TOEFL iBT Independent Speaking

According to ICON+, a TOEFL Singapore specialist, most students prefer to think that independent speaking tasks are one of the easiest among the spoken tasks, when compared to integrated ones. This thought can be true so long as you know how to take advantage of that one minute that you have for each independent speaking task. Having 15 to 20 seconds of preparation time and subsequently speaking for 45 to 60 seconds can be daunting for many TOEFL IBT test takers.

Infact, most students find it rather difficult to either fill in the time given or fit in all they have to say in their TOEFL, which stands for Test Of English As A Foreign Language, independent speaking test. The key to success is splitting the response period into 3 proportional parts, each of them devoted respectively to: stating your opinion, presenting at least two reasons that would justify your stand and providing some examples. By speaking a bit faster, when you have more things to share, or slowing down, when you feel that this topic is not your cup of tea, you can take control of your time. Last but not least, make sure the pace of your speech sounds natural!

Google's New Place Search

If you're performing local searches, e.g. on google.com.sg or google.co.uk, you may have come across a new search results format, where Google Places (i.e. Google Maps) listings are merged together with organic results.

This is part of the new Place Search function recently rolled out by Google, which you can activate by clicking on the Places link or the red pin on the drop-down menu on the left. It's also automatically triggered for certain keywords under "Everything" searches.

Larry Lim, an SEO Consultant in Singapore, has written extensively about this new Google Place Search function and its impact on local SEO. Go have a read!

A Tip For Property Speculators

Ask any friends or relatives in Singapore, and at least one of them would tell you that they (or someone they know) have made lots of money from properties. I personally know a friend of a friend who made substantial money from government-subsidized HDB flats, and then went on to own 2 condominiums from the profits of selling the flats. Even Singapore property agents are having a field day, thanks to investors flipping properties.

Based on data from URA, Singapore real estate prices have appreciated significantly in 2010. Although this is not surprising since Singapore real estate and property prices will almost definitely trend up in the long-term due to rising population, tight land space, influx of immigrants and of course, inflation.

The biggest problem for any property investor or speculator is the near impossiblity of trying to time the property market ...still there's more certainty than trying to predict the direction of the SGX stock market though.

At the height of the current global financial crisis, caused by U.S sub-prime problems, Singapore property prices fell an average 30 per cent at the end of 2008 alone. Since then, the prices have risen back up and have infact, surpassed the previous peaks.

Overnight policy changes by the government are also another uncertainty to consider, like the recent cooling measures to implement RPGT and minimum downpayment increase to 30 per cent. Property analysts expect demand to fall as much as 20 per cent this year just because of these moves.

Hence, if you are going to speculate in Singapore property and real estate, or properties anywhere in the world for that matter, always make sure that you have enough reserves to tide you through tough times and sudden policy changes.

Jipaban Online Shopping Mall

While there has been an explosion of blog shops by enterprising bloggers and a handful of online shopping directories, there hasn't been a real online shopping mall per se ...until now.

Jipaban, founded by the same people behind Nuffnang.com - Asia's biggest blog advertising network, is the first real online shopping website in Singapore and houses a wide variety of products and brands, such as Bonito Chico. All the stores are managed by different owners - Jipaban merely provides the platform and helps retailers with the marketing.

What's even more interesting is the creators have cleverly integrated "social networking" features into the shopping experience, e.g. a wish list so friends know what to buy for your birthday, the sharing of product ratings and the ability to easily update friends on your shopping activities on Facebook.

On the flip side, anyone can sign-up to be a retailer and rent a virtual store for a nominal fee. What you get in return is participation in the hottest online shopping fad in Singapore, plus all the magic that happens in the background, like a seamless payment system, full-fledged online shop and advanced analytics.

To see the website in action, head on over now to http://www.jipaban.com.sg