Here are some more information for Stone English:

There are many self study courses around that teach you how to speak Spanish. Some are good and some are not so good. This article will compare two popular self study courses - Rocket Spanish and Rosetta Stone.

Rocket Spanish

Rocket Spanish and Rosetta Stone have different teaching methods. Rocket Spanish is a more traditional learning course that uses familiar methods to teach.

This includes an audio component. Two people take you through a series of situations. One is an English speaker, the other native South American Spanish. The English speaker controls the lesson and asks you questions. The native Spanish speaker does all the Spanish speaking and answers questions. They encourage you to repeat the words or sentences after the Spanish speaker. This is a pretty useful course and will give you confidence in your comprehension and spoken Spanish.

There is also an ebook that has a series of lessons on the Spanish language. This aims to teach you vocabulary, grammar, reading and written Spanish. There are tests at the end of each lesson in the ebook.

Rocket Spanish also has a few games that teach you vocabulary and comprehension skills. These are called MegaVocab, MegaAudio and there are some flash cards that you can print out and make your own games with. They are pretty good for learning these skills. MegaVocab can be customized to add you own words and pictures so that it can be a massive game if you want it to be.

They have good support for their product. They have a forum where you can ask questions and talk to people at all levels of the Spanish. They send out fresh lessons every fortnight for a few months.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone uses something they call dynamic immersion. This is a completely different approach to learning a language. The theory is that you learn as you learned your native language via sight, sound and validation. Four pictures are put onto the screen and a word or sentence is spoken. You have to guess which picture relates to the words. This is how we learned as a baby. Your native language is never spoken and you learn by immersing yourself in this process.

They use this method for comprehension, vocabulary and writing practice. There is also a speech analysis component where you can match your pronunciation with that of a native Spanish speaker. They have a Spanish and South American versions of the course.

Summary

I think both courses have a place in the Spanish self study market.

Rocket Spanish aims to be more versatile. For instance, the audio course can be played as an mp3 anywhere at anytime. They also aim to be responsive to their customers via the forum and updated lessons sent to an email address every so often.

Rosetta Stone is a very slick program that has excellent production values. The pictures and photographs are excellent quality and the software works smoothly. The method they employ is a painless way to learn a language, much like you learned your mother tongue.

Rocket Spanish is a one off course that represents good value for money. Rosetta Stone comes in three parts that are fairly expensive but on a par with other high end learn Spanish courses.

For a more detailed review of Rocket Spanish, visit http://rocketspanishreviewed.com The site goes into more depth on the Rocket Spanish Audio Course Adrian Whittle writes on learn how to speak Spanish courses and language learning tips.

Environmentally sensitive English limestone used for luxury apartments in Montrose Place, London

Goldholme Stone’s Lincolnshire limestone is ranked at No. 1 for six of the eight environmental impacts assessed, and No. 2 for the remaining two.  And with an overall score of just 42, it achieves the lowest environmental impact score of the six, commonly specified building materials in the study.  The next best material, clay brick, scores 91 while third ranked reconstituted stone scores 141. 

The study, ‘A Comparison of the Environmental Impact of Various Building Materials’, (researched and compiled by environmental assessment consultant Hughes Craven [formerly Halletec Associates]), compares five construction materials to Goldholme Stone’s Lincolnshire limestone.  Clay Brick, Reconstituted Stone, Timber Cladding, Glass/Steel and Plastic Cladding were assessed and ranked alongside the limestone for the following environmental impacts:- 

• Energy in manufacture
• Pollutants emitted
• Waste in production
• Impact of processing plant
• Life of product
• Maintenance in service
• Carbon dioxide footprint
• Recycling potential 

The results give assurance to a growing number of environmentally conscious architects like Hamiltons and supports their decision to use English limestone for both aesthetic and sustainability reasons.  Hamiltons director Craig Casci said they chose it “Because it is a UK stone and it was greatly liked by Westminster Planning Department and a more interesting alternative to Portland, with warmer tones, especially when wet.  We also specify loadbearing stone and the strength and hardness met the specification.” 

The stone was fixed by London stone contractor Stonewest and Mr. Casci noted that the finished building “has generated a great amount of interest from both press and public.”

Phil Kerry, Managing Director of Goldholme Stone commented, “We’re pleased the environmental impact of building materials has become an important issue for the construction industry.  Locally-sourced materials are often the best option when sustainability is an important design factor.” 

The full study can be downloaded from Goldholme Stone’s website at http://www.goldholme.com/impact.htm

About the Author

Goldholme Stone has been producing the finest English limestone since 2001 and is one of the fastest growing and most well respected names in the British stone industry. The Company has locations spread across five counties producing a diverse range of colours and textures offering a viable alternative for most regional English limestones. http://www.goldholme.com/

Submitted by:-
Alan Gayle of Gayle Associates: http://www.gayleassociates.co.uk/

in weight: if I weighed 119 lbs, how many stone (English weight measure) would I be?

One stone equals fourteen pounds.

119 lbs / 14 = 8.5 stones

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