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.

2006 — April 07
Yesterday our newsletter saw the record number of 21 new subscribers. When I started this blog on August 15 in 2003 about 300 had signed up with the newsletter in total - now our readership has surpassed 7000 and by the end of 2006 we could hit the 10.000 mark. That's why I want to create a template that allows us to publish some media data such as the current number of subscribers and the number of back issues. You might wonder why so many people read our newsletter every month? Well, it's because Alan has been doing an excellent job - I used to read various email newsletters on the English language (including English-At-Home, NetLanguages and Michael Quinion's 'World Wide Words) and I can honestly say that the english-test.net publications are absolutely unique. You should read Alan's essays and you will see what I mean. He has this special sense of subtle humour that makes you smile when you read his stories. Most ESL newsletters contain rather dry and sometimes downright boring vocabulary or grammar exercises. Sure, there is a demand for this type of materials too. But if you really enjoy learning English you should be interested in picking up new idiomatic phrases and reading about the origins of those idioms. Get a different perspective and dive into the world of fine British humour. You can start your journey with a few clicks today.

2006 — March 30
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the word bluetooth? If so you might be interested in reading Alan's latest newsletter which contains a lot of information about new telecommunication technologies. As you know Alan always explains commonly used phrases of the English language in his own unique way and the current keyword is touch. You will learn how to use expressions like in touch or out of touch and even words like dab hand are touched on in this lastet issue of the newsletter. If you have not yet joined our readership, you should do so today because this way you will be able to stay in touch with our growing community of English language friends. Currently about 10 new subscribers sign up with the newsletter every day and they come from all over the world. How long will it be before we get to know you?

2006 — March 10
If you google «TOEFL essay» review you will now find our forum amongst the top results. This is because Alan has started to amend a series of essays that were written by TOEFL candidates. Most of them are really good (you can take a look at this TOEFL essay) and it's amazing to see how the Internet enables us to connect with English language fans from around the world. With the forum becoming more and more active we might soon be able to offer a unique type of service: Some type of ESL help desk that is open 24 hours a day. You could post any question related to the English language or exam preparation and you would receive a qualified response within a few hours or even a few minutes. I know that there is a great demand for such a system — think about all the office workers, sales executives, engineers, consultants and other professional people who need help with their English business correspondence. How often do you have to write a text in English and then find you have a question about a particular phrase or term? You can simply go to our forum any time and you will get professional help free of charge.

2006 — February 18
If you are a regular reader of this blog you might remember me mentioning the «Freedom_2007» project. It describes our plan to turn english-test.net into our main source of income so we can travel while earning a living. Why would this concept be of interest to you? Simply because you could adapt some of the ideas and use them to your own advantage. You can read more about how to run a website in our e-business section. There are various online business models — we have started our website as a free resource for ESL learners and after a while we have found partners who would support our project through advertising contracts. Soon you will be able to purchase handouts, worksheets, short stories and other reading materials because we have created a range of unique learning products for you. For example, you will be able to download Alan Townend's ESL e-book called «A Day in the Life of...» containing a series of funny short stories along with vocabulary explanations and grammar exercises. If you are an ESL instructor or English teacher you will be able to purchase the ebook at a very reasonable price and make copies for your classroom activities. The ebook comes in a neat, ready to use PDF format, for you to print off and photo copy instantly. This is a much more professional approach than trying to make photo copies from conventional text books because usually the authors of such books don't give you the copyright and the format is never photocopier-friendly.