Wednesday, January 2, 2008
After the events surrounding hurricane Katrina in the 2005 hurricane season many people in coastal areas are asking themselves if they need to purchase hurricane insurance. If you are asking yourself this question, you probably do. There actually isn't an insurance policy designed to cover hurricane damage. Most homeowners are cover by their home insurance policy for wind damage and wind driven rain damage. Most of the damage that resulted from hurricane Katrina was resulted from flood damage. Flood damage is not covered under your standard homeowner's insurance policy. Flood insurance has been offered by the federal government since 1968 through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Most insurance companies in coastal areas will package flood insurance in with their homeowner's insurance policies.
During hurricane Katrina up to 80% of the coastal cities in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were flooded. Thousands of homes were destroyed completely. If you live in a coastal area I would recommend looking into flood insurance for your home. The most costly and deadly hurricanes have always been associated with large storm surges. In most areas a call to an insurance company will give you the chance to get informed about the costs associated with flood insurance. The worst case scenario of a outright flood makes it well worth it to become informed about whether or not you are at risk.
Between homeowners insurance and flood insurance the damages to your home caused by a hurricane and the associated storm surge will be covered. The insurance company will access the damage and assign the charges for the damage to your home. It is important to keep your insurance records somewhere safe during a storm and make sure to keep them waterproof. Also make sure to take pictures as soon as you can of the damage. Your insurance company will need them once you file your claim. The more information you can provide your insurance company the faster your claim can be settled and you can get your life back.
About The Author:
Find out everything that you should know about hurricanes at http://my-hurricane-guide.info
14 Tips for Learning Foreign Languages
Depending on the language you want to learn there may be thousands of books, CD's or tools out there (if you're lucky) to help you learn the language. Don't run out and buy anything just yet.
1. First you should do some research. Research the books, and materials best suited to your needs. How do you do that? Well the easiest way is to go online and visit the largest shopping sites that sell books, CD's and multimedia; customers often leave feedback on items they have bought. Read the feedback and quite quickly you should be able to determine what books or materials are best suited to your needs. On the other hand, you may not need to buy anything at all. Some libraries have a foreign language section and they will let you borrow their material for free. In addition, some websites such as speakingjamaican.com can also give you a free head start in the language or dialect you want to learn. If you are a student, who is in high school or plans to go to college, (or are already in college) you can ask a teachers' opinion on what books/materials are best suited for learning your foreign language (of choice). Students could also consider taking the foreign language, of interest, as part of their curriculum.
Another very important point to remember when learning some foreign languages is that there are dialects and forms of the language and they vary by country or by region. You should decide which dialect you want to learn to speak. Here is a simple example: a dialect from "country A" may not be understood in country B, C or D even though it is classified as the same language. On the other hand, another dialect spoken in "country E" may be understood by all other countries. What's a common reason that the dialect of "country E" is widely understood (by other countries)? Well it may be widely understood because all or most of the movies, music or entertainment might be produced in that country (country E), therefore the dialect is widely understood in all the other countries. A foreigner wanting to learn the language might be better off learning the dialect of "country E" since it is more widely understood. Another thing to remember is that, in some foreign languages, a huge variation in dialect should not be an issue because learning the standard form of the language should ensure that you are understood by all native speakers.
Ok other tips for learning foreign languages are:
2. Listen to foreign language music and watch foreign language television, even if at first the language all sounds like "one big long word." By watching the programs, you'll learn new words. Some words have a way of jumping out at you and sticking with you even if you initially have no idea what they mean. With time, you can learn what these words mean by asking a native speaker, asking at school or through self study. If you keep listening to foreign music or watching foreign language television, in time the "one big word" will begin to sound like "smaller word chunks" and eventually you should be able to tell where one word begins and another ends even if you don't understand what the word(s) mean. Later on, you can investigate their meanings.
3. Most people spend their time listening to the sounds of their native language whether it's the news, music or by chatting with friends. That's how you learned your native language; by listening. Spend less of your time listening to your native language and try to fill as much of your world, as possible, with the sounds of the foreign language you want to learn. You can do this by listenening to language tapes, over and over again in the car. Try to be interactive and actively participate by repeating what you hear on the tape. Repeating the words helps both with pronunciation and memorization. The key is repitition. If you take a bus or taxi, invest in an mp3 player (tip: you can fit more mp3 material on a single CD) and make your own mp3's if possible. If mp3's are out of the question then opt for CD's, computer software or cassettes.
4. Try listening to foreign language tapes at home also. It's best to use headphones because you get the full effect of a native speaker speaking into your ear. Furthermore, with headphones you hear the nuances of the language alot better. In addition, if you decide to leave the room (or go outside) the headphones will still be on your ears and the speaker will still be talking directly into your ear.
5. Alot of the above methods involve listening materials. Listening and imitating is the way you learnt your native language as a child and is therefore one of the best ways to become proficient in a new language. But there are other materials you should use to complement your rigorous listening exercises. These could include books, flash cards, computer software. Books are especially important when the language, you want to learn, does not use the English alphabet (Roman alphabet). The written word would help in instances when there are words you have difficulty pronouncing, deciphering or understanding.
6. As mentioned earlier, another aid to learning a foreign language are movies. Foreign language movies with english subtitles are preferred. If you can turn the subtitles off (as you can on many DVD titles) then you can watch the movie with and without the subtitles to test your knowledge.
7. To learn a foreign language you have to completely immerse yourself in that culture for periods of time (whether through music, movies, television or by visiting a friend who speaks the language).
8. Visiting the country where the foreign language, you want to learn, is spoken is also a very good way to learn the language. Quite logically, the longer your visit the more you will learn. If you surround yourself with others who mainly speak the foreign language then you will be forced to learn and communicate in the foreign language.
9. Some foreign languages use a different alphabet system, different phonetics and the arrangement of the letters do not always follow the A to Z formula. Therefore, by learning their alphabet, phonetics and alphabet order you'll not only improve your pronounciation but also be able to use a dictionary.
10. In time after studying intensively, you'll begin to ask yourself "what is the word for such and such". At this stage a small pocket sized dictionary becomes an essential tool. With a foreign language dictionary, you'll be able to quickly find the word, commit it to memory and satisfy your mind's curiousity.
11. Go over the basics from time to time. Never assume or tell yourself "I already know that so I can skip it." You may be surprised to find that by looking at things from a new perspective you'll gain new insight on something you thought you had already mastered.
12. Take breaks when necessary but don't stay away too long because it's easy to forget what you have learned.
13. Friends who are native speakers of the foreign language are also an essential resource. Try to be around them especially when they are conversing with others in their native tongue. Even if you don't understand initially you'll be improving your listening skills. One important thing you might come to realize when learning a foreign language is that some words even though they are spelt with a certain letter, that letter may fall silent when spoken in some countries while in other countries it is pronounced. Another important thing to remember is that although a word may be spelt with a letter and that letter has a particular sound in english, in another language that same letter may have a different sound. Those are a few of the reasons why being around native speakers can help improve your foreign language skills by leaps and bounds; not to mention the cultural tips you'll learn which a book, CD, cassette or teacher probably won't cover. Friends are also great resources because they can give insight and help you with the meanings and usuage of words.
14. Don't tell yourself that you are too busy to study or learn your new language. Make the time. Excuses, excuses will get you nowhere.
Doctors Of Varied Sorts And The New Online Doctor Trend
Historically known as a person licensed to give out medicine and various treatments the word doctor is beginning to be used interchangeably in many other fields as well. For example, with some quick online searching you can find all sorts of online doctors; everything from your traditional arthritis doctor and pc spyware doctors too. It seems you can almost find a doctor who has specialized into nearly every field imaginable.
Let's look a bit further into doctors online. Without too much trouble you'll find doctors and health professionals on the internet that you can ask health and medical questions. Their replies are meant to be educational in purpose and shouldn't be considered personal medical care. Sometimes responses are answered via email, but most often answers are posted on a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page or a bulletin board type forum. This gives everyone the ability to search, view, and therefore, benefit from the information.
You'll also find a few live question and answer chat sessions. If you can't make the scheduled chat time, many of the sites will allow you to post your question ahead of time and return later to view the details of the chat and see if your question had been brought up and answered.
Let's now define the word doctor. According to dictionary.com a doctor is:
1. A person, especially a physician, dentist, or veterinarian, trained in the healing arts and licensed to practice. 2. a. A person who has earned the highest academic degree awarded by a college or university in a specified discipline. b. A person awarded an honorary degree by a college or university. 3. Abbr. Dr. Used as a title and form of address for a person holding the degree of doctor. 4. Roman Catholic Church. An eminent theologian. 5. A practitioner of folk medicine or folk magic. 6. A rig or device contrived for remedying an emergency situation or for doing a special task. 7. Any of several brightly colored artificial flies used in fly fishing.
Acquiring a traditional doctor's degree requires many years of preparation and devotion. People usually join the medical colleges at the age of 19 and graduate at the age of 25. Once they get through the exams the physicians ultimately start their career at age 28 or 29 years as they begin their internship of 3 years. With the internet now widely available people can now study online as well. But do extensive research and study their authenticity before admitting yourself to any online colleges.
There are different types of traditional doctors specializing in different fields. Here are just a few:
Chiropractor: One who is especially skilled in precise focus on bones, muscles and soft tissue alignment. They usually adopt the techniques of physical therapy, massage therapy to heal different skeletal injuries and muscular imbalances.
Dentist: The Dentist is well trained in diagnostic of oral cavity.
Gynecologists: A Gynecologist is a doctor who is engaged in treatments of women regarding their reproductive and hormonal problems.
Pediatricians: Pediatricians are doctors specializing to treat infants, children and teenagers.
Homeopath: These Doctors are trained in homeopathic medicine. They use the Homeopathic medicines for the remedies of different diseases. Homeopathic medicines have no side effects like the allopathic medicines.
Ophthalmologist: Experts in treating the eyes. They often work in combination with Optometrists.
Optometrist: Optometrists are skilled in testing the visual acuteness and fitting correct lenses to increase vision.
Cardiologist: Specialists who takes care of the heart and related diseases.
Psychiatrist: Psychiatrists are trained with special treatments on emotional disturbance patients.
Other types include skin specialists, orthopedics (bone), neurologist (nerve), eurologist (kidney), and the list goes on and on as
It seems definition 2. a. from above is beginning to be used more frequently to give people the impression that a certain person, product or service knows more than others about a particular topic. The computer industry is just one example. Software called PC Doctor or spyware doctor gives the impression that these programs will help fix the problem being experienced by the patient or customer really. A bit of a play on words for sure since even the definition points to an actual person rather than a product.
We hope this article has been educational and possibly a tad enlightening regarding the various types of doctors and the online doctors trend that has taken place with the internet.
Written by Chad McDonald for people needing spyware doctors assistance or trying to find a pc doctor online service.
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