Articles Tagged with: formación online

Did you know that more (three times more!) Europeans move to the USA than the other way around?

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-13/3-times-many-europeans-move-us-other-way-around

Before Reading this article, think of questions for yourself to answer as you read (I suggest writing them down first), according to the title.

Need help with the question?

Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?

My questions:

Who moves to the States?
What motivated them to move?
Where exactly were they moving to?
When did this take place?
Why do we think that it could be the opposite?
How do the Spanish statistics uphold when comparing to Europe as a whole?

My questions to you, as observers:

Were you surprised by this?
Do you know anybody who has permanently moved to the United States?

My thoughts or observations before reading:

Does this have to do with the crisis that we are slowly coming out of now?
Has this always been the case?

3 Times As Many Europeans Move To The US, Than The Other Way Around

by Tyler Durden

Thu, 06/14/2018 – 05:00

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

In last week’s column comparing median income numbers from country to country, we found that, by the measure the OECD uses, median incomes in the US are the seventh highest in the world (not counting some tiny city states.) Even after including income from welfare programs, the median income of the US is about equal to that of Austria and Denmark.

These numbers include incomes from welfare programs, so it may very well be that the US’s relatively pro-market institutions really do lead to higher incomes for many millions of people — even including people in the lower third of incomes. Breaking out states showed that some regions of the US compare even more favorably.

The response to the article, of course, was predictable. Advocates for converting the US even more into a European style welfare state chimed in — in social media and in the comments section — with claims that European countries have higher life expectancy, lower crime, and are just generally better places.

This is often true, although comparisons don’t favor European welfare states nearly as much when we break out the US by states. Many US states compare quite well in terms of crime and life expectancy.

“On paper” comparisons, often favor the European welfare states.

When it comes to making comparisons of this nature, however, it’s always important to take a look at where people actually choose to live.

This has long been a useful tool in comparing US states, of course, and there’s been a long trend of people moving from high-tax states in the US to low-tax ones. When choice exists, many people vote with their feet.

And while it’s much more difficult and expensive to move from, say, Belgium to the United States than from California to Texas, the choices migrants make nevertheless can provide us with useful information. These moves tell us the demonstrated preferences of the migrants.

So, how many Western Europeans are moving to the United States, compared to migration in the opposite direction? A new report from the Pew Research Center titled “Origins and Destinations of the World’s Migrants, 1990–2017,” gives us some of the answers.

According to Pew’s helpful interactive map, Western Europeans move to the US in far greater numbers — both proportionally and in absolute terms — than Americans move to Western Europe.

Using Pew’s numbers, there are now 2.9 million people living in the US who were born in Western Europe. It’s imprecise, but for the sake of ease, we might say that as of 2017, Western Europe has sent 2.9 million Western-Europe-born people to the US. But during the same period, the US sent only 690,000 people to Western Europe.3 Part of this could be attributed to the fact that the overall population of Western Europe is 30 percent larger than that of the United States. (There are 419 million Western Europeans, and 323 million Americans.)4 But when we adjust for population, the difference is far larger than a mere 30 percent.

There are 6.9 Western-European migrants (to the US) per 1,000 people living in Western Europe today. By contrast, there are only 2.1 US migrants (to Western Europe) for every 1,000 people living in the US today.

These numbers vary considerably by country:

To make the method here clear, let’s use Ireland and Spain as examples.

According to Pew, 140,000 people now living in the US were born in Ireland. That’s a pretty small number in the big scheme of things, but compared to the total number of people in Ireland (4.7 million), it’s really quite large. This comes out to 29.4 Irish migrants (to the US) per 1,000 Ireland residents.5 At the other end of the spectrum is Spain. There are now 110,000 people living in the US who were born in Spain. But Spain has a much larger population of 46 million people. So, there are only 2.3 Spanish migrants (to the US) per 1,000 Spanish residents.

How does this compare to Americans living in Europe? Broken out by country, the results look like this:

(Taking all destination countries in Western Europe combined, there are 2.1 US migrants (to Western Europe) per 1,000 US residents.)

We can see, not surprisingly, that these migrants are not distributed evenly. The country with the most US-born migrants in Europe, both proportionally and in absolute numbers, is the United Kingdom. There are 190,000 US-born migrants in the UK, which comes out to about 0.5 per 1,000 US residents. The only other country that comes close is Germany with 0.4 US-born migrants (to Germany) per 1,000 US residents. All other Western European countries come in far behind Germany.

But even when Western Europe is combined together, we find that Americans move to Western Europe overall far less frequently than Western Europeans move to the US.

The UK case especially stands out as an example of the lopsided differences in US-Europe migrant exchanges.

With an overall population of 65 million, the UK is the birthplace of 750,000 current US residents. In contrast, with a population of 323 million, the US is the birthplace of only 190,000 people living in the UK.

Put another way, the UK has sent 3.9 people to the US for every one person the US has sent to the UK.

Expanding the Picture

Our conclusions don’t change much if we add in other wealthy countries that are likely to be attractive to Americans. If we include Australia and Canada in our analysis, the situation remains the same — even though these countries pose no language barrier to Americans. According to the Pew report, Canada has sent 890,000 migrants to the US. But the US has sent only 310,000 people to Canada in return. Meanwhile, the US population is about nine times as large as Canada’s population. Australia has sent 90,000 people to the United States. But, even though the US population is 12 times larger than Australia’s, the US has only sent 120,000 people to Australia.

Other Considerations

These numbers, of course, can be affected by factors other than a mere desire to move from one place to another. It may be that, due to legal reasons, it is especially difficult for an American to move from the United States to, say, France. It may very well be that Western European governments go out of their way to keep American migrants away. Or the prevalence of English as a second language throughout Europe may make it easier for Europeans to move to the United States, than vice versa. It stands to reason that far more Germans receive English-language instruction than Americans receive German-language instruction.

Ultimately, however, if Americans were truly motivated to emigrate from the US and take advantage of Europe’s allegedly far-more-humane institutions, then the language barrier would not be sufficient to hold back the enormous numbers of Americans clamoring to escape the US. And certainly, this rationale doesn’t apply at all to Americans looking to move to Canada, Australia, Ireland, or the UK. And yet, we find that the flow of migrants from the wealthy non-US parts of the world is significantly larger than the flow of migrants in the opposite direction.

None of this, however, should be interpreted to mean the United States is a paradise or without blemish. After all, far from proving perfection, comparisons like these could merely be illustrating that the United States is only relatively less awful than other places — at least in the opinion of the people who actually migrate to the US. Those who don’t migrate, of course, have demonstrated a preference for staying where they are. Moreover, its also abundantly clear that some areas of the United States are far more pleasant to live in than others. And that reality certainly leaves plenty of room for improvement.

But if Americans are going to be lectured on how much more wonderful life outside the US is, these critics at least ought to be asked to comment on why it is that so many more Europeans are moving to the United States, compared to the other way around.

Introducing a new collaboration – Gref – Elingua

Applied Negotiation Skills: How to Improve My Conversation Skills Part Three

This article is in Spanish, below. Abajo verás el artículo en español.

At the beginning of any given conversation – what are you really thinking about? What YOU want to say or what the other person is saying?

Be honest.

Normally, every person is thinking about the point they want to make. The ESL learner is also thinking of HOW to say what they want to say.

Why do we communicate?

We have something to say – so ensure they listen.
We have something to learn – so ensure you listen.

Why do we negotiate?

To reach an agreement in which both sides feel that they are gaining something – so ensure you finish every conversation with that sensation.

Many conversations have a level of negotiation involved – be it deciding on which restaurant to eat at or the key pieces of information necessary to include in the meeting the following day.

The truth is – every participant involved is thinking of their own purpose, and, they are thinking about it when you are speaking – not really listening to WHAT you are saying. So – How do we guarantee that they will listen to us? How do we ensure that this will be a positive negotiation?

Negotiating skills are complicated in your original language, but when you want to negotiate (or otherwise stated – to have an effective conversation) in another language, the difficulty increases.

I enjoyed this article concerning The FBI negotiation strategies in a hostage situation; and would like to add onto the information in order to apply the same strategy for successfully maintaining a conversation in another language. http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/

FBI Hostage Negotiation:

Active listening – Listen to their side and make them aware you are listening.
Empathy – You get an understanding of where they are coming from and how they feel.
Rapport – Empathy is what you feel. Rapport is when they feel it back. They start to trust you.
Influence – Now that they trust you, you have earned the right to work on the problem solving with them and recommend a course of action.

In the previous article of this series, I spoke about the importance of active listening – basic notions to support the idea, and pictures that should trigger the readers’ thoughts on their own facial reactions.

This article concerns the first three steps of negotiating – active listening, empathy and rapport.

Let the other person speak, let them understand that you care and comprehend what they are saying. Once the conversation is a little more human, it is quite natural for them to return the courtesy, and ask you questions.

A few bullet points to ensure empathy and rapport:

Enter a conversation with the goal to listen first instead of entering a conversation to make a statement.
Use open-ended questions, making the other person speak, and thereby creating empathy.
When the other person pauses, do not jump at the opportunity to speak – encourage them to continue expressing their thoughts (“yes”, “I see”, “I understand”, “uh huh”…).
If you pause, this works to your advantage. You let them think more, and you let them want to ask you questions. This means that you are giving them the opportunity to introduce your idea into the conversation (instead of you having to force your ideas when the other person wants to speak).
Repeat what the other person says. You can never go wrong if you repeat the other person’s words – you learn and you let them know that you understand. A step further is to say what they said – but in your own words.

CLARIFYING with Active Listening – Empathy – Rapport

What is a closed question? –A closed question can be answered with either a single word or a short phrase (yes or no for example).

Advantages of using closed questions for an ESL student:

There are fewer mistakes to be made.
If your level is less than the person with whom you are speaking, it is easier for you.
Only when you want to repeat – or mirror – what the other person has said (not at the beginning of a conversation).
You have more control over the conversation.

Disadvantages of using closed questions in negotiating:

They limit the other person’s response to yes or no. This may be useful for you – but it is not very empathetic, does not show good listening skills (unless you are merely repeating what they have said), and does not allow you to get much rapport from them.
These questions give no opportunity for any sort of unsolicited explanation to the other person, making them feel uncomfortable and limited.

Examples of closed questions:

Did you know that they had moved away?
Have you always felt this way?
Would you like milk in your coffee?
Where did you go to University?
Do you like to drive fast?
Do you have a pet?

Ref.: http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/open_closed_questions.htm

Open-ended questions solicit long and informative answers. Such questions usually begin with a how, what, and why and provide qualitative instead of quantitative information.

Advantages:

You do not put the other person against the wall if they do not know the answer, they may answer something.
The other person is free to answer how he or she feels fit – with more or less information, sharing what they want to (facts, opinions, feelings, details).
The other person feels in control.

Disadvantages as an ESL student:

If the other person has a much higher level than you do, you may get lost in the conversation easily. In this case, it is of great importance to be able to repeat and pause as much as possible.
Most people enjoy participating in a conversation in which the other person lets them speak and clarifies often – so – no worries!

Examples:

What do you think about… ?
Why did you participate in that race?
How do you imagine yourself in ten years?
Describe the previous meeting.
What is your reaction to that?
What is your opinion on…?

Ref.: http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/open_closed_questions.htm

So – Let us take these logical words of wisdom and apply them to language learning. It turns out that it is to your advantage to listen more. It is to your advantage to repeat and ask questions. These are all positive habits to learn better – so please – just remember – you do not have to impress anybody with your speaking abilities (speaking quickly, or speaking more), you have to participate in the conversation – from a position which is and advantage for you.

Closed questions are easier and give me the control. Open-ended questions are more difficult to understand and I give control to the other person. What should I do?

Begin with simple, introductory closed questions. However, try, as much as possible to end your part of the conversation – or use as much as possible – open-ended questions. You will undoubtedly begin to realize that having the power in a conversation does not mean that you get your way… or better yet, handing over the power to the other party does not mean that you will lose the negotiation.

SPANISH

HABILIDADES DE CONVERSACIÓN TERCERA PARTE

Al inicio de cualquier conversación, ¿en qué estás pensando realmente? ¿En lo que quieres decir TÚ o en lo que está diciendo la otra persona?

Se honesto.

Normalmente, cada persona está pensando en lo que ella quiere decir. El alumno de inglés, también está pensando en CÓMO decir lo que quiere decir.

¿Por qué nos comunicamos?

Tenemos algo que decir, así que asegúrate de que te escuchen.
Tenemos algo que aprender, así que asegúrate de escuchar.

¿Por qué negociamos?

Queremos llegar a un acuerdo en el que ambas partes sientan que están ganando algo, así que asegúrate de terminar cada conversación con esa sensación.

Casi todas las conversaciones tienen involucrado algún nivel de negociación, ya sea que se esté hablando de en qué restaurante comer, o buscando las piezas clave de información necesarias, para incluir en la reunión del día siguiente.

La verdad es que cada participante está pensando en su propósito, y lo está pensando cuando tú estás hablando, sin realmente escuchar, completamente, lo que estás diciendo en ese momento. Entonces, ¿cómo podemos lograr que lo hagan? ¿Cómo nos aseguramos de que lleguemos a una negociación positiva?

Las habilidades de negociación son complicadas en el idioma materno para cualquier persona, pero cuando quieres negociar, o dicho de otra forma, tener una conversación efectiva en otro idioma, la dificultad aumenta.

Disfruté leyendo este artículo sobre las estrategias de negociación del FBI en situaciones con rehenes. Se pueden emplear las mismas estrategias para mantener una conversación en otro idioma con éxito. En este artículo, extrapolo estos pensamientos. http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/

En el artículo anterior de esta serie, hablé sobre la importancia de la escucha activa: nociones básicas para respaldar el concepto e imágenes, para hacer reflexionar a los lectores, sobre sus propias reacciones (físicas) en conversación.

En este artículo me centro en los tres primeros pasos de la negociación: escucha activa, empatía y la construcción de una buena relación (rapport).

Deja que la otra persona hable, déjale ver que te importa y que quieres comprender lo que está diciendo. Una vez que ha hablado todo lo que quería, lo habitual sería que te devolviese la cortesía y que te hiciera preguntas.

Algunas formas que te acercan a los ejes importantes en una negociación:

Inicia la conversación con el propósito de escuchar primero, en vez de participar para decir algo cuanto antes.
Emplea preguntas abiertas, haciendo que la otra persona hable, y, por lo tanto, generando empatía.
Cuando la otra persona haga una pausa, no aproveches la oportunidad para hablar; anímale a que siga hablando (“sí”, “veo”, “entiendo”, “eh, eh…”).
Si hace una pausa, esto, en realidad, juega a tu favor. Le dejas pensar más y dejas que quiera hacerte preguntas. Esto significa que le estás dando la oportunidad de que te haga presentar tu idea en la conversación (en vez de forzar la presentación de tus ideas, cuando la otra persona quiere hablar).
Repite lo que dice la otra persona. Nunca puedes equivocarte si repites sus palabras; aprendes y le haces saber que entiendes. Un paso más allá sería decir lo que dijeron, pero con tus propias palabras.

PREGUNTAS PARA CLARIFICAR (tomando en cuenta los pasos de la negociación).

¿Qué es una pregunta cerrada? Una pregunta cerrada se puede responder con una sola palabra o una frase corta (“sí” o “no”, por ejemplo).

Ventajas al emplear preguntas cerradas para un alumno de inglés:

Hay menos margen de error.
Si tu nivel del idioma es inferior al de la persona con la que estás hablando, es más fácil para ti.
Se puede emplear para repetir lo que la otra persona está diciendo.
Tienes más control sobre la conversación.

Desventajas con el uso de preguntas cerradas en la negociación:

Limitan la respuesta de la otra persona a un sí o un no. Esto puede ser útil para ti, pero no es muy empático, no muestra buenas habilidades para escuchar (a menos que simplemente estés repitiendo lo que ha dicho), y no te permite obtener mucha relación – conexión con tu interlocutor.
Estas preguntas no dan la oportunidad para ningún tipo de explicación, no solicitada, a la otra persona y le puedes hacer sentir incómodo y limitado.

Ejemplos de preguntas cerradas

¿Sabías que se han cambiado de casa?
¿Siempre te has sentido de esta manera?
¿Te gustaría leche en tu café?
¿Dónde fuiste a la universidad?
¿Te gusta conducir rápido?
¿Tienes una mascota?

Ref .: http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/open_closed_questions.htm

Las preguntas abiertas solicitan respuestas largas e informativas. Tales preguntas generalmente comienzan con un cómo, qué, cuándo, dónde y por qué, y brindan información cualitativa en lugar de cuantitativa.

Ventajas:

No inoportunas a la otra persona si no sabe la respuesta, puede responder con algo, aunque no sea exactamente lo que querías.
La otra persona es libre de responder como quiere, con más o menos información, compartiendo lo que desea (hechos, opiniones, sentimientos, detalles).
La otra persona siente que tiene el control.

Desventaja como estudiante de inglés:

Si la otra persona tiene un nivel mucho más alto que tú, puedes perder el hilo de la conversación con facilidad. En este caso, es de gran importancia poder repetir y pausar tanto como sea posible.
A la mayoría de las personas les gusta participar en una conversación en la que, quien tiene enfrente, le permite hablar y le hace preguntas, así que… ¡no te preocupes!

Ejemplos:

¿Qué piensas acerca de…?
¿Por qué participó en esa carrera?
¿Cómo te imaginas a ti mismo en diez años?
Describe la reunión anterior.
¿Cuál es tu reacción a eso?
¿Cuál es tu opinión sobre…?

Ref .: http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/open_closed_questions.htm

Entonces, tomemos estas pautas lógicas, de sabiduría, y aplícalas al aprendizaje de idiomas. Resulta que es una ventaja escuchar más. Te conviene repetir y hacer preguntas. Todos estos son hábitos positivos para aprender mejor, así que por favor, solo recuerda, no tienes que impresionar a nadie con tus habilidades (hablar rápido u otras cosas), tienes que participar en la conversación desde una posición ventajosa.

Las preguntas cerradas son más fáciles y me dan el control. Las preguntas abiertas son más difíciles de entender y le doy el control a la otra persona. ¿Qué debería hacer?

Comienza con preguntas cerradas y simples al inicio de la conversación. Sin embargo, intenta cuando te sea posible terminar o usar, tanto como puedas, preguntas abiertas. Sin duda, comenzarás a darte cuenta de que tener el poder en una conversación no significa que te salgas con la tuya. Por ceder el control no vas a perder la negociación.

How to improve my conversation skills. Part two.

Effective Listening (Active Listening)

This is a topic that I am quite passionate about, so it is very difficult for me to stop investigating and actually write on the subject. I’ve discovered these two web-sites, which are not related to language learning: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ ; http://changingminds.org/

I will use the main concepts and expand on them for English as a second language learners. Feel free to investigate further, comment and ask.

First of all, we must consider how to listen effectively.

Why?

“If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two tongues and one ear.” Mark Twain.

Don’t feel obliged to talk, as a matter of fact, don’t talk: listen. Many non-native speakers feel the necessity to show the world that they know, they can speak, and want to speak more in English than they do in Spanish. When you see that the timing is right, correspond by clarifying that you have understood the information.

No distractions. Force yourself to stop thinking of other matters. It is even more difficult for people managing two languages at the same time, if your mind wanders off in your native tongue, it may be complicated to understand even the basics. Beware of your personal habits (looking at the telephone or elsewhere, doodling, scratching, ruffling your papers, etc.). Anything that is not your conversation is an interruption and your behavior is communicating that you are not interested.

Make the other person feel comfortable. If you show interest, they will be more likely to adapt to your needs. Sometimes if you don’t understand, it is easy to reflect a look on your face of a negative emotion. The other person may interpret it as a very negative emotion.

The best option, try to maintain eye contact with a positive expression.

If you have a positive expression, you will unwillingly solicit a similar response. However, be on the lookout to read the other person’s body language, so that you may adapt accordingly.

In Spanish

Es un tema que me apasiona y, a la vez, me es bastante complicado dejar de investigarlo como para empezar a escribir sobre ello. He descubierto tres páginas web cuáles que, aparentemente, no tienen mucho que ver con el aprendizaje de un idioma. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ ; http://changingminds.org/ Sin embargo, utilizaré la información que estas webs ofrecen y la adaptaré a mi experiencia como profesora de inglés con alumnos que quieren tanto aprender cómo mejorar sus habilidades en conversación.

Estaría encantada de recibir comentarios tanto del artículo como observaciones de cualquier parte de estas tres páginas (que me parecen ideales).

Para empezar debemos tener en cuenta cómo podemos escuchar de una forma más efectiva.

¿Por qué?

No te sientes obligado hablar, de hecho, no hables: escucha. Muchas personas que han aprendido o están aprendiendo a utilizar el inglés como como segunda lengua sienten la necesidad de mostrar al mundo lo que saben, de que pueden hablar y desean hacerlo con mayor frecuencia de lo que lo harían en su idioma materno. Cuando veas que el momento es oportuno, debes corresponder a tu interlocutor haciéndole entender que has comprendido la información.

Sin distracciones. Hay que hacer el esfuerzo por dejar de pensar en otros asuntos. Si dejas que tu mente divague lo hará en tu lengua materna por lo que será más complicado comprender el mensaje y seguir la conversación en otro idioma. Cuidado con las costumbres personales (mirar al teléfono o a cualquier otra parte, hacer garabatos, rascarse, etc.), cualquier cosa ajena a tu conversación es una interrupción y con tu comportamiento estarás comunicando que no estás interesado.

Haz que la otra persona se siente más cómoda. Si muestras interés, tu interlocutor adaptará a tu nivel de comprensión y podrá satisfacer mejor tus necesidades. A veces, no es fácil entender o seguir una conversación por lo que debes tener especial cuidado con tus expresiones y no adoptar un semblante negativo como en esta foto ya que la otra persona lo podría interpretar negativamente.

La mejor opción es intentar mantener el contacto visual con una expresión positiva.

Si tienes una expresión positiva, estarás solicitando una respuesta o actitud similar sin darte cuenta siquiera. Por esa regla de tres, hay que estar alerta al lenguaje corporal de la otra persona para adecuarte.

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