C School?

http://free-c-programs.blogspot.com/  *****
http://www.c.happycodings.com/Beginners_Lab_Assignments/index.html (copy pro)*****
http://www.codingunit.com/printf-format-specifiers-format-conversions-and-formatted-output (with Out put)****
http://visualcplus.blogspot.com/2006/03/lesson-19-c-programming-examples.html 

Hardware Tips?

http://epanelx.blogspot.com/search/label/Printers

SD Transaction Code Flow ?

Inquiry / Document type IN

Tcode for creation VA11,VA12,VA13. tables VBAK,VBAP
Quotation / QT
Tcode for creation VA21,VA22,VA23. tables VBAK,VBAP
Purchase Order /PO
Tcode for creation ME21,ME22,ME23. tables EKKO,EKPO.
Sales Order /OR
Tcode for creation VA01,VA02,VA03. tables VBAK,VBAP
Delivery /LF
Tcode for creation VL01,VL02,VL03. tables LIKP,LIPS
Billing /MN
Tcode for creation VF01,VF02,VF03. tables VBRK,VBRP

To create a sales order we need purchase order number and custmer number. Before that, to create a purchase order we need to have material no, vendor no.

To create vendor tcode is  xk01(create), xk02(change) , xk03(display) ,Tables are LIFA1.

To create custmer tcode is xd01, xd02, xd03, Table is KNA1.

After creating sales order using this no we can create delivery note t code is VL01.

SAP Implementation Process ?

What is ASAP Methodology


ASAP: Accelerated Systems Application and Products in Data Processing

All implementation projects have the following phases:

Scoping - What is to be implemented i.e. which submodules are to be implemented some clients may not require credit management for example. Look at the project scope document carefully it will tell you what SAP sub-modules in SAP you should be prepared for. Usually the sales people along with project manager do it.
As is - Here you understand the existing business processes of the client . Your BPOcollect all the ISO-documentation (if client is ISO certified), reports and forms at this stage and you analyse how and when the reports/forms are generated, where the data is coming from. You also do a Level -2 training for your BPO so he is made aware of all the required transactions in SAP.

Once this is over BPO can start learning with the consultants help more about SAP. This is crucial because if you miss out any transactions the BPO may forget about some of his Business processes which may come up later. It is a good practice to ask the BPO to make flow charts to explain business processes.

To-Be - Parallely you map these processes to SAP. Processes that you are not sure of as to whether they are present in SAP or not you try to do a configuration of those processes, and along with the BPO(Business process owner he is the clients employee who knows about the clients business processes probably a middle management guy, ther can more than one), BPO involvement is required as he may be able to tell you his requirements better. Once you do the business modeling you

will also be made aware of the gaps between as-is and to-be , here decisons have to be made as to whether a ABAP development/system modification is required or not and so on. Involve the BPO as much as possible and document everything it is good practice do not be lazy about it.

Business blueprint: Here the as-is and to-be and gap analysis is explained. This is the document that you will be using to do your configuration in the realization phase.

Realization phase: Here you do the configuration in the development server (there are three clients -development,quality, production). You also decide on the master data format, so that BPO can go collect the master data. You also gove ABAP specifications for forms, reports etc, system modifications etc. Unit testing: Your BPOs and a few key users sit down and test your configuration in your module only. It is good to test the BDCs that you need for uploading data at this stage so you have more realistic data and your BDCs are tested.

Integration testing:

Once all modules unit testing is over then the configuration is trasported to the Quality server, where testing for all the modules is done by BPOs and end user, this is to check if any problems are there in integration between various modules. Once all is okay from the QA server config is transported to the production server.
Go live preparation


Data uploading: The collected master data is checked and the uploaded into production server(sever and client I have used interchangeably). Now you are ready for go live i.e. users can now use the production server.

ASAP methodology means nothing but standard process for implementation of SAP, It consists of 5 phases.

1. Project preperation - consists of identifying team members and developing strategy as how to go.
2. Business Blue print - consists of identifying the client current process, reqeirement and how SAP provides solution.
Consists of detailed documentaion

3. Realization -The purpose of this phase is to implement all the business and process requirements based on the

Business Blueprint.

4. Final Preparation - The purpose of this phase is to complete testing, end-user training,

5. Go Live and Support All the functinal consultatns need good rapo with Abapers. right from uploading of legacy data, devoloping customised reports, BDC's, Forms etc, here functinal consultatns need to give guidence as to get the requried data for reports and all.. like the table name, fields etc

What is baseline configuration in sap?

Base line and Final config is the third phase in ASAP methadology. The purpose of this phase is to implement all the business & process requirements based on business blue print. You customize the system step by step in 2 work packages: Base Line Configuration & Final Configuration.

- Base Line Configuration: this phase comprises the priority requirements of the enterprise, ensuring that they can be implemented quickly. This phase can be completed without programming or enhancements to SAP systems.

- Final Configuration: in this phase you confirm that all your requirements are met in the R/3 system. Final configuration is a transportation process that expands that base line solution

Documentation which is prepared before and in a project:

1) Templates

3) Fit Gap or Gap Analysis

4) Business Process Design

5) Business Process Model

6) Business Change & Impact

7) Configuration Design, which is just 5 % of Total SAP- have different names -

8) Future Impact & Change Assessment

9) Functional Design (Module Wise)

10) Risk Assessment

11) Process Metrics and Many More-- Which has impact on Business and its work flow



Note * This documents are prepared in Vanilla SAP Standards -- Things differ from one implementation to another, and it always depends on the type of business which is opting for SAP.

What Are SAP End User Manual

It is the same for every other modules although here I reference it mainly for SAP HR.

1) You should understand which targeted group for the end-user training is for. Do they have any computer background or not.

2) In what way they are going to make use of the manuals supplied to them during the course of training.



How to prepare manuals:

In the client side, End Users are not permanent. If they get any better job outside they will resign and go out. Even if you train them well, again the end-user team disappears after some time. That is why implementing company( Client ) expects SAP Consultants to prepare documents which are self explanatory (even to a layman in SAP) and study themselves and use the sap easy access very comfortably.

Hence we should prepare a document which explains the following things comfortably:

A) All the buttons and Screens we have in sap and its importance for an end-user.

B) All the transaction codes used by end user.

C) The STEP by STEP usage methodology with screen shots and explanatory foot notes for each Transaction code.

D) Prepare a book a table and columns which should have the following information:

- Sl.NO.

- Transaction Code

- Navigation path

- Use of the Code

- Expected Result

- Achieved Result

- Remarks/Any Comment

E) Highlight the common troubles during the usage of SAP by an end- user and give the solutions (ready to use)

These problems you can come across while giving the in house training for the end-users. You just place them at one place and publish it for their usage in future for any of their new join as an end-user.

F) Every consultant is aware that the entire Organsiational Management is with end user only. Means consultant should train the end user in entire OM.

G) We should inform the importance of info types and usage for our purposes at expert mode, PA30, PA40 etc.,

H) Each field in the international infotypes should be explained very clearly and ensure that they are comfortable with the fields of infotypes which have been configured for their company.



For example : info type 0001 Org Assignment insists about the three structures of the HR. We should explain each sub field like Emp Group, Emp Sub Group, Personnel Area and Sub Area and its importance and relevance to their company so as to understand while processing them from the end- user point of view .

When an employee is hired into the company , now the end-user in a position to understand which employee group and subgroup, Personnel Area And Sub Area etc., should allotted..

Like this whatever comes across in SAP Easy Access should be insisted through the training of end users.

I) Demo, exercises and solutions should be provided in the manuals.

J) Glossary of terms and expansion of Acronyms, Abbreviations should be given. Like this each consultant should focus on end user training and prepare the documents.

As is document:

How to start doing the project in 'AS IS' ?

Are you working as a technical person or functional person?

This work is of a functional consultant. It involves understanding the complete functionality of the system.

It involves detailed understanding of how the HR department is functioning because based on that only you would provide a solution to them. Like suppose you are implementing SAP HR module for them then in the AS-IS and TO-BE phase, you need to prepare all the documents of the process flow (you can prepare them in word). Like suppose you are implementing for PA then you need to identify how many personnel areas you need to make, how many subareas you will make, employee groups, subgroups, based on what you are classifying them? This all will come in the master data document which has to be approved from the client whoever he is .

Like if the current system is on mainframe or for some specific applications like for recruitment the system is on mainframes and the client wants to keep that system as well then interfaces need to be identified which will be there because you will have to upload the data to sap system using bdc.

Like this for every process there will be a document. Even for actions like:

- Hiring

- Newly Hire

- Termination

-Transfer

- Layoff etc

You will have to see what all actions your client wants, like if there is an action transfer which is run for employee what all will be the reasons you will be configuring for that action. This will be told by the client which can come out after a series of meetings and after discussions you will have to come out with the document that these will be action types. These will be the action reasons, these will be the action codes for that. This will be in the TO BE process document.

After this phase is over complete configuration can be done.

Actually AS-IS process in summary involves a :

1) Series of meeting with the client.

2) Gathering complete information about the existing system.

3) Preparation of the blue print documents describing the complete AS-IS process ,i mean the existing system.

4) Flow charts should be included in the as-is blue print process flow document describing the complete process.

5) After this is finished u have to give the TO-BE process structure that will be implemented in SAP.

6) After that there will be some things which cannot be implemented in SAP so the gaps are to be identified.

7) These gaps are to be documented in white paper for the client.

It is a lengthy process but not so difficult only the thing is that the functionality is to be understood properly.
SAP BLUEPRINTING


Defining the Business Processes

After you have defined your organizational structure for R/3, the definition of the business process for your Business Blueprint is the next step. You now map the enterprise requirements onto R/3 business processes, in order to create the conceptual design for your R/3 implementation. For this, the following activities need to be carried out:

• Conducting business process workshops

• Completing the Business Blueprint, reviewing it and obtaining management signoff

• Setting up an end user training schedule

Besides determining the R/3 functionality to be implemented, the following types of requirements should be identified in the business process workshops:

• Reporting requirements

• Interface requirements

• Conversion requirements

• Enhancement requirements

• Authorization requirements

Since all the results gathered during the workshops will subsequently create the Business Blueprint, the importance of this step cannot be underestimated. The main tool used to define the business processes is the AcceleratedSAP Question & Answer Database in conjunction with the R/3 Reference Model. In the process, information is gathered using the following tools:

• Business Process Questions (via R/3 Reference Model)

• Customer Input (CI) Template

• Business Process Master List

• Knowledge Corner

A functional spec should theoretically mean that the ABAPer should be able to take the design document you have prepared, go and sit in a dark corner of the office and build the whole report..... this rarely if ever happens, but I think that the theory.



When you write a functional spec, you are meant to be turning the clients requirements into a design document that a techno can then build from.



Some of the things you may want to think about are:

Report logic - What information is the report trying to get, what logical links are required to link the data together - like master data and payroll data, and org mgt data, and how should this be linked, an imp

how should this be linked, an important bit to remember here is the time selection, do you want all the data in the system, or only the data relevant on the day, or over a month etc.

Selection screen - What fields are required as selection options

Authorisations - Should the report check the 'runners' authorisations and tailor the output accordingly

Output - What fields are required to be output, in what order, in what file type, for example this could be a text file, or just out to the screen of the runner.


Error handling - What should the report do when it encounters a problem eg what scenarios would constitute errors - what should happen etc.

Test mode - does the report require running in test mode prior to a file being produced?

What are the roles & responsibilities as a sap hr functional consultant

As a Functional Consultant, one needs to first understand the business process of the client and then map it in SAP to accommodate those business processes.

In the Business Blueprint stage, you need to prepare AS-IS (which is a detailed list of the current business practices of the client) and then , you need to prepare a QADB (Questions and Answer Data Base) questionnaire and send it to the client.

Then, based on client's answers, you need to prepare TO-BE list ( procedure in SAP to match the client's business process).

You need to map AS-IS process and TO_BE process.
What are the differences between a functional and business consultant?


The difference between Functional consultant and Business consultant are as follows:

1) A funcitonal consultant is able to configure the system unlike business consultant.

2) Functional consultant know more about business process unlike Business consultant.

3) A business consultant will bring business process knowledge and provide it to functional consultant who in turn used this knowledge to configure the system.

4) Functional consultant has more configuration knolwledge then Business consultant

The responsibilities of a support consultant are:

- Primarily responsible for Handling tickets and application support to the endusers

- When an issue comes diagnose, analyse and solve the issue

- Responsible for any enhancements

- Writing functional specs and interacting with Abapers to develop any user exits

- Training the end users and preparing end user training material

For those who wished to know the role of a functional consultant. Below is one view:

A functional consultant evaluates the demands in talking with the customer\'s representatives, transforms the essence into an abstract and algorithmic business model. Hence, he identifies the use cases and transforms them into logical and technical views.

Then the main task starts: customizing the respective business area and making sure the system reacts in the manner according to the constraints of the requested use case.

The consultant documents the settings and prepares proper guidelines that allow other consultants to do further changes or repairs with due efforts.

The consultant takes care that proper training is given to the users and that the system is usable, performing appropriately and the business flow is complete and correct.

During go live he assists the technical staff by testing the behaviour of the system.

After go live he guarantees that the procedures remain usable and consistent in real live situation and proposes enh



The consultant takes care that proper training is given to the users and that the system is usable, performing appropriately and the business flow is complete and correct.

During go live he assists the technical staff by testing the behaviour of the system.

After go live he guarantees that the procedures remain usable and consistent in real live situation and proposes enhancements.

The main duty of a consultant is to transfer external know-how to the client. It is not manpower that counts but intelligence, understanding of processes, a feeling for defects and general a common sense.

Role of a Functional Consultant in an End To End Implementation

1. Functional consultant is expected to generate knowledge about the current business process, design current business flows, study current business processes and its complication, in all we can say getting through with current business setup. Flow diagrams and DFD are prepared, most of the time in Vision format, all this forms the part of AS IS document.

2. Everything configured has to be documented as per their categories in the form of predefined templates, these have to be then approved by the team leads or who ever the consultant is reporting to.

3. Mapping and GAP analysis is done for each module, I have seen people defining integration after mapping, gap analysis and configuration is done, but as per my experience in implementation, it is a simultaneous process.

4. Before starting configuring future business processes in SAP, the DFD/ERD are prepared, this documentation is called TO BE, which can be also siad as the result of mapping and gap analysis.

5. Sometimes Functional consultants are also expected to prepare test scripts for testing the configured scenarios.

6. End user manual and user training is also expected from F.Consultants.

The project normally starts off with a Kick off meeting in which the team size, team members, reporting system, responsibilities, duties, methodlogy, dates and schedules, working hours which have been predicided are



working hours which have been predicided are formally defined.



SAP Landscape is like a server system or like a layout of the servers or some may even call it the architecture of the servers viz. SAP is divided into three different lanscape DEV, QAS and PROD.

- DEV would have multiple clients for ex: 190- Sandbox, 100- Golden, 180- Unit Test.

- QAS may again have mutiple clients for ex: 300- Integration Test, 700 to 710 Training.

- PROD may have something like a 200 Production.

These names and numbers are the implementer's discreet on how they want it or they have been using in their previous implementations or how is the client's business scenario.

Now whatever you do in the Sandbox doesn't affect the other servers or clients. Whenever you think you are satisfied with your configuration and you think you can use it moving forward, you RE-DO it in the golden client (remember, this is a very neat and clean client and you cannot use it for rough usage). As you re-do everything that you had thought was important and usable, you get a transport request pop up upon saving everytime. You save it under a transport request and give your description to it. Thus the configuration is transported to the Unit Test client (180 in this example).

You don't run any transaction or even use the SAP Easy Access screen on the 100 (golden) client. This is a configuration only client. Now upon a successful tranport by the Basis guy, you have all the configuration in the Testing client, just as it is in the Golden client. The configuration remains in sync between these two clients.

But in the Testing client you can not even access SPRO (Display IMG) screen. It's a transaction only client where you perform the unit test. Upon a satisfactory unit test, you move the good configuration to the next SERVER (DEV). The incorrect or unsatisfactory configuration is corrected in Golden (may again as well be practised in the sandbox prior to Golden) and accordingly transported back to 180 (Unit Test) until the unit test affected

by that particular config is satisfactory.

The Golden client remains the 'database' (if you wanna call it that) or you may rather call it the 'ultimate' reference client for all the good, complete and final configuration that is being used in the implementation.



In summary:

Landscape : is the arrangement for the servers

IDES : is purely for education purpose and is NOT INCLUDED in the landscape.

DEVELOPMENT ---> QUALITY ----> PRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENT : is where the the consultants do the customization as per the company's requirement.

QUALITY : is where the core team members and other members test the customization.

PRODUCTION : is where the live data of the company is recorded.

A request will flow from Dev->Qual->Prod and not backwards.

These three are landscape of any Company. They organised their office in these three way. Developer develop their program in Development server and then transport it to test server. In testing server tester check/test the program and then transport it to Production Server. Later it will deploy to client from production server.

Presentaion Server- Where SAP GUI have.

Application Server - Where SAP Installed.

Database Server - Where Database installed

Update GK?

http://www.winentrance.com/general_knowledge/  ****
http://www.currentgk.com/world/world.html *****
http://www.onlinegkguide.com/ *****
http://www.explore2india.com/ *****

http://www.kidswebindia.com/index.php *******

ENGLISH IS TOUGH STUFF ??

Dearest creature in creation,

Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.


Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough --
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!


- Author Unknown

99 Ways to Say "Very Good"






 You’re on the right track now!

 You’ve got it made.

 SUPER!

 That’s right!

 That’s good.

 You’re really working hard today.

 You are very good at that.

 That’s coming along nicely.

 GOOD WORK!

 I’m happy to see you working like that.

 That’s much, much better!

 Exactly right.

 I’m proud of the way you worked today.

 You’re doing that much better today.

 You’ve just about got it.

 That’s the best you’ve ever done.

 You’re doing a good job.

 THAT’S IT!

 Now you’ve figured it out.

 That’s quite an improvement.

 GREAT!

 I knew you could do it.

 Congratulations!

 Not bad.

 Keep working on it. You’re improving.

 Now you have it!

 You are learning fast.

 Good for you!

 Couldn’t have done it better myself.

 Aren’t you proud of yourself?

 One more time and you’ll have it.

 You really make my job fun.

 That’s the right way to do it.

 You’re getting better every day.

 You did it that time!

 That’s not half bad.

 Nice going.

 You haven’t missed a thing!

 WOW!

 That’s the way!

 Keep up the good work.

 TERRIFIC!

 Nothing can stop you now.

 That’s the way to do it.

 SENSATIONAL!

 You’ve got your brain in gear today.

 That’s better.

 That was first class work.

 EXCELLENT!

 That’s the best ever.

 You’ve just about mastered it.

 PERFECT!

 That’s better than ever.

 Much better!

 WONDERFUL!

 You must have been practicing.

 You did that very well.

 FINE!

 Nice going.

 You’re really going to town.

 OUTSTANDING!

 FANTASTIC!

 TREMENDOUS!

 That’s how to handle that.

 Now that’s what I call a fine job.

 That’s great.

 Right on!

 You’re really improving.

 You’re doing beautifully!

 SUPERB!

 Good remembering.

 You’ve got that down pat.

 You certainly did well today.

 Keep it up!

 Congratulations. You got it right!

 You did a lot of work today.

 Well look at you go.

 That’s it.

 I’m very proud of you.

 MARVELOUS!

 I like that.

 Way to go!

 Now you have the hang of it.

 You’re doing fine!

 Good thinking.

 You are really learning a lot.

 Good going.

 I’ve never seen anyone do it better.

 Keep on trying.

 You outdid yourself today!

 Good for you!

 I think you’ve got it now.

 That’s a good (boy/girl).

 Good job, (person’s name).

 You figured that out fast.

 You remembered!

 That’s really nice.

 That kind of work makes me happy.

 It’s such a pleasure to teach when you

 work like that!

 I think you’re doing the right thing.

50 ways to improve your English?

50 ways to improve your English

*1. Start your own English language blog. Even for people who don't have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they don't know what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary (journal), and a more up to date way of doing this is to write a blog. Popular topics include your language learning experience, your experience studying abroad, your local area, your language, or translations of your local news into English.

2. Write a news diary. Another daily writing task that can work for people who would be bored by writing about their own routines in a diary is to write about the news that you read and listen to everyday. If you include your predictions for how you think the story will develop (e.g. "I think Hillary will become president"), this can give you a good reason to read old entries another time, at which time you can also correct and mistakes you have made and generally improve what you have written.

3. Sign up for a regular English tip. Some websites offer a weekly or even daily short English lesson sent to your email account. If your mobile phone has an e-mail address, it is also possible to have the tips sent to your phone to read on the way to work or school. Please note, however, that such services are not usually graded very well to the levels of different students, and they should be used as a little added extra or revision in your English studies rather than as a replacement for something you or your teacher have chosen more carefully as what you need to learn.

4. Listen to English music. Even listening to music while doing something else can help a little for things like getting used to the natural rhythm and tone of English speech, although the more time and attention you give to a song the more you will learn from listening to it again in the future.

5. Read the lyrics to a song. Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take some time to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. If the lyrics are not given in the CD booklet, you may be able to find them on the internet, but please note that some lyrics sites deliberately put a few errors into their lyrics for copyright reasons. Once you have read and understood the lyrics, if you then listen and read at the same time, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech.

6. Only search in English. Switching your search engine to the English language version of msn, yahoo, Google etc. can not only be a good way of practising fast reading for specific information in English, but could also give you a wider choice of sites to choose from and give you an idea of what foreigners are writing about your country and area.

7. Read a book you've already read or seen the movie of in your own language. Although most language learners under Advanced level would probably learn more from reading a graded reader or something from the internet than they would from reading an original book written for English speakers, for some people reading something like Harry Potter in the original can be a great motivator to improve their English. To make this easier for you and make sure that it motivates you rather than just making your tired, try reading a book that you already know the story of. This not only makes it easier to understand and guess vocabulary, but you are also more likely to remember the language in it. If you have not read the book before, reading a plot summary from the internet can also help in the same way.

8. Read a translation into English. Another way of making sure books are easier to understand is to choose a book that was originally translated into English, preferably from your own language. Even if you haven't read the book in your own language, you will find the English is written in a slightly simplified way that is more similar to how your own language is written than a book originally written in English would be.

*9. Skip the first ten pages. If you have given up with a book in English or are reading it very slowly, try skimming through the first ten pages or skipping them completely. The start of most books tend to be mainly description and are therefore full of difficult vocabulary and don't have a clear story line yet to help you understand what is happening and to motivate you to turn the next page. If the book is still too difficult even after the introductionary part is finished, it is probably time to give that book up for now and try it again after you have read some easier things.

10. Read a book with lots of dialogue. Opening up books before you buy one and flicking through them to find one with lots of direct dialogue in it has several advantages. If there is less text on the page due to all the speech marks etc, this can make it easier to read and easier to write translations on. Dialogue is also much easier to understand than descriptive parts of a book, and is much more like the language you will want to learn in order to be able to speak English.

11. Read English language magazines. Like books, if you can read two versions of the same magazine (Newsweek in your language and in English, for example), that could make understanding it much easier.

12. Take a one week intensive course. Although you cannot expect to come out of a very short course speaking much better English than when you started it, if you continue studying a little over the following weeks and months, the knowledge you gained then will gradually come out and mean that your level of speaking, listening etc. are better than they would have been if you hadn't taken that course. This positive effect can still be true up to a year later.

13. Supplement your one to one class with a group class. The benefits of having a group class are often less clear to students, but they include the fact that you will learn to deal with several people speaking at once, have a chance to practice skills such as interrupting people, and will hear a range of different viewpoints and topics.

14. Teach your children or friends some English. Recent research has shown that elder children tend to be a couple of IQ points above their younger siblings, and the most likely reason is that explaining things to their little brothers and sisters gives them an intellectual boost. In the same way, teaching someone lower level than you the English you already know is a great way of permanently fixing that knowledge in your own brain.

15. Ask your company to start English lessons. Even if you don't need to speak English at work, English lessons can be a fun and reasonably priced way for your company to spend their training budget in a popular way.

16. Have English radio on in the background while you are doing your housework. Even if you are not listening carefully, it will help you get a feel for natural English rhythm and intonation.

17. Play English language learning games on your Nintendo DS. Although such games can have quite random language and are unlikely to improve your ability to speak English on their own, the next time you hear or read the same language elsewhere it will be really fixed in your brain by the fact you have played a game with it in already. It is also a nice way of taking a break from your other English studies while also doing some English. To make sure it really is a break and to avoid wasting time learning language from the game that is not much used in daily life, don't bother writing down any new language you see in the game, but just try to learn it from playing the game again.

18. Say or think what you are doing in English as you do your daily tasks. As you are doing your chores, try creating sentences describing what you are doing, e.g. ‘I am unscrewing the ketchup bottle cap'. This gets you used to thinking in English without translating, and can be a good way of seeing what simple vocabulary that is around you everyday you don't know. yet

19. Be realistic about your reading level. Most researchers agree that people learn most when reading something they understand almost all of. If there are one or two words per page that you have never seen before, that is about the right level. If there are three or more on every page, you should switch to something easier and come back later.

20. Read graded readers (= easy readers). These are books that are especially written for language learners like you, e.g. Penguin Readers. Although it can be difficult to find something as interesting as things written in newspapers or on the internet, in terms of learning the language only people who need to read for their work or an exam usually gain more from reading things written for graded readers. Graded readers of classic books like Charles Dickens also have the benefit of giving you a lot of knowledge about the literature, and culture more generally, of English speaking countries in a short time.

21. Watching English children's films or TV programmes. Although some of the vocabulary you can learn from things made for children can be a bit strange (lots of animal names and maybe animal noises, including baby names for things), the fact that not only the language but the structure of the story is simplified can make it an easy and motivating thing to watch. Like good language learning materials, the same language is also often repeated to make it memorable, and the use of catchy songs etc. can increase this positive effect on your memory.

21. Read English children's books. This is very similar to watching English children's movies, but with the added advantage of there being more illustrations than adult books, which both helps you to understand the story and makes the page brighter and more motivating to read.

22. Keep a list of language to learn, e.g. a vocab list. Even if you don't often find time to go though your vocab list and it keeps on building up, just the act of choosing which words you need to learn and writing them down on a special list can help you learn them.

23. Go through your vocab list several times every day. If ticking off words on a vocabulary list on the train to work is inconvenient or embarrassing for you, you can keep your list of words to learn as an entry in your electronic dictionary, as a mobile phone to do list or as a text file in your MP3 player (e.g. iPod). Although the time spent transferring the information between different formats like these may seem wasted, in fact any time you spend using the vocabulary like this will help you learn it.

24. Convert your vocab list to English only. One way to stop yourself translating and therefore increase your speed of comprehension and production is to learn all your vocabulary without the use of your own first language. Ways you can write a vocab list in only English include with synonyms (words with the same meaning, e.g. "tall" and "high"); with opposites ("high" and "low"); with pronunciation factors such as number of syllables (the number of beats, e.g. three for "de- ci- sion") and the word stress (the syllable that is pronounced louder and longer, e.g. the second syllable in "baNAna"); and gapped sentences (e.g. "I am not _________________ in science fiction" for the word "interested").

25. Cross out and delete. Crossing out or deleting words, sentences or whole pages that you have learnt can be a great motivator, and save your list of things to learn becoming too big to handle.

26. Throw everything away and start again. One of the things that can put most people off learning is a stack of half finished books or a huge list vocabulary waiting to be learnt. Simply getting rid of all that and starting again with something new from zero can be a great motivator and get your studies underway again.

27. Label things in your house or office with post-its. The easiest vocabulary to learn is the vocabulary of things you see and use everyday. If you can write the names of things around you on slips of paper and stick them on the real thing, this is a great way of learning useful vocabulary. If you can leave them there over the following days and weeks, this is a very easy way of revising the vocabulary until it is properly learnt.

28. Keep a diary in English. This is a popular method of making sure you use English everyday for people who don't often speak English and can't think of things to write about. The fact that you are writing about real things that have happened to you means that any words you look up in the dictionary will be vocabulary that is useful for you and easy to learn.

29. Online chat. The closest thing to speaking for people who don't have the chance to speak English is online chat, as you have to think and respond quickly, and the language is short and informal just like speech.

30. Listen to the radio news in English. You can make this easier by reading the news in English first, or even just by reading or listening to the news in your own language.

31. Read an English language newspaper. Freebie newspapers like "Metro" in London are usually the easiest to understand, followed by mid-brow titles like "The Daily Express" or "The Daily Mail" in English. Popular newspapers like "The Sun" are more difficult because of the idiomatic, slangy use of language and the number of jokes in the headlines and articles.

32. Write fiction in English, e.g. short stories. For people who find writing a diary about things that happen to them everyday boring, the best thing is to let your imagination go and write about whatever comes into your head. The advantage of this is that if you can't think of how to say something in English, you can just change the story to something that is easier to explain. Perhaps the easiest way to start writing fiction in English is with a diary, changing any details you like to make it more interesting and adding more and more fantasy as the weeks go on.

33. English language exercise videos. This is quite similar to how babies learn, by listening, watching and copying. It is also good for your health!

34. Learn a famous speech or poem in English by heart. Although you may never hear or get the chance to say exactly that line, having one memorable example of an English grammatical form in your head can make it much easier to learn other examples of the same grammar as you hear them. It is also something you can practice over and over without being as boring as grammatical drills.

35. Get tipsy (= a little drunk) before speaking English. This can not only improve your fluency while you are drinking, but can also improve your confidence in future days and weeks by showing you that you can communicate what you want to say.

36. Use a dictionary while you are watching a movie. Films often have the same words many times, so if you look up important words the first or second time you hear them, you should have learnt them by the end of the film. It is easier to use a dictionary if you watch with English subtitles.

37. Learn and use the phonemic script. Although there are many sounds in English, there are even more spellings. By learning the phonemic script and writing vocabulary down with it, you can both add another stage to your vocabulary learning that should help you learn it more thoroughly, and improve your pronunciation. It can also make things easier for you by stopping you trying to pronounce different spellings of the same pronunciation different ways.

38. Learn some spelling rules. Many people think that English spelling is random, but in fact most words follow some kind of rule, e.g. the "magic E" that changes the pronunciation of "mad" and "made".

39. Record your own voice. For people who don't have much or any correction of pronunciation from a teacher, recording yourself and listening back makes it easier to hear whether you are really making the English sounds that you are trying to or not.

40. Use computer pronunciation analysis. Although most programmes that claim to tell you when you are pronouncing correctly or not don't actually do that, listening many times and seeing how your voice changes as you try to match the sounds and waveform given by a pronunciation CD ROM can be good practice and more motivating than just recording your own voice.

41. Learn as many words as you can of one category, e.g. animal words. Learning similar words together can both expand your overall vocabulary and make them easier to learn by forming links between the words in your brain.

42. Draw pictures of the words you want to learn. Especially if you are artistic, this can be a better way of learning vocabulary than writing translations or example sentences.

43. Find a foreign boyfriend or girlfriend. No tips on how to do this here, but everyone agrees that getting or even just looking for a date in English can be a great motivator to improve your language skills.

44. Arrange a conversation exchange. Swapping lessons and conversation with someone who wants to learn your language can be a good alternative for those who aren't looking for romance, or can sometimes lead onto dating for those who are!

45. Sign up for an English language exam. Even if you don't need to take an exam and don't want to or can't take a special course to study for it, paying to take an exam like TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or FCE can really motivate you take your English studies seriously.

46. Model your accent on one particular actor. e.g. try to speak like Robert De Niro. Students who say they want to sound more like a native speaker have the problem that native speakers don't sound all that much like each other. Choosing one model can make the task of improving your pronunciation more clear, and is quite fun. Doing an impression of that person also makes a good party trick.

47. Use an English-English dictionary. Trying to use a bilingual dictionary less and switching to a monolingual one can help you to stop translating in you head when you are speaking or listening, and other useful English vocabulary can come up while you are using the dictionary.

48. Occasionally talk to or e-mail your friends in English. Many people find this a bit false or embarrassing, but if you think of it as a study club and set a particular time and/ or place, it is no different from studying maths together.

49. Switch operating system to English. Changing the operating language of your mobile phone, video recorder etc. to English can be an easy way of making sure you use the language everyday.

50. Set goals. Deciding how many hours you want to study, how many words you want to learn or what score you want to get in a test are all good ways of making sure you do extra study.