The Difference Between Vice and Vise

American English makes a distinction between vice (moral depravity) and vise (a tool). However, that distinction is not made in British English, where vice is used for both senses. Definitions The noun vice means an immoral or undesirable practice. In titles (such as vice president), vice means one who acts in the place of another. The expression vice versa means conversely or the other way around. In American English, the noun vise refers to a gripping or clamping tool. As a verb, vise means to force, hold, or squeeze as if with a vise. In both cases the British spelling is vice. Examples In those days the worst vice in England was pride, I guess—the worst vice of all because folks thought it was a virtue.(Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn, 1936)The vice president acted as an intermediary to resolve disputes involving two or more agencies.Animals breathe in what animals breathe out, and vice versa.(Kurt Vonnegut, Cats Cradle, 1963)American usageHe went to the end of the tool bench and cranked open the vise, then slipped a small piece of sheet metal in and clamped the vise tight.(Trent Reedy, Stealing Air, 2012)American usageSometimes Rupert defined things in a new way—love grips you like a vise, then caresses you like a silk scarf, then bangs you on the head like an anvil.(Sabina Murray, A Carnivores Inquiry, 2004)British usageAfter softening a horn by boiling it in water, he flattens it in a vice before taking his razor-sharp penknife to carve a pheasant, fox, leaping salmon, or ram’s head as decoration.(Tony Greenbank, Master of the Crookmakerà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Craft. The Guardian [UK].,  May 4, 2015)British usageI had caught her in my arms, and the sting and torment of my remorse had closed them around her like a vice.(Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White, 1859) Usage Notes In American English, a vice is an immoral habit or practice, and a vise is a tool with closable jaws for clamping things. But in British English, the tool is spelled like the sin: vice.(Bryan A. Garner, Garners Modern English Usage, 4th  ed. Oxford University Press, 2016)Warren County deputies were called to investigate a shooting in Lake Luzerne, New York, on the evening of May 12, 2007. When they arrived, they found the victim, Damion Mosher, had sustained a wound in his abdomen from a 22-caliber bullet. Even though the deputies werent from the vice squad, they quickly discovered that the perpetrator was . . . a vise. Mosher had been discharging the bullets by clamping them in a steel vise, putting a screwdriver on the primer, and striking the screwdriver with a hammer so he could sell the brass shell casings for scrap (which goes for $1.70 a pound). Mosher was on his nearly hundredth bullet when he lost the final round.(Leland Gregory, Cruel and Unusual Idiots: Chronicles of Mea nness and Stupidity. Andrews McMeel, 2008) Practice (a) The problem with a lot of people is that what they think is a virtue is actually a _____ in disguise.(Kevin Dutton, The Wisdom of Psychopaths, 2012)(b) Migraines, the bane of my life, surged up; my head felt as if it were clamped in a powerful _____.(Maud Fontenoy, Challenging the Pacific: The First Woman to Row the Kon-Tiki Route, 2005)(c) What used to happen in fashion was that the pendulum would swing: if thered been short hair for a while, then it would go long, and _____  versa.(Sam McKnight, Kate Moss Hair Stylist: British People Wear Their Hair as a Tribal Badge. The Guardian [UK],  September 15, 2016) Answers (a) The problem with a lot of people is that what they think is a virtue is actually a vice in disguise.(Kevin Dutton, The Wisdom of Psychopaths, 2012)(b) Migraines, the bane of my life, surged up; my head felt as if it were clamped in a powerful (vise [US] or vice [UK]).(Maud Fontenoy, Challenging the Pacific: The First Woman to Row the Kon-Tiki Route, 2005)(c) What used to happen in fashion was that the pendulum would swing: if thered been short hair for a while, then it would go long,  and vice versa.(Sam McKnight, Kate Moss Hair Stylist: British People Wear Their Hair as a Tribal Badge.  The Guardian  [UK],  September 15, 2016)

Essay Domestic Violence Against Women A Global Epidemic

One of the most significant health and social problems affecting every society in the world today, irrespective of age, race, ethnic, socio-economic, and religious groups, is Domestic Violence against women. According to the World Health Organization (2007): Domestic violence is a global issue reaching across national boundaries as well as socio- economic, cultural, racial, and class distinctions. This problem is not only widely dispersed geographically, but its incidence is also extensive, making it a typical and accepted behavior. Domestic violence is widespread, deeply ingrained, and has serious impacts on women’s health and well-being. Its continued existence is morally indefensible. Its cost to†¦show more content†¦Violence against has long been widely accepted as normal behavior, something that people are so used to happening that it has become nothing to be alarmed by and often goes unrecognized and unreported. The roots of domestic violence can therefore be attributed to the cultural, traditional, legal, economic, political, and perhaps even religious beliefs, which have made this something that is perceived as being the norm. These beliefs are repeatedly commun icated through the media and other societal institutions that tolerate it, making the abuser feel such behavior is acceptable and justified, and women to feel there is shame in reporting violence, for fear of being stigmatized. Intimate partner violence is not considered a crime in many Arab countries. However, the burden of domestic violence ultimately lies on the abuser, who consciously made a decision to act in such a way. Domestic violence affects every aspect of the life of any woman that suffers from it. Physical assault leads to temporary or permanent disabilities, which become apparent over time. Women sustain injuries such as cuts, scratches, burns, bone skeletal disorders, chronic pain, and respiratory illnesses.Show MoreRelatedDomestic Marital Abuse Against Women1697 Words   |  7 PagesSilenced Cry: Domestic Marital Abuse against Women In the United States, there are about ten people who die from domestic violence every single day. The U.N identifies October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. What happens when ‘Home’ is not the safest place to be? Domestic abuse occurs across the world, in various cultures and affects society, irrespective of their economic status. Behaviors that are adopted by a person to control their partner in a relationship refers to domestic violenceRead MoreDomestic Violence And Foreign Violence1251 Words   |  6 Pages Domestic Violence and Intersectionality Domestic violence, as defined by The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence is, â€Å"The willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically, howeverRead MoreDomestic Violence : South Africa1709 Words   |  7 PagesDomestic Violence in South Africa Love is looked upon as a beautiful thing but within beauty lies darkness in South Africa. There is an unspoken violence against women going on within the communities of south Africa that is now coming to light; domestic violence. Husbands, not strangers or men with guns, are now the biggest threat to women in post-conflict South Africa, according to a report by the International Rescue Committee. Attacked beaten, abused, killed these are sometimes words to describeRead MoreImpact Of Public Health Of Domestic Violence847 Words   |  4 PagesThe impact of public health of Domestic Violence in United States. The violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic and unpreventable circumstances. Domestic violence doesn’t have a controlled policy because it can extend into the society with devastating effects on its victims and costs that ripple across the economy. The two major reasons that the issue are being addressed by policy are not enforced in actions. First reason is that every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaultedRead MoreDomestic Violence Is A Crisis1171 Words   |  5 Pagesclosed towards the crisis of domestic violence. A study done showed that every nine seconds a women is beaten or assaulted (â€Å"Statistics†). The time that it has taken you to read to this point is the time it has taken for a women to be hit by this crisis. Yet, so many think that the concern for domestic violence is over-exaggerated. Many think that there are so many other epidemics going on that should take precedence over domestic violence. Besides worrying about these epidemics, it also can be hard toRead MoreDomestic Violence : A Global Public Health Problem Of Epidemic Proportions, Requiring Urgent Action Essay899 Words   |  4 Pages â€Æ' Executive Summary 2 Introduction 2 Theoretical Frameworks 3 Defining Domestic Violence 5 A Brief History 6 International Comparisons 7 Discussion of Domestic Violence 9 References 10 Executive Summary This report will offer a review of Domestic Violence in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The ways in which this abuse occurs will be included as well as theoretical frameworks to aid in understanding the extent of this social problem. A review was issuedRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Women Essay974 Words   |  4 PagesDomestic abuse against women In her news article, the spokesperson for amnesty international describes domestic violence as a worldwide phenomenon that violates the human rights of female victims (Mite, 2005). In addition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) described violence against women as â€Å"a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and maims – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and girlsRead MoreDomestic Violence And Its Effects On Society1491 Words   |  6 PagesDomestic violence is a very important discussion subject, because it touches all levels of society, and it is widely spreading across a multitude of social groups. This social issue at present appears in different levels of society, and cannot be ignored by social institutions and people. The issue of domestic violence cannot be avoided because of the unfortunately high rate of abusive behavior, and more and more people b eing affected by abuse every day. People and social institutions cannot closeRead MoreDomestic Violence on Women in Society1730 Words   |  7 PagesDomestic Violence on Women and girls in Society Tabinda Asghar Dow Institute of Nursing Abstract Violence alongside women and girls is a sign of previously uneven authority relations among men and women, which have led to command over and unfairness against women by men and to the avoidance of the full progression of women. These types of terrible actions against women and girls continues to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and wound- physically, psychologically, sexually and economicallyRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Women Essay1691 Words   |  7 PagesOrganization defines violence as: â€Å"The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation†. WHO has declared violence against women both a public health problem and a violation of human rights. Violence against women is of many types and has many faces. Also called Gender-based violence, public health

Nisa Critique Free Essays

Introduction: The Kung people are a tribe of hunter-gatherers who live as bushmen in the   southwestern part of Africa,   in isolated areas of Botswana (where they make up only 3 percent of the population), Angola, and Namibia, deep in the Kalahari desert. After gaining fluency in the language of the! Kung, Shostak returned to Botswana in 1975 for six months to complete the life histories of several women in the tribe. Marjorie Shostak manages to takes us into the oldest culture on earth by living with a hunter/gatherer tribe in southern Africa and manages to give us the details of there way of life through an interview with them, of course, before their way of life was further damaged by careless government administration policies. We will write a custom essay sample on Nisa Critique or any similar topic only for you Order Now She reflexively collects interviews and anecdotes that enable her to explain their morals, architecture, tribal politics, spirituality, games, marriage rituals and subsistence lifestyle, giving us one of the best looks at how human society began all those thousands of years ago. One of its major flaws especially for those with a strong understanding of anthropology is the fact that she concentrates her analysis from the report of one dominant character named NISA [the name is fictitious]. This results in a narrative of an idiosyncratic life, one that, as the !Kung woman Nisa once told Shostak, †I will break open the story and tell you what is there. Then, like the others that have fallen out into the sand, I will finish with it, and the wind will take it away†; seems to imply that each woman’s life is unique and may not reflect the truth about women’s lives in the general community of the !Kung clan, even though it truly attempts to mirror the conventions and culture of the group as well. However, from the book we are able to determine Nisa’s character as a woman who is forthcoming in personality, and unabashed and expressive in her native tongue, although she also comes across as demanding and manipulative in behavior. This presented to Shostak great problems in gaining an objective analysis, a fact that generated early ambivalent feelings towards Nisa which as she reports, did not endear Nisa to her any bit. Although Shostak tried to interview more than a dozen other women of all ages; inviting recall, asking pertinent questions and seeking bio-graphical highlights she seems to finally have settled her choice on Nisa as informant because of her   particularly forceful, colorful language, and generally truthful replies. Secondly, although   the justification of Nisa as informant is reliable, it only serves to foster the concept of authenticity in ethnographic representation. The importance of authenticity in ethnographic representation is still in doubt as portrayed in James Clifford’s   review of Edward Said’s Orientalism, Clifford asks, â€Å"Should criticism work to counter sets of culturally produced images like Orientalism with more â€Å"authentic† or more â€Å"human† representations? Or, if criticism must struggle against the procedures of representation itself, how is it to begin?’ The general consensus seems to be that authenticity is itself a representation which can be misused. For example, the purpose of the poet or novelist is creative self-expression. For the creative writer, representation is the vehicle for expression; the creative writer consciously chooses representations as representations. The writer of nonfiction, however, typically focuses on the substance of what she wishes to communicate, and often fails to realize that she uses representations when communicating her ideas hence giving rise to rhetoric. Rhetoric is the characteristic manner by which a text’s language and organization convinces its readers of the truth, but is itself not truth. Thirdly is the issue of dialogue versus monologue in ethnographic presentation. It is very apparent that Shostak’s   focus moves away from the central position of the ethnographer (implicit in ethnographic realism and explicit in Dumont’s example of the self-reflexive approach in his book The Headman and I: Ambiguity and Ambivalencein the Fieldworking Experience), and brings the importance of native informants to the foreground. â€Å"The other† is given the opportunity, albeit limited, to represent herself in Shostak’s text. Shostak’s text is also significant because it attempts to incorporate dialogue as a structural feature. Shostak demonstrates the potential usefulness of multiple voices although her ultimate control over the text makes it a monologue. The monological aspect is repeated within the text itself: there is no true discourse between Shostak’s and Nisa’s portions of the text, only alternating monologues.   However, according to Stephen A. Tyler this presents a problem in ethnographic presentation, one that is solved in a different approach which he suggest when he says, â€Å"A post-modern ethnography is a cooperatively evolved text consisting of fragments of discourse intended to evoke in the minds of both reader and writer an emergent fantasy of a possible world of commonsense reality, and thus to provoke an aesthetic integration that will have a therapeutic effect.† Tyler’s emphasizes the dialogical nature of ethnography [alternating monologues as is the case in Shostak’s work], were the discourse is between reader and writer rather than between the writer and the culture he studies. Tyler maintains that the experience which matters is not the fieldwork but the writing of the ethno graphy; the ethnographer does not attempt to represent another culture to the reader, but rather to evoke in the reader a recollection of his own culture. Ethnography is a way to make the familiar unfamiliar and then familiar again. Lastly is the authors choice of topics that evolve around the issue f sex and violence maybe justifiable if viewed from the perspective that narrative is highly charged with sex because sex is important in !Kung life. From Shostak’s   very provocative findings, such as a much more sexually egalitarian sensibility than our own, we see that in the !Kung culture, marriages are largely monogamous, with some sanction for a second wife; lovers are accepted for both husbands and wives, but discretion is made more important expressly because discovery can lead to mayhem and even murder. However, Shostak seems to get this information largely from Nisa’s own personal account. Personal accounts are   rarely written without particular motivation. Every account has some agenda. Scholars suggest that we need to always consider why the subject feels it is important to share his or her life either privately or with an anonymous public. This is because the narrator’s motivation will account for what parts of a life are discussed and what details are filtered out. What motivated the author of the personal account? Whether written or oral, a personal account is a subjective, selective account of a life recorded for a specific purpose, ranging from personal catharsis to revisionist history. There are many motivations for the creation of personal accounts, including a focus on the self, on others, or on posterity. In this particular account, were Shostak seems to have solicited the story, rather than finding the account, the scholar’s reason for seeking the personal account will probably color the nature of the questions asked. In this case, the personal account will likely reflect the scholar’s interests more than those of the subject. Hence, it can be postulated that Shostak’s interests in giving Nisa’s account was to highlight the issue of women and not entirely for ethnographic purposes. This can be evidenced by the fact that in her time all the way to date, women’s stories in the West have been increasingly considered valid testimonies, along with accounts by people of color and those outside the highest strata of socio-political influence. Therefore, although it is impossible to view history from a wholly objective position, it is still helpful to be aware of such biases. In conclusion, I believe that what Shostak should have done was to strive to consider other sources that could offer insight about the !Kung people, such as official documents (marriage, divorce, and birth records, public notices), archived newspapers (human interest stories, political coverage), and glossy magazines (regional and national views reflecting social trends of the time, setting a context). Although her learning of the language is a great achievement enabling her to establish effective communication with the subject, it serves to tell us only a fragment of the whole picture. This fact takes on a deeper gravity when we consider that the question of truth may have many answers. Nisa’s portrayal of her life is indeed accurate in her own mind. Yet we know that, after all, memory is selective: people’s responses to experiences vary and people’s memories of experiences change with time and influence. Events that happen in a person’s life between live d experiences and recording those events can shape their telling, which only confirms that truth may have many answers. Reference: THE PROBLEM OF ETHNOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION http://home.pacbell.net/nicnic/ethnographic.html#14 Shostak, Marjorie, Nisa: The Life and Words of a!Kung Woman. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press (1981). How to cite Nisa Critique, Essay examples

Sustainable Supply Chain Management Evolution And Future Directions

Question: Critically evaluate how a business can embed sustainability throughout its supply chain? Answer: Introduction Organizations are increasingly under pressure by non-governmental organizations to operate in a sustainable manner (Wolf, 2014). Examples include campaigns against Nestle (anti-deforestation), Nike (child labour), Apple (sweatshop labour) and Mattel (toxic materials) (Wolf, 2014). Pressure from stakeholders hold an organization accountable for its actions and decisions regarding its product design, sourcing, production and distribution (Wolf, 2014; Parmigiani, et al., 2011). On the other hand, as argued by Shrivastava (1995, cited in Carter and Rogers, 2008), sustainability has benefits beyond addressing stakeholder pressures, with the potential to reduce long-terms risks associated with fluctuations of energy prices, management of pollution and waste as well as product liabilities. Thus sustainability is not just a matter of being perceived as having good corporate social responsibility, but is also an essential pillar of smart management(Savitz Weber, 2006). As argued by Kevin OMarah (2007) in the Financial Times, supply chain management (SCM) has become the key to meeting the expectations of shareholders for strong profitability growth with minimum volatility, of regulators and the press for social and environmental responsibility, and of customers for delivering on promises made to them (Carter Rogers, 2008). Sustainability: Sustainable SCM (SSCM) is the strategic, transparent integration and achievement of an organizations social, environmental, and economic goals in the systemic coordination of key inter-organizational business processes for improving the long-term economic performance of the individual company and its supply chain. SSCM helps managers identify strategies for an organizations survival and success over long term horizons (e.g. up to 20 years and more)(Carter Easton, 2011). Carter and Rogers (2008) suggest that sustainability initiatives and SSCM in particular are a necessity for long-term organizational success (Carter Rogers, 2008; Carter Easton, 2011). It may be referred to as a holistic perspective of the process of supply chain as well as the technologies that goes beyond delivery, cost and inventory. The theory is based on the products and services that are socially responsible involving practices that are environment-friendly. There are many supply chain (SC) activities that permit an organization to simultaneously positively impact the environment and society as well as provide long-term economic benefits and competitive advantage to the organization (Carter Rogers, 2008). These sustainable activities can potentially result in benefits such as (Carter Rogers, 2008): Cost savings due to reduced packaging waste and the ability to design for reuse and disassembly. Reduced costs for health and safety, recruitment and employee turnover due to improved safety and working conditions. Reduced labour costs due to increased employee motivation and productivity and reduced absenteeism. Influence future government regulations, and thus potentially creating difficult to replicate competitive advantages, by proactively addressing environmental and social issues Reduced costs, shorter lead times and improved product quality associated with application of standards (such as ISO 14000) that provide a framework for environmental management systems Improved reputation with customers, suppliers, shareholders and potential employees. Organizations and businesses seeking to implement SSCM can examine their value chain for areas in which social and environmental initiatives could have the greatest economic impact (Carter Rogers, 2008; Porter Kramer, 2006), including in-bound and out-bound logistics (e.g. packaging, disposal, transportation impacts), operations issues (e.g. emissions, energy use, hazardous materials, worker safety and human rights) and after sales service (e.g. reverse logistics, including disposal and disposition). Support activities within the value chain can also be the targets of SSCM initiatives (e.g. relationships with educational institutes to develop qualified supply chain managers; asking suppliers to participate in initiatives; buying from and developing suppliers owned by racial minorities; joint planning with value chain partners to design for disassembly, reuse and recycling) (Carter Rogers, 2008). There are many examples of how an organization can apply and embed SSCM. Starbuck Coffees has partnered with farmers to grow high quality coffee in an ecologically sound manner, simultaneously stabilizing farmer wages and reducing purchasing cost by eliminating the middleman (Argenti, 2004, as cited in Carter Rogers, 2008). General Mills implemented a vertically integrated closed-loop SC to ensure a consistent supply of recycled material, simultaneously reducing the packaging for its products (Carter Rogers, 2008). Another example is Natura, a multinational of Brazilian origin operating in the cosmetics, toiletry and fragrance industry (Carvalho Barbieri, 2012). Natura drives sustainable innovation by engaging it suppliers to reduce negative social and environmental impacts throughout product lifecycles (Carvalho Barbieri, 2012). Natura adopted a supplier development strategy using outsourcing partnerships that reduces costs and environmental impacts by shortening transportation distances of products usually manufactured in Brazil; values important relationship concepts important to Natura, such as partnership and co-construction; and values organizations with local knowledge and good social and environmental practices(Carvalho Barbieri, 2012). Natura Ekos products, for example, use technologies that reduce environmental impacts throughout the SC; use renewable raw materials whose origin can be traced to sources such as organic farming and sustainable forestation; and prioritize refills and packaging made of renewable or recycled material (Carvalho Barbieri, 2012). Conclusion: Sustainable business aims at driving better values and bringing improvements at the same time. Sustainability in supply chain means reduced packaging as well as energy efficiency amidst all others. Organizations collaborate internally as well as externally and essentially all employees need to identify it and be supportive of the desired sustainable goals. It is equally vital for suppliers to know what is expected of them from the environmental standpoint. References BITC, 2009. How to: manage your supply chains responsibly, London: BITC. Carter, C. R. Easton, P. L., 2011. Sustainable supply chain management: evolution and future directions. International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, 41(1), pp. 46-62. Carter, C. R. Rogers, D. S., 2008. A framework of sustainable supply chain management: moving toward new theory. International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, 38(5), pp. 360 - 387. Carvalho, A. P. d. Barbieri, J. C., 2012. Innovation and Sustainability in the Supply Chain of a Cosmetics Company: a Case Study. Journal of Technology Management Innovation, 7(2). Corbett, C. J. Klassen, R. D., 2006. Extending the horizons: Environmental excellence as key to improving operations. Manufacturing Service Operations Management, 8(11), p. 522. Hoffman, A. Bazerman, M., 2005. Changing environmental practice: understanding and overcoming the organizational and psychological barriers. Harvard Business School Working Paper, Issue 05-043. OMarah, K., 2007. Opinion: lessons from 25 supply chain leaders. Financial Times, 10 December. Parmigiani, A., Klassen, R. D. Russo, M. V., 2011. Efficiency meets accountability: Performance implications of supply chain configuration, control, and capabilities. Journal of Operations Management, 29(3), p. 212223.

The Trends of Courtesy in Different Parts of the World

This article is discussing the trends of courtesy in different parts of the world, and the author examines how humans around the world are cultured (where courtesy is concerned). This is because the article investigates contexts in which courtesy should be shown by people to other people.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on The Trends of Courtesy in Different Parts of the World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main point of this passage is informing people about courtesy in the world. Courtesy is shown more in developed countries than in developing countries. For instance, courtesy is high in America and Europe as compared to Asia and Africa. This passage is organized such that it has an introduction and development of the argument. The passage starts by citing some situations that courtesy is required. Therefore, the reader develops a clue of what will be discussed. The lady in Mexico does not hold open th e door, the sales attendant in Seoul thanks the buyer and a young lady in Toronto stops to help a lady pick her papers. This passage is written such that the tone calls a person to be courteous. The purpose of the passage is to get people to understand the importance of courtesy and act on areas that need one to be courteous. The writer takes a global point of view to show that courtesy should not be restricted to some places only. Courtesy is very important as it makes people live in harmony. The trends of courtesy in a given society affect the courtesy of other people since people follow the norms of the society. Therefore, if people from a certain society are not courteous, the next generation will also not be courteous. This article is very informative. Reading this article will make a person conscious of the importance of courtesy in the world. It will also make a person predict the reception of the people where that person wishes to visit. This book review on The Trends of Courtesy in Different Parts of the World was written and submitted by user Tianna N. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Learning Mandarin Chinese

Learning Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese is a difficult language to learn, especially given its unintuitive pronunciations and use of characters rather than an alphabet system. Learning Chinese can be a daunting idea, and often many beginner students dont know where to start. If you are feeling overwhelmed, this guide can give you the basic building blocks of Chinese grammar, introductory vocabulary, and pronunciation tips to help you build a foundation in Chinese. Be sure to click on hyperlinked text to access each lesson. The 4 Mandarin Tones Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. Meaning, the way a syllable is pronounced in terms of sound and tone changes its meaning. For example, the syllable ma can mean horse, mother, scold, or hemp depending on which tone is used. Mastery of the four  Mandarin tones  is the essential first step to  learning this language. The  four Mandarin tones  are high and level, rising, falling then rising, and falling. You must be able to pronounce  and  understand the Mandarin Tones.   Once you have learned the tones, you can start learning new vocabulary and phrases while learning pinyin Romanization. Reading and writing Chinese characters is the last step. Mandarin Pronunciation Guide There are 37 unique sounds in Mandarin Chinese, which consist of 21 consonants and 16 vowels. Through a myriad of combinations, around 420 different syllables can be produced and are used in the Chinese language.   Lets take the Chinese word for often as an example. The character  Ã¥ ¸ ¸ is pronounced as chng, which is a combination of the sounds ch and ang.   The sound  chart in this guide has audio files of all 37 sounds along with their Pinyin spellings. Pinyin Romanization Pinyin  is a way to write Chinese using the Roman (Western) alphabet. It is the most common of many forms of  Romanization, and is used in most teaching materials particularly for Western students learning Chinese. Pinyin allows beginner  Mandarin  students to read and write Chinese without using Chinese characters. This allows students to concentrate on spoken Mandarin before tackling the formidable task of  learning Chinese characters.   Because pinyin has many pronunciations  which are unintuitive to English speakers, it is necessary to study the pinyin system to avoid pronunciation errors.   Introduction to PinyinPinyin Pronunciation Essential Vocabulary Of course, there is a seemingly endless of vocabulary words to learn. Ease yourself in by starting with some of the most commonly used, everyday Chinese words. In order to refer to people in a conversation, you will need to know Mandarin pronouns. This is the equivalent to terms like I, you, he, she, they, we.  Mandarin words for colors  is also elementary vocabulary that can be easily learned. As you see different colors in your everyday life, try and remember the Chinese word for it.   Understanding Mandarin numbers  is also a good place to start. After you have mastered reading, writing, and pronouncing numbers, learning  calendar terms  (such as days  in  the week and months) and how to  tell time  will be easier.   Conversation Topics As you progress in your mastery of Mandarin, you will be able to have conversations. These lessons will prepare you for conversing about particular topics. All conversations start with a greeting. Learn Mandarin greetings  to be able to say hello or good afternoon! In introducing yourself, common questions might be where are you from? or where do you live? This handy list of  Mandarin names for North American cities  can help you respond. Many social events and get-togethers happen at restaurants. Learning  food vocabulary  and  restaurant vocabulary  can be helpful so that you know what to order or how to ask for help if you need another pair of chopsticks. If you are traveling in a Chinese-speaking country, you may be staying in a hotel or have to deal with banking in terms of withdrawing money, exchanging money, and so on. These  hotel vocabulary  and  banking vocabulary  lessons can be a good addition. Mandarin Grammar Mandarin Chinese grammar is very different from English and other Western languages. The first step is learning basic  Mandarin sentence Structures. For a beginner-level Mandarin student, it is also important to know how to  ask questions in Chinese  because asking questions is the best way to learn about a language and a culture. Particularly helpful questions to know include how do you say X in Chinese? or what does this idiom mean?  Ã‚   An interesting difference between English and Chinese is the use of  Mandarin measure words. For instance, in English one would say a piece of paper or a loaf of bread. In these examples, piece and loaf are measure words for the nouns paper and bread. In Chinese, there are many more measure words. Reading and Writing Chinese Characters Chinese characters  are the hardest part of learning Mandarin. There are over 50,000 Chinese characters, and a dictionary will typically list 20,000 characters. An educated Chinese person will know around 8,000 characters. And to read a newspaper you must learn about 2,000 to read a newspaper. The point is, there are a lot of characters! While the only way to really learn characters is to memorize them, knowing character  radicals  can give you some hints too. Engaging with beginner-level  Chinese text and books  can be a great way to practice. If you want to practice by writing Chinese online, here is how you can  write Chinese characters using Windows XP.

E-commerce as a Business-to-Consumer International Market Entry Essay

E-commerce as a Business-to-Consumer International Market Entry Strategy - Essay Example In the following paper I will be examining e-commerce in terms of marketing entry strategy and business-to-consumer operations. Marketing mix and strategies for effective product distribution through the channel of e-commerce is reviewed to cover the topic. Ultimately, conclusions and recommendations end up the paper. As illustrated in Figure 1, business to consumer (B2C) refers to the selling of goods and/or services directly to consumers by businesses. The classic example is Amazon (www.amazon.com) which offers in excess of 1.5 million book titles online and has extended its sales into other products, including music CDs, videos and games. Business to business (B2B) refers to the selling of goods and/or services by one company to another as part of their supply chain, and is likely to contribute to at least 80 per cent of the growth of e-Commerce in the next five years. An example is Marshalls (www.marshalls.com). There are significant overlaps between Internet strategy and Internet marketing, particularly if a company adopts a broad perspective of marketing by engendering customer focus throughout the business, as described above. Indeed, the two terms can be regarded as synonymous. Chaffey (2002) regards Internet marketing as a subset of Internet strategy that he calls 'sell-side e-commerce', meaning that it focuses on building relationships with customers, in parallel with 'buy-side e-commerce' that focuses on supply chain management. Chen (2001) regards Internet marketing as dealing with operational rather than strategic issues, but includes customer relationship management in the 'operational' category. In this book, we use the term 'Internet marketing' in a broad sense, while still distinguishing strategic aspects and operational aspects. Usually, when speaking of B2C operations, the business of e-retail is implied in the term. The business of e-retail has been defined as the sale of goods and services via Internet or other electronic channels, for personal or household use by consumers (Harris and Dennis, 2002). This definition includes all e-commerce activities that result in transactions with end consumers (rather than business customers), i.e. B2C rather than B2B. Some e-marketing activities that do not directly involve transactions, such as providing (free) information or promoting brands and image, are considered to be part of B2C but are not normally considered as being within the scope of e-retail. Despite the dot.com crash of 2000, e-retailing has been growing, particularly for the 'top eight' categories that account for three-quarters of all European sales. These major growth areas comprise: books, music and DVD movies, groceries, sex products, games and software, electronic and computer equipment, travel, and clothes. Disadvantages of E-Commerce as an international marketing entry strategy Over perceived benefits of E-Commerce as an international market entry strategy that will be discussed later in this paper, this kind of product or service distribution has its disadvantages. Retailers, for example, may lack the technical know-how, the substantial investment required or