Billgreen54's Weblog

The Common Language of Music…. by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:10:04 +0000

For beginners just learning a new language and even for the learned, it’s easy to think that English is the most spoken language in the world. Actually, that’s not true. The most spoken language in the world is Mandarin Chinese followed by Spanish and then English. However, it is generally understood that the most commonly spoken language in the world is English. More information is available at Wikipedia regarding English and who uses it. It’s an interesting subject no matter where you come from.

However, my belief is that the most common language is music. For centuries, many cultures have been communicating with the sound of drums. The guitar is widely used in every country around the world. If you like listening to what’s being played live or on the radio, you are just one of millions that most likely, doesn’t know every word or what the lyrics actually mean, but you like the rhythm or the instruments being played.

Humans communicate many different ways. Language is just about half of how we communicate with each other. Dogs and cats can’t speak at all, but they communicate nicely with a bark and meow. Maybe even a growl and a hiss.

Body language, speaking intonation, stress and the volume all play key roles in communicating a message. Add to all of this smell and the eyes and now getting a message across isn’t so difficult.

If you are communicating with someone in another language, just remember that language is about half of your communication skills.

If you are communicating with a woman in Ukraine or would like assistance communicating with her in any way including holidays, traditions, superstitions, daily life, education, language, family expectations, jobs, food, cost of living, English, learning Russian, village life, city life, politics, laws, business and more, please write me at this website or go to PenPalsNikolaev or Larisa School of Language

Everything Starts with One…. by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:31:38 +0000

Since coming to Nikolaev Ukraine over three years ago, I have been asked an uncountable number of questions. Subjects about business, life, family, language, relationships and the country I came from. The USA. Growing up and living in California for the first 54 years of my life gave me an unlimited bank of knowledge to share with others. Teaching English and learning about everyday life in Ukraine has been a real life adventure.

At last count, I have taught just over 4,300 English lessons. That’s about 7,000 academic hours. Many with Larisa. Honestly? I’m not sure how we have done all of this. Starting any business anywhere isn’t easy. Coming to a foreign country not speaking the language with one friend and starting a completely new career has been the adventure of a lifetime. Larisa was, and is my best friend. Without her and her encouragement, we would have never been able to do what we have done here in Nikolaev.

Someday soon, I will share with everyone the entire story. How we started our school without any money. We started teaching at our school with just one room, one student, one borrowed computer, 4 borrowed desks and 8 old chairs. That was in addition to our dial up Internet. Borrowed too:)

When we started our language school, we had no idea where we would be today. This coming November we will celebrate our third year in business. We are right on target with our ten year business plan. As we continue to grow as an enterprise and help as many Ukrainians improve their lives with English and more, we know all our hard work has been well worth the effort.

Our hard work is just part of the reason for our longevity. Having many friends in Ukraine and from around the world is the other.

EURO2012 in Ukraine and Poland….. It’s coming sooner than you think….

billgreen54 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 15:21:15 +0000

The EURO2012 is on it’s way to Ukraine and Poland with a great deal of anticipation for what the event will bring with it. June of next summer is expected to pump about $3 Billion into the two economies.

In Nikolaev, I have seen a steady increase in repairs and sprucing up recently. Living here for the past three years and traveling throughout the city, I am always looking out for daily improvements. I ride the bus just about everyday here. It’s inexpensive and always gets us where we want to go. Nikolaev has one of the most efficient public transportation systems I have ever seen. It would put most cities in California to shame.

Businesses are preparing for the event as well. We have seen an uptick in interest for learning English over that past few months. It’s not just about the EURO2012 itself, but what it will bring with it before and after the unprecedented event.

If you have thought about attending the big event next year, be sure to plan for it early enough to find transportation and accommodations. I will guarantee that there will not be anywhere close to enough room for visitors in any of the cities. Plan early and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place to stay.

As businesses continue to plan for the visitors from many countries around the world, the hope is that the event will bring with it an interest in Ukraine after the event as well. If you are coming towards Nikolaev, stop by our language school and say hi. Larisa and I always like to meet visitors from around the world.

Travel to Ukraine…. by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:56:34 +0000

Travel to Ukraine is always an adventure. Traveling the roads adds one more experience you won’t soon forget. The roads generally are decent, but many are in need of repair. While traveling to the village last weekend, we noticed there were some portions of the roads that were under major repair. We were pleasantly surprised last weekend when we traveled to Larisa’s village to spend some time with her mother, Luda. Our friend, Filipe from The South of France has been here for the last two months. He comes to our school just about everyday.

We first met Filipe three years ago here in Nikolaev. Since that time, we have spent many hours sharing thoughts over the Internet. Believe it or not, Filipe drove his car here from France. When he first told us he was driving to Ukraine, I thought he was joking. With his journey by car to Nikolaev, we found out just how serious he was:)

Thank heavens, he drove his car here. I haven’t driven a car for over three years since coming to Nikolaev. Riding the bus system here is easy and very affordable. Can you imagine? No care payment, no insurance, no outrageously expensive petrol.

Filipe drove, we paid for the gas. We had a great time and we hope to go back soon. Thank heavens for Filipe, the nice weather and a great time with friends.

If you are communicating with a woman in Ukraine or would like assistance communicating with her in any way including holidays, traditions, superstitions, village tours, daily life, education, language, family expectations, jobs, food, cost of living, English, learning Russian, village life, city life, politics, laws, business and more, please write me at this website or go to PenPalsNikolaev or Larisa School of Language

Many Friends ask me…… Why Ukraine? by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:18:59 +0000

Many friends ask me… Why Ukraine? Why search for a woman to love in Ukraine? My standard response is always…. Why not? The way two people find each other has changed in many ways over the past 20 years. The Internet has opened up the world to those who know the value of true love and what really goes into a real relationship. Searching around the globe, finding who you think is Mrs. Right, traveling to meet each other and then the chemistry. This is all just the beginning of the quest to find the woman searching for you.

Sadly, most couples fail in their quest for true love for many reasons. Of course, two cultures, two languages, money, maybe age difference, there are many reasons for failure in all relationships from any country. The real reason for failure however, usually centers around lake of education and the inability to know how to communicate with total trust and honesty.

None of the above will help anyone without limitless trust and honesty. It doesn’t matter what country you come from. It doesn’t matter how big your house is. There is no value in the size of your auto. The foundation to all successful relationships is always honesty and trust. If two people know how to communicate thoughts, dreams and lives desires, anything is possible.

If you have found the woman of your dreams, (or she found you) protect and cherish the day you met. Just be honest with yourself and the special woman beside you.

The World is Changing Daily…. by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:03:49 +0000

The world is changing daily with each and every sunrise. It seems to me that the world as we knew it just a few years ago, has been transformed forever. While every nation on the planet is trying to cope with adversities and opportunities, learning a second language has been much more important than when I was growing up in California years ago. Learning Spanish in School was not my first priority. Looking back, learning a second language should have been at the top of my list of educational goals.

As we all get a little older and the job opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer, learning another job skill should be something everyone considers seriously. Learning another language is a great way to exercise the mind.

Teaching others anything, including English has been the experience of a lifetime for both myself and Larisa. The first time we taught together was February 14th 2008. Yes, Valentines Day. I hope to soon have the time to write about how we did it and what we have been doing over the past three years. As of today, July 29, 2011, I have personally taught nearly 7,000 academic hours of English in Nikolaev Ukraine. Teaching and learning from others has been the most rewarding experience of my lifetime. We are looking forward to our continuing life adventure. We see unlimited growth in many areas of business here for some time to come, especially languages.

As Larisa and I continue to build our enterprise in a foreign land, we know that learning a second language in Ukraine has been one major reason for successful employment of Ukrainians. Our school and online presence has continued to grow with no limit to the possibilities in sight. Besides teaching English at our school in Nikolaev, we have been teaching both Russian and English by Skype for some time now. We have many students learning other languages here as well including French, Spanish and German.

Besides teaching languages, some time ago, we decided to create an online presence second to none in Ukraine. Our ten year business plan has always included teaching the best English possible at our school. We work on that goal daily as well as our other business interests including assisting friends from around the world develop honest relationships. Our primary goal online is to create the best language learning resources available in Ukraine. This includes creating supplemental English and Russian learning tools in-house as well as researching and offering language resources from around the world.

Daily, our staff researches free resources as well as other products with great content and value. We are constantly adding products to our affiliate network of offerings for all our web sites. The small commissions we earn each time we sell a product from one of our websites earns us the additional income we need for continued growth.

If you are interested in learning Spanish or Russian with great companies, please take a look at the following links, Russian Accelerator and Visual Link Spanish They are both great learning programs and we have noticed an increase in activity with both.

Please take a look at our websites at Larisa School of Language , PenPals Nikolaev and Ukraine Language Schools with more products available including all kinds of software, car rental, hotels, electronic translators, learning products for kids, websites and domains, web hosting and more.
Scholarship students in need. We always welcome the help of others to sponsor our scholarship students. Last month, we were able to enroll three new Scholarship students with sponsorships. Currently, we have six Scholarship students attending our school. We thank all who have helped make that possible. If you are able to help with Scholarships, we have four want to be students who are waiting to start. Here is some additional information.

Please go to SPONSOR A STUDENT if you would like to help. Donations can be made in $5, $10, $25 and $50 increments.

English Language Scholarships

We have now made it easier than ever to make a donation of any size to fund our scholarship program this year and beyond. If you would like to help a qualified students by making a donation in any amount, please click on a Donate button and give what you can. A full scholarship in group lessons costs $299. A full scholarship for private lessons costs $499. Any amount will go towards helping a student with an English Scholarship. In Ukraine, students with the ability to speak a second language always have greater opportunities for employment and providing for their families. Our web site is made possible with the generous support of friends from around the world. Our primary goal is to teach the very best English to anyone who has the desire to learn. Each scholarship student must go through a careful screening process with a unanimous YES! from our entire staff. This includes our directors, manager and teachers. Please consider sponsoring a student. Upon request, the students name and Email along with a thank you letter will be sent to you. You will be able to keep track of the students progress.

Ukrainian Women, why are they special…. by Billgreen54

billgreen54 — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:32:00 +0000

This question is posed to me just about everyday. Why are women from Ukraine different? Why are they special? Why do men from around the world search for a woman to love in Ukraine? Why do women from Ukraine search outside her own country?

It’s impossible to come up with a generic answer. Just like searching for that new pair of shoes, one size never fits all. I can only share my experiences since my search began for Larisa, five years ago. It’s been just about four years since we first met face to face at the Odessa airport. That was April, 2007. Living in Nikolaev for over three years while teaching over 5,000 academic hours of English it would be impossible not to have learned a little something about everyday life and real people.

A few facts. A real Ukrainian woman can’t lie under any conditions. She will never ask for money or accept gifts from someone she hasn’t known personally over an extended period of time. She is faithful to a fault and can have a slightly elevated level of jealousy towards other women, including close friends.

Women here are special for many reasons, including their ability to stretch a dime into a dollar. Faithfulness in a relationship is never talked about, but is always understood. Real women here carry themselves with pride and dignity everyday. Going out of the house anywhere in society is never done in anything less than fashion, class and style. From cooking the tastiest foods anywhere, there’s never an empty stomach. The thought of preparing anything from a box is unheard of.

Men from many countries come to Ukraine to meet real woman. The biggest problem is that most of the men who actually make it to Ukraine are less than honest. Always be honest with a woman here and you stand a good chance of creating something special.

Michael and Trustworthy Communication

billgreen54 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:09:28 +0000

Submitted on 2011/04/11 at 8:45 pm

Hello,
I have been communicating with a lady from Nikolaev for a little over a year now. I visited her this March and was invited to return as soon as I could. She even asked me to come during Christmas, if I can. I am looking for a reputable, trustworthy agency to translate letters for us, and to help with phone conversations. I would like to know your pricing for these services please. And any information you may have on a good international calling plan or agency I might use to call her. I am looking forward to your reply.

Thank You,

Michael
HI Michael,

Thanks for writing.
We would be happy to help you, but why not just send letters by Email and translate with Google. Even though translation is never perfect, at least you will know exactly who is sending the letter.
We would be happy to help you two communicate. I am sending you information regarding our PenPal program and pricing for English lessons.
I also do consultations by Skype if you are interested. You could also take some Russian Lessons via Skype from our school. Currently, we are teaching Russian to 8 men from other countries by Skype. If you are communicating with a woman in Ukraine or would like assistance communicating with her in any way including holidays, traditions, superstitions, daily life, education, language, family expectations, jobs, food, cost of living, English, learning Russian, village life, city life, politics, laws, business and more, please write me at this website or go to PenPalsNikolaev or Larisa School of Language

Everyone we know here uses Skype to speak by phone. I have an international calling plan that allows me to phone the US completely free of minute charges. I pay $10 a month and there is no limit.
Your friend can also take English lessons at our school.
Best regards,
Billgreen54

Is she serious? Rob wants to know….

billgreen54 — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:41:06 +0000

Hi Bill,
I have a question regarding how easy or difficult it is for a lady to get a new email account in the same city as you. She lives in Nikolaev also. We have been corresponding for about 7 weeks she recently left the above site and says she will use email with me, she says she is serious with me. Her email at home she said is broken and will get another email per my urging her to do so. I have followed your suggestions from above. She is the one who is taking her time. She seems serious per her letter telling me she is leaving the site to be with me. She needs to get another email account how easy is this for her to do. I have been the one who asks when to call her and told her about skype etc. She says she wants to be with me and the site confirmed she left, what to I do from here on any suggestions Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for writing, Email addresses are as easy to get as turning on a computer. There are Internet cafes by the hundreds here in Nikolaev. If someone can’t get to an Internet cafe, it’s impossible to not know someone with a computer in Nikolaev. Internet access is everywhere. If someone is telling you any different, they are lying.
If a women is serious about developing a real relationship, she will do everything possible to help open up the communication. If she isn’t honest or she is just pain lazy, she will drag her feet and make every excuse possible.
If a lady is telling you that she will remove her profile from an agency or web site before she has met you, the odds are, she is lying. All girls can have their profile temporarily hidden from public view.
How do you know she is the one writing letters to you? The odds are that the girl you are writing to doesn’t even know who you are. Most likely, the letters are written by a letter writer that gets paid by the letter. You should never communicate by letter any longer than three weeks maximum. If after three weeks, she seems to like you in any manner, you need to request her contact information. That would include her full name, her address, her phone number and the agency information as well. That would include the agency manager, agency address, phone number and the name of the agency. If the web site refuses to give that information to you, they are hiding something.
Agencies that aren’t afraid to have visitors are always happy to let you come to their office and meet with them. If you are not able to obtain the agency information, the odds are it’s a boiler room and not an agency at all.
If a woman says she wants to be with you before ever meeting you face to face and getting to know you over time, she is lying. No honest Ukrainian woman would ever give you her heart without meeting you. I see many red flags in your letter. Be very careful.
Just remember that a real Ukrainian woman will never ask for anything but your heart. You will have to earn every ounce of hers. Never send a gift to any girl through any agency or web site. Keep your eyes wide open and your wallet closed.
I hope something I have offered helps.

Best regards,

Billgreen54

Jim’s plan for spring and New Years

billgreen54 — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:51:05 +0000

The following letter from Jim was received at New Years. He is a good friend and client as well. He has been searching for a woman to share his life with since last year. Jim’s attitude is one of the best I have ever known. He understands the complexities of searching for a real woman and isn’t in a big hurry. He has an open mind and understands that men and women alike should become great friends first and lovers later. He is eager to learn from the experiences of others and knows that just sitting by an open window wishing and hoping won’t lead to anything anywhere.

Start out your new year with a plan and the eagerness to learn who you are and who you are searching for. Enjoy!…..

Hi Bill;

Happy New Year to you and Larisa from the mid-western state of Ohio. Perhaps this New Year will be better than last, as I search for that special someone. We should Skype soon to catch up on things.

I am starting to see an American girl in lieu of my lack of luck on the foreign front, but I have not given up hope yet, although this girl may be a good match for me. If it doesn’t work out, I would like to visit the Ukraine when the weather is better, and Spring has arrived, and love is in the air as we call it here. Hope to talk to you soon and Happy New Year again to you also.

Jim

HI Jim,

Happy New Year to you. I am glad that you are maintaining a positive perspective. Our other half can be around the world or around the corner. Just keeping an open mind and taking it slow are two of the keys to finding that special someone.

Before Larisa found me just over four years ago, I had been searching on many web sites, mostly in the USA. Most of my friends know that the reason I started searching overseas was due to an unsolicited email sent to me by someone from Russia. After sending just three emails to it, I discovered that it was most likely a guy named “Boris” scamming.

That was my first experience at learning that there was another side to the world as well as a dark side to international dating. After that experience in early 2006, it was another month or so that I became curious and started doing research on international dating. Nearly a year later after a trip to Saint Petersburg Russia and returning home to California, I said my first hello to Larisa on a major web site.

For me, giving up and living a life alone had never been an option.

One of the keys to success in everything we do in life is to keep a positive attitude as well as an open mind. In the world of international dating, self education is critical. You have a great attitude and I know that you will find Mrs. Right.

Lets have a conference next Sunday at 9pm our time. If that’s okay, let me know.

Best regards,

Bill