10 French Grammar Mistakes Youre Probably Making

10 French Grammar Mistakes Youre Probably Making Suzy S. Mastering all of the French grammar rules can be tricky for beginner students. Below, French teacher Carol Beth L. shares 10 French grammar mistakes youre probably making Making mistakes is inevitable when youre learning a new language. After all, youre learning  complex grammar rules, difficult pronunciation, and long lists of vocabulary words. Students  often make the same French grammar mistakes over and over again. Being aware of these common grammar mistakes will help you  avoid them in the future. Below are some of the  most common French grammar mistakes students  find themselves making, even when they are familiar with the rules. The first few mistakes relate to specific phrases that students have a tendency to misuse, while the rest deal with grammatical patterns that are quite  complex. 1. Greetings In English, when you greet someone in the early morning hours, you typically say “Good morning.” This English greeting doesnt translate literally in French. In fact, the phrase “Bon matin” does not actually exist in the French language. Rather, one would simply say “Bonjour!” when greeting someone. 2. Translations A number of other literal translations can also be tempting. For example, you might want to  express your interest in hobbies, people, and activities. Be careful not to  literally translate the English phrase “I am interested in” into French (eg, Je suis interessée dans). Instead, say “Ça minteresse” (That interests me) or “____ minteresse” (____ interests me). 3. Subject/Object To correctly state that you  miss someone, use the verb “se manquer.” If you want to say “I miss you,” say “Tu me manques.” To say “He misses us,” say “Nous lui manquons.”  Remember that  the English subject and object switch places when translated into French. 4. Agreement Remember to make adjectives properly agree with feminine or plural nouns. For example, the adjective amusant (funny) would be changed to amusante in the feminine singular and amusantes in the feminine plural. In English,  adjectives dont usually change based on the gender or number, so its easy for students  to forget this important French grammar rule. 5. Articles French has more articles than English. Both languages use a and the, but French has separate articles to denote masculine, feminine, and plural of each one. Recall, however, that no neuter exists among French pronouns or articles. For example, a table is most definitely feminine, whereas the wall beside it is quite masculine. In addition to having more articles, French also uses articles more frequently than English. In English, for example, you  would say that We meet regularly on Mondays, but French-speakers would use the appropriate article, saying on se rencontre régulièrement le lundi. 6. Prepositions Remember to use the  correct preposition and  include the appropriate article contraction when necessary. In theory, French prepositions are easier than English prepositions because there are fewer of the most common ones. For example, De translates to of or from, and à  translates to to, at, and sometimes other related location or movement prepositions. A few places to watch out are when youre talking about playing musical instruments (Je joue dun instrument) and sports (Je joue à un sport). Also, be extra careful with those  pesky articles! Relevant contractions include du (de + le), des (de + les), au (à + le) and aux (à + les). De, la, and à la do not contract. 7. Negative Articles Use “il ny a pas de” rather than  â€œil y a pas de”. When using “de” or “de” + an article in the negative, remember that French has lots of exceptions! This is one of them. If there is zero  of something, take out the article. For example, someone could say “Il y a du pain sur la table” (There is bread on the table). In the negative, this would become “Il ny a pas de pain sur la table,” not “Il ny a pas du pain sur la table.” 8. Conjugated Verbs Remember to conjugate your verbs. While we do this  in the English language, its  not as much or in as much detail as French-speakers. This is especially important when youre writing because all those silent final consonants and vowels need attention. The singular forms are the most similar in present tense, but are not always spelled the same, so watch out! 9. Passé composé/ Imparfait The  English distinction between the present perfect and the simple past isnt exactly the same as the French distinction between these two tenses. The passé composé is very commonly used for one-time events in the past. For example, Jai fait mes devoirs hier soir. (I did my homework last night.) The imperfect is used more often for something a person used to do over a period of time in the past. For example, Je faisais mes devoirs tous les jours. (I did my homework every day.) 10. Subjunctive The subjunctive is one of the most difficult verbs in French, if not the most difficult because we dont use it often in English. Many of us anglophones arent even aware of the fact that we use it at all. The first step is to understand the situations in which it is used, and then practice, observe, and correct oneself. Then practice some more, and observe some more, and correct oneself more. Give yourself time to perfect this French grammar rule, but also insist on understanding and using it correctly. Gradually, you will be able to use it successfully. These  arent  the only French grammar mistakes out there, but they are certainly worthy of attention. Keep your eyes open and your ears peeled for other mistakes, and correct them when you can. In no time, you will  be well on your way to excellent (and impressive) French usage! Post Author:  Carol Beth L. Carol Beth L. teaches  French lessons in San Francisco, CA. She has her Masters in French language education from the Sorbonne University in Paris and has been teaching since 2009.  Learn more about Carol Beth here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher

What is it Like to Attend Drexel University

What is it Like to Attend Drexel University The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teach theyre sharing their college experiences as well. Ashley is a Washington D.C. tutor specializing in several subjects including AP Calculus tutoring, Algebra tutoring, Biology tutoring, and more. She attended Drexel University and holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Economics. Check out her review of her undergraduate experience: VT: Describe the campus setting and transportation options.How urban or safe is the campus?Are there buses or do you need a car/bike? Ashley: At Drexel, the campus setting is extremely urban. The dorms and classes are right in the heart of center city Philadelphia. There are buses all over, but most students walk or ride a bike. A car is definitely not a necessity. Despite the urban nature of the campus, Drexel is extremely safe with a large police force, and even walking assistants at night! VT:How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Ashley: By far, Drexel has one of the best outreach programs between students and professors. Many professors (especially in the Math department which I was a part of) were tutors on campus in addition to their office hours. Drexel purposely has very small upper-level classes without a TA so that the professor-student connection is really strong. VT: How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Ashley: Dorm life is really nice. All honors students live together in one brand new skyscraper, which makes it easy to really get to know your classmates. Most of the dorms are suite style meaning four to six people living together with two showers and one bathroom instead of the typical single living area dorm style. I really liked the fact that I had my own bathroom, living room, and kitchen area! All the dorms are on the northern edge of campus, between one to five blocks from class. The honors dorm has food on the first floor, as well as a few other buildings, one which also has a small grocery store. There is one dining hall down by class, but there are also many places to eat in and around campus. As far as socialization goes, there is literally something for everyone. The CAB (Campus Activities Board) allows anyone to start an organization with at least five people. There are plenty of campus-sponsored and local festivals, concerts, and sporting events with lots to do! VT: Which majors/programs are best represented and supported?What did you study and why? Did the university do a good job supporting your particular area of study? Ashley: Business and Physical Therapy, as well as the five-year B.S./M.S programs, are very popular. Drexel also has a very strong focus in Applied Engineering and Mathematics. I studied Mathematics and could not have asked for a better program. Even through the most difficult classes, the professors and academic advisors were always available for support and tutoring. One of the main reasons I attended Drexel was the 25-student limit math class, and the math teaching style. It was truly unlike any other. The co-op program was also an amazing experience, which allowed me to attend school for six months followed by six months of a paid, real world, entry-level position. If you attend college to prepare you for a career, you cannot find a better program. VT: How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Ashley: Making friends was not difficult, between the entry-level class that all freshmen have to take and the campus environment. The Freshman Initiation class really allows you to become familiar with your residence, your school, and the Philadelphia/Center City area very quickly. Greek life plays a minor role compared to many of the other programs, with about 25% of students participating in Greek life. VT: How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services?Do many reputable companies recruit on campus? Ashley: The Career Center at Drexel is unlike any other. The co-op program requires students to work for at least six months full-time with large national companies in their field prior to graduation. To prepare for this opportunity, all students have to take a course prior to working, and after they return, they evaluate the job(s), their personal career path, how to handle yourself in the workplace, resume writing, and much more. Drexel hosts the best co-op program in the country, and therefore hosts more reputable companies than almost any institution in the United States. VT: How are the various study areas such aslibraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Are they over-crowded, easily available, spacious? Ashley: Most dorm lounges are very nice with flatscreens, quiet rooms, and study areas. The honors dorms even have special additional resources, like tutoring areas and libraries. Although the library can be crowded during midterms or finals, there are many other locations on campus to study. VT: Describe the surrounding town. What kinds of outside establishments / things to do are there that make it fun, boring, or somewhere in between?To what extent do students go to the downtown area of the city versus staying near campus? Ashley: Philadelphia is a vibrant and wonderful town with as much culture as anyone could ever need. It is very similar to the environment of New York City, except less busy and more fun! Campus is very close to center city, and most students travel there via the subway or by walking. Within a few miles, you can visit the famous Rocky Balboa stairs and the art museum, a world class performance hall, the Eagles Stadium, and some of the best ice cream I have ever had on South Street. VT: How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Ashley: The student body is rather large, but only about one-half to three-fourths of the students are on campus at any given time due to the co-op program. I absolutely loved the class sizes, especially for my major. Math and Finance classes can be extremely difficult, and with a small class size, it really fuels a much better learning environment. I learned more educationally and intra personally in my first semester of college than I had through most of my high school career. VT: Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Ashley:My most memorable experience would definitely be with my pre-career co-op class. Between daily resume and interview practice and pre-job training, I was more prepared than I would have ever imagined for my first round of interviews. I ended up being awarded the Best Interviewer for 2011, and had the opportunity to interview and earn positions with some of the best financial companies in the world. Along with interview skills, we utilized personality and career profiling to help find which career paths would work best. To further direct students, career panelists from all over the world were brought in so that you could gain worldly connections and hear from the real life perspective of someone in your field. From this class, I was able to find what career path truly fit best with my personality and my aspirations. This led to a wonderful co-op with one of the worlds largest financial management companies, and future career options well before graduation. I could never have bee n more prepared to enter the workforce, which is truly the reason you attend college to begin with. If you are serious about education and a career, Drexel is the university to attend. Check out Ashleys tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

5 Sneaky (and Fun!) Ways to Study Spanish in Your Free Time

5 Sneaky (and Fun!) Ways to Study Spanish in Your Free Time Suzy S. Looking for ways to study Spanish that dont involve conjugation exercises? Read on as Carmichael, CA Spanish tutor  Joan B.  shares her fun ideas for incorporating Spanish in your daily life Studying Spanish can be as simple as incorporating these sneaky (and fun!) methods, all of which are simple, quick, and designed to strengthen your knowledge and skills in Spanish. Make a goal to incorporate at least one of them into your daily life for 14 days straight, and you’ll see a difference as you study Spanish! 1. Practice with any native speakers you know (or encounter). When you’re out and about, strike up a conversation with the woman speaking to her children in Spanish, ask for help from or offer help to native speakers, and otherwise engage Spanish speakers in whatever way is appropriate and friendly. You’ll be surprised by their delight that you are learning their language! These types of conversations will increase your fluency and allow you to easily communicate in future travel or work situations where you may want to use your Spanish. 2. When you’re taking a break from work or school, watch a short YouTube video in Spanish. This will not only break up the monotony of the work day, it will entertain and help increase your comprehension and listening skills. Try watching this playlist with helpful Spanish tutorials for beginners- 3. Read something light and entertaining in Spanish each day or week. I encourage my students to read an online horoscope or something similar in their free time that is engaging and fun. These types of short articles are a chance to learn new words as well as test your understanding. You will probably be surprised at your level of comprehension â€" reading these types of articles is a nice way to congratulate yourself on your progress and abilities in Spanish. Another fun way to study Spanish in your free time is to take online magazine quizzes in Spanish. If you enjoy taking these types of light-hearted quizzes in English, you may enjoy them even more in Spanish as you both increase your Spanish language skills and entertain yourself! 4. Engage yourself in Spanish. Do you talk to yourself as you do everyday tasks around the house? If so, make the conversation a Spanish one! Or if you share a living space, think in Spanish. Similarly, if you keep a dream journal, you can set an intention to dream in Spanish. The more immersion you find in your daily life, the more you will speak confidently and richly in the language. Something else I encourage students to do in their homes is to add post-its to everyday items, with the name of the item in Spanish. You can also add Spanish proverbs to post-its on a regular basis and post them on the bathroom mirror. 5. Download phone apps for fun learning in downtime. Have a minute at the doctor’s office, or in line? Pull out your phone and play a Spanish language learning game. Apps like DuoLingo are well-designed ways to test your skills and learn new vocabulary and grammar. Keep in mind that the best way to increase language skills is regular, consistent practice, and just a few minutes a day can help this goal greatly. With these ideas, you’ll find its easy to study Spanish as a regular and natural part of your day. Not signed up for lessons yet?  Find a Spanish tutor in your area here! Joan B. lives in  Carmichael, CA  and has been teaching high school Spanish for more than 18 years. A lover of language, she’s studied French, Arabic, and Italian and spent time living in Spain. Joan aims to help students improve on tests and increase their conversational ability when traveling to Spanish-speaking countries.  Learn more about Joan here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by Nacho

Biomass Pyramid Online Biology Tutors Tutorpace

Biomass Pyramid Online Biology Tutors Tutorpace Food chains involving various living organisms in a community can also be represented in a graphical manner by drawing pyramids called ecological pyramids. An ecological pyramid is the graphical representation of a specific parameter (such as number, biomass, and energy) of a food chain. Ecological pyramids have various levels. The producer level is represented by the base of the pyramid. And as the trophic level increase the pyramid goes on tapering upwards. The carnivores are on the top of the pyramid. Biomass is the total weight of organisms per unit area. The graphic representation of biomass of organisms of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem in the form of a pyramid is called pyramid of biomass. In most ecosystems the biomass at the successive higher levels decreases. For example, in a forest ecosystem, there is a gradual decrease in biomass of organisms at successive food levels from producers to the consumers. In most of the ecosystems, the pyramid of biomass is upright. It is because of the biomass at the successive higher levels of the ecosystem decreases. For example, forest ecosystem. In a forest ecosystem, there is a gradual decrease in biomass of organisms at successive food levels from producers to carnivores. In certain ecosystems, the pyramid of biomass is inverted .Example: deep water bodies. The pyramid of biomass for a lake ecosystem is inverted because, the biomass of a number of short lived producers (standing crop of phytoplankton) at a particular time is less than the biomass of large standing crop of zooplankton.

10 Tips to Better Communicate in Online Tutoring

10 Tips to Better Communicate in Online Tutoring Current is the trend of online tutoring where lots of students are new to the technology used to deliver virtual classes. Virtual classroom share many similarities to physical classroom, however, the main difference is the way of communication. The online tutoring services use interactive whiteboard attached with computer is used to read and write lessons supplemented with live chat box. They may provide Voice based tutoring with VoIP technology. Here are 10 tips to communicate better in online tutoring: Use colored pens   Use various color pens to write on whiteboard. It will keep your communication easily readable and visually organized Use pointer as often as possible for effective online tutoring  The student may not find out quickly the movement of your mouse showing whiteboard. Use pointer tool to guide the student with clear visibility to locate tutor activity. Use of pointer will be less strenuous to your eyes Student takes permission to read  write and draw while tutoring. The student should remain active with reading and writing activities while tutoring. Wise Last Minute Revisions Lead To Better Scores In Exams Student should not feel shy asking queries doubts, and solutions to the online tutor. You can ask tutors experience, general knowledge on the subject, helpful online resources, etc. Ensure that you do not cross the line asking personal o private information. Be genuine with the tutor You can ask tricky questions but do not examine tutor knowledge at each stage. When tutor ask questions, do not seek answer from your family member or friend prompting sitting beside you. Do give positive feedback. Do not be over confident. Make use of resources to best utilise online tutoring You can access all possible resources during your tutoring hours. Leverage the power of internet to get useful study material and resources under the guidance of your online tutor. Convey your attention to your tutor through live chatting With non voice based tutoring, tutor cannot see your facial expression, body language or voice to ensure your presence. Be attentive with feedback on live chat box. It will create more live classroom. Top 10 Tips To Help With Math Homework https://t.co/dcRq9ZYxSD â€" Tutor Pace (@TutorPace) February 19, 2016 Continuously give feedback while tutoring Affirm your tutor with gestures and verbal communication. For example, draw various smiley gestures to convey your understanding and difficulties. It will show your genuineness. Avoid giving negative feedback Avoid using feedback of your incomplete understanding using negative phrases. Refrain your negative feedback with good phrases like teacher, please explain it again. If you are taking VoIP based tutoring then takes turns and halts while talking VoIP technology may not be fast during heavy network traffic. If you want to ask question then wait until tutor finishes speaking to avoid interruption. Follow these practice while tutoring online, it is sure to get best communication with best delivered learning. Tutorpace Inc. is Texas based online tutoring service provider offers various education programs using state-of-art technology. The K-12, college, library and test preparation programs are delivered using interactive whiteboard with live chat box. Visit online tutoring websites to find lot more features that it offers to the students under the guidance of qualified online tutors.

6 Steps to Mastering the LSAT Logic Games

6 Steps to Mastering the LSAT Logic Games LSAT Law School Blog The LSAT is a difficult exam and most students agree that the most intimidating part of the exam is the logic games section. Good news, the logic games are also the easiest part of the test for students to improve on. The more comfortable you get with the logic games, the less scary they seem. In fact, as you improve, you may even find the games to be fun! 1. Gain familiarity with the main question types. Learn how to setup each type of game. A good way to do this is to buy a Logic Games book. There are many good commercial books on the market and any one of them will help you learn the basics of setting up the main types of games. Main Types of Games Sequencing games Matching Distribution Selection Hybrid games â€" a combination of the other types 2. Don’t try to solve the game. Don’t try to solve the games. Time management is critical to doing well on the logic games. Getting caught up on trying to find every possible solution to a game eats up time and is unnecessary. The LSAT writers purposely make some of the games unwieldy, in hopes of getting students to waste type timing to write out all the solutions. Don’t fall in this trap! Just solve for what each question is asking for. That’s where the points are, and that’s all you need to figure out. 3. Practice drawing diagrams in small spaces. You cannot take extra paper into the test. So, it’s in your best interest to learn to draw the diagrams in the amount of space provided on a regular test page. You don’t want to get to the actual LSAT and discover you cannot draw your diagrams in the space provided. Rather, learn to draw a master diagram, and any subsequent diagrams you need on the open space on test paper itself. 4. Look to previous answers to help you with questions. Sometimes the LSAT test writers will write questions that build on previous questions on the same game. Make use of the work you have done already to help you eliminate wrong answers and get to the right answer. 5. Play to your strengths. Just because the LSAT logic games come in an order doesn’t mean you have to do the questions in that order. The LSAT is a paper based exam. Use that to your advantage! Play the games you are most comfortable with first. Save more difficult games for later. This will give you the greatest chance to pick up the most points on the logic games section. Every question is worth one point, so it doesn’t matter if it was easy or difficult, just whether you got it right. So pick up the easy points first. Work on the harder ones with whatever time you have remaining. 6. Practice taking timed test. The best way to improve your LSAT logic games section, and the LSAT in general, is to get lots of practice. Therefore, do as many timed exams as you can. The LSAT logic games section is 35 minutes long and has 4 games. That’s about 9 minutes a game. Get used to playing games in that allotted time. About the Author Jayeeta Kundu is one of MyGuru’s most senior LSAT tutors. She’s been an in-person LSAT tutor in Chicago for the past several years while obtaining her law degree from the University of Chicago. Her undergraduate degree is in Physics and Economics from Reed College, and she holds a M.S. in Technology from MIT as well. She’s worked at several of the larger, well known national test prep companies, tutoring for the SAT, GRE, GMAT, and of course, the LSAT. She is also currently an academic counselor at the University of Chicago law school. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, '6baac2ae-05a3-4610-9d1f-265c8cbd809f', {});

Finding Your Inspiration

Finding Your Inspiration Improving Academic Performance In a previous article The Underestimated Power of Practice, we talked about the power of practice when considering what makes someone an expert in any given subject. We explored the idea that genes aren’t as essential as we tend to believe, that an incredible amount of concentrated practice is a much better determinant of future success. We argued that talent is overrated, and practice is underrated. We talked about a rule that researchers on performance have developed â€" you may need to spend 10,000 hours practicing intensely and deliberately to become a world-class athlete, musician, or mathematician. 10,000 hours. 10,000 hours of ‘deep practice’ seems to be the rule to live by when desiring to become a world-class expert at something. When you begin to really consider that, it’s overwhelming. Now, you of course don’t need to spend 10,000 hours to build certain types of skills for specific events. It either isn’t necessary, or isn’t practical. But, the point is that you need to spend a lot of really intense, focused time practicing and pushing yourself to improve. If you are reading this article as a high school or college student or parent of a student, it’s important to know that we are not recommending you spend 10,000 hours studying for the SATs to achieve a perfect score. But, the idea is: To realize that practice can, to an extent, “make perfect,” so investing more time can typically lead to better results. If the average person is investing 25 hours, double or triple that, and you’ll do far better than average. To use the time that you do have in the most efficient way possible, whether it be 20 hours or 200. If the average person is texting or watching TV while studying, put away the phone and engage fully with the material, pushing yourself to understand every concept. How can someone be passionate enough to push themselves like this? When you imagine an individual willingly spending thousands of hours practicing a subject or a specific talent, you have to realize that he or she was probably inspired in some implicit or explicit way. No one can embark on that kind of task without a driving force behind the desire to practice. We fully realize that it may be incredibly difficult to be motivated, or to motivate your high school or college student, to fully engage in math homework or SAT/ACT practice exams that just aren’t enjoyable. The key to maintaining a sufficient drive in an area that may not necessarily be naturally appealing is to truly believe that making mistakes and learning from those mistakes is a GOOD thing that will lead to impressive performance. The struggle is well worth it. Making mistakes and learning from them is what literally builds new connections in the brain and leads to higher and higher skill levels over time. Once you believe that skills are built this way, it can change your mindset, and that can lead to higher levels of inspiration and motivation naturally. So, we might recommend setting a specific goal that stretches your current abilities quite a bit, and enjoying the path towards meeting that goal. Setting a finish line and enjoying the progress you’ve made are all essen tial parts of being motivated to keep practicing â€" in the right way. However, natural challenges, role models, family expectations, and culture can all help explain why some folks are inspired to practice more and better than most of us. Here are a few examples to illustrate our point that inspiration is essential to putting in the practice that will lead to success. These examples can all be found in some of the extremely interesting, entertaining and informative books about talent that we list on our page devoted to the latest research on academic performance. Statistically, sprinters are third or fourth children in large families. Why is it that the younger children are natural runners? Where did that initial drive come from? Research shows that siblings observe older brothers and sisters walking and running, and that sparks an incredibly strong desire to get up and do it themselves. The urge to follow is so powerful that the motivation to walk sparks the development of foot speed. Professional female golfers didn’t exist in South Korea. Then one woman broke the mold in the early 90’s and won many golf tournaments. Soon after, there were five professional women golfers in South Korea. Then fifteen. These days, there are as many as twenty-five. Something is triggered in our brains when we see someone like us doing something incredible. A spark is ignited. Motivation grows and encourages us to achieve the previously unheard-of accomplishment. Apply these examples to your own life. Find inspiration. Even when the spark does not come naturally, you can find it through researching examples of individuals like you who have succeeded. Know that the key to ‘deep practice’ is being willing and dedicated to the task at hand. Now that you know that progress is possible with practice, run with it. Observe the individuals who receive the highest grades in each of your classes and make it a goal to reach their level of understanding and academic performance. If they can do it, why not you? Realize and believe the power of practice, find the spark. That’s when you achieve the motivation necessary to get that A, the 99th percentile on the SAT/ACT, or acceptance letter to that undergraduate or graduate institution. With strong motivation, the sky’s the limit.

Preparing for university

Preparing for university If your child is off to university this autumn, then the whole family need to do a lot of preparation. It's important to have some frank and open chats with your student child as they prepare for their first taste of independent life. Here are our five top tips to help your child prepare for university: 1. Make sure your child knows how to manage their finances. Set up a student bank account with them and discuss how to budget. If your child is going to have to get a part-time job make sure they can manage a job with their university work. 2. Find out what they get supplied with in their halls of residence and what they need to buy. Make a full list of the supplies that are needed, including any supplies for their course, and then buy the cheapest version wherever you can as things at uni often get broken. Then make sure your child has student insurance! 3. Away from home, your child can be tempted by the excesses of student life. Talk to them about balancing partying and study before they go and make sure that they know to phone you if they get into difficulties once term starts. 4. Does your child have study skills, the ability to touch type and speedwriting? These are all very helpful to have during a degree. See if there is anywhere that they can learn these skills - their university might even offer classes, or you could hire a study skills tutor for a few lessons. 5. Expect to feel sad when they leave. You might even see a few tears from them when you say goodbye. Luckily, mobile phones and email make it easy to keep in touch, so remember that it's au revoir rather than adieu.