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.

2004 — March 24
It will soon be 10 years since I first went online. The first provider I used was called «Europe Online» and they offered dial-up connections. One minute of internet usage was at least 5 times as expensive as it is today and I had a 28kps modem of which I was terribly proud . Then I tried out several local providers (many of which have since gone out of business) continually searching for the best rate. I vividly remember the discussions that were going on back in the mid 1990's in Germany about the necessity for an internet flat rate. There was an active group of German internet users that organized campaigns aiming at speeding up the process of deregulation. Most Germans, however, didn't think that the internet would ever take off and become a major factor for economic growth.

Today the picture has changed considerably. Instead of dialling up through an analogue telephone line a growing number of people are signing up with DSL — «Digital Subscriber Line». The two major DLS providers in Germany are Deutsche Telekom with their latest subsidiary T-Com amounting to more than 4 million DSL users and Arcor with a DSL customer base of 160.000.

Now the DSL market in Germany is becoming increasingly competitive with companies such as Freenet, United Internet fighting hard to gain a share of the fat DSL cake.

2004 — March 22
Have you ever considered the fact that there is a direct link between your choice of words and your level of success in life? Chances are you haven't because most people are not really aware of their active vocabulary. When, for example, did you last consciously choose and learn a new word? As an adult you usually don't invest time and energy in increasing your lexicon. But your ability to grasp other people's thoughts and express your own ideas in a very precise and effective way is the most important and powerful tool you have. The scientist Johnson O'Connor who carried out a study quantifying a direct correlation between vocabulary and rank on the corporate ladder put it like this: «Your words are your tools of thought». If you take a look at the English language, you will find that it contains close on 1 million words. Now, it's obvious that you won't be able to learn all those words especially since each single one may have several meanings. So, what you need is a system that helps you identify and select those words that are most appropriate and consequently most important for you. The question is how you do that. Well, there are many ways. For example you can find a person with an extensive vocabulary and spend time with them in order, as it were, to «pick their brains». Or you can read texts containing words used by professionals and people you want to emulate.
And of course, there are other routes you can follow, too.

2004 — March 12
One of the common misconceptions in Germany is that the high unemployment rate we are facing, especially in the so called «New Federal States» is due to a lack of money. Germany is one of the richest countries in the world and the fact of the matter is we have too much money rather than too little. That's the reason why we are wasting it on such a large scale: According to the «Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung» our new online database run by the «Federal Labour Department» could possibly cost as much as 165 million Euros ($206 million) by 2008. You see, this is tax revenue being wasted on a project that is hardly going to create many new jobs, if any. Germany is said to have the oldest and most stable social security system. This might well be true and undoubtedly stability is a great success whichwe really should maintain. Yet, security also engenders inflexibility and at times even stubbornness. A large proportion of Germans are incapable of making their own decisions and planning for the future. There is an institution for almost anything which is in place to provide the answers to such questions like «What do I need to know in order to get a good job?»
However, it's obvious that new jobs can only be created by people who have their own ideas and move forward using their own initiative.

2004 — February 29
What do have Berlitz Inc. and English-test.net have in common? Well, for starters their websites appear on the same page when you carry out a Google search on «english test». Lately, there is something else that links us to the language training giant and that's our new Russian language newspaper Leipziger.RU. In January this year the Berlitz Language Centre Leipzig contacted us via email after they had come across www.leipziger.ru
You see, in addition to English language training Berlitz is also providing German language courses for foreigners and new German citizens. As Russians form the largest ethnic minority in East Germany , German language courses for Russian speakers offer good potential for business. When we decided to start the first Russian language newspaper for the Leipzig area, we filled a niche and we are receiving requests for advertisements almost every day. That's why we are going to open our own office by March 15.