doves. I assumed this always happened in the Pratchett household, but he said it was only me.
All that remained was to find a title for the book we'd written. I suggested Good Omens, Terry liked The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. We compromised, or rather, we collaborated, and we had a title and a subtitle.

If you had to write a book, what would it be about? Write 200 words.

The world´s most famous christmas tree

Is there any special tradition in your family for Christmas? Write 200words about it.

The hidden motives behind workplace perks

Ryan Schaffer watched the sun rise over the mountains of northern Portugal from the terrace of a refurbished medieval monastery. He sipped his espresso, took his time getting ready, then headed down to join his workmates for their regular morning meeting.
Yes, his workmates.

They chatted for a while before heading to various corners of the 15th century building with their laptops. It’s all in a day’s work for employees of San Francisco-based Expensify, a start-up specialising in the less-than-glamorous world of expense report management.

Every year the six-year-old company offers its approximately 50 employees the opportunity to be flown to a different country to travel and work for a month. Destinations have included Thailand, Vietnam, Croatia, India and, this year, Portugal.

“We spent a week in Lisbon, Porto, [in a] monastery called Pousada de Amares, an hour from Braga and Lagos,” explained Schaffer, the 27-year-old director of marketing and strategy at Expensify. The trip took people around much of Portugal.
There was, he said, generally no fixed place to work, with 35 employees scattered across various Airbnb lodgings, some with their partners and families. The trip also included nightly informal meals with colleagues and a weekly company dinner.
“People are sceptical when we say we work hard during our offshore month, but truly we work more that month than we do when we're back in the States,” Schaffer said.

Where would you like to be taken to travel and work for a month by la Preu?Why? Answer with 200 words.