Finally... 

 

 Creating this blog was actually an assignment, but I cannot deny that I liked writing in it almost every week. I especially liked talking about my passion, linguistics, and designing the blog to fit the theme of linguistics.

 

From: https://www.froggyz.com/en/blogroll-top-25-blogs/

 The course that I took, that required me to make a blog, taught me a lot of things. First of all, I learned to write a blog. I have never written a blog before, I read some blogs but never thought that I would want to start mine simply because I was not interested and I was afraid of sounding boring. However, this blog taught me not to be shy about voicing my opinion and writing about topics that I am interested in. My first blog post was about introducing myself and my dream job, which is related to my major. I admit that the first blog post was the hardest because I kept thinking “what if I sound boring,” but as the semester went on I found myself writing without such thoughts. I believe that the blog assignment was the reason to go beyond this fear.

 The second thing that the course had taught me and got me interested in is soft skills. Before taking this course I didn’t know soft skills and I didn’t know their importance in my career life. But, turns out I already am working on developing some of them without knowing. My interest in the emotional intelligence has helped me develop some of the soft skills and made me more interested in searching more about them. In addition, I developed my written and spoken communication skills in the course by writing business letters, memos, etc. and by doing presentations in front of class.

What is my next step?

From: http://reviste.in/careers/liberation-of-knowledge/

  Next semester will be my final semester at the university. I would say that I made a good decision by choosing my major and minor because I enjoyed taking classes and doing assignments related to my interests. My next step after this term is over is to keep gaining knowledge through reading more and experiencing more. Also I will continue learning my languages that I love, English, Arabic, Korean, and French. I will continue developing my soft skills and small talk skills because I know that I will need them.  

  Next semester also is my capstone semester, where I will use my developed written and spoken communication skills. I know that I write even more than now and that I will present in front of more people, which is nerve-wrecking, but I am glad that I developed my communication skills this semester, thus I believe that I will be fine.

 After university I would definitely have developed lots of skills, like communication skills, and lots of knowledge related to my major and minor. I will take all this and use them in my master’s years, where I will gain more knowledge, do more research papers, and talk more in front of people I do not know. 

  

“The end of one chapter is just the beginning of another. Read on…the best is yet to come.”

                                                                                                              -Susan Gale 

Economic development and Qatar 2030 vision

In this blog post I will talk about one of the four pillars of Qatar 2030 vision is the economic development. I will also give brief information about a big project and a big company that are helping with Qatar’s economy and the 2030 vision.

The economic development sector deals with three main sections that are shown below:

· Sound economic management:

-Qatar aims to have ‘reasonable’ economic development rate where it can catch the attention of international investments, and be able to keep up with the dynamic and changing world.

· Responsible exploitation of oil and gas:

-In this section of the sector the country aims to use petrol and gas to help develop the human resources. Also Qatar aims to have a well-established gas industry that produces clean energy to the country.

·  Suitable economic diversification:

-         Qatar wants to enlarge the national economy by reducing the use of hydrocarbon industries and to rely more on the private sector. Also, the country wants to enlarge the industries that can use the knowledge gained from hydrocarbon industries, and to use such industries to maintain a suitable economic diversification.  

Lusail city:                             

    According to Lusail city’s website, the city is considered one of the largest sustainable cities in the country. The city provides schools, mosques, medical facilities, and more, also it provides jobs for around 170,000 people. All this will enable Qataris and non-Qatari residents to live there without worries. In addition, the city will provide a theme park, two marinas, and two golf courses to let the residents to enjoy the luxury.

 Qatar is trying to develop its economy using Lusail city, but how? Lusail city is a large city that enables people to work and live in it. And this will result in attracting employees and investors from all over the world, which will bring profits to the government and help the economic growth.

       Baladna:

 Baladna is a large private agricultural company in Qatar that produces dairy products. The company raises its own livestock in its farm that is located at the north of Qatar and provides the suitable environment for the livestock to live and produce milk. Baladna helps the economy of Qatar by working to achieve one of its goals, which is self-sufficiency in dairy products. Self-sustainability is one of the goals of the 2030 vision, where Qatar wants to depend less on importing products but to produce them using its resources. Baladna became more well-known after the blockade because it used the blockade as a chance to enhance its performance and to produce the sufficient dairy products for the people of Qatar.  After the blockade Baladna imported 4000 cows from US, Australia, Germany, and Netherlands to produce more milk because the main source of milk was cut. Also it expanded its area to 2.4 million square meters. And as a result of this, Baladna now produces 30 to 35% of dairy products in Qatar, which is definitely helping Qatar to achieve its goal of self-sustainability, at least in dairy production.

 Overall, I think that Qatar is working to achieve its 2030 vision even if the process in this time is slow. Local companies and farms are spreading over the country to help achieve the self-sustainability goal of the country, which in my opinion is a great way for the people who live in this country to contribute to the vision.

And to end this blog post, I would like to suggest reading more about the topic from the websites below. I used these websites to talk about the Qatar 2030 vision.

Qatar 2030 vision

Lusail city website

Your food is made in Qatar

Small Talk

 Have you ever wondered how some people get jobs right away? “What’s their secret!” is a question that you may have asked yourself in such situations. You are not alone! That is why in this blog post I will be giving you one of the secrets that can help you get a job a bit faster.

 I will talk about something that you might have heard of, which is ‘small talk.’ What is small talk, and how important it is for the business world, are the questions that I will answer in this post.

What are small talks?

Small talk is a “short, friendly conversation” that break the ice between the participants in the conversation. Normally the conversation is about certain topics like the weather, sports, or hobbies. Small talks help the person be friendlier towards other people and helps give a good first impression.

 
How to start small talks?

How to start a small talk is an important question that should be asked and answered. I am not an expert in small talks but from my experience, the first thing that you can do to start a small talk is to smile, and show the other person that you are interested in engaging in a conversation with her. Then you can start by asking “how are you?” and introducing yourself.

 After doing these steps you can start talking about something that you know about instead of talking about a topic that you might not nothing about. For example, you can ask “open-ended questions” (Frost, 2018), like asking about hobbies, food and restaurants, or sports. It is better to ask such questions because, first there are more possible answers, and second they can lead to other questions.

Another important tip that Frost focused on is, practicing active listening. What is active listening you ask, it is listening and engaging in the conversation. To clarify, while listening to the other person, ask related questions. This will help the conversation go on, and you will seem interested in what the other person is saying.

How is small talk important in career life?

You might not believe that small talk can actually facilitate the processes of getting a job, or getting a promotion, or help with the career life in general. But here are some reasons to why small talk is important.

·        First impression: small talk can definitely let the person you are talking to form a certain first impression of you. First impression is extremely important, especially if you are doing an interview or preparing for one. The employer will form her positive or negative first impression of you during the interview, because this is where she will meet you. Thus, you need to present yourself in the most positive way, and small talk will help you.

·        Makes you focus more: because of small talk you learn to be an active listener, you learn to focus on the other person and what is she saying. Small talk will teach you to understand others and listen to them and be more empathetic toward them.

·        Confidence: in small talk you will talk about yourself undoubtedly. You will be asked to talk about, for example, your hobbies or your interests, and the more you practice talking about yourself, the more comfortable and confident you will be. Thus, small talk helps you to gain confidence.

And finally, to end this post I would like to suggest visiting the blogs below to know more about small talk.   

The Ultimate Guide to Small Talk: Conversation Starters, Powerful Questions, & More

48 Questions That'll Make Awkward Small Talk So Much Easier

Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

Hello everyone and welcome back!

 This blog post will be about soft skills and hard skills. I already talked about soft skills in a post before briefly, but this time I’ll elaborate and I will talk about hard skills. But before I start, watch this video below to get an idea about the two skills.

Soft skills

  I talked before in one of my posts about soft skills, and I related them to the emotional intelligence. But just to recap, soft skills are interpersonal skills that make up a good employee. For example, communication skills, good listening, and team-working skills are considered soft skills.

Hard skills:

On the other hand, hard skills are skills specific for a certain job. For example if you want to be a professional soccer player then you should know how to play soccer. Other examples of hard skills or that show that you have hard skills are, a degree (bachelor, masters, etc...), language skills, and computer skills.

Advantages of soft skills and hard skills:

• Soft skills:

1.     If you learn soft skills then you will have the necessary people skills that will help you when you interact with others, like when you do an interview for a job. They will help you get the job.

2.     If you learn soft skills then you will develop 'leader-ship' skills. Developing soft skills will make you be an effective communicator, and leaders must be good at communicating with their team or group members. And because of good communicating skills you, as a leader, will be able to lead your team without negative feelings, like jealousy and hatred.

3.     If you learn soft skills you will be surprised at how good your  body language will be. Body language will be one of the first indicators that tell about a person, and learning to control them or use them properly is important. Soft skills are all about communication skills, and body language is also a communication tool. Learning soft skills will make you a better communicator, and being a good communicator will help you use effective body language.

• Hard skills

 1.     Hard skills will let you have the necessary skills that are needed for the job you are applying. For example, computer skills for a computer engineering job.

2.     Hard skills are easier to develop than soft skills. For instance, you just need to learn about computers, like programming, if you want to be a computer engineer.  

3.     Hard skills are easier to measure than soft skills. Having a degree, resume, and a cover letter will measure your hard skills.

  Disadvantages of soft and hard skills:

• Soft skills

  Generally there are no disadvantages of soft skills but they are harder to develop than hard skills, they need more practice and interaction with people. 

Also, they are harder to measure than hard skills. The employer for example, will need to interview the candidate for the job to be able to figure out if he or she has soft skills.

• Hard skills

Hard skills also do not have disadvantages, but relying on them and disregarding soft skills will not be of help to get a job.

Bottom line is, you cannot regard only one them, you need them both to succeed.

From: http://shubhamtechnicalinstitute.in/soft-skills-training/

Qatar and soft and hard skills:

The education system here focuses a lot on hard skills because I believe that we still live in the era where “getting a degree is all that matters to get a job.” That is why, and it is my assumption, teachers who work at public schools are not fully aware of soft skills. And thus cannot transmit this knowledge and its importance to the students. I believe that the education system should be more aware of soft skills, and not disregard them and focus only on hard skills. Because it is important to teach students to have a  balance between the two skills in order to succeed in life.

What about me?

What about me? Which of the skills I think I am strong at? The answer is, both. I have developed my hard skills greatly because of my school and university, thus I think I have strong hard skills. However, as I mentioned in one of my posts, I am highly interested in the emotional intelligence, and I know and are interested in the relationship between it and soft skills. Thus, I am learning and developing the EQ and my soft skills for about three years (and counting). That is why I think that I have a good foundation in soft skills.

And finally I would suggest visiting the links bellow for more information about soft and hard skills

7 soft skills that will make or break your career

Top 10 hard skills that employers love

Ted talk: A Country with No Water.

By Fahad Al-Attiya

January 2013

Doha, Qatar

 In this blog post I will comment on the Ted talk by Fahad Al-Attiya, where he talked about water in Qatar. To summarize, Fahad Al-Attiya spoke about the one essential resource for life that Qatar did not have, which is water. He spoke about how having access to fresh water changed the life of people living in Qatar, and how having fresh water helped the people fulfill their everyday needs. Then he talked about how overpopulation has a negative effect on insufficient water resources, as people do not have sufficient water to satisfy their daily needs because industries use water too.

Why is this TED talk important?

I chose to talk about this talk because of the importance of water. Qatar used to be a country with no water, which made it an under developed country. But, after having access to water the country developed incredibly. This shows that water is definitely an essential source for living. In addition, the talk emphasized on the importance of taking care of water and not wasting it. And how industrial practices can have an effect on the sufficiency of fresh water. Fahad Al-Attiya sent an implicit message to the whole world and not only the residents in Qatar, and that is, water needs to be conserved.

 The problem and solution presented in this Ted talk

 The main problem that Fahad Al-Attiya spoke about was the insufficient water supply in Qatar. After oil was found in Qatar, Qatar developed and the population grew. And as a result, the new technology called desalination made it possible for this country to have clean water. However, there is a problem, growing population and a country with no water or insufficient water supply in Qatar. The situation in Qatar that Al-Attiya presented in this talk is that this country imports 90% of the food and cultivates only 1% of land. Also the number of farms have declined to -30%. This happened as a result of the open market policy. This is a problem because it affects the sustainability of this country. It is an issue for agriculture.

 The solution presented was using the renewable energy (sun) to produce water, and the water will help farmers to farm. And because of that the country will consume the food that is directly coming from the farms. Thus, Qatar will maintain its sustainability.

My thoughts:

I believe that this talk is important because it highlights important matters that need to be looked at in consideration. For example, water and how countries without water can get clean water, by using renewable energy that doesn’t hurt the environment. 

Also, this Ted Talk showed how Qatar is moving forward towards its goal to achieve the 2030 vision, in relation to the environmental sector of the vision. Qatar cares about the environment and wants to develop environmental friendly technologies that could help the country grow, and this talk by Fahad Al-Attiya shows how the country views environment as an important that needs to be taken care of.         

A successful business?

 Have you ever wanted to start a successful business but you did not know how? You are not alone! Everyone wants to be successful and everyone wants a comfortable life with no financial worries.

 In this blog post I will discuss an example of a new and a successful business in Qatar. I will talk about why I chose this business and why I think it will continue to be a successful business in the future. I will also talk about how it can influence you to be a successful business owner.

 

From Temba sports twitter: https://twitter.com/tembasports

 The business that I will talk about is “Temba Sports.” Temba Sports is a sports event planner company. It was established in 2014 and it specializes at making creative sports events for different institutions, like schools. The aim of this organization is to change or develop the notion of ‘sports’ in the country by improving Qatar’s sports facilities. And to contribute to the human development sector, which is a part of Qatar’s 2030 vision. To achieve these aims Temba Sports uses the newest technology to improve the sports facilities, and to organize unique sports events.

The company also provides different sports lessons, like basketball, soccer and swimming for people of all ages. Moreover, it organizes other activities like camping and gatherings to give a chance for everyone to participate in the event.  

 The reason I chose to talk about this business is because I believe that the idea is new in Qatar. Temba Sports is willing to spread a positive vibe to the word ‘workout’ to all the people living in this country because the company is well aware of the importance of working out in our lives. And to do so it is willing to organize special sports events for any person or institution. In addition, the company takes in consideration Qatar’s 2030 vision. It wants to contribute to it and to make Qatar a little bit closer to the vision, which I find heartwarming because the owner of the company Mohammed Al-Mousawi showed his nationalism and love for his country by doing something that helps make his country’s name known to the world.

Temba Sports success:

 Even though Temba Sports started only in recent years, I believe that the company will continue its success. I believe so because the company takes Qatar’s 2030 vision into consideration and uses it as an inspiration every time it takes a step forward. In addition, world cup is coming to Qatar on 2022, and this is another reason that makes me think that this organization will continue its success. The world cup is a huge sports event that attracts the attention of everyone around the world, and Temba Sports focus is on sports. That is why 2022 world cup drives the company sports to keep working hard and spread the importance of sports around Qatar. And to show a good public image of sports in Qatar.

Furthermore, the company has a good marketing strategy that will guarantee its continuous success. It is the social media. Temba Sports has a Facebook page and a twitter account that uses to promote its business. Social media is taking over world these days, almost everyone has an account in different social media programs. It uses social media to appeal to people of all ages and to show them why they should pay attention to Temba Sports. And that is why I think Temba Sports is doing well in its promotion.

 Temba Sports company is an example of one creative idea that helped the owner to be a successful entrepreneur. And this the first step to having a successful business, having a creative idea that attracts the attention of the crowed. 

And lastly, if you are interested to know more about Temba Sports company, click this link to go to its website.

EQ and soft skills

Have you ever had an experience where you were in a trouble and someone, let's say a friend, listened to you and talked to you sympathetically? And you thought "wow, she really gets me!" You are not alone! That person that you met has a high EQ and definitely good people skills.

In this blog post I will step away from linguistics and jobs and talk about a thing that has been of my interest in the last few years, and I have been reading about. It is helpful for you in your personal and business lives. It is the EQ or the emotional quotient. Then I will relate it to soft skills.
  Emotional quotient can help you to be a better communicator, that is why I decided to write about them in this thread.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

The emotional quotient shows your ability to understand your emotions and how you deal with them, and the ability to understand others emotions. In other words, just like how the IQ (intelligence quotient) indicates your intelligence level, the EQ indicates your ability to understand emotions.

There are five categories to the emotional intelligence, and they are: 

1) Self -awareness: the ability to recognize your own emotions.

2) Self-regulation: the ability to control and work with your emotions effectively.

3)Motivation: the ability to motivate yourself to work on your goals.

4)Empathy: the ability to recognize and understand the feelings of the people.

Why is EQ important?

Now you might be asking why EQ is important. And how does it help the personal and business life of people? Well, firs of all, the emotional quotient is helpful because it helps get in touch with your feelings and be honest with them. This is important because if you are able to identify your feelings then you know when to take control over them. Let me give you an example, you are at a discussion with someone, and she said to you that what you said is "wrong." Normally people would evoked and will try to defend themselves and their opinion even if they have to yell. But if your emotional intelligence level is high, then in this situation you will recognize that you got evoked and you will know why. Thus, you will be able to know how to control this feeling and reply back to the person you are talking to effectively. You might say something like "I might have not made my opinion clear, let me clarify it...." This response will not provoke the other person and make him or her angry but will let him or her know your opinion without any trouble. 

This is just one example of how the emotional quotient can help you be a better communicator. And this situation happens to everyone in their personal and business lives.

From: www.quayappointments.com 

How is EQ related to soft skills?

Before I begin to talk about the relation between EQ and soft skills, let me tell explain soft skills briefly to you. To put it simply soft skills are positive traits that make up a good employee. For example, having a positive attitude and being a good listener are examples of soft skills. The importance of these skills is, they help you know how to engage in a conversation with someone. And

You might have noticed that my explanation of soft skills is quite similar to what I said about the emotional quotient. That is because there is a similarity between them. Both of soft skills and the emotional intelligence help you engage in conversations effectively. However, they are not the same! emotional intelligence makes you know how you to engage with your feelings and understand them. But soft skills are personal traits that help you be a better communicator. The relation between the two is that if you have a higher emotional intelligence level then you are likely to have a well developed soft skills, because both are in a way dependent on each other. For example, one of the soft skills that we need to have is good listening. And normally people with high levels of EQ are considered good listeners, because they care. To clarify, EQ makes people more empathetic towards others, and because of that they tend to be a good listeners. And as a result, they developed a soft skill.
The bottom line is, having a high emotional quotient level will help you develop soft skills. 

The emotional intelligence is very important to help us become better humans and better communicators. It teaches us a lot about our feelings and the feelings of others, which help us take control over our emotions and dealing with people and troubles. 

Before I close this post I would like to suggest going to the two links bellow for more information about EQ. 

"What is emotional intelligence" gives you more information about the 5 categories of EQ that I mentioned above. And "Emotional intelligence and soft skills" tells you more about EQ and its relation to soft skills.