As our site grows every day we want to share some information with you on the way we are operating the project. We call this section «Business Blog» as it is similar to doing a log book where data is recorded in a chronological order. «Blogging» is gaining popularity with more and more people picking up the habit of publishing their experiences and thoughts on the Internet. Our Blog covers various topics — from TOEFL, TOEIC, MBA, GMAT, ESL/EFL test preperation to cultural traditions and current political events.
There will also be some Internet marketing terminology and if you have any questions regarding the information simply let us know.

The Business Blog is written by Torsten Daerr and edited by Alan Townend.

2003 — October 14
Our forum is getting busier — now we have some interesting members. Bob from Japan even offered to create a Japanese version of the forum serving as a bridge between the Japanese speaking internet users and our site which is available in English only. Bob has already sent us a draft of the forum with a Japanese interface. We'll check into the technical feasibility as well as the functionality of this new idea. Japan can be called the birthplace of the TOEIC test as the exam was created as an initiative of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Trade in the 70's. A lot of company executives and industry leaders had recognized the demand for a standard by which to evaluate an employee's command of the English language. Now the TOEIC is the most widely used test of professional English. The question for us is now does it really make sense to create an interface in Japanese for a site by the name english-test.net? I can imagine that the vast majority of Japanese internet users can read and understand texts in English. At least, that's what I think. I've submitted my concerns to Bob and we'll see how he responds…

2003 — October 13
On the way to a small town in the south east of Germany last Tuesday morning I had my radio tuned to one of the most popular stations in the region — «JUMP».
The host of that morning show said: «Hey guys if you stand on your tiptoes you might be able to see it — the weekend! Just four more days and you'll be free again.» Are the 5 working days really so awful that on a Tuesday morning you have nothing else on your mind but the weekend? Maybe they are.
A couple of years ago a survey was conducted in the US revealing that over 60% of the 10.000 participants didn't like their job. And another statistic showed that the vast majority of heart attacks happen on a Monday morning between 9 and 11 am. Can you imagine why? As for me — I used to belong to those 60%, yes, there were a lot of things I didn't like about the jobs I did. It took me some time to figure out that there are other options to a regular job you don't like that much. After all, we only live once and there is only one single thing we have total control over.
What could that be?…

2003 — October 10
Yesterday our users took over a total of more than 2000 tests and during the summer this year the average number was about 200 so the popularity of our site is still on the rise. The important thing about a website, however, is not statistical data but the people who are using it. Now, with the forum functioning we can collect more feedback and make appropriate changes to the site. Piotr, also known as «El_Presidente» suggested that we reduce the number of categories on the forum because at this early stage the few postings that are made can be combined in one category to increase interaction between the participants and he is right about that. Kievstar made a similar proposal about the Russian corner. As you can see we now have only one category that is open to anyone and any topic as long as you stick to its name «Use Your English»…

2003 — October 09
Since Tuesday morning 7.30 english-test.net has acquired a new student and probably even a partner as well. No big deal, you might say. Well, there is something special about this new user: He doesn't yet know he will be using our website and work with us on this project because he is Dennis Gromov and he was born October 7th 2003. Slava told me that October 7th is Vladimir Putin's birthday too.
In a couple of years Denis will speak at least two languages — his parents' mother tongue and the language spoken in the country he was born in. Interestingly enough he will also have to prepare for the TOEIC test because this exam will be mandatory in all state schools within the EU by 2012. I'm sure Alan will be writing more tests over the months to come so by the time Denis starts learning English our site will be the leading free TOEIC test training centre on the internet…