Linguistic Aid Kit Limited
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Prevent and Stop Violence Against Women

2/5/2016

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Yesterday, our team returned from Sierra Elvira, Spain, after completing a week-long workshop on prevention of violence against women. This exciting event provoked a number of interesting discussions, engaged us in presentations, games and other activities, and allowed for us to see the lives of refugees first-hand, as well as discuss with them their needs and opportunities. To understand the context of the workshop, one must firstly know the makeup of the foundation.
 
Fundación Escuela de Solidaridad (FES) is a communal establishment which provides shelter for those who need it. The majority of the inhabitants are women and children, many of whom have suffered domestic violence (a direct cause for their living in FES), but there are also some men in their counts. A great proportion of the people come from abroad, including Latin America (Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia), Europe (France, Portugal, as well as Spain), Africa (Tunisia, Algeria), some even have come from Syria with the latest wave of asylum seekers. A family of mother and daughter from Japan also resides in their midst. In addition, several volunteers, as well as Ignacio and Dora, the heads of the community, live in Sierra Elvira. A total of over 80 people share this lifestyle.
 
They all work for each other and very few have jobs outside. Some are in charge of the kitchen, others do the cleaning, still others look after the small garden and the chickens. The reason for this is that, mostly, they lack the necessary paperwork to become fully involved in the life of Spain. Nevertheless, the children are allowed to go to a local school and receive education en par with their peers.
 
The framework of the workshop was based around the lifestyle of these women and children and how violence in familial context can be reduced and prevented. Partners from nine countries took part in the mobility. Each country provided a wide range of specialisms in their teams. At Linguistic Aid Kit, we had a gender equality expert, a legal expert and a psychologist, who were able to explore the questions of interest from a variety of viewpoints. Similarly, people with substantial backgrounds in migration, journalism, history, medicine and sociology were present so as to create grounds for comprehensive understanding of the issues.
 
Through theatre, lectures, presentations, movies, games and other activities, we were presented with the central issues that women face in today’s societies of the nine participant countries, as well as several more states. Sexual and psychological violence were discussed, oppression against women and non-traditional genders; education was discussed at length.
 
Due to ethical considerations, we were not able to speak to victims of violence in a formalised manner but we were invited to dine in the houses of residents on one of the evenings. This allowed for an informal discussion of their situations and analysis of the ways in which they have accepted and appreciated help.
 
It is of note that, following this workshop, the three delegates of Linguistic Aid Kit are far more prepared to tackle issues surrounding this extremely vulnerable target group, in terms of legal and psychological help, as well as activism. We are proud to have partnered with FES and look forward to cooperate with them further. The two organisations have already begun working on educational projects which will bring the expertise of Linguistic Aid Kit to the doors of the community and allow us to share our literacy with each person inside, enabling them to live a fulfilling life independently soon.
 
Please do not forget to comment and, of course,
Stay classy.
Linguistic Aid Kit
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LLSG Braga Meeting

22/4/2016

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Yesterday, our team returned from the third transnational meeting under the Language Learning for the Screen Generation project. The event took place in Braga, Portugal under the patronage of our partner, BragaMob.
 
In two thrilling working days, the delegates of IIPC, Kedainiai Language School, BragaMob and, of course, Linguistic Aid Kit, discussed the progress of the project and the methodologies which each of the four have implemented in their classrooms. In doing so, each organisation presented a series of videos.
 
The Latvian partners introduced a brilliant method for testing students’ capabilities while creating a fun and competitive environment. The online platform Kahoot! allows teachers to create quizzes that match the curriculum in a way their individual students find relatable. Students log onto the system using their own smartphone! By doing so, not only are teachers making the best use of ICT, but they are also greatly diminishing the cost to schools. Subsequently, the questions appear on a large main screen and all students must use their device to select one of four answers. While designed as a standard multiple-choice test, this platform calculates results based on accuracy and timing and, after each question, published an updated score on the board. Students find the competitive nature of the game enthralling and engage with it whole-heartedly.
 
The Lithuanian partner chose a method which takes children away from ICT and towards a Total Physical Response (TPR) methodology. This is also recognisably a central part of the project – creating an environment in which students are not compelled to seek refuge in their smart devices. Since the target group of Kedainiai Language School are younger children, this we found to be especially apt. Children were asked to touch a part of their body which the teacher named in English. Again, competitive dimension was added to this game and children found it exhilarating.
 
In keeping with the competitive spirit, Linguistic Aid Kit presented a method which has not hitherto been used in classrooms, but popular nevertheless. By playing the board game Catchphrase, advanced students are prompted to learn idiomatic expressions, as well as new vocabulary. The game consists of various drawings which depict an idiomatic expression. Some of them, however, depict the meaning of the words quite literally which sometimes elicits laughter, as well as high levels of concentration. Neuropsychologists have argued that this combination is the most conducive to the learning process. Furthermore, the producers of the game have recently published a mobile app which adapts the board game to a single-player version. Partners were invited to play it on a few devices brought by our team.
 
BragaMob, on their part, had organised two major workshops with Lia Oliveira PhD and Adelina Moura at a local school with an audience of over 100 middle school students. Dr Oliveira, a long-standing advocate for the use of technology in education, spoke of best practices of its implementation. The hour-long workshop revolved around how to use ICT responsibly in the classroom and what the major benefits of it might be. She gave examples from her own practice at A Universidade do Minho. Ms Moura, on the other hand, took it upon herself to demonstrate Kahoot! in action. She engaged all 100+ students in a game of Geography and then, to relate it to our project, a game of Portuguese grammar. Students’ enthusiasm defied description.
 
In addition to this, performances followed from students, including a flute rendition of the Ode of Joy.
 
LLSG has been advancing with big leaps and our ideas have been implemented in all four countries. Students find the experience beneficial and their results in the impacted institutions have increased measurably. We are excited to be entering the last stage of our project and look forward to publishing the full toolkit in August.
 
Thank you to our three partner organisations and their dedicated staff. We are also extremely proud of our team!
 
Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy.
Linguistic Aid Kit
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School for Dreams: Partner Wanted!

1/3/2016

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The time has once again come when we, at Linguistic Aid Kit, roll our sleeves up and start working on all our ideas for enhancing education, social life and political climate across Europe.

Last year, we began working a project under the name School for Dreams. Its main goal is to introduce an unprecedented kind of extracurricular activity for secondary school students, which benefits them in tailored ways so as to allow them to unfold their full potential in a direction which interests them.

We are now on the lookout for new partner schools and we invite open applications for collaboration.

The criteria are as follows: the school needs to be registered with ECAS; and it must be registered in one of the countries eligible for Erasmus+ KA2 funding. In addition, they must have students between the ages of 11 and 17. The schools can be either private or public. Experience in the area of Erasmus+ is desirable but not essential.

To find out how to apply for participation in this exciting project, please contact us either via email or phone. The deadline for application is 20th March.

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy,
Linguistic Aid Kit
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Happy Birthday, Linguistic Aid Kit!

22/2/2016

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Last Saturday, Linguistic Aid Kit completed its fourth active year!
 
We are extremely grateful to all those who have supported us during this time and hope to have been respectable partners to all our associates.
 
Over the past twelve months, we have been working on one major project, as well as several workshops.
 
Language Learning for the Screen Generation (LLSG) is an endeavour we have undertaken with our partners from IIPC, Kedainiai Language School and BragaMob, respectively from Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal. Since the onset of the project, the partners have met twice at functional meetings, one of which here, in Manchester.
 
In doing so, we have started the development of an online tool with access to various methodologies for language teaching. Some of them involve, and are highly dependent on, technology. Others, on the other hand, focus on removing smartphones from the hands of children and involving all their senses in the learning process.
 
Two more meetings are to take place soon, in the two remaining countries.
 
The most notable workshop we ran this year took place at the University of York in January 2016. Touching on some of the critical points of public speaking, it gave the 15 delegates the necessary confidence and know-how for them to approach their upcoming presentations, speeches and addresses.
 
In addition, we have been working tirelessly on the submission on various new projects. Our most promising one, School for Dreams, was left on top of the reserve list last year. It aims to introduce an innovative and unprecedented species of extracurricular activity for secondary school children, which allows them to develop any strong interests they have. Further, our many partners and we are working on dozens more, which will be submitted at the end of March.
 
We could have done none of these without the continuous support of our friends: online, in person, material, emotional or otherwise.
 
So for this, we thank you.
 
Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy

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Public Speaking Workshop - University of York

8/2/2016

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On 23rd January, Linguistic Aid Kit delivered a Public Speaking workshop at the University of York.
 
Over 15 delegates joined the event, organised together with the TEDx society of the University. We had delegates as young as 18 years of age and as mature as 40. Their aspirations ranged, but a common theme was that they all wanted to cement their abilities, while at the same time gathering a fair amount of confidence.
 
Our workshop covered a variety of topics, including body language, storytelling and feedback sessions, but concentrated deeply on language. We, at Linguistic Aid Kit, have taken the responsibility of spreading the word - quite literally. Most persons and companies who teach Public Speaking spend a vast proportion of time on body language and delivery and virtually no one ever questions the language in which this is done. For this reason, we aim to discuss the best choice of words and expressions; the structures of sentences, the use of alliterations and pauses; pronunciation; etc.
 
In addition, very often our target groups have an international makeup, which has led us to focusing more on teaching the proper approaches to a foreign language. At this workshop, we spoke about the importance of knowing the terminology; the faint nuances of synonyms and the differentiation of homophones, among other key considerations. After all, linguistic aid is what we promise!
 
Consequently, we found all delegates to have been at least satisfied with the workshop and all of their expectations were met. We asked for open and anonymous feedback at the end. Its quantity was overwhelming and its content was touching. Here, we supply a pair of examples from the forms we collected:
 
“Very energetic workshop. Nice examples/videos/stories. Useful information and also applicable. Relevant exercises. You did everything you suggested today which shouldn't be so amazing but usually people don’t practice what they preach.”
 
“
By the end of the afternoon, I felt very comfortable with you. You did a really good job of putting me at ease, with how relaxedly you handled mistakes, and your personal anecdotes. Everything seemed highly professional to me. At the same time, you seemed very personal: it wasn't like having a lecture, you seemed like a friend, a relatable figure.”
 
We are proud to have yielded such feedback and excited to know our work is appreciated. In addition, we have been invited to follow up this workshop with another, more advanced one. Stay tuned to find out more about it soon.
 
We look forward to delivering a great deal more of these events.

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy.
Linguistic Aid Kit
 
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LLSG Manchester Meeting

2/8/2015

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Dear friends,

Language Learning for the Screen Generation - our latest project in the frame of Erasmus+ - is well and truly underway. Last week, we had the privilege to host the second transnational partner meeting here in our very own Manchester. From Wednesday until Saturday, alongside our partners from IIPC, Kedainiai Language School and Bragamob, we discussed the progress made so far, we set our midterm goals and we developed strategies to meet these goals by the end of the project next September.

On Thursday, we also held a day-long language teaching workshop, involving numerous lively discussions, as well as two majorly interesting talks.

For the first talk, we must be thankful to Mr James Miley, Chairman of the UK TaeKwon-Do federation, as well as instructor at TridentTKD Academy. Though his introduction was met with scepticism by our partners, as well as guests from our network of local language teachers, due to his very different background, his methodologies were soon warmly embraced by all. His hour-long talk (see video below) concentrated on problems surrounding differentiation, motivation, recognition and adaptation. In addition, he involved our delegates in a fun exercise which taught them the importance of peer teaching, peer assessment and active involvement in the learning process. He made connections between the practices in teaching TaeKwon-Do and teaching languages, which everybody in the room found helpful and applicable in their practice.

Before and after the talk, Mr Miley took the time to get to know the guests in the room and to answer their questions. Our partners were fascinated by the different route taken by Linguistic Aid Kit and congratulated us on the choice of a speaker. They felt that the methods used by the speaker were transferrable to their own practice but often overlooked due to the lack of different perspectives.

Subsequently, our Director Abboh Savchoff delivered a talk which escalated from general educational issues through new teaching approaches in linguistics, as well as in general, and ultimately focusing on the potential of technology to overcome some of the pressing issues when working alongside humans. This fostered several discussions concerning the relevance of our project for the future of language education. Naturally, we spent a lot of time talking about the methodology toolkit - our ultimate deliverable. This toolkit we have left open for uploads by all members of our teachers’ network so please feel free to visit it and upload anything you feel is relevant to our mission.

Finally, two inspirational videos were played to emphasise the importance of creativity – in students as well as tutors – and adaptation to people and circumstances alike. These videos were also of great value to our partners since they managed to place our project very precisely in the context of modern education and give us guidelines as for the direction we need to take to deliver a valuable output in a little over a year. In addition, they brought on a conversation which led us to start planning a next project, an extension of the current one, thought to allow us to develop apps and other software to facilitate language learning.

The next step will be for Linguistic Aid Kit to organise a series of seminars and workshops in Manchester and the surrounding areas, where we will offer seats for professionals at very low prices. These events will allow for networking, development, professional growth as well as involvement in the making of a new generation of linguistic education.

Please follow our website and facebook page for more information or simply contact us at your earliest convenience.

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy

Linguistic Aid Kit

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John Green

5/3/2015

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Here, at Linguistic Aid Kit, we take interest in both classical and modern authors and their influence on small and large communities. Even more closely we scrutinise authors with explicit interest in linguistics, education and policies concerning those. To this extent, we are unable to simply disregard the work of John Green and not feature it on our blog.

John Green often coins in new terms and words for the use of online communities, which is of course of great interest to us. On an unrelated note, he often advocates educational approaches which Linguistic Aid Kit work towards, such as online education, interactive education, etc. Finally, he discusses important political issues, such as economics, religion and terrorism, among others, and holds beliefs which coincide to a great extent with the ones of our community. Nevertheless, he offers little in his literary works, and this is discussed below.

John Green first gained fame and publicity through his YouTube channel, VlogBrothers. Together with his brother Hank, he addressed important social and political issues on a biweekly basis. Aside from pressing problems, he also uploaded a number of videos purely dedicated to entertainment.

As time progressed, he grew to create a few online series, among which Crash Course stood out. In these videos, he explains his viewpoint of historian, reader, politician, philosopher, critic, etc. regarding some of the most significant events in the history of society. His commentary is thrilling, though sometimes clumsy and incoherent.

Finally, he stole the spotlight from all major world celebrities after publishing his novels, chiefly The Fault in Our Stars. And this is the subject of the present article.

I was travelling from London to Edinburgh. That day, I had had much more free time that I had expected. Consequently, I had concluded the reading of a book which I had planned to read on the train. At London Victoria, there is no reputable book shop, so I ventured into WH Smith hoping to stumble upon a light read.

My eyes were immediately drawn towards the name of John Green, of whom I didn’t know to be an author. By that time, I had been an avid follower of his channels, and I tended to concur with most of his opinions, save for the fact that he is much more eloquent in his presentation. And when I read the title (The Fault in Our Stars) I assumed it had some connection with celebrities and the social construct of one. My head was spinning with a load of philosophical misgivings towards the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus, and I was impatient to see my thought dressed in the words of John Green.

To cut the story short, I read the book in one sitting, and with ever dwindling interest and respect. I was somewhat appalled by the sudden shift in the direction of Green’s work. Firstly, I felt the plot was entirely mimicking the one of The Notebook and had little literary value. Secondly, I was thoroughly disappointed in the hackneyed similes, metaphors, hyperboles and expressions. The book read like a collage of words cut out from bedtime novels of the 2000s.

In addition, for the first time in my experience, John Green was addressing a large proportion of the population with no regards for the values his work was preaching. He became commercial. Thus far, his blogs were entirely dedicated to what he calls ‘nerdfighters’: a community that arose because of and around his videos. Now, he was addressing emotionally distressed teenagers, impressed by the use of big words and by clichéd character struggles.

This was extremely disappointing. John Green was - and still is - an inspirational person with the ability to profess his viewpoints intelligently, intelligibly, and passionately. His works in the areas of history and education are absolutely indispensable in the current social context of both the USA and Europe. His hearty talks about sensitive topics such as religion and terrorism can be eye-opening for an entire generation and can ultimately lead to an increased understanding and a better dialogue between different doctrines.

His works on important and pressing issues, coupled with his light-hearted videos (such as People Who Love Giraffes Who Love Giraffes) present a platform for engaging and ever growing discussions.

However, unfortunately, to a great part of the population he will remain known as the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska: works with little or no literary value, which in turn greatly undermine his decent intellectual endeavours and his unparalleled capacity as a philosopher.

This post aims to draw your attention to the thrilling works of John Green and to withdraw the halo around his undeserving novels. A scientist of his calibre must be celebrated for his actual contributions to society, and not for his fictional mediocrity.

Please don’t forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy
Linguistic Aid Kit
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Happy Birthday, Linguistic Aid Kit!

23/2/2015

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Last Friday, Linguistic Aid Kit turned three!

We are extremely grateful to all those who have supported us during this time and hope to have been respectable partners to all our associates.

Hereafter, we summarise briefly some of the most important occurrences that have taken place since our foundation.

Though we were a dormant company for a long while, once we stepped into the market, we briskly made confident steps towards our development and fulfilling our social responsibility.

At first, we started as a translation and interpreting company but this soon faded to give way to our proofreading. Our attention to detail is unparalleled, and so is our proficiency in the English language. Since then, we have helped many students achieve higher grades in their studies. In addition, we have scrutinised closely the preparation and dissemination of documents, commercial materials, patents and other pieces.

Our first major educational involvement was our sub-contractual engagement with Emplea Ltd. In consort with them, we delivered a five-day intensive workshop on the topic of active learning in Manchester. Hosting teachers and tutors from six countries, Emplea Ltd. broadened our worldview much. Thereafter, we were immediately resolute that we wished to seek realisation in the area of international education.

Soon, we partnered up with Multinational Educational Center to deliver a similar experience in London for tutors from another five countries. This time, we were speaking about knowledge validation. Exchanging thoughts with our colleagues from overseas was equally beneficial for us and them, and we grew ever more confident that we are precisely in our preferred domain.

Members of our team have subsequently been commissioned to various education-related workshops across Europe. Most recently, they travelled to Lithuania and Belgium to deliver our favourite Train the Trainers (TtTs).

The most exciting workshop we have engaged in so far was the one in Pola de Siero, Spain. There, we worked alongside psychologists and theatre directors to deliver linguistic education in prisons around Europe. Since then, we have aimed to bring the practices we learned back to the UK and are in the process of devising strategies for their implementation.

At present, we are working on delivering language education to the so-called screen generation through different means, which we design alongside our partners from Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal.

We are also working on two additional projects. One of them aims to introduce Drama as a teaching tool in language schools in Bulgaria and Turkey, and the other one has the goal of revolutionising education through introducing a new format of extracurricular activities.

We could have done none of these without the continuous support of our friends: online, in person, material, emotional or otherwise.

So for this, we thank you.

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy
Linguistic Aid Kit
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Effective Listening

18/2/2015

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Though at Linguistic Aid Kit we are decidedly rooted in the domain of linguistics, we must indeed admit that verbal communication only accounts for less than 10% of the exchanges between people. It is therefore of tremendous importance to master the conveying of messages on all levels, including body language, facial expressions and paralinguistics, among other dimensions of communication.

The Public Speaking Tips section of our blog is going to devote special attention to those in due course. However, there is a very pressing issue stemming from them which concerns particularly tutors and teachers. This is what we call ‘Effective listening’.

The term refers to the ability of individuals to penetrate deep in the meaning of everything that is being said, through analysing thoroughly the various levels of conveying the message. It is, of course, a skill invaluable to teachers since they are responsible for the individual assessment of the needs and problems of their students. They are bound to commit sizeable and incorrigible mistakes if they lack this ability.

Here, we offer a brief description of some main distinctions that can be discerned between those who can listen effectively and those who can’t. We also incorporate this in our workshops and endeavour to raise professionals’ awareness towards it to better the students’ experience in the classroom.

If you are interested in learning more, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Firstly, poor listeners tend to ‘wool-gather’: that is, they are in the habit of collecting each word and expression and treating them with equal importance. They listen for concrete statements and are able to misinterpret ‘deaf words’ (i.e. words which bear no meaning in the context). In contrast, good (or effective) listeners think, mentally summarise, weigh the evidence, arrive to conclusions and ask questions which further the conversation. In addition, they listen ‘between the lines’ for tones of voice, facial expressions, pauses and central ideas, rather than facts.

Secondly, bad listeners tend to tune out during passages which seem irrelevant to them or which they find dull. Their good counterparts are able to maintain focus even in moments when the information they receive is worthless to themselves but may well have value for the one delivering the message. This is equally true for all sorts of distractions.

Note-taking is also a strong indicator as for the listening skills of people. Intensive notes with plenty of information and extensive abstracts are a sign of insufficient practice in gathering information. Experienced professionals may take notes in various ways, most notably shorthand. They will have developed a technique to organise their annotations and will spend considerably less time writing and much more making appropriate eye contact, for instance.

Effective listeners usually interfere with the speech of the interlocutor much less often than poor ones. They will withhold any comments until comprehension is complete and they are able to make an informed remark. Poor listeners, on the other hand, will interrupt and ask questions frequently, will make premature judgements and suggest ultimate resolutions before they have had the opportunity to gather the evidence in full.

And importantly, effective listeners are in command of their own body language and ensure it communicates undivided attention and active interest. They maintain eye contact, appropriately involve body contact (touch on the shoulder, for example), keep their shoulders open and point their feet at the speaker.

To achieve better needs assessment of your students and higher satisfaction among them, you may wish to consider these points, which are by no means exhaustive. Active listening skills can help you in all areas of life and will generally render you a better person.

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy
Linguistic Aid Kit
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Proofreading

10/2/2015

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Dear friends,

This week we have launched the full-time proofreading services of Linguistic Aid Kit!

We would like to invite all our customers, friends and stakeholders to explore the new tab on the website and consider us when in need of linguistic help.

Our proofreading is immaculate and spans across a wide range of disciplines.  Clean and correct language is indispensable in today’s bureaucratic world, and is needed in education, administration, professional writings and other spheres of our everyday life.

At Linguistic Aid Kit we guarantee that any imperfections of your work, be it grammatical, lexical, contextual, factual or of any other nature will be duly exterminated. Thus, the quality of your documents will be enhanced and they will serve their purposes better.

We have extensive experience with written academic works, such as courseworks and dissertations, cover letters, CV’s, complaint letters, job applications, project applications and even patents! We secure experts in your field, in addition to our linguistic staff. Based on our market research, we enhance the quality of student work by an average of 10%, which can frequently be the difference between bands of grading, and even between job prospects.

The proofreading takes place either in Microsoft Word or in Adobe reader, as described under Proofreading above. These programmes are designed to serve all language-related needs of users, and are the most widely accepted formats for your documents.

What is more, we provide rapid services at competitive prices. Your work will be returned within 72 hours from the placing of your request. On average, we will charge £0.01 (1p) per word.

We are looking forward to helping you achieve high results and achieving your dreams!

Please do not forget to leave your comments and, of course,
Stay classy

Linguistic Aid Kit
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