5 Fun Ways to Create a Romantic Dinner For Two

Are you looking for some great fun ways to make a romantic dinner for two that will sweep your sweetie right off his feet? There is nothing like a lovingly home cooked meal to show your man the lengths you will go to make him happy. This is more about making it a labor of love rather than the actual menu. Nothing beats candlelight and soft jazzy music to set the mood but sometimes just a pinch of imagination is enough to add that extra magical touch. Here are 5 top ways to spice up a romantic dinner for two.
5. Make it together - Why not? Two heads, two hearts and two pairs of hands are better than one. Lots of men these days love to show off their culinary skills for their honey. Food is a sensual experience. The very act of creating it together and then devouring it can be a perfect appetizer for a romantic evening together. Besides the merger of your Chicken Kiev and his Baked Alaska is greater than the sum of its parts. This is especially true if the menu consists of your macaroni and cheese and his banana split for two.
4 Dinner for two under the stars - What can be more romantic than eating outside on a beautiful clear summer evening? If you live in an apartment this could mean dinner out on the balcony or up on the roof. Or if you have a backyard, lay out a blanket or set up the patio table. The fresh air is invigorating and the after dinner cuddling and stargazing will certainly make this a night to remember.
3. Pick a theme - Can't afford a vacation this year? Create a Hawaiian or Mexican getaway right in your house. Accent a spectacular exotic meal with some ethnic theme music and decor and sweep both of you away on a mini vacation. You don't even need to take time off of work.
2. Dinner and a movie with a twist - There are plenty of steamy and romantic movies that guys won't hate. Whether you opt for a classic like "Casablanca", a comedy like "Something about Mary" or a thriller like "Body Heat" or Basic Instinct", instead of popcorn, try serving up a tray of hor d'oeuvres. You can easily cut up some veggies and cheese with crackers, serve with chicken wings, potato skins or a shrimp ring. Top with some fresh fruit with vanilla yogurt dip for dessert. How easy is that? Much more filling and nutritious than potato chips.
1. Fine dining in the comfort of your own home - Nothing beats the classics. Candlelight, wine and soft music, with a full home cooked meal of his favorite dishes lovingly prepared to perfection. Surprise him at the door dressed in your sexiest little black dress and who needs dessert? Top it off with some slow dancing in your living room and let the rest of the evening take care of itself.
Dinner for two doesn't need to be boring. Whether you are preparing something special for a birthday or Valentines day, or just want to spice up a romantic evening together with something surprising and different, with a little imagination, some preparation and a lot of TLC, an ordinary meal can be transformed into something truly memorable. Take these ideas and imprint them with your own flair and get your romance cooking.

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Romantic Dinner For Two - Easy to Cook and Lovely to Eat

Spring is here and love is in the air, so why not treat your beloved to a romantic dinner a deux? After all, there's no finer way to your loved one's heart than through their stomach. I'm thinking along the lines of 70's retro 'Surf & Turf.' The good news is this easy 3 course dinner won't break the bank or require you to spend hours at the stove. Apart from the steak, everything else can be made in advance, so if you want to up the anti and impress your sweetheart, be sure to make the bearnaise sauce to serve alongside the steak. So for starters it's prawn cocktail, main course is the perfect steak served with triple cooked french fries & bearnaise sauce followed by a dessert of 'petit pots au chocolate.' More on that later...
Here's Your Cooking Order To Prevent Panic!
Morning or Day Before:
Make the dessert & refrigerate
Prep the French fries up to stage 3 & refrigerate
Evening:
Bring the steak up to room temperature - 1 hr ahead
Make up the prawn cocktails & refrigerate
Make the bearnaise sauce and keep warm - ½ hour before serving
Cook the steaks and heat the oil for the final chip frying stage
Fry off the chips for 5 minutes while the steaks are resting
This chocolate dessert is so unbelievably easy to make yet decadently rich with a creamy silky texture. Who needs complicated when love is in the air?
Let's Start With Dessert...
Petit Pots au Chocolate
Ingredients:
4 oz dark chocolate minimum 80% cocoa
6 fl oz or ¾ cup half and half cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp Baileys liqueur
Here's What You Do:
Break the chocolate into tiny pieces (a food processor is best as it reduces the chocolate to a powder), but you could put it in a bag and bash with a rolling pin). The point is it make the pieces small so the melt faster. Heat the single cream and sugar in the microwave (or on the stove) until it just reaches boiling.
Tip the chocolate into the hot cream and stir until melted, it will immediately thicken. Add the Baileys liqueur and stir well. Pour into two small dishes and refrigerate for several hours. There! Told you it was easy!!!
Now for the prawn cocktail.
A cool, spicy & succulent starter. What's not to like? To get the perfect combo you want one third each of prawns, lettuce and sauce.
Ingredients:
½ lb small cooked Candian prawns
4 Romaine lettuce leaves
6 baby cherry tomatoes
½ lemon
2 level tbsp good quality mayonnaise
1 level tbsp ketchup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
Here's What You Do:
Tip the prawns into a sieve and leave to drain. Shred the lettuce leaves and put aside. Slice or quarter the cherry tomatoes (a serrated knife is best for this) and put with the lettuce. Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and Dijon together in the bowl. Now zip it up with a dash of cayenne and a squeeze of lemon - not too much - about 1 tbsp otherwise the sauce will be too runny. Stir in the prawns, lettuce and tomato coating them well with the sauce. Spoon into sundae glasses, decorate with a slice of lemon and refrigerate until needed. Now for the French fries. Lets be honest, you can't beat homemade fries. Triple cooked are super crispy and the best in the business.
Ingredients:3 large floury potatoes
Sea salt
1½ pints vegetable or sunflower oil
Here's What You Do:Peel the potatoes then trim off their rounded sides and square them up. Cut into ½ inch thick slices lengthways and then again into strips, giving you fries.
Place the fries in a saucepan, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Next, rinse them thoroughly, cover with fresh cold water and add a dash of salt. Place over a high heat and when they come up to the boil, cook for 5- 7 minutes. Pierce the centre with a knife, they want to be softish but not fully cooked.
Drain into a sieve and run under the cold tap to stop further cooking. Pat dry with a cloth then arrange on a tray lined with absorbent kitchen paper and stick in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 25 minutes, fill a saucepan a third full of oil and place on a medium heat. Now test cook a French fry first. The oil is ready when it surrounds the French fry with 100's of tiny bubbles. Don't overcrowd the pan or the temperature will drop. Otherwise fry them in small batches, for approx 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon when they're just starting to colour. Drain onto fresh sheets of absorbent kitchen paper and allow to cool for 10 minutes before returning to the freezer for half an hour. (You can prepare the French fries up to this stage and keep refrigerated for 24 hours if necessary.
The Next Night
Take the steaks out the refrigerator an hour before you plan to sit and eat.
Make up the prawn cocktail.
Now start the bearnaise sauce.
This classic French sauce is the perfect companion to steak and not bad with chicken, fish and vegetables either. It's made the same way as a hollandaise, but don't let that put you off because this recipe is pretty much bomb proof! All that's required is a little patience and some low heat!
Ingredients:
2 medium egg yolks - room temp
1½ sticks unsalted butter
1 shallot or a few onion slices
large handful fresh tarragon
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt
Here's What You Do:
Melt the butter over a low heat or in the microwave until it becomes liquid. Remove from the heat and let it settle, then strain off the clear golden liquid into one of the cups and put aside. Discard the milky sediment. Finely chop the tarragon leaves, put aside 1½ tbsp and tip the remainder into a small saucepan. Add the vinegar, peppercorns, onion or shallot and boil over a high heat for approx 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a tablespoon, then pour through a tea strainer into the second cup and put it aside.
One third fill a saucepan with hot water and place over a high heat. Separate the eggs and tip the yolks into the bowl. Add the vinegar reduction and place over the saucepan of water. Immediately reduce the temperature to a low heat. Whisk the yolks until they become very light and fluffy - approx 5 minutes then turn off the heat and continue whisking, keeping the bowl over the saucepan of hot water.
Next, very slowly start dripping the liquid butter onto the yolks, whisk continuously until smooth. Continue adding the butter in this way - little by little and all the while whisking briskly until the sauce is thick - approx 10 minutes. Don't worry if the sauce seems thin to begin with, it will gradually thicken up as you add the butter. Keep the sauce warm over a pan of hot water but off the heat, otherwise it will split. If the sauce gets too thick add a splash of hot water.
Put two plates in a low oven to warm.
Time To Cook The Steak!
Place a dry frying pan over a high heat until it's searing hot (you want to hear a 'sizzle' when the steak makes contact with the pan. If it doesn't the pan isn't hot enough). Rub the steaks generously with oil & season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook the steaks in a dry pan without oil or butter
Turn down the heat slightly once your steaks are seared on both sides.
Guide To Cooking Times
The times given are a guide only and refer to a sirloin steak approximately 1? thick. Different cuts or thicker steaks will require longer cooking times and thinner steaks less. Remember to take your steaks off the heat BEFORE they are ready, as they will carry on cooking. The table below gives you rough cooking times.
1? Thick steak
Cooking Time
(per side)
Resting
Time
Total Cooking
Time
Rare
2 minutes
4 minutes
8 minutes
Medium
3 minutes
4 minutes
10 minutes
Well Done
4 minutes
2 minutes
10 minutes
While your steaks are cooking remember to reheat the oil for your French Fries. It must be very hot with a slight haze coming off it. Once the oil is hot and the steaks are resting, submerge the French fries into the hot fat and fry until crisp and golden - approx 5 minutes, then drain onto absorbent kitchen towel and season with a grinding of sea salt. Assemble your steak, French fries and béarnaise sauce on a warm plate and enjoy.!

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Korean Recipe - A Easy Way to Cook Korean Food

Vegetable pancake (ya chae jeon)
Or Korean pizza, which I like to call this! Obviously, I love pizza. I can't deny that and the Korean version is a classic Korean food. And no, you won't find melted cheese with pepperoni but something crispy with some seafood. I remember eating this in Korea with some soju (Korean liquor). I could not get enough of it! Although there a lot of different versions in restaurants. This Korean Recipe is the basic one.
Ingredients: ½ cup of flour, 2/3 cup of water, 2/3 cup of chopped scallops or other seafood, green onions, asian chives (or regular chives if you can't find), zucchini , green chili pepper, 1 ts salt, 1 egg, vegetable oil.
Let's cooking the yummy Korean Recipe:
* Place ½ cup of flour, 1 ts salt, 2/3 cup of water in a big bowl and mix it.
* Chop ½ cup of green onions, 1 cup of asian chives and shred ½ cup of zucchini.
* Put chopped vegetables into the mixture of flour and water and mix it up.
* Chop 2/3 cup scallop. I put also some mini shrimp of same amount.
* In a big heated pan, put some oil and spread the vegetable pancake batter thinly. Lower the the heat
down to medium.
* Place the chopped seafood over the top and press it down with a spoon or spatula.
* When the pancake is cooked about 70%, beat one egg and spread it in the center of the
pancake and cook a few minutes over low heat.
* Turn the pancake over with a spatula.
* Add more oil and cook for few minutes. And serve it hot with dip sauce.
Tip: to make crispier, add more oil and spread the pancake mixture thinly.
Dip sauce: mix 1 TBS of soy sauce and ½ TBS of vinegar.

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Easy Ways to Cook Mega Healthy

Cooking healthy is essential for a diet rich in vitamins and nutrition. What we eat improves or damages our health, so it is imperative to cook with health and wellness in mind.
To have a healthy diet, certain ingredients need to be limited when cooking. A typical diet and recipe tend to be high in sodium. Reduce the amount of salt called for in recipes by one-half to one-fourth. You can also try using low-sodium ingredients, like soy sauce and tomato-based products, instead of salt. To limit the amount of fat when preparing dishes, decrease the amount of margarine and butter called for in recipes by at least one-half. Cooking spray is also a much lower fat alternative to oil. (If you choose to cook with oil, use one of the healthy oils, like macadamia oil, peanut oil, canola oil, coconut oil and olive oil. The bad oils that should be avoided are walnut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil and soybean oil.)
Adding flavor to food can also have healthy benefits, in addition to a better taste. Garlic has been shown to help heart and digestive problems. It also assists in fighting infections, diabetes and parasites. Lemon juice has been shown to cleanse the liver, fight infections, purify the blood and strengthen bones and teeth. Controlling constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea and heartburn are other healthy advantages of cooking with lemon juice.
A healthy diet consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and nutrition. To add more vegetables to dishes, replace some of the meat with vegetables, like broccoli. (Limiting or decreasing the amount of processed meat in a diet also has healthy benefits, as it is said to reduce the risk for cancer.) Choose the leafier, darker vegetables, like spinach, kale and carrots, over lighter ones, like celery and iceberg lettuce. The darker vegetables are much higher in vitamins and provide more nutrition. Also, increase the amount of fruit when you cook by adding chopped fruit to desserts and baked goods. Or better yet, stop cooking desserts and instead serve fresh fruits.
It is important to prepare meals with plenty of fiber for a healthy diet. Fiber is found in the peels of fruits and vegetables, like apples and potatoes, so don't peel fruits and vegetables. Cook beans more often and serve them as a side dish. One cup of kidney beans has 13.1 grams of fiber. Another option to increase the amount of fiber to dishes is to add one tablespoon of flax meal or wheat germ to baked goods.
Food is directly connected to one's health, present and future, so make the most of the meals you prepare. Stop cooking to eat, and begin to cook for better health and wellness.

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Cook Great Summer Dishes The Easy Way

Buy wine online and cook some great dishes for the summer! In many areas of the nation, the warm times of summer and early fall could leave the family cook sweltering in front of a scorching stove, setting up those nutritious foods. Besides making your house too warm for comfort, you might find your appetite languishing by the time you are able to sit down. Here we have some quick cooking recipes and tips that save you time and leave your energy - and appetite unchanged when you're ready to eat. Let's see how you can work this kitchen magic for you and your loved ones.
The microwave is among your very best friends, specifically in hot weather. It lends itself flawlessly to preparing quick cooking recipes and definitely helps keep the kitchen cool. For entrees, try cooking a set of chicken or fish inside the microwave. These meats turn out excellent when cooked inside the microwave. You can also cook chicken in the morning hours and simply warm it up in a lidded frying pan just before serving, with the extra benefit of giving the chicken a fast browning that improves the taste. Fish cooks so easily that it takes just a few minutes to prepare at supper time. Use the microwave oven to cook fresh veggies in the cool early morning, cooking these until just quite undercooked. Refrigerate right up until ready to serve, heating and completing cooking in the microwave.
In the same manner, cooking up a big batch of rice takes the same amount of time as preparing it for a single mealtime. Divide the prepared rice and freeze, ready to defrost and use as soon as your menu requires rice. This tip on quick cooking recipes saves time and decreases your energy consumption, while making summer season cooking less stressful for you in a hot kitchen. Less stress in the kitchen means more time for fun!
Busy mothers can get a jump on the kid's school lunch preparation here. Watch out for sales on lunch meats and cheeses at the deli. Fill up and make an 'assembly line' manufacture of snacks. Line up a number of hoagie rolls and fill these with your sandwich goodies. Wrap each sandwich inside a plastic wrap and freeze. Defrost the amount of sandwiches you'll need for tomorrow's lunch this evening. The next day, let the kids put on mayo, mustard or whatever they like to dress the sandwich. Load up and head out!
Buy wine online and cook some food and save time and money while keeping cool like a cucumber! What about breakfast? Pancakes, waffles as well as crepes can be organized in advance in bulk and frozen for future quick and easy breakfasts. All that is needed is a short, low temperature heating up inside the oven before serving. With a side of sausage patties, you have a delicious breakfast. You can see that these tips for quick cooking recipes, using your microwave and freezer, along with cooking in big amounts make good sense.

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3 Easy Ways to Make Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs are a popular food to eat at barbecues and picnics. While they are not that difficult to prepare, they do take a lot of patience to make. The average cooking time is over 2 hours! Many experienced competition chefs will also recommend that you allow them to marinate for at least 6-8 hours if not over night in the refrigerator!
There are many different ways to cook baby back ribs, which makes it possible for just about anyone to make them depending on their preferred cooking style and methods. Three of the most popular ways to make them is grilling, oven baking, and slow cooking in a crock pot. Below is a quick overview of each way to make this classic dish.
Grilling Ribs: If you are grilling your meat, you will want to make sure your grill is prepared so that you can cook with indirect heat. A common mistake that many people make is to place the pork directly over the flames. While yes this will cook them, it will not make them very tender or "fall off the bone" like many people enjoy. By placing a shallow pan of water between the heat source, the metal grate, and the ribs, you can keep cooking them for hours without compromising on tenderness. Dripping barbecue sauce and marinade can also cause flame flare ups which can make them burn and dry out. After about two hours of roasting on low medium heat (around 225 degrees) you will be able to enjoy a delicious and juicy meal. Be sure to check the pan frequently to make sure it still has water in it.
Oven Baked: Baking is another popular way to prepare this summer favorite, especially in the winter months when it may be too cold to stand outside for two hours and watch them cook! The easiest thing to do is simply allow your pork to marinate in sauce or with a simple dry rib rub if you prefer them without sauce and then bake for about 2 hours at 225 degrees. Wrapping them in foil with or without sauce will help them stay nice and tender while they bake.
Slow Cooker: A Slow Cooker, or Crock Pot as it is also commonly referred to, is another popular method of making ribs. The main difference is that the meat and bones will need to be cut into small sections, especially since most slow cookers are not large enough to accommodate the entire rack of ribs. You can then slow cook covered at a low heat (around 200 degrees) for several hours with your favorite sauce or marinade.
There are many other different ways to prepare and enjoy ribs, such as smoking or frying, but these three are the most popular and some of the easiest ways for a new cook to learn how to make them.

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7 Easy Ways To Make Cooking for Kids Fun

etting your kids in the kitchen early on is the best way to keep them keen on cooking for the rest of their lives, and the easiest way to teach them to cook is by making it fun. Here are some ways to make cooking for kids like any other fun game they want to play:
1. Let them participate. Don't make them just sit there and watch while you do all the work and explain it step-by-step. They'll feel like they're being lectured, plus the easiest way for young kids to learn how to do something is by trying it out firsthand. If they're reluctant to take part, you might have to take a page out of Tom Sawyer's book. It's not to say that cooking isn't actually a lot of fun, but if you verbalize it and tell the kids how much fun it is to knead dough or mix batter, they're more inclined to want to try it out.
2. Help them dress the part. Kids love playing pretend, and costumes and props are a big part of that. Lots of places sell kids chef costumes, so get a little chef's hat and apron. You could also get separate play cooking utensils for them to use so they can play kitchen on their own.
3. Involve them in cooking something they'll actually want to eat. Kids have pretty simple palates, and typically want nothing to do with anything too fancy (or veggie-based). Make sure that what they're helping out with is a dish they'll enjoy -- if they know they're making something good they'll be more devoted to getting it right.
4. Don't give them jobs that will be too difficult for them. When cooking with children, it's important to find a balance of importance and difficulty in the jobs you assign them. You want to make sure they feel like they're helping out in a significant way, but not doing something that's too hard for them. Luckily, a young child will probably be so busy focusing on getting things right that he or she won't notice if the task is menial.
5. Take pictures, or even a video, or them cooking. Pictures and home-movies are a great way to remind kids of how much fun they had doing something. If they see images of themselves having fun cooking, it'll inspire them to keep cooking.
6. Don't worry about messes. Cooking with children is bound to get messy, and it's best to just let them do their thing and worry about it after. Don't let them throw around flour just for kicks, but if they accidentally spill or drop something, don't make a big deal about it. Tell them not to either, and assure them they're doing a great job.
7. Encourage them to offer the food they've cooked or helped cook to friends and family. Kids, as a rule, can be very sensitive and insecure, and generally love to be praised. Help boost their confidence and encourage them to keep cooking by telling them to share their creations.

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3 Quick and Easy Ways to Cook Eggs

There are many ways to cook eggs. Here are three of the fastest and easiest. The first and easiest method is to boil them. The second method, which is almost as easy, is to fry them. The third method, which is almost as easy as the first two methods, is to scramble them in the microwave.
 
To boil eggs you'll need a sauce pan deep enough to cover the eggs in water. Place the eggs in the sauce pan and cover with water. Turn the stove burner to high. When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and submerge in cold water for 2 minutes. Peel the eggs under running water. Slice and serve with salt and pepper.
 
To fry eggs you'll need a frying pan and a spatula. Coat the bottom of the frying pan with a layer of olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Heat pan over medium heat. Cook the eggs for three minutes. Turn eggs with the spatula and cook another two minutes. Remove eggs from frying pan and serve with salt and pepper.
 
The third method is to scramble the eggs in a microwave oven. I do this often at work (much to the amazement of my co-workers). It's really simple and the results are very good if you do it right. First, spray a microwave safe bowl with cooking spray. Stir in the eggs. Microwave the eggs on high for 20 seconds. Stir the eggs and microwave again for 10 seconds. Stir the eggs and microwave again for ten seconds. The eggs should be almost done at this point. Fluff the eggs and microwave for ten seconds.
 
There you have it!  Boiled, fried or scrambled. Serve with a nice slice of turkey ham, a little sautéed broccoli rabe and a piece of fruit and you have a delicious, complete meal that's fast and easy to prepare.

Roland Bonay is an Sytems Engineer in New Jersey. He enjoys drawing, writing and cooking.

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Discovering Easy and Quick Ways to Cook Cod Fish

Cod is a fish that is often unduly ignored. Fish connoisseurs prefer more exotic, more fragrant tasting fish such as salmon or even the arrestingly salty flavored anchovy. But cod is an extremely excellent source of protein as it is quite low in fat and is packed with minerals and vitamins that do a body good. It also has a mild taste and dense white flesh which makes it quite versatile in culinary terms. There is a wide range of ways of cooking cod. Recipes run the gamut from frying, baking, poaching, and grilling to sautéing and deep frying.
First though before we get to the recipes, here are some things to keep in mind when cooking cod. Cod is really quite easy to prepare and cook. As it is lean, without much fat content, it does cook quickly, so you do have to be careful not to overcook it.  Think about 8-10 minutes of cooking time per every inch of thickness. Set the oven to no hotter than 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 160 degrees Celsius, or gas mark 3. Cod is done when it starts to flake.
One of the easiest ways of cooking cod is to bake it. Take a cod fillet and season it with lemon, salt and pepper, and some butter. Wrap it in foil and place it in the oven. Serve with lemon and a side of green salad and rice.
Another quick and easy way of cooking cod is to dredge a cod fillet in flour and season with salt and pepper. Cook the fish in a frying pan with some olive oil. The fish is done when it is no longer translucid. Serve with a sprig of parsley and some lemon.
This next cod recipe is a little more complicated, but well worth the preparation time. You will need two eggs, flour (about 1 cup), a tablespoon baking powder, 10 oz beer, 4 cod fillets and some salt. Mix all the ingredients minus the fillets in a medium sized bowl. Add paprika, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, dried oregano and thyme into the mix and blend thoroughly. Dip the cod in the batter, letting the excess drip off.  Fry the battered cod fillets in a deep fryer or Dutch oven. Once both sides are crisp and golden brown, transfer the fillet onto a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Season with salt.

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Easy Way to Cook Vegetable Biryani

The whole process of making the Biryani, layering, giving 'Dum' and the long wait is quite intimidating and would easily deter many to try the same. The reason I often opt for the easy and the less time consuming Biryani recipe at my home. But believe me you will not be one with me once you try this traditional Biryani. A little bit of extra effort and you will be certainly rewarded with a royal treat. This recipe is from my mom's kitchen and one of my favorite dishes I demand from her as soon as I land at her place.
When I ask her about why my recipe never taste like hers even though I use the same method of cooking, and her answer is that homemade and home ground spices is what makes the difference. Gosh... I can not imagine sitting down like her, grinding my ginger-garlic paste and pounding all the spices on mortar & pestle. But do it if you can and see the difference by yourself.
What makes Biryani different from Indian Pulav;

• Mostly the long grain fragrant Basmati rice is used to make a traditional biryani.
• Rice is first fried in oil or ghee before cooking it with other vegetables.
• Saffron and mint are the two most important ingredients in making a biryani.
• Unlike a pulav, biryani is all about layering the rice and vegetable gravy alternately.
• Rice and veggies are cooked separately and then layered to get a textured rice dish.
• Deep fried brown onion rings used in the recipe gives a caramelized flavor to biryani.
• The vegetables cooked separately in a thick yogurt sauce keeps the biryani moist.
• The most important feature to biryani is that each grain of rice should have its individual identity.

Preparation time
20 minutes
Cooking time
40 minutes
Serves
2 persons
Ingredients
To make it easy let us differentiate the cooking process into;
1. Cook the rice
1 cup long grain Basmati rice
2-3 cloves
4-5 black peppercorn
3 cardamom pods
1 small bay leaf
A small piece of cinnamon
3 cups of water
1 tbsp. oil/ghee
Salt as desired
2. Make the vegetable sauce or gravy
200 gms Mushrooms or any vegetable
1 cup yogurt/curd
1 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp. red chilly powder
2 tsp. garam masala
2 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tbsp. oil/ghee
2 tbsp. of brown onion (from the list below)
Salt as desired
3. For layering the biryani
2 large onions (browned in oil)
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
8-9 saffron strands
1 tbsp. warm milk
A little wheat dough to cover the pan
Preparation
1. Cook the rice: Washand soak the rice for at lest 2 hours while you assemble and prepare all the ingredients for the biryani. Drain the rice. Heat 1 tbsp of oil/ghee in a kadai/wok and add cardamom and all the whole spices in it and cook for a few seconds. Add the rice in it and fry the for two minutes till it becomes transparent.
Heat water at the same time and pour the hot water in the spice and rice mix in the wok. Let it cook for about 7-10 minutes at medium heat till the rice is 3/4 done. Do not cook the rice fully.Drain the extra water from the rice and spread the rice in the wok to let it cool.
Meanwhile peel and slice the onions and shallow fry them in oil till they turn dark brown in color. Keep them on a layer of tissue paper. Take out 3/4 of the fried onion and grind it into a coarse paste. Keep the rest for layering the biryani. Soak the saffron strands in warm milk for 10 minutes. Clean and chop the mint leaves finely. Knead the wheat flour with water to make dough.
2. Make the vegetable sauce/gravy: Wash and slice the mushrooms or vegetable finely. Carrots, peas, cauliflower, beans, corn and colored capsicum blend very well in a biryani.
Heat oil in a wok and add caraway seeds in it. Add ginger garlic paste, sliced vegetables and fry for another minute. Add garam masala, salt, chilly powder and the ground fried onion paste in it and fry for one more minute. Beat the curd lightly with a fork and pour it over the vegetable mix in the wok. Add 1/2 cup water if the curd is too thick and let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes at medium heat.
3. For layering the biryani: Traditionally a biryani is layered in an earthen pot for the rustic look and earthy flavors. You could use any steel vessel for the same.
Pour a ladle ful of vegetable gravy in the vessel which will make the first layer of biryani. Add 2-3 ladles of cooked rice as the second layer. Sprinkle the rice with a tsp. of saffron and milk mixture. Add the reserved fried onions and a little of chopped mint leaves over it. Make a third layer with vegetable sauce and cover it with a fourth layer of rice following the saffron milk, fried onion and mint leaves. You can add a couple of tsp. of butter or ghee on top of the rice layer if you wish for extra flavors.
Cooking
Cover the vessel with a tight lid and secure the lid with the dough as shown in the picture and place a heavy object such as grinding stone on the lid. This will help the in letting the biryani cook in its own steam and also preserve the freshness and flavors of the spices & condiments. Keep a thick pan or tawa on flame and put the handi or vessel on it. This process is called giving 'Dum' to the biryani.
Cook the biryani for about 20-30 minutes at slow flame. Take off from the pan/tawa and keep aside for a couple of minutes to let the flavors get infused in the dish. Remove the dried out dough from the sides of the cover and break open the seal.
Do not mix the biryani, let there be different layers of plain rice, saffron colored rice and mushroom rice while you serve. Biryani is best eaten with a fresh yogurt raita and veggie salad.

Lite recipes for right health. Quick-to-cook, easy and healthy recipes for busy couples, bachelors and all those for whom time is precious. Articles on health and eating right will help you combine nutritional benefits of various fodd in your cooking.

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6 Ways to Learn German Fast

The German language is one of the major languages of the world. There are over 100 million people who speak German. The German language has led to the spread of the German culture to many countries around the world through the Geothe Institutes, which are German cultural centers.
This means the need to learn German is high. Also, there are many resources that are available to teach people how to learn German fast. Choose the resource you are comfortable with. Some of the resources include books, interactive programs, and CDs on how to learn German fast
If you want to use a language learning program, choose a good one that will enable you to learn the language at a pace you are comfortable with in your home. Choose a program that will give you the correct pronunciation and common verb usage in order to progress quickly.
Tips For Learning German Fast
1. You can take online courses in learning German. With this, you will be able to learn at your own pace without having to go with the pace in classrooms. Moreover, you can always refer to the online course whenever you feel like it.
2. Another tip on how to learn German fast is to learn using audio tapes and interactive CDs. Audio tapes are good for getting the correct pronunciation, while interactive CDs help you to learn verb usage patterns and vocabulary. The interactive CDs provide a fun way of learning German.
3. You need to keep a good learning routine in order to progress in your study. Consistency is important in the routines because you need to be constantly in touch with the studies. It is easy to forget what you learnt if you do not keep a consistent study routine.
4. If you get hold of German movies and TV shows, try to watch them. The shows will help you to improve your language speaking skills. The shows will help you in your pronunciation and will give you motivation to continue learning whenever you come across a phrase that you can make out what is being said. Other resources that will help you are German magazines, comics, books and the German-English dictionary.
5. Another good tip that will help you learn German fast is to label the stuff in your house with some sticky notes written in German. This will help you to remember the German names of common items, and in the process you will greatly improve your vocabulary.
6. You can also take a trip to German neighbourhoods and spend some time with the local German speaking people. You can also get yourself a German friend who can help you with learning the language. This is a fun and fast way of learning to speak German without many hassles.

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The Easy Way to Learn How to Speak Japanese Rapidly

Learning Japanese is not hard if you are taking it seriously and dedicated to the learning process. People who quit learning is because they view it as a difficult language to learn. The easy way to learn how to speak Japanese is to view it as a simplistic language.
The first thing you should do is you must understand of what exactly is ahead of them. You ought to have a good knowledge about the Japanese writing system. Japanese is consist of 3 components which are 'Hiragana', 'Katakana', and 'Kanji'. I assume that you already mastered one of them I will not explain much about these components in detail since this article is about showing you how to learn to speak Japanese the easiest way.
But make sure you begin with the basic at first if you are a beginner. You should begin with 'Romaji' (English alphabet writing that is used to represent Japanese text), try to memorize all the necessary words in 'Romaji' it should be able to help you with your pronunciation. It is important that you are able to spell them correctly otherwise you won't be able to say the misspelled word in correct tone. For instance 'sukii' (pronoun su-ki-i) means 'ski' in English, if you spelled it 'su-ki' with missing 'i' it would sound 'su-ki' without the stressing at the tail. So it would get you wrong even saying it.
Memorizing should be able to help you in your pronunciation. Some Japanese words may sound familiar or similar to some English words. You should have heard the word 'sayonara' which mean 'goodbye'. So how can you understand the word even thought you have never before studying Japanese language? Because you have heard the word repeated again and again either from movie or song lyric so it cause an effect in your brain which makes you know the word without realizing it yourself.
Listening to Japanese song is an alternative to your learning process. Repeatable listening to a song can help you to sing the song along the rhythm in a correct tone. Because songs are sung with music, a human brain is good at memorizing musical rhythm better than words alone. The musical pattern can aid you in your speaking of the particular word in a correct accent.
The easy way to learn how to speak Japanese is start by memorizing the basic common words in 'Romaji'. For English speaker, you wouldn't having problem with the pronunciation since they are written in English alphabetic, it is a lot easiest for you to quickly get the word read if written in 'Romaji' if you are not familiar with Hiragana and Katana. You should listen to your favorite Japanese music to learn the pronouncing in a correct accent. It also improved your learning process quickly than learning it alone.

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Learn Finnish Fast and Easy With These Tips and Tricks

There's nothing more fulfilling than being able to have a decent conversation with the locals of any country, especially if you travel a lot or if you meet new people from various cultural backgrounds and walks of life on a regular basis. In the case of the Finnish people, there are just over 5 million speakers worldwide, spoken in Finland of course, and also in a few neighboring countries like Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Norway, and in some communities in the USA and Canada.
Finns are often quick to point out that Finnish has a reputation for being very difficult. However, as soon as you penetrate the once obscure-looking vocabulary and learn Finnish by coming to terms with what seems an odd way of building words and sentences, it's rather an easy language with very few irregularities.
Finnish is a sub-group of the Ural-Altaic family of languages which were first spoken in the Ural Mountains. Although it's not thought of as one of the most predominant languages in the world like Spanish or English, there are a considerable number of people who speak Finnish. This fact makes it worthwhile to study and learn Finnish. Finnish speakers are quite distributed as well, so if you are heading to any of the above mentioned countries in the US or Europe, you could easily get along with people if you learn Finnish expressions. That's why it's important to learn this language during your free time.
However, the real challenge lies in the fact that you need the right resources and tools to learn Finnish since it is not that easy to take in and become versed with. Finnish is actually a candidate among one of the most difficult languages to learn, together with Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Hungarian, Navajo and many others. There are many factors that contribute to making a language easy or hard to learn, but it will all depend on what you were accustomed to speaking since this has the greatest impact on how you learn new languages. Of course getting to know a new writing system as well as new rules and tones all contribute to the difficulty of this endeavor.
To learn Finnish the easy way, it would be best to have conversations with someone who speaks both Finnish and English fluently. There are many Finns in the United States, about 200,000, and you might not know it but your next door neighbor may have some Finnish heritage in him or her. If you couldn't find someone in your place to help you learn Finnish, there are many online tutors who would be willing to coach you. This is actually a good option for both cost and convenience reasons.
If you think you can't learn a new language, you better think again. As unlikely as it may seem and contrary to popular belief, truth is our brains maintain the capacity to learn and get the hang of new knowledge of all types even as we get older. No matter what your background or past learning experience, you CAN learn Finnish using some proven effective and time-tested techniques.
There are a multitude of reasons for wanting to speak and learn Finnish or the language of other people in general; for travel, business, education, personal pleasure, even family or friends. Indeed it's a daunting task to say the least to master and learn Finnish or any other language, but the prestige, financial gains, personal satisfaction and envy that can accompany this easily nurtured skill can be most rewarding and makes it worth the time and effort you put in. By incorporating your new language into your everyday life and following the guidelines listed below, you'll develop good communicative skills in a new tongue and learn Finnish.
Enroll in a short course: A number of language courses are immediately available in most areas at a local community college or university. Courses in the continuing education, however, require you to be able to keep their schedule . Finding an online course will allow you to work at your own pace. The internet likewise abounds with foreign language course offerings.
Mimicking: Imitating word - for - word the speech, sounds even actions of the Finnish speaker, be it a newscaster, character on a soap opera, documentary narrator or the voice coming from your tape player or radio is called mimicking. It's highly effective you'll get talking in record time yourself. Just start by trying to get your tongue around the words. With practice, you'll acquire speed and ease. It may feel unnatural and silly at first, but you'll get there sooner than you think if you persevere.
Read: Stop at the library for any kind of reading material ranging from a grammar book, a newspaper, magazines, the bible, brochures, even comics. All of these can help you along. Short articles are a good first option, but either way your personal satisfaction at doing and wading through various sources will be boundless.
Here are a few helpful tips and a survival guide to Finnish on meeting, greeting and being polite and other essentials. These are commonly used phrases with their corresponding Finnish equivalent just to give you a hint of what the language is all about and to help you learn Finnish fast.
- How do I say hello/hi in Finnish: Hei or Moi
- How do I say Good morning/Good afternoon in Finnish: Hyvää päivää
- How do I say Good evening in Finnish: Hyvää iltaa
- How do I say Good night in Finnish: Hyvää yötä
- How do I say how are you in Finnish: Mitä kuuluu?
- How do I say very well thank you, and you? in Finnish: Kiitos hyvä, entäs itsellesi?
- How do I say Goodbye in Finnish: Näkemiin or Hei hei
- How do I say thank you in Finnish: Kiitos
- How do I say many thanks in Finnish: Kiitoksia paljon
- How do I say You're welcome in Finnish: Ole hyvä
- How do I say yes in Finnish: Kyllä
- How do I say no in Finnish: Ei
- How do I say excuse me in Finnish: Anteeksi
- How do I say May I/Do you mind in Finnish: Saanko?
- How do I say Sorry in Finnish: Olen Pahoillani
The internet is an excellent and cheap way to learn Finnish as opposed to attending costly Finnish classes. Some websites offer downloadable files and software where you can learn more about vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This is how to learn Finnish the easy way - by listening to audio and reading online materials about this language. If you've got a good material, you'll learn decent Finnish in just a few weeks for just an hour a day. Learning Finnish will broaden your horizon and a new, exciting dimension to your life.
The next time to meet or run into a native speaker of your new language, you can now say something instead of just staying there mum. People are generally flattered that you're trying to meet them on their own terms or in their own language and are usually more than happy to chat. It's also great practice for breaking the ice when you finally light out for foreign soil.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3110897

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How to Learn Italian Fast - A Couple Quick and Easy Tips

Forget about a course that can take up to a year or more to before you learn to speak Italian fluently or at least get you on to a comparable level of Italian speakers. Courses are available online, and they are all very entertaining, as they make learning a new language a fun filled experience.
Audio lessons can be of great help as they are interactive and equip you with the way Italians converse among themselves. You also get to know certain nuances of the culture and some of the very-Italian vocabulary. This is the ideal way to learn Italian fast, whether you are planning a holiday in that country or just want to learn Italian overall.
 
Resources available in Italian language instructions include grammar courses that can make you speak Italian like a native Italian. Grammar lessons come with large doses of culture, as they both go together. Grammar can also be twisted to make it more conversational and here, the culture part comes in. If you want to know how to learn Italian fast, you should go for the step by step module of language training.
 
Online Italian language courses come with software that is designed to add up your vocabulary with stock words. You can even swell that list with your own words and pictures for more clarity and quicker learning. Learning to understand the accent would make you learn Italian fast. DVD's make you understand what an Italian is saying and you learn to follow complete dialogues.
 
As verbs change depending on the tense and the context in the Italian language, the software makes it easier for you to spot whenever the changes occur. This is how you learn Italian fast in quick easy steps with online teachers and forums round the clock to assist you. This is the way how you can learn Italian fast.

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What's the Easiest Way to Learn Chinese Language?

Many people may have experienced the difficulties of learning a new language as second language, especially for learning Chinese language, because it doesn't look like any western languages.
My discovery is that learning Chinese language can be easier if you know the rules. The difficult part is to be persistent in memorizing what you have learned. For practical use of Chinese language in everyday live, all you need is 2,000 characters for a start. While in English, this amount of words to master before a person can practically use the language in everyday live can easily go up to 10,000 words. Does it take any commitments for learning a new language? Yes and of course. It takes tremendous discipline, dedication and years of practices for completely mastering a new language, and able to communicate fluently with another person using that language. However, if you apply some specific techniques to a dedicated purpose of using the language, such as for short term travelling, you can achieve your goal within a certain time frame.
During my practice of teaching Chinese, I realized the hardest part to learn Chinese language is to remember the Chinese characters and their pronunciation. Once you have known enough Chinese characters, able to pronounce them and understand how to put them into meaningful words, things become much easier for you. All you need to do is only one thing: keep using the Chinese characters until you are familiar with how to put them into words and sentences, and learn more characters at the same time. Therefore, to find the easiest way for remembering the Chinese characters is a key step to master the language in the fastest way.
To master the Chinese characters, writing is the hardest part. Luckily a student can choose to learn the pronunciations first, without learning the writing. This is usually an advantage for foreign students learning Chinese as their 2nd language, because it greatly shortens the time to master the vocal skills for everyday conversation using Chinese. So my recommendation is that if you don't need the skill of writing Chinese characters you can leave it at the beginning.
Now do you find learning Chinese language is much easier than what you think? I suppose the answers to must of people are: "Yes, but still not easy enough, the pronunciation parts are still difficult." Let me tell you some hints just to make it easier. First of all, the alpha bits for pronunciations are represented by Latin letters, as long as you can remember how the English letters are pronounced in Latin, you can pronounce each and every Chinese character. Second, there are 4 tones in the pronunciation of Chinese characters, and each character pronounces 1 or 2 of the 4 tones. In a specific sentence, each character has only 1 pronunciation with a specific tone, based on the context of the sentence.
My best advice to learn Chinese language is that you start from learning 1 sentence at a time. For each sentence you learn, aim to remember each Chinese character: what does it look like, how does it pronounce with the tone, and what does it mean. And then aim to practice this sentence whenever you can. Accumulatively if you learn 1 sentence of 7 characters each day, for a year you can master over 2000 characters, which is enough for basic discussions in everyday live.

Lan Chen is a provider of an online Chinese language course [http://chineselearnlessons.com] website called Chinese Learn Lessons which shows how easy it is to learn Chinese language [http://chineselearnlessons.com] skills to assist people to learn the Chinese language, either for personal or business purposes.

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The 5 Ways We Learn Languages – and Which Style Is Right for You

Have you ever been to a place where you didn’t know the language? Have you ever wanted to learn a language, but thought the process is too difficult, or takes too long?

Sometimes it seems as if there are as many language learning methods as there are language learners, or conversely that there is only “One True Way” to learn a language. The reality lies somewhere in the middle.
Let’s examine the 5 ways people generally learn languages.

The Vocabulary-Based Approach

The major players:
Rosetta Stone and similar language-learning software.
The method:
This method of learning claims to emulate the way we learned language as children – by associating words in the target language (the language you want to learn) with pictures or the objects they represent. Think, for example, of a three-year-old with a “see-and-say.”
It stresses vocabulary acquisition by presenting the user with vocabulary words and associated pictures, and encouraging repetition of that vocabulary. Grammar rules are not generally taught as such, but are picked up by osmosis.
The advantages:
Vocabulary acquisition is generally rapid, at least at first. Pictures help visual learners memorize the vocabulary. Repetition is stressed.
The disadvantages:
Vocabulary taught is oftentimes not useful for travelers. Leaves students prone to Tarzan Disease (“Me Tarzan, you…”) because of the lack of emphasis on grammar.

Double Translation

The major players:
Just about anyone who learned a language before 1900.
The method:
Step 1: Acquire a book in the target language.
Step 2: Acquire an English-target language dictionary.
Step 3: Use the dictionary to decipher the book. Write down your translation.
Step 4: Use the dictionary to translate your translation back into the target language. (Hence the term “double translation.”)
Step 5: Check the re-translated translation against the original book, rinse, repeat.
The advantages:
Useful for languages (e.g. Latin) that the student is only ever going to read, not speak. Introduces student to real texts in the target language.
The disadvantages:
Very difficult and ponderous way to learn. Doesn’t teach listening, speaking, or writing. Reliant on the accuracy of the student’s dictionary.

The Grammar-Based Approach

The major players:
Most “teach yourself” books. Older textbooks.
The method:
These books combine a small amount of vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson with a heaping dose of grammar rules, which must be memorized. The vocabulary is re-combined in several different ways to highlight the grammar points.
Subsequent lessons build on the vocabulary learned in previous lessons and introduce new grammar. Emphasis is placed on reading and writing in the target language.
The advantages:
Once the rules of grammar are learned, it becomes quite easy to integrate and correctly use new vocabulary.
The disadvantages:
Requires lots of rote memorization of grammar rules. Can be frustrating, especially at first. Student is left with very little vocabulary that he or she can begin using straight away.

The Communicative Approach

The major players:
Almost every modern language school.
The method:
Small groups of students are taught in a classroom setting. Lessons are generally divided into units which stress one receptive skill (reading or listening) and one productive skill (writing or speaking), combined with grammar and theme-based vocabulary. The emphasis is on bringing the student up to speed quickly in the language.
The advantages:
Builds general student proficiency. When well-done, students “hit the ground running” and are able to utilize language in various everyday situations.
The disadvantages:
Above a certain level, continued progress in the target language can be very slow. Classes are often tailored to the abilities of the “middle” of the class, leaving those who are progressing faster and those who need a little more time to fend for themselves.

The Immersion Method

The major players:
Backpackers everywhere who land in a new country without a phrasebook. Some primary schools.
The method:
Step 1: Go to a foreign country.
Step 2: Try to communicate with the locals. Draw pictograms. Point. Get into awkward situations. Attend the cinema and theatre. Listen to the radio. Watch television.
Step 3: (alternate method) Get a boyfriend (or girlfriend) who only speaks the target language.
The advantages:
No study required! Oftentimes you can pick up enough basic vocabulary needed to get by rather quickly. Forces you to listen to the locals and be self-reliant.
The disadvantages:
Scary! A number of awkward situations can happen. Reading ability often takes longer to develop.
For practical tips on this method, check out Matador editor Tim Patterson’s 7 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language on the Road.

How do you decide which method is right for you?

It depends on your learning style and what your aims are.
For those who are interested in achieving fluency in the target language:
Try all of the above. The grammar-based and vocabulary-based approaches, used in tandem, can provide a good basis for self-study before you land in your destination country. Upon arrival, combine language classes based on the communicative approach and the immersion method in everyday situations.
For those only interested in reading a language:
Learn the basics of the language with the grammar-based approach, and then throw yourself into double translation, if you can stand it.
For those who just need enough to get by:
Try software using the vocabulary-based approach to learn the words for things you might need (“hotel,” “toilet,” etc) before landing in your destination country, and practice the immersion method during your stay. A phrasebook can be a life-saver.

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Language Exchange - An Easy Way to Learn Other Languages

Most of the people around the world are interested to learn a new language each day. With the advent of modern technologies and the superiority of the internet revolution, many learners are easily learning other idioms. schools are not a must any more. And now a question raised in your mind that how and where to learn these new languages. In the internet, there are few websites offering these talking exchange programs. Through their talking community services, you can easily learn nowadays. All you need to type some key words like language exchange or language community in search engine. You will find numerous websites for your speech practice.
The next and easy way to learn other languages is, practice the foreign language with a native speaker who happens to be learning your mother tongue. At this point, you can communicate with native speakers through some instant messaging service line skype and so on. And now the real question rises in your mind that where to find such people, who act as language teachers?In internet, there are many language communities; you can find your language partner according to your needs.
There are many language enthusiasts, who are willing to learn other languages and many constructed online lessons, you can learn other languages at your own convenience.Furthermore, you are able to find other language courses, and you are bound to find countless of them out there to assist you to get up to speed quickly.However, this is the best way to learn another language through online. The other way to practice a language is writing your own blogs. If you are able to write blogs, then it is recommended to join in the blogger community.When you are writing a blog, the type of words and phrases is arguably the most original and fresh language that you can ever run into. And please interact with bloggers abroad and, may they will become your tutors in some way.
The above said few lines are having couple of ideas regarding how you are able to learn other languages. However, please do not restrict to those ideas. There are so many ways in internet to get online exposure to practice a language.So, please keep searching for language community and language exchange programs.

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Language Exposure - The Easy Way to Learn Spanish

Finding the easy way to learn Spanish is not always a simple task. There are many methods that are grueling, exhausting, and mind-numbingly boring. Yet there are Spanish courses that make learning this language a pleasure. The key to easy learning is language exposure.
Of course, every method will expose a student to language in some form, but the way to learn quickly is to get more exposure to the spoken language. Old methods rely upon introducing first the Spanish alphabet, then simple words. Next grammar lessons come along, with lots of paperwork, conjugating verbs and forming sentences according to given rules.
These old methods are not effective because they are mired too much in theory rather than speaking practice. New methods are better for most people. Instead of painstakingly figuring out how to put together a sentence or conjugate a verb, students are taught to identify the language through sight and sound.
The best way to learn is to be exposed to it through multimedia presentations. These lessons can show the words or phrases while at the same time the student hears how the words are pronounced. Some Spanish courses also show pictures to reinforce the words.
Using the old methods, students generally speak Spanish in the classroom, but they rarely speak the language anywhere else. Since they do not have constant exposure to the language, it does not become embedded in their memory enough to reach a natural and fluent level.
What is more, every time they go back to that class, old style students have to readjust their thinking to get back in the groove of dealing in Spanish. Another effective method is to bring it into as many corners of your life as possible. When you can bring an mp3 or CD along with you to listen and practice wherever you go, Spanish is never far from your thoughts.
Listening and repeating for a good part of your day is also highly effective. It gives you a chance to get the kind of language exposure that native speakers get when they first learn the language. If you know someone who already knows Spanish and is willing to practice with you, the process gets easier still.
The easy way to learn Spanish is to see it written and hear it spoken. Grammar lessons are great for advanced students, but they are not necessary for the average person who is just learning the language. Through constant exposure to the language, students begin to understand these rules in just a few lessons.

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4 Easy Ways to Learn English Online

When you learn a new language the only way to improve is to practice, practice and practice! However it can often be boring to keep studying from books so I'd like to recommend some interactive learning methods and resources - all using the internet.
Chat Your Way to Better English
Chatting with others, either native or non-native speakers of English, is a great way to practice your written skills in a stress-free and uninhibited environment. This is a particularly good method if you're shy about speaking English as it will allows you to be anonymous online and will build your confidence to eventually speak the language face to face. By joining a chat room like TheChatPage.com you can discuss any special interest topic you like, or write posts in the forums. Having an email pen pal can also be a fun and effective way to practice English and make friends.
Online Grammar Exercises
For a more fun and interactive approach to practicing grammar exercises, try one of the many online grammar exercise sites available on the internet. You will find varied exercises and quizzes for most grammar points where you will be given corrections to your answer and useful explanations. Joining an EFL community will also give you access to volunteer EFL teachers who are available to answer all your grammar questions. Being part of a community such as EnglishForums.com is also excellent way to meet and communicate with other English learners.
Online Radio
Understanding native speakers and their accents is often one of the hardest parts of learning English according to EFL students. A great listening exercise, particularly for advanced EFL students, is listening to English radio stations online. Radio hosts often speak quite fast which makes this exercise rather difficult; however, this will help sharpen listening skills and be very good practice for phone conversations or meetings with native speakers. It is also an excellent way to pick up new words and learn about a variety of cultural topics.
Podcasts
If you don't have constant access to the internet, downloading podcasts is a great alternative to listening to radio. The advantage of a podcast is that you can listen to it at your leisure until you feel you have completely understood the topic. You can also pause the audio while you look up new words or take notes on the subject. There are some great sites available which offer podcasts specifically to EFL learners. The podcasts often come in manageable 15-20 audio files, complete with full transcripts, additional vocabulary, cultural explanation, general notes and sometimes comprehension questions. This additional information means podcasts are effective language learning tools even at a lower level of English.
These resources should enable you to practice your English in a more inventive way rather than relying on books and classroom time. Of course face to face interaction is really important but these are excellent alternatives and will contribute to acquiring more fluency and confidence in your skills.

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How to Learn Spanish The Easy and Fun Way

You know how you are always told that you cannot study a foreign language fast and easy. Now forget it! If you follow the next 7 rules you will learn to speak Spanish fast and you will enjoy this experience.
1. Spanish is fun
An important part of learning this language is its interesting and engaging features. So when searching for the right method, pick the one that will motivate you to learn better. Eliminate processes like memorizing words or repeating boring phrases. Find the ways that can engage you into learning better.
2. Step by step
Start by learning the basics first. By trying to learn too much at once you will only confuse yourself. Not to mention that you will probably not even use all of the phrases you will learn. Keep in mind that learning Spanish fast can be done easier when you get the feeling of achievement every single day.
3. Survive
Continue by learning the survival basics of this language. And I am talking here about words describing thanks/greetings/apologies/survival phrases (How much is it or where is it?), excuses ("I'm sorry but I don't speak," "I don't understand").
4. Spanish verbs
You will have to learn the present tense "I" forms and the formal forms (never the informal ones). You will want to talk to locals in a rudimentary manner, but without getting them to hate you. The Spanish language has both a formal and informal manner to address people when you talk to them. The majority of Spanish speakers consider this to be a sign of respect.
5. Sentence structure
The sentence structure is the focus point of any language. So make sure you learn this right and you will manage to improve your Spanish in no time.
6. Get inside the language
Doing everything in Spanish is a great way to learn it faster. For instance, if you are into religion, visit a Spanish church and, if you like movies, choose the dubbed version. Start making Spanish-speaking friends, and get together a fantastic social life. The more you hear this language,the easier it will be for you to practice and learn it faster.
7. Don't waste time
Do not waste any single day. Whether you are simply listening 10 minutes per day a Spanish lesson, or sing easy songs, you will get used to the language and insert Spanish characteristics into your brain.
And last but not last, you can purchase a Spanish course and take it as any normal course. The number of software programs available will help you learn on the long-term. Keep in mind that a good Spanish course has to help you improve from novice to advanced in just a couple of months. But you will have to work too! Good luck!

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