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FREE PERSONALITY TEST: Which personality type are you?

“Often the first question people ask after completing our personality test is “What do these letters mean?” We are of course referring to those mysterious acronyms like INTJ-A, ENFP-T, or ESTJ-A. As you may have already read in the free Type Descriptions or additional articles available on our website, each letter refers to a specific trait, with an additional variant listed at the end. But before we discuss those traits, let’s first take a brief historical detour.

Since the dawn of time, we have tried to describe and categorize ourselves in many ways. From the four temperaments of the Ancient civilizations – sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic – to the latest advances in psychology, people have been restless in their pursuit of a good, reliable way to fit something as complex and fluid as human personality into a well-defined model. We are still some time away from being able to do that, although the current models account for the majority of our personality traits and can often predict with a high degree of confidence how we are likely to behave in specific circumstances… (More information HERE)”


💡 You may also be interested in the quizzes below:

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WEEKLY PICKS - 2

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from BBC news: How it feels to have many personalities
Severe trauma can cause a unique kind of mental breakdown - dissociative identity disorder (DID), which creates multiple personalities. What is it like trying to live with this condition? (Continue reading)

Article from Mind Tools: Active Listening: Hear What People are Really Saying
Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on the quality of your relationships with others.

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS
5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
💬 VOCABULARY PICKS – Confusing words:
💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:


MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!
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GRAMMAR PILLS: MID-POSITION ADVERBS

¿Qué es un mid-position adverb?

Es un adverbio que se coloca en medio en una clause.

💡 ¿Qué es un adverbio?
Es una palabra o frase que describe un verbo (nos dice cómo, dónde, cuándo, por qué, etc. se realiza la acción del verbo). Los adverbios también describen adjetivos y otros adverbios, pero en este post nos concentraremos en los que describen verbos.

Los adverbios se pueden colocar en 3 posiciones:

FRONT POSITION ⇒ Unfortunately, I can't help you.
MID-POSITION ⇒ I always get up at 7 a.m.
END POSITION ⇒ Have you read that report yet?

💡 TIP: Según el tipo de adverbio, puede colocarse en una u otra posición. Algunos pueden colocarse en distintas posiciones para dar énfasis, hacer contraste o evitar ambigüedad.

¿Qué adverbios se colocan en mid-position?

Los adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, usually, often, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, never, etc.) y otros como really, quite, probably, possibly, certainly, also, only, just, already, etc.

¿Cómo se colocan los mid-position adverbs en la clause?

Entre el sujeto y el verbo, y es muy sencillo ⇒ hay solo 3 posibilidades: 

1) BEFORE THE MAIN VERB (ANTES del VERBO principal):
→ SUBJECT + ADVERB + MAIN VERB
→ I always get up at 7 a.m.

2) AFTER THE VERB “TO BE” (DESPUÉS de “TO BE”):
→ SUBJECT + TO BE + ADVERB
→ Peter is always late.

🔺 EMPHASIS ⇒ Cuando el adverbio es enfático, se puede colocar ANTES de “to be”: Why should Peter be early today? He never is early for anything. (La entonación también cambia para marcar el énfasis.)

3) VERB PHRASE: if the verb contains auxiliaries and/or modals, the adverb comes AFTER THE FIRST auxiliary or modal (si el verbo tiene auxiliares o modales, el adverbio se coloca DESPUÉS de la primera palabra):
→ SUBJECT + 1st aux./modal + ADVERB + MAIN VERB
→ You should never have told anyone my secret.

❓ En las preguntas, el adverbio se coloca DESPUÉS del sujeto:
Do you usually work at weekends?
Have you already finished your exam? (surprised)

🔺 IMPORTANTE: En inglés, NO poner el adverbio entre verbo y objeto:

En español podemos decir:
Me gusta mucho el chocolate.





Mary habla muy bien inglés.
En inglés:
❌ I like a lot chocolate.
      [verb + adverb + object]

✅ I like chocolate a lot.
      [verb + object] + adverb

❌ Mary speaks very well English.                 [verb + adverb + object]

✅ Mary speaks English very well.                 [verb + object] + adverb

From BBC 6 Minute Grammar - Adverb Position 1

From BBC 6 Minute Grammar - Adverb Position 2

 🔗 Recommended links:
💡 PRACTICE:

Georgina Jacobs
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How Good Are Your Communication Skills? (from Mind Tools)

Communication skills are some of the most important skills that you need to succeed in the workplace.

If you want to be an expert communicator, you need to be effective at all points in the communication process – from "sender" through to "receiver" – and you must be comfortable with the different channels of communication – face to face, voice to voice, written, and so on. Poor communicators usually struggle to develop their careers beyond a certain point.

❓ So, are you communicating effectively? Take this short quiz to find out!

 💡 You may also be interested in the quizzes below:
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The secrets of learning as an adult, by David Robson (from BBC Future)

It’s never too late to learn – if you go about it in the right way.

If you ever fear that you are already too old to learn a new skill, remember Priscilla Sitienei, a midwife from Ndalat in rural Kenya. Having grown up without free primary school education, she had never learnt to read or write. As she approached her twilight years, however, she wanted to note down her experiences and knowledge to pass down to the next generation. And so, she started to attend lessons at the local school – along with six of her great-great-grandchildren. She was 90 at the time.

We are often told that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” – that the grizzled adult brain simply can’t absorb as much information as an impressionable young child’s. Many people would assume that you simply couldn’t pick up a complex skill like reading or writing, at the age of 90, after a lifetime of being illiterate.

The latest studies from psychology and neuroscience show that these extraordinary achievements need not be the exception. (Continue reading)
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WEEKLY PICKS - 1

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜 READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

Article from MindTools: What’s Empathy Got to Do with It?, by Bruna Martinuzzi
Indeed, empathy is valued currency. It allows us to create bonds of trust, it gives us insights into what others may be feeling or thinking; it helps us understand how or why others are reacting to situations, it sharpens our "people acumen" and it informs our decisions. (Continue reading)

❓QUIZ: Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman) North Carolina State University

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS
5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
💬 VOCAB PICKS – Confusing words:
💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:


MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!
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The common words that companies are banning, by Mark Johanson (from BBC Capital)

Can banning some corporate terms and replacing them with buzzier or more positive-sounding alternatives do any good?

 Apply for a job at Davio’s, a small chain of Italian-style steakhouses in the US, and you’ll never hear one extremely common workplace term: employee. That’s because CEO Steve DiFillippo has banned its use.

 “I think ‘employee’ is an awful word,” he says. “Who wants to be an employee? It just isn’t something you strive toward.” Instead, those who work for DiFillippo are known as ‘inner guests.’

 “A lot of servers and cooks go from restaurant to restaurant trying to find their way; we stop that,” he explains. “They come here and realise they’re in a different place where they’ll be treated differently.”

 For DiFillippo, banning the word is both a way of empowering his ‘inner guests’ and explaining the company’s core values to its ‘outer guests’ (the diners). (Continue reading)
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The Dead, by James Joyce

LILY, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off with his overcoat than the wheezy hall-door bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest. It was well for her she had not to attend to the ladies also. But Miss Kate and Miss Julia had thought of that and had converted the bathroom upstairs into a ladies' dressing-room. Miss Kate and Miss Julia were there, gossiping and laughing and fussing, walking after each other to the head of the stairs, peering down over the banisters and calling down to Lily to ask her who had come.

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The secret to working overseas, by Maddy Savage (from BBC CAPITAL)

Is cultural knowledge more important than language skills?
Does cultural knowledge trump language ability in international companies and start-ups where English is dominating?

 Learning the local language might seem an obvious goal for anyone moving abroad. But in an increasingly globalised world, whether this is an effective use of time is increasingly up for debate.

Growing numbers of multinationals and start-ups are adopting English as their official company language, even if they’re not based in an English-speaking nation. And internationally, millennials seem to have a much higher tolerance for using the global language than older generations, meaning it’s potentially easier to socialise with young locals by speaking English than in the past. The British Council estimates that by 2020, two billion people will be using it, well over a quarter of the world’s population.

 Plus, while the idea that millennials are job-hopping much more than their parents is something of a myth, being able to work flexibly in different locations remains a core goal for many. In 2017, the Global Shapers Annual Survey, funded by the World Economic Forum, showed that 81% of respondents aged 18 to 35 from over 180 countries said they were willing to work abroad. The “ability to work and live anywhere” was one of the most important factors they identified in terms of making them feel freer in their society. (Continue reading)
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A Window into the Interior of the Earth, by Juan Manuel Pardellas

Scientists study Earth's missing crust

By JUAN MANUEL PARDELLAS, Associated Press Writer Tue Mar 6, 5:53 PM ET

British scientists have embarked on a mission to study a huge area on the Atlantic seabed where the Earth's crust is mysteriously missing and instead is covered with dark green rock from deep inside the planet.
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Finite and Infinite Games

Notes from James Carse's book 'Finite and Infinite Games'. Author unknown.
Source: ALAMUT.COM is the property of PAUL PERRY

There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite.

 A finite game is a game that has fixed rules and boundaries, that is played for the purpose of winning and thereby ending the game.

An infinite game has no fixed rules or boundaries. In an infinite game you play with the boundaries and the purpose is to continue the game. Finite players are serious; infinite games are playful.

Finite players try to control the game, predict everything that will happen, and set the outcome in advance. They are serious and determined about getting that outcome. They try to fix the future based on the past.
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ODD SIGNS FROM ENGLAND - Ambiguity problems

Source: Anvari.org

1. IN A LAUNDROMAT: Automatic washing machines. Please remove all your clothes when the light goes out.

2. IN A LONDON DEPARTMENT STORE: Bargain Basement Upstairs.

3. IN AN OFFICE: Would the person who took the step ladder yesterday please bring it back or further steps will be taken.

4. IN ANOTHER OFFICE: After the tea break staff should empty the teapot and stand upside down on the draining board.

5. ON A CHURCH DOOR: This is the gate of Heaven. Enter ye all by this door. (This door is kept locked because of the draft. Please use side entrance)

6. OUTSIDE A SECOND-HAND SHOP: We exchange anything - bicycles, washing machines, etc. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain?

7. QUICKSAND WARNING: Quicksand. Any person passing this point will be drowned. By order of the District Council.

8. NOTICE IN A DRY CLEANER’S WINDOW: Anyone leaving their garments here for more than 30 days will be disposed of.

9. IN A HEALTH FOOD SHOP WINDOW: Closed due to illness.

10. SPOTTED IN A SAFARI PARK: Elephants Please Stay in Your Car.

11. SEEN DURING A CONFERENCE: For anyone who has children and doesn't know it, there is a day care on the first floor.

12. NOTICE IN A FIELD: The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for free, but the bull charges.

13. MESSAGE ON A LEAFLET: If you cannot read, this leaflet will tell you how to get lessons.

14. ON A REPAIR SHOP DOOR: We can repair anything (Please knock hard on the door - the bell doesn't work)

15. SPOTTED IN A TOILET IN A LONDON OFFICE BLOCK: Toilet out of order. Please use floor below.
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BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO, by Daniel Shogren

By Daniel Shogren, CPA, SPHR

I heard somebody the other day tell a group of his peers that he’s serving fewer clients these days and working far less than he used to. But, he says, he’s much happier than he used to be, and he’s making much more money.

His secret: he’s telling some of his long-standing clients that he cannot serve them anymore, and he’s sending them to somebody else – usually his competition. Mind you he’s not ridding himself of his best clients. He’s shedding those clients that don’t pay on time, that quibble about his fees, that drive his staff nuts with their nit picking, who have unrealistic expectations, or who are downright abusive and expect to get away with it because they are paying for the right to do so. Still, it’s tough to tell someone who pays, and who keeps coming back to pay again and again, that it’s time to hit the road.

He calls it ‘tough love’. Whatever you call it, it is a tough prescription for many to follow.
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The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
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DARDEN EVENT @ BA

Hoy, Jueves 1 de Febrero hay una recepcion de Darden en Buenos Aires, en la que van a estar el Dean Bob Bruner, la nueva Head de Admissions, la Head de Admissions de Latin America y un profesor que es Associate Dean y esta ligado a todo lo que sea Latin America. Tambien vamos a estar varios egresados y va a ser una buena oportunidad para cualquiera que este pensando en hacer un MBA venga a escuchar, preguntar, informarse y conocer.

Lugar de la recepción: Libertador 602, piso 13 en Capital Federal, en las oficinas de Sigma Advisors.
Hora: 18.30.
Host: Gustavo Frers
Para registrarse:http://alumni.darden.virginia.edu/alumni/open/events/viewEvent.do;jsessionid=4830f214755a3d6f592f?calendar=true&eventId=1001
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GREAT QUOTES

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” Albert Camus (1913-1960)

“You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question.” Albert Camus, La Chute (The Fall), 1956

“What is a rebel? A man who says no.” Albert Camus, L'Homme revolte (The Rebel), 1951

“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.” Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

“Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.” Albert Camus

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.” Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

“Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.” Albert Einstein, quoted in New York Times, March 13, 1940

“I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.” Albert Einstein

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” Albert Einstein
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GONE, by Ellen Terris Brenner

Source: Intertext.com

InterText Copyright © 1991-1999 Jason Snell. This story may only be distributed as part of the collected whole of Volume 6, Number 2 of InterText. This story Copyright © 1996 Ellen Terris Brenner.

The adults, with their need for steadfast solids
Have to resort to vast built structures
To pull off the trick, to contain the chaos.
And that's not bad, in its own narrow way.
The trip that brought me here, with Papa,
Was on such a ship, and it was a wonder:
A star-Leviathan with a sun in its belly,
Bearing a thousand soft souls in its cells
As it swam the dimensional seas.
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WHO DEFINES YOUR CHARACTER? - by Daniel Shogren

By Daniel Shogren, CPA, SPHR

Lot's of people talk about character, but the real question should be, "Where do we get character?" Or perhaps better said, "Who or what defines our character?" Before we tackle those questions, let's take a quick look at what character is. Character is about who you are when nobody is looking. Reputation is about who you are when people are watching. Reputation or image is what others think you are. But character is what you really are. Both matter, but of the two, character is far and away the most important.

Character is the basis for credibility and trust. And without credibility and trust, you can't lead anyone. Great leaders should have character, but should not be characters. A character is either a role, played by an actor, or someone who tries to attract attention to himself. When we play a role or we are showing off and trying to get noticed we are not showing our true character, and thus we won't be able to build credibility or trust.
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