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 — May 20
Amongst the recent buzz words I have been encountering are «e-learning», «distance education» and «blended learning». That's right I call them «buzzwords» because they can mean anything and are all too often used to impress people who might not yet have come across those fancy expressions. It's true there is indeed a wide range of new opportunities in the field of education and training. But why complicate matters by trying to create an entirely new vocabulary? Ask an employee of a medium-sized company to define the term «e-learning» and see how they respond. To me «e-learning» can mean so many different things. When you use email to exchange ideas with a sophisticated person then this certainly is «e-learning». You don't need an extensive and complex network to learn. most people spend hours in front of the TV absorbing low-level talk shows or sitcoms. If they started to engage in an active search for information using the resources already available then this would be a tremendous achievement. Large corporations and government organizations will spend millions of dollars on developing a new industry called «e-learning» and it certainly is worthwhile examining the situation further.

2004 — May 17
German mass media usually draw a rather dire picture of Russia and the Ukraine. You get the idea that the larger part of the former Soviet Union is in a state of thriving corruption on the one hand and growing poverty and alcoholism on the other. Mass media have a powerful impact on the opinions people form about their surroundings. In Eastern Germany where unemployment has been at a staggeringly high level ever since re-unification, the government is trying to convey the following message:
«Look, until a couple of years ago you had been part of the Soviet Union and now you are living so much better than the Russians. Not every one of you might have a job but you do have cable TV, an apartment and even a car.» Objectivity is a relative term and the more information you have, the clearer the picture you get. Compared to Western standards life in Russia has never been easy. Russia will stay a country of extremes. Yet, since the Soviet Union came down Russia has seen positive developments. Fiona Harris, a UK economist at credit insurer Gerling NCM says that Russia's economy is growing at a rate of around 5% per annum and that private consumption has been robust. Now, that oil prices are higher, the Russian government has been able to reduce its foreign debt from 90% of GDP («Gross Domestic Product») in 1999 to 37% at the end of last year. You may be asking why I am telling you all this? Well, maybe you have some ideas as to how you can benefit from this new situation?

2004 — May 15
How will people travel in the future? Maybe, the car will one day be replaced by the helicopter? Can you imagine the implications of such a development? I bet the employees and managers of LipsAir, a Leipzig based Helicopter service company, can. They have a vision of Europe becoming much more united and the demand for mobility growing enormously. That's why LipsAir have started offering a variety of air transport operations starting from short sightseeing trips down to business charter flights. You can travel to almost any destination several times faster and more conveniently than by car. If you want to become a pilot yourself and fly your own machine, you can take a pilot training course with LipsAir and even purchase or lease a helicopter with them. Interestingly enough their headquarters are only a few yards away from our office and when we met with the CEO and the sales manager they told us that one of their top pilots had served in the former Soviet Union and still speaks very good Russian. It goes without saying that we have arranged to hold an interview with him so our readers will learn his story in one of the future issues of Leipziger.RU

2004 — May 12
Vocaboly is a vocabulary training software. Its database contains 12,000 words, each of which comes with an explanation as well as a phonetic transcription. In addition you can hear how the words are pronounced in American English. The entire vocabulary is divided into several books that are tailored to your individual level of English as well as TO your particular learning plan. You can select from a variety of vocabulary building activities to practise your spelling, comprehension and memorizing skills. When you want to take a break from the learning process, you can play a word game to relax and to do exercises at the same time. Vocaboly has been able to run a very effective online promotion campaign - their site www.vocaboly.com has gained a Google PageRank of 6. That's an amazing result because it normally takes a couple of years to achieve this level of exposure. Maybe, one reason for Vocaboly's success is the fact that they are running an English version as well as a German one at www.vokaboly.de We'll definitely take a close look at their marketing activities in the coming months.