Discuss the relationship between globalisation and corruption Essay

Discuss the relationship between globalisation and corruption - Essay Example It is therefore the role of this paper to look into corruption, globalization and international finance institutions, and their relation to one another in corruption. Globalization can be defined from different perspectives depending on the intended consequences, where there is deeper meaning and the layman definition of globalization, where the term has been used for similarly numerous purposes. The general meaning of the term as has been used by journalists and politicians is meant to describe the spread and nature of being connected of different social and economic factors around the world (Smith and Doyle, 2002). As such, then factors include production, communication and technologies, where these have seen interlacing of economic and cultural activities. In political fronts, globalization has been used to mean the ability or efforts made by different parties to create and spread free markets for goods and services around the world. Different authors attempt to define globalizati on based on the origin of the term and it has since been lost as it bears a broad definition based on the many sectors it touches meaning that globalization is not definite, but broad. This makes globalization a term that can only be used in a specific manner only if the point of reference is known. In spite of this, Anthony McGrew offers a definition saying that globalization is the multiplicity of linkages and interconnections beyond border making up the modern world system (Reich, 1998). Corruption, just like  ­Ã‚ ­globalization has numerous perspectives but they all boil down to one event that does not auger well for economies and individuals that are affected. The broad definition of corruption lies in the misuse of or abuse of public office for private gain, but this does not apply to all situations, as this is restricted to the public sector rather than private entities and individuals (Bayar, 2003). This misuse is also provided with a number of means through which it can o ccur marking the beginning and end of corruption such pilferage, embezzlement, falsification of data and kickbacks amongst other. This way, corruption is defined on a broad perspective to cater for all events of corrupt activities, and corruption can also be case specific depending on the events that occur and the situation such as the sector affected. In the insurance sector, it is termed as fraud to steal from the agency, as it is for the private sector. Corruption can again be narrowly defined on the basis institutions and spontaneity, where these two become types of corruption based on their locality and nature (Balboa and Medalla, 2006). Globalization has a number of effects on corruption, and one of them is that it has positive impacts towards the prevention and reduction of corruption cases on a global scale. This occurs with the presence of the transnational bribery act, which serves to prevent the presence and prevalence of corruption across different countries, especially with the spread of production and cooperation between different countries (Ackerman, 2002). Because of this, globalization has put mechanisms in place to ensure that corruption does not spread and therefore remains localized to one place, from which it can be dealt with effectively. Globalization, which also occurs on a large scale for private sector companies and institutions helps to eliminate corruption by use of privatization procedures. This removes assets from state control and puts them in the control of

The Issue of Human Cloning Essay Example for Free

The Issue of Human Cloning Essay INTRODUCTION Human cloning has been a favorite subject in science fiction stories, but has in recent years, it has become front page news. Anytime that a new scientific debate is born, many details about the topic itself is muddled with many inaccuracies. The problem is: do people understand enough of the science to predict whether cloning will be acceptable or not ethically and/or legally? Does it make sense to bring new people in the world whose origin is drastically different than the majority of people? This short review will focus first on arguments for cloning human beings based on scientific arguments and second on arguments against human cloning from the book by Leon Kass â€Å"The Ethics of Human Cloning. † REPRODUCTIVE AND RESEARCH CLONING Cloning is done in adult animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer. In the case of sheep like Dolly, the nucleus of a cell from a sheep is placed inside the cell of another sheep that has been emptied from its nucleus. However, contrary to the popular belief, the cloned sheep will not be 100% genetically identical to the donor sheep. The enucleated cell still has some DNA inside in organelles like the mitochondria that will be different than the donor’s DNA. The main arguments for cloning deal with the potential medical as well as scientific benefits that would be conferred upon humanity if adult humans could be cloned. The first reason is that cloning humans would bring forth medical breakthroughs for curing diseases like cancer. The rationale is that cloning involved in the differentiation of a cell may be an advantage that could help in the comprehension of how a cell differentiates and divides. Cancerous cells are multiplying without restraints since the cellular mechanisms for regulating cell division and cell growth are non-functional. Usually, unrestrained division and growth in normal cells do not continue because the cell has safety mechanisms that will induce death or apoptosis to stop this uncontrollable process. Other ideas about the benefit of cloning are cloning organs that could replace defective ones like heart, kidneys, and liver. This type of cloning is called research cloning contrasting with reproductive cloning. Another argument deals with infertility and reproduction. Many people cannot have children. Reproductive cloning would not only give them a child, but an ideal child in terms of genomic inheritance, implying that a clone could have its genome altered based on the parent’s disease history. This would guarantee a healthy child or some kind of twin to the parent. In essence, identical twins are clones of each other since their genome is identical. Cloning also happens all the time in nature. So, why not in humans too whenever it is wanted? ARGUMENTS AGAINST CLONING Leon Kass in his book â€Å"The Ethics of Human Cloning† analyzes the reasons why human cloning should never be used in our society. Dr. Kass expresses a fundamental distrust of human cloning based on the fact that human intervention is involved in the process. In effect, he draws a parallel between artificial insemination and cloning since both are in vitro processes in the beginning, being transferred to a host in vivo at the end. The problem with â€Å"human hands† is that ‘good intentions pave the way to Hell’ as the saying goes. We can start as wanting the best child, better health, and more intelligence, but in any case, we are not very far from eugenics. Eugenics have a strong opposition because it relies on selecting people based on genetic traits that are changed in order to bring about a specific characteristic in an individual. Eugenics may be the start of a socially unacceptable bias or discrimination based on the fact that the majority of mankind is naturally not fit genetically to qualify as persons almost physically and mentally perfect. In a world where only the most perfect humans would be chosen to survive, no room would be left for ‘inferior’ people. A past historical event connected with this idea is the Holocaust during which, people were gassed in order to get rid of their races or experimented upon in order to find out what physical perfection meant in order to improve the superior race. In addition, Dr. Kass deals with the traditional way of reproduction. Humans reproduce by sexual reproduction and have done so since the beginning of times. Since the announcement about cloning the first sheep, people have been upset about it because they feel that developing the technique further opens the proverbial Pandora’s Box. Will cloning affect our human dignity or our human nature? Moreover, based on the assumption that cloning humans would be accepted, he asks what status a clone would hold in our society. Past historical experiences with slavery and racism have troubled society till today. In fact, the general human population alienates who is different. It has been our nature people to ostracize others who are not judged normal. What would be the place of a clone in our society? What about a social status? What about legal perspectives concerning the rights and connections to their family? Dr. Kass also explains that science has more and more meddled with human reproduction, which he finds troublesome. He believes that there is an excess of consideration of what science in general can do to solve problems. In fact, by remedying one problem, it always creates new ones. In conclusion, cloning seems to possess multiple challenges to its establishment in society. The majority of humans feel that it is an attack on their human nature (reproduction and morality), which they hold sacred. The supporters of cloning are mainly concerned with what cloning can do for mankind in terms of acquiring scientific knowledge to cure diseases like cancer. Time will tell if cloning will bring doom or a better lot in life for humans.

Academic Discourse: An Overview

Academic Discourse: An Overview Academic Discourse In order to understand the concept of academic discourse one, must know what the meaning academic discourse is. Discourse is a common word. The word of discourse can be interchanged with discussion or conversation in everyday speech or writing (Washington State Libraries). Discourse is a formal discussion of a subject with using speech or writing using the communication of words. Discourse is a written or spoken method of a subject which is handled or discussed at length (Washington State Libraries). The discourse between individuals needs to have some of the same characteristics. For example they need to speak the same language (Elbow). However more goes into the discourse between these individuals than just the same language. The discourse has shared assumptions and the same cultural values, even shared slang. Groups of people that share these qualities are called discourse communities (Washington State Libraries). Doctors, scientists, law officials and mechanics make up their own different discourse community. Usually to be accepted in the discourse community one will have to be able to communicate in the certain professions lingo (Elbow, 137). Discourse communities have certain lingo, norms and common understanding when communicating with in the community. This especially goes for writing. If two articles are compared, one from the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and an article from the International Journal of Police Science and Management, the differences can be easily depicted. The discourse of a journal also means how it is set up. In the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation the articles are set up in a certain way. In the top left hand corner of the article is where the type of article is shown. In the case of the Article â€Å"Scaling from field to region for wind erosion prediction using Wind Erosion Prediction System and geographical information systems† the type of article is called â€Å"Applied Research†. Right under that is the Title of the article in bold black print that is a larger font than the rest of the article. Under the title is the list of the authors, which is usually double, spaced from the title of the article. Another two spaces is the â€Å"abstract†. The â€Å"abstract† is a short summary paragraph of the article; after the â€Å"abstract† are the â€Å"key terms† of the article. Double spaced from the â€Å"key terms† is the â€Å"introduction†. The introduction’s fir st sentence of the article is bolded in black. The rest of the article is then broke up into â€Å"materials and method†, â€Å"results and discussions† and â€Å"summary and conclusions†. In the â€Å"methods and materials† part of the article is just the tests and materials used in the experiments. There are usually graphs and tables in the â€Å"methods and materials† too. Each of the graphs and maps are labeled, figure 1 or figure 2, it matters the orders in which they appear. Each one also has a short description of what the figure represents. The â€Å"result and discussion† part of the article just explains the results from the experiments done and discusses how the results came about. The â€Å"results and discussions† also has figures that show the results of the experiments and test. The â€Å"summary and conclusions† is the how and why bit of the paper. In this part of the article they explain why some of the results came out the way they did and then it makes conclusions from all the information of the â€Å"results† part of the article. The article always has figures that show and back up the conclusion presented. Once the â€Å"summary and conclusions† is finished the article has â€Å"acknowledgements†. The â€Å"acknowledgements† give praise to the companies and people who funded the research presented in the article. After the â€Å"acknowledgements† is the â€Å"references† in which the authors give other authors and people recognition for the ideas and information they used for the article. In the Journal of Police Science and management set their article up a little different than that of the natural resources journal. In the top left corner of the first page the article gives the journals name and the volume of it. They center the â€Å"title† which is bolded in black and the font is larger too. Right under the â€Å"title† is the author’s names addresses and email addresses. Also there is the date in which the article was received, edited and accepted in the journal. Under this information are the â€Å"key words† of the article. After the â€Å"key words† is information on each of the authors. This information includes the author’s education, career, position and achievements. They have this information for each author. After all the information about the authors is the â€Å"abstract† which is a one paragraph quick summary of the article. In this journal the â€Å"abstract is italicized. After the â€Å"abstract is the â€Å"introduction† to the article. The rest of the paper is broken up into subtopics that is bolded in black and is in larger font so it is easy to follow. The article does have information that is presented in graphs and tables and each one is labeled in figures. Under the labels is the description of what each graph is presenting. At the end of the article is the â€Å"conclusion† in which the authors make conclusions from the information they presented in the article. The â€Å"references† is after the â€Å"conclusion†. The â€Å"references† part of the article is where the authors give recognition to the people in whom they took ideas and information from. The information given about the two different journal articles shows that each of these discourse communities have different ways in which they convey information to their community. Each of these discourses even cite their references different. Not everyone can read an article out of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and understand all that is said. This is because the journal in the natural resource uses vocabulary and lingo that is not commonly used or seen. Some one that would understand these articles of the natural resources will either be in this field or have some knowledge of this discourse. Even if one knows definition to certain words in the article, the words could have a different meaning in which they are commonly defined by. The article in the Journal of Police science and Management is much easier to read and follow. The article flows well, kind of like a story or explanation. This article does not split up into parts that have tests and materials. These arti cles in this journal usually use common vocabulary that anyone can read and won’t have to have much knowledge of the profession. This journal uses APA style to cite sources while the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation uses the style of CBE. In conclusion discourse in the two professions use different lingo and jargon in their discussions of a subject. This is the same for any two different discourse communities. Discourse is a style of writing and conversation of a formal subject (Washington State Libraries). References: Washington State University Libraries. (2006). What is Discourse? Retrieved March 8, 2008, from http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/electric/trainingmods/gened300/Academic_Disciplines/discourse.htm Feng G. Sharratt B. (2007). Scaling from field to region for wind erosion prediction using the Wind Erosion Prediction System and geographical information systems. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 62, 321-328. Elbow P. (1991). Reflection on Academic Discourse: How It Relates to Freshman and Colleagues. ProQuest Education Journals, 53, 135-155. Holgersson S. Gottschalk P. Dean G. (2007). Knowledge management in law enforcement: knowledge views for patrolling police officers. International Journal of Police Science Management, 10, 1, 76-88.

Analyzing Macbeths Weak Charachter in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare's Macbeth is about the change in Macbeth's character and his inner motives and feelings. Throughout the play the audience bears witness to Macbeth's thoughts and feelings in his soliloquies, speech, and asides. One often wonders whether it is fate, the witches, or the people around him that compel him to think in certain ways and influence his decisions. It is only his own character from the beginning, however, that allows him to make some of the choices that he does and commit horrific deed during the play. Macbeth is a weak, selfish, traitor, as shown through his submission to Lady Macbeth's demands, his betrayal of Duncan and Banquo, and his inability to admit wrongdoing or accept the consequences of his actions. Macbeth demonstrates weakness when he gives in to Lady Macbeth?s will and follows through with her crazed schemes. Lady Macbeth is a greedy person with grand desires, but one who finds it hard to follow through with the nefarious deeds that are associated with accomplishing her goals. She often wishes to be more of a man, calling upon the devil to help her ignore her conscious and give her cold blood. She uses Macbeth as a tool to accomplish doing these things she cannot without having to do them on her own. However, Macbeth is also reluctant and Lady Macbeth has to influence him to kill Duncan. When learning of Lady Macbeth?s plot to take Duncan?s crown, Macbeth contemplates all the reasons it should not be done. He admits it would be suicide, and that he has no reason to do it. Macbeth decides he will let luck and fate decide whether he will be crowned. ?I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent,? (I, ii, 26-27) says Macbeth. But soon afterwards he is coerced by Lady Macbeth ?s taunts and critici... ...ing himself up honorably. Through these statements and Macbeth?s fight until his death, he has demonstrated a lack of regret for the things he has done and the inability to repent for his actions. Shown by his mental insecurity and weakness, treachery against god and country, and reluctance to confess fault, Macbeth has proved a pathetic and selfish person who ultimately gets what he deserves. Macbeth?s character demonstrates all the qualities of a criminal mind. People often find themselves fighting against problems they have created for themselves through their own unwise actions, and losing in the end like Macbeth does because they cannot not change their ways soon enough or aren?t willing to. If one chooses to be selfish, greedy, and overconfident and betrays the ones surrounding him without regret, then he will find himself fighting alone to the bitter end.

Foreign Auto Shop

Running Head: Foreign Auto Shop Final Case Paper jose terrs Submitted To: Dr. torres October 21ST, 2012 GEBB515 – ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP Abstract Many companies around the world have different styles of management. Some companies have â€Å"laid back managers† others have â€Å"drill sergeant managers† both types of managers are like and disliked. Management plays a very important role in any job field. The overall supervision and leadership shown by the management is what I think, constructs a business to a successful business.Every business needs a foundation. Once the foundation is settled, it’s just a step by step dedication with the owner and its leadership trend team. In this case analysis, Alan shows a mellow characteristic of a manger. But when things get serious, he has a â€Å"strong willed go getter manger characteristic†. The owner of the foreign auto shop has a much laid back personality informed to us by the case. Alan has a very we ll wanted leadership phase that many employees look for in a boss.Usual leadership situations in the auto repair shop consist of making sure every employee is doing the right job the right way, but without being to â€Å"on top of them† while they perform their work talent. The owner is also head supervisor of the overall shop. He has 7 employees working for his shop in which two of them (Gil & Hans) are the easiest to supervise due to the fact that they are more experienced in all subjects of the mechanical work field. Along with his other two employees (Bart & Herbie) which are dedicated in to their specific parts of the mechanical workforce.Bart works more on motorcycles, whereas Herbie is a whiz at trouble shooting engine problems. Three other employees require closer supervision by Alan because they are less skilled oriented. By going back to the abstract you will see how a â€Å"foundation† is needed to create a wonderful and successful business. Well Ala n has his overall view of what he is dedicated to, and has built a wonderful and creative team that are focused on making sure the client is always happy. Alan’s typical leadership style is considerately appropriate for his leadership situation.Alan is described to be a less â€Å"on point† supervisor amongst his employees. He knows that they are doing their job. He always makes himself available to on the floor to his employees if they are in need of any help or have specific questions. His fairness and openness have earned him the continuing respect and trust if his employees. Sometimes always being a mellow â€Å"laid back† kind of manager is not always a good thing also because many employees can take that and use it against the management.For example, seeing the manager being easy going and not too â€Å"put forward† can sometimes escalate to the actual employee not accomplishing his work goal and just taking it easy. In this case, Alan shows his dou ble side. â€Å"Things are not always greener on the other side of the fence†. There is certainly something very interesting regarding the cause and effect of running a laissez-faire organization, particularly corporations. Ultimately, when it comes to laid back management, it is not really a matter of whether to be lenient or not.Oftentimes, it is a matter of when to be indulgent, because there are certain circumstances that will cause either an advancement or failure. Laid back management is actually a good strategy. Needless to say, workers have to be entitled with certain rights and privileges. Lenient management is often the core of empowering the laborers. More often than not, empowering laborers proved to boost the overall prosperity of the corporation. Oftentimes this may come into explicit forms of idealistic gestures, such as enabling the worker to make any constructive suggestions regarding the company policies.Some companies find this method too lenient to a point of negligence, but there are those that abide by its format. An example of a popular tactic of promoting lenient management is the establishment of friendly relations with employees, although such a gesture could be taken as an extreme idealism for many traditional types of corporations. In certain ways, friendly relationship between the laborer and overseer would result to easy productivity because both parties could defer to one another and even work together to overcome certain challenges.A friendly relationship is often deemed good like-minded academic school of thought for the simple reason that respect for fellow human beings, especially in terms of their dignity, is a non-negotiable aspect of civil law. Alan’s leadership style during the flood was put out to be his â€Å"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde† side. When he noticed that the storm was advancing rapidly towards the valley where his shop is located, Alan to be on the safe side went out to roll up the windows o f the clients cars that were in the parking lot waiting to be worked on.Then he noticed that the creek was already rising high and ran back to the shop but got soaked by the rain. His employees laughed at him for: not having enough sense to come in out of the rain. † After 15minutes of hard rain, he realized it wasn’t just a rainstorm, but an actual flood. He ran into the shop and announced in a loud voice that the creek was flooding and instructed all his employees to do certain jobs but nobody seemed to be moving.An employee walked over to Alan and told him, does he really think it’s gonna flood because it’s rained like this before and it doesn’t even reach more than an inch. Alan looks at the employee in the eyes and interrupted his employee by saying in an assertive manner, â€Å"Listen, ad listen good! You and the rest of the crew are going to do what I say, and you’re going to do it now! We can talk later about whether it was a good id ea. † By coming out and managing in this manner, Alan shows himself to no longer be a mellow â€Å"laid back† manager but be an assertive and â€Å"drill sergeant† manager.Another very concrete situation from which laid back management will truly not go as planned is when the corporate heads issue an urgent massive quota on such a short deadline. For instance, bombarding laborers with tasks in streamline payroll processing. If the management allows the workers to have a say according to their preference, nobody would be willing to work with such a given condition. The greatest error of imposing laissez-faire supervision is when it comes to the point that the laborers would feel entitled to defy a corporate order.There is a fine line between liberty and anarchy, and the latter could sometimes result from high expectations that are stifled by necessity. His effective behaviors were implemented as being an easy going manager when things are not a risk or are being d one incorrectly and a serious go getter when he sees that his business is in danger or an employee is performing incorrectly. After the flood subsided his way of management was very well performed by showing each of his employees that he is highly appreciative of each contribution each employee performed while the flood was in effect.Assertiveness is a key component to being an effective manager, and is particularly important when dealing with difficult employees who thrive on testing your boundaries. Why do employees behave badly to begin with? Because the manager who is in authority is allowing them to behave that way, â€Å"laid back† managers Some techniques that can be used to become a more assertive — and, therefore, more effective — manager: Set and communicate clear boundaries and expectations. Managers who fail to clearly define and consistently enforce boundaries are just asking for trouble from their employees. Your employees are not mind readers,â₠¬  Shepard emphasized. â€Å"You have got to clearly, clearly, clearly define what you expect and what you will not tolerate. † The good news, he pointed out, is that â€Å"the firmer you are and the more people realize you don't budge, the less they will test the boundaries. † Hold everyone accountable, even when you don't want to. â€Å"You have an obligation to your company to do the right thing; they are paying you to make the tough decisions,† stated Shepard. You also â€Å"owe it to your good employees not to let problem employees get away with things they shouldn't. Although this can be particularly hard when you're dealing with someone you like or with whom you empathize, said Shepard, â€Å"you are a manager, not Dr. Phil. Don't get involved in personal lives. † Don't stomp on your employees' rights or be disrespectful. â€Å"You don't have to be a jerk to be assertive,† he noted. A dysfunctional, authoritarian manager will be able to ge t employees to comply, but not to commit. â€Å"You want people to commit, because that's how you get your employees to give more than you ask for. † Choose your battles carefully. A smart manager knows that it's better to lose the battle, sometimes, in order to win the war,† Shepard observed. Choosing not to fight a battle you know you can't win is a sign of wisdom, not weakness. Being assertive will earn you respect, but only few know how and when to become assertive. High level executives and managers are generally very assertive. However, if they use their positions of power and authority in order to belittle, intimidate, and control those beneath them, it will cause a lot of trouble and loss of respect over the long term.Employees will begin to resent such executives and managers. Their productivity will eventually begin to fall, and if the dictatorial behavior of the executives and managers continues, it will not be long before the organization begins experiencing a high employee turnover. To avoid this problem, it is important to understand the difference between being assertive and being an autocrat. While some managers avoid dictatorial behavior in favor of being passive, this too is just as bad.The problem with passive managers is that employees often do not know what is expected of them, and they will often take the manager for granted. Employees may violate company policy while working in their department, and they will do this largely because they feel the passive manager will let them get away with it. A manager or executive who is assertive is an individual who maintains a balance between these two extremes. If you are passive or dictatorial, your behavior will have a negative impact on your career sooner or later.A manager who is assertive is an individual who can lead their employees, and they can do it without having to use a firm hand, or raise their voice. Some managers do not understand the difference between assertiveness and aggression, so they choose to be passive. But there is a critical difference between the two. An aggressive manager tends to be an individual who is quick to anger. They will usually bang their fists on the desk when an employee does something wrong, and they have no problem raising their voice or yelling at their subordinates.The aggressive manager will generally treat his employees like children. The problem with this form of behavior is that employees are not children, they are adults, and when you treat adults like children, they tend to harbor a great deal of resentment. The aggressive manager is also quick to criticize the work of his employees. If he sees something wrong with the work of his subordinate, he will be quick to point out all the negative aspects of it, as opposed to the positive aspects. In contrast, a passive manager is someone who is easy to walk over.Because he does not take things seriously, the employees will not take things seriously, and they will often d o what they want despite the company's rules and regulations. The primary reason for this is because the passive manager does not bother to enforce the rules. A passive manager will typically avoid doing anything with his employees that might cause conflict, as they do not want to disrupt the workings of their department. The ironic thing about this view is that those who try to avoid conflict the most are the individuals who are most likely to run into it.While the assertive manager is not aggressive, they make everyone understand that their rules must be followed. In conclusion, changing Alan’s way of managing and supervising shouldn’t be changed because of the way he makes himself available to his employees and thanking each employee for their contributions when the flood happened. Hi manner of managing is what makes his business what it is today. Having his clients respect and trust his provided services.References * Yukl, G. (2008). Leadership in organnizations. ( 7th ed. , pp. 259-257). Upper saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. * Exforsys Inc. (2009, January 29). Traits of an assertive manager. Retrieved from http://www. exforsys. com/career-center/assertive/traits-of-an-assertive-manager. html * Alexander Hamilton Institute. (2012, April 23). Keep employees in check through assertive management techniques. Retrieved from http://www. businessmanagementdaily. com/19465/keep-employees-in-check-through-assertive-management-techniques * HR system: The pros and cons of laid back manpower management. (2012, October 9). Retrieved from http://hrxpayroll. com/blog/hr-system-the-pros-and-cons-of-laid-back-manpower-management/ * Shannon, E. (2004, December 12). The six different types of managers and

Best Learning Resources For Self-Studying French

Best Learning Resources For Self-Studying French If you dont want to or cannot study French with a tutor,  in a class or in immersion, youll be going it alone. This is known as self-study. There are ways to make self-study effective, but its essential that you pick the right self-study  method for you. After all, you want to spend your time doing something that actually works. So spend some time analyzing whats out there, and dont just take the first self-study path that comes to your attention. Audio Training Is Essential If you want to communicate in French (and not only pass exams or read in French), learning with audio is a must. Theres a huge difference between book French and spoken French, and traditional methods will not prepare you for the way French people actually speak today. French Language  Books French-language books such as childrens books, bilingual books, and audiobooks are a great and relatively inexpensive way to improve your French, in conjunction with audio courses. With Amazon delivering to your doorstep, its easy to order French-language books these days. Hard-copy paper books are still the best way to train on a specific point of grammar  and to do exercises. For all the rest, youll need audio. Childrens Books Reading Le Petit Prince is, for more advanced students, a wonderful way to expand your vocabulary. It is a myth that all French-language childrens books are easy. They are not. Children books are easier than most French books written for the French because they use short sentences, but the language is some French childrens books can be quite difficult. Consider the language used in the Dr. Seuss books. They definitely would not be an easy read for a beginner in English. Bilingual Books Most bilingual-book  series  are taken from free-copyright books and translated into English. They were not typically books written for students. So they are still very difficult and will often feature older French vocabulary and expressions: Find out  when your book  was written, and take this into account when learning the vocabulary. French Audiobooks and Audio Magazines Both of these are a fantastic resource, even though most have been created for the French student. Much of what has been developed for the French is going to be difficult for a beginning or intermediate student of French, so difficult that they could be overwhelming and discouraging. There are, however,  audio magazines that can be used to good effect by beginning and intermediate students of  French. Among the better audio magazines are  Think French,  Bien Dire,  and  Fluent French Audio (although the latter is probably better suited to high-intermediate students). There are also level-adapted French audiobooks and audio novels  with English translations,  such as the Moi Paris series and Une Semaine Paris. French Audio Courses French audio courses are the ideal tool for the self-learner. A good audio course should teach you vocabulary and grammar, if possible in context, and, of course, pronunciation. It should be fun to use, direct you through a well-proven learning path  and nurture your self-confidence. Because they involve a lot of work, these courses are usually quite expensive, so look for a 100 percent money-back guarantee disclaimer, a trial period or extensive samples. Among the good French audio courses:  Michel Thomas,  Assimil,  and French Today. Rosetta Stone language books are a great, fun tool to develop your vocabulary, but they are very light on grammar. This may be fine for other languages, but it is a true problem for French. Do Your Research and Find Whats Best for You There are, of course, still more  methods to learn French. Do your research and find out what methods best fit your needs, goals, time and budget. You wont be sorry.