What Is a Deposit?

When you agree to rent accommodations, you will probably be asked to pay a deposit, which is a sum of money paid to the landlord and refunded to you when you leave. Deposits are a form of security for the landlord, in case:

• You don’t pay your rent;
• You don’t pay your gas/electricity/phone bills; or
• You damage the property or any of the contents.
• If any of these things happen, your deposit will not be refunded to you.

Different landlords ask for different amounts of money as a deposit. However, by law, the amount must be no more than the equivalent of two months’ rent.

When you pay your deposit, make sure that you:

• Get a receipt; and
• Get a written statement showing what the deposit covers, and under what circumstances the deposit can be kept by the landlord.

At the same time that you turn in your notice of leaving the accommodation, write to your landlord and request him/her to come to inspect the property. Keep a copy of this letter. If there is anything with which the landlord is not satisfied, you have time to correct it before you leave; therefore, there will be no reason for the landlord to deduct anything from your deposit.

If you do have any problems getting your deposit back, contact your college welfare office or a local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Vocational Courses at Bournemouth Academic Centre

Part of Agricultural Studies

A higher agriculture course at the Bournemouth Academic Centre offers a variety of agricultural skills: beef and pork production, horse and lamb studies, and rural self-management in Bournemouth. The British Agriculture Organization (BAO) supports crops programs for local farmers to produce alternative crops and organic foods. The Centre has introduced courses on the production of medical herbs. Dr. Thompson has taught an organic compound program introducing “agri-chemistry study,” which entitles applicants to learn to make an organic compound using a mixture of local crops. The BAO runs the most popular agri-business management program in Europe, which also introduces other local farmers to alternative crops for developing the local economy dramatically, supporting agriculture methods including a natural enemy or insect effects instead of chemical pesticides.

Part of Health Studies

The desire for wellbeing in the local community has seen an increase in body shape or balance awareness and a need for trained personal coaches in gyms and sports and leisure industries. Fitness courses teach individuals how to practice and plan through a variety of programs like yoga, martial arts, aerobics, body building, swimming, and golf at Super Body Centre in Bournemouth. Applicants also learn how to understand and adopt a safe health program. Super Body Centre also offers a support program for the elderly and a pediatric nursing program. These courses give the academic knowledge and practical experience needed to work in a variety of healthcare institutions. Programs include the Certificate in Natural Therapy, which involves the treatment of a physical problem or illness through natural methods without negative side effects.

Part of Environmental Studies

The environmental preservation courses sponsored by the Bournemouth Academic Centre have been improved to aid applicants in understanding the environmental movement that protects water, air, and land from severe pollution. Lessons geared toward understanding practical environmental situations including coastal pollution are offered on the beach in Bournemouth. This course provides a guidebook for applicants so they can learn about the importance of the environment and earn the Certificate in Nature Protections & Self-Petrol at the Centre. Also, the marine museum that shows all sea worlds is available there.

Sharing the Road with Motorcycles

Many drivers are having trouble adjusting to the increasing number of motorcycles appearing on our nation’s streets and highways. Motorcycles number less than four percent of the motor vehicle population in the U.S., yet they are involved in nearly 10 percent of all motor vehicle deaths. In most motorcycle accidents, drivers of other vehicles are at fault.

Motorcyclists have the same rights and responsibilities on public roadways as other drivers. Special conditions and situations, however, often cause greater problems for motorcyclists. Driver should be aware of these problems, so they can help share the road safely with motorcyclists. Motorcycles are not easily identified in traffic. Even when drivers see them, many say it’s difficult to judge how far away motorcyclists are or how fast they are traveling. Being alert to this problem and consciously looking for motorcyclists will help avoid collisions.

Here are a few of the situations that require special attention.

Drivers turning left in front of oncoming motorcyclists cause a large percentage of car/cycle accidents. Drivers often fail to pick the motorcyclist out of the traffic scene, or inaccurately judge the speed of the oncoming motorcycle. Look once, then again. Make sure you see the motorcycle and know its speed before you make a left turn or turn right onto a through street or cross a roadway.

Turn signals do not turn off automatically on most motorcycles. Before you make a turn in front of a motorcyclist, be sure the rider is turning and not continuing straight into your path with a forgotten turn signal still blinking.

The same two-second following distance should be given to motorcyclists as given to other vehicles. Following too closely may cause the rider’s attention to be distracted from the road and traffic ahead.

Motorcycles need a full-lane width like other vehicles. A skilled motorcyclist is constantly changing positions within a lane to increase his ability to see and be seen, and to avoid objects on the road. Never move into the same lane with a motorcycle, even if the lane is wide and the cyclist is riding to one side. It is not only illegal; it is extremely hazardous.

Bad weather and slippery surfaces cause greater problems for motorcyclists than for car drivers. Allow more following distance for motorcyclists when the road surface is wet and slippery. These conditions create stability problems, and skilled motorcyclists will slow down. Also be alert to the problem of glare that rain and wet surfaces create, especially at night.

Strong cross winds can move a motorcycle out of its lane of travel. Areas where this can happen are wide-open, long stretches of highways and bridges. Large, fast-moving trucks sometimes create wind blasts which, under certain conditions, can move the motorcyclist out of his path of travel. Being alert to these conditions prepares you for a motorcyclist’s possible quick change in speed or direction.

Some other conditions that create special problems for motorcycles are:

Road hazards, such as gravel, debris, pavement seams, rain grooves, small animals, and even manhole covers may cause the motorcyclist to change speed or direction. Railroad grade crossings usually cause the motorcyclist to slow down to help cushion the shock of a rough crossing. The rider also may change direction so the tracks can be crossed head on.

Metal or grated bridges cause a motorcycle to wobble much more than a car. An experienced motorcyclist slows down and moves to the center of the lane to allow room for handling the uneven surface. An inexperienced motorcyclist may become startled and try to quickly change direction. Be prepared for either reaction.

Being aware of these situations and following these suggestions can help you share the road safely with motorcyclists.

Information on Multi-Functional Devices (MFDs)

The manual on multi-functional devices, which provide a combination of functions like scan, photocopy, fax, and print, is on the ground floor of the public library for students and staff. The devices have recently been installed in the public library. When using one of these devices, users should always bring a charged personal photo card.

The layout of the buttons is similar to a computer keyboard. To verify identification and protect against fraud, users should have a unique activated card with a four-digit account number to access the system. Initially, all users will have to pay £2.00 at the information centre to obtain a plastic card recording their personal details. When a new card is bought, the library computer system automatically issues a receipt to the user, but the user can decide whether to print it out. Always keep the card with you and fill out your signature on the back side, which is used to identify the cardholder.

Users are able to use all multi-function device services in the library with the balance charged to their personal photo cards: £0.15 per A4 (black and white), £0.25 per A4 (color). The maximum amount available to charge is £70.00. If your card is lost or stolen, you will have to pay £2.00 for a replacement card to be recorded with your personal details. Recharging machines have been installed on the ground floor. The MFDs room number is 101 on the ground and first floors. Users can charge theirs cards with only coins.

How Babies Learn Language

During the first year of a child’s life, parents and caregivers are concerned with its physical development; during the second year, they watch the baby’s language development very carefully. It is interesting just how easily children learn language. Children who are just three or four years old, who cannot yet tie their shoelaces, are able to speak in full sentences without any specific language training.

The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct – something as natural as eating or sleeping. According to experts in this area, this language instinct is innate – something each of us is born with. But, this prevailing view has not always enjoyed widespread acceptance.

In the middle of the last century, experts of the time, including a renowned professor at Harvard University in the United States, regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere repetition. Language “habit” developed as young children were rewarded for repeating language correctly and ignored or punished when they used incorrect forms of language. Over time, a child, according to this theory, would learn language much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training.

Yet, even though the modern view holds that language is instinctive, experts like Assistant Professor Lise Eliot at Rosalind Franklin University are convinced that the interaction a child has with its parents and caregivers is crucial to its developments. The language of the parents and caregivers act as models for the developing child. In fact, a baby’s day-to-day experience is so important that the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to the model speakers it hears.

Given that the models parents provide are so important, it is interesting to consider the role of a speaker who is trying to exaggerate certain aspects of the language to capture the attention of a young baby.

Dr. Roberta Golinkoff believes that babies benefit from baby talk. Experiments show that immediately after birth, babies respond more to infant-directed talk than they do to adult-directed talk. When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions, which help the baby to begin to understand what is being communicated. She also notes that the exaggerated nature and repetition of baby talk helps infants to learn the difference between sounds. Since babies have a great deal of information to process, baby talk helps. Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr. Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older, that is, when the child is better able to communicate with parents.

Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies’ ability to recognize sounds and says they recognize the sound of their own names as early as four and a half months. Babies know the meaning of “Mommy” and “Daddy” by about six months, which is earlier than was previously believed. By about nine months, babies begin recognizing frequent patterns in language. A baby will listen longer to the sound that occurs frequently, so it is good to frequently call the infant by its name.

An experiment at Johns Hopkins University in the USA, in which researchers went to the homes of 16 nine-month-olds, confirmed this view. The researchers arranged their visits for ten days out of a two-week period. During each visit, the researcher played an audiotape that included the same three stories. The stories included odd words such as “python” or “hornbill,” words that were unlikely to be encountered in the babies’ everyday experience. After a couple of weeks during which nothing was done, the babies were brought to the research lab, where they listened to two recorded lists of words. The first list included words heard in the story. The second included similar words, but not the exact ones that were used in the stories.

Jusczyk found the babies listened longer to the words that had appeared in the stories, which indicated that the babies had extracted individual words from the story. When a control group of 16 nine-month-olds, who had not heard the stories, listened to the two groups of words, they showed no preference for either list.

This does not mean that the babies actually understand the meanings of the words, just the sound patterns. It supports the idea that people are born to speak and have the capacity to learn language from the day they are born. This ability is enhanced if they are involved in conversation: And, significantly, Dr. Eliot reminds parents that babies and toddlers need to feel they are communicating. Clearly, sitting in front of the television is not enough; the baby must be having an interaction with another speaker.

How Babies Learn Language

During the first year of a child’s life, parents and caregivers are concerned with its physical development; during the second year, they watch the baby’s language development very carefully. It is interesting just how easily children learn language. Children who are just three or four years old, who cannot yet tie their shoelaces, are able to speak in full sentences without any specific language training.

The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct – something as natural as eating or sleeping. According to experts in this area, this language instinct is innate – something each of us is born with. But, this prevailing view has not always enjoyed widespread acceptance.

In the middle of the last century, experts of the time, including a renowned professor at Harvard University in the United States, regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere repetition. Language “habit” developed as young children were rewarded for repeating language correctly and ignored or punished when they used incorrect forms of language. Over time, a child, according to this theory, would learn language much like a dog might learn to behave properly through training.

Yet, even though the modern view holds that language is instinctive, experts like Assistant Professor Lise Eliot at Rosalind Franklin University are convinced that the interaction a child has with its parents and caregivers is crucial to its developments. The language of the parents and caregivers act as models for the developing child. In fact, a baby’s day-to-day experience is so important that the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to the model speakers it hears.

Given that the models parents provide are so important, it is interesting to consider the role of a speaker who is trying to exaggerate certain aspects of the language to capture the attention of a young baby.

Dr. Roberta Golinkoff believes that babies benefit from baby talk. Experiments show that immediately after birth, babies respond more to infant-directed talk than they do to adult-directed talk. When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions, which help the baby to begin to understand what is being communicated. She also notes that the exaggerated nature and repetition of baby talk helps infants to learn the difference between sounds. Since babies have a great deal of information to process, baby talk helps. Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr. Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older, that is, when the child is better able to communicate with parents.

Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies’ ability to recognize sounds and says they recognize the sound of their own names as early as four and a half months. Babies know the meaning of “Mommy” and “Daddy” by about six months, which is earlier than was previously believed. By about nine months, babies begin recognizing frequent patterns in language. A baby will listen longer to the sound that occurs frequently, so it is good to frequently call the infant by its name.

An experiment at Johns Hopkins University in the USA, in which researchers went to the homes of 16 nine-month-olds, confirmed this view. The researchers arranged their visits for ten days out of a two-week period. During each visit, the researcher played an audiotape that included the same three stories. The stories included odd words such as “python” or “hornbill,” words that were unlikely to be encountered in the babies’ everyday experience. After a couple of weeks during which nothing was done, the babies were brought to the research lab, where they listened to two recorded lists of words. The first list included words heard in the story. The second included similar words, but not the exact ones that were used in the stories.

Jusczyk found the babies listened longer to the words that had appeared in the stories, which indicated that the babies had extracted individual words from the story. When a control group of 16 nine-month-olds, who had not heard the stories, listened to the two groups of words, they showed no preference for either list.

This does not mean that the babies actually understand the meanings of the words, just the sound patterns. It supports the idea that people are born to speak and have the capacity to learn language from the day they are born. This ability is enhanced if they are involved in conversation: And, significantly, Dr. Eliot reminds parents that babies and toddlers need to feel they are communicating. Clearly, sitting in front of the television is not enough; the baby must be having an interaction with another speaker.