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 — November 27
Alan has written a series of tests featuring 'speaking' expressions and they all contain a punch line with typical British humour. So, in addition to improving your English you'll also get a chance to smile — an essential ingredient to success.
In the meantime we have managed to complete the first issue of our Russian language newspaper. A printed medium still has a different effect from a website: You can touch it, smell it, fold it, and take it with you in the tram... And of course it gives us the opportunity to get in direct contact with our readers and supporters as we will distribute the newspaper ourselves through Russian language facilities in our city: the library which has quite a large Russian book section and a Russian readers club, the number of small Russian shops where Russian speakers come to share the latest news, the Russian Church, the Russian Consulate the German-Russian Culture Centre and a number of businesses run by Russian speakers.
In addition we have a list of people who have established their own little networks through which any news travels faster than through the traditional channels.
In a few days you will be able to see the first issue of Leipziger.RU on the web too..

2003 — November 26
You probably know the difference between a goal and a plan? Well, a goal is something you want to achieve — a desired result or aim while a plan is a programme, a sequence of steps you will take to reach your destination. Now, once you have made a decision to achieve a certain goal you should stick to it. However, you will sometimes have to change your plan based on the current situation. This is called flexibility — a buzzword often used by job applicants. You might have heard the expression «to play by ear» — to make decisions on the spot, to handle a situation in an impromptu fashion. Of course the origin of this phrase is in the playing of music without reference to sheet music.
So, you are asking, what exactly does all of this have to do with our business? Well, a lot. We are adapting our plans with english-test.net You will soon be able to download a number of language learning tools. It won't be long now…

2003 — November 25
Lately the number of people finding our site through Google using keywords such as «free TOEIC tests» or «free TOEIC test preparation» has been growing. This is of course very good news as it enables people to improve their English. On the other hand however the concept of «free English tests» and «free TOEIC test materials» doesn't work in the long run as there is no such thing as a free lunch. Nature frowns upon the idea of something for nothing. Why do you want to improve your English language skills? Chances are you are aiming for a better job — a position with greater responsibility, more room for promotion and of course a higher salary. You wouldn't be investing your time and efforts for the sake of a job that doesn't reward you appropriately, would you? Yet, very often you will meet people who think that education has to be free while at the same time they spend money on things like entertainment, food, clothes etc. It is true — the internet makes it possible to access a great wealth of free information resources and this is a major achievement for all of us. However, we still have to find a system that will generate some kind of recompence for these services…

2003 — November 24
Alan has written another newsletter and I'm glad we can display every issue on our website after it has been sent out because each one makes very pleasant reading. This issue is about the way British people use greetings in several situations and I'm sure it will trigger some feedback from readers who would like to tell us about greetings in their language. The way people greet each other reflects their culture and traditions and especially thanks to new forms of communication such as email and internet forums these habits change. Interestingly enough the search string «German greetings» frequently appears in our Google referrer list so maybe we can start a «greetings» discussion on our forum…