Cambodia Wurth

For the first 11 years of its existence, the founders of Neom Organics chose to avoid private equity, instead opting to fund everything themselves.

In so doing, the process of building up the natural beauty brand took a lot longer, one of the founders Nicola Elliott explained at the AllBright FoundHER festival.

“I was absolutely adamant that we would retain control of it — which in the end, ended up being a good thing for us, but it meant that we grew slowly. You can only put into the business what you’ve obviously made,” she said.

Four years after setting up the business, Elliott attended a trade show and met Nicky Kinnaird, the founder of beauty retailer Space NK, who told her that it would take about nine years for Neom Organics to become a household name — a statement that surprised Elliott at the time, but now completely understands.

“You can grow (a business) much, much quicker, and I do think you do need to be prepared to get cash to do that,” she said.

“So, I think just knowing that fact, and sitting down and thinking, ‘If you want it all yourself, that’s fine,’ — it will take a lot longer. And if you don’t, that’s also fine. But prioritize going for the cash earlier and it will grow faster.”

 Schools. schools. schools. Britain. Britain. Britain. I spend much of my professional life waxing lyrical about the massive strengths of the UK's independent schools. Their prowess is down to their holistic educational practice - not only do they have some of the best academic results in the world, but they also excel outside the classroom, and their pastoral care is second to none.

However, in so doing, I often overlook one of the central reasons underpinning parents' and children's decisions to choose a British boarding school is the fact that they will be totally immersed in the English language. The recent raising of eyebrows in Hong Kong about English being a "waste of time" reminded of this fact.

It is, of course, true that Chinese is the native language of nearly 20 percent of the human race and that there have been various efforts and initiatives in the West to encourage more children to learn the language. The most progressive of schools have, for example, introduced compulsory Putonghua lessons.

But the fact remains that English looks not only certain to remain the language of international business, but for this position to be further strengthened in the decades ahead. The number of Chinese-speaking children at schools overseas - in the UK, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - is testimony to this.

Yes, there are only 360 million native English speakers on the planet, but it is estimated that around 1.5 billion speak English proficiently - and it is understood in more countries worldwide than any other language.

This is not an apology for linguistic laziness in English-speaking countries but it is an undisputed fact that the world does revolve around English.

English can be learned in a classroom in Mongolia, by watching films in Mexico, or by working in a call center in Mumbai.

However, the best means of being able to listen to, converse fluently and intelligibly in English is to live it. And that is always best done when the brain is working best - when you are young and adaptable.

Being taught in English is, of course, the best start, but children learn just as much language when they're at a social or sporting activity.

Naturally they'll learn some jolly bad English too, but their confidence and spoken English will be dramatically better if they've actually lived it too.

The beauty of the holistic nature of British boarding schools (and their counterparts in the United States, Canada and Australia) is that youngsters are surrounded by English in every possible scenario - not just in the classroom.

This is what will help them stand apart from others who haven't had this privileged experience.

English is a sine qua non.

is the director of schools consultancy at Ascent Prep in Causeway Bay

Seventeen students stood around gleaming silver tables in the Culinary Literacy Center, a bright, spacious kitchen and classroom on the fourth floor of the Parkway Central Library, listening as Lindsay Southworth told them what was on the menu for the day.

“Who here has had pancakes before?” she asked.

Only a few hands went up.

The assembled students, immigrants from 12 countries, are participants in Edible Alphabet, a program that teaches English through cooking classes. Over the course of six lessons, each three hours long, these students will make their way through a full recipe book, improving their ability to communicate about food and gaining confidence to navigate a new city and culture.

“The curriculum uses the meal that we make together as the vehicle for learning English,” said Liz Fitzgerald, the Culinary Literacy Center’s director.

The program began three years ago as a one-off cooking class for a nonprofit that serves refugees. This fiscal year, the library will offer five iterations of the program at the Free Library’s Parkway Central Library, and four at neighborhood branches.

Some of those courses will run for 16 weeks, allowing for more in-depth English practice. But language learning expands beyond mastering vocabulary words and tricky grammar. It’s also about developing comfort navigating a new city and culture.

“Food is universal. It’s a common language,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s navigating a grocery store; it’s getting invited to someone’s house for dinner; it’s preparing breakfast.”

Usually, the instructor is a graduate student getting certified in teaching English as a foreign language. On this day, Southworth — who worked as a middle school teacher for a decade before starting as Edible Alphabet’s program manager just four weeks ago — is in charge. On a whiteboard behind her are the vocabulary words for the day: butter, skillet, spatula, maple syrup.

Long before the class gets cooking, they practice those words using a game. Breaking up into pairs, students practice introducing one another using their name, native country, and what they eat for breakfast.

JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

(Left to Right) Mamadou Hady Barry from Guinea, Ivana Guidelli from Brazil, Jiyun Li from China, Gloria Conchola from Mexico, and Yu Qi from China work together to make pancakes, with the help of instructor Jameson O’Donnell, at the Culinary Literacy Center at the Central Library.

There’s a lot to learn from this simple conversation, said Jameson O’Donnell, the teaching chef. The head chef at Cake in Cherry Hill, O’Donnell has been volunteering with Edible Alphabet from the beginning, and helped to develop the curriculum, a recipe book that each class follows week by week. The book encompasses a full day’s worth of meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks.

This allows students to have deeper conversations about the role that food plays in their daily lives, he said. They can talk about their morning routines, or how they take their tea or coffee.

“Or hot water,” O’Donnell said. “Some people drink hot water for breakfast, which I learned from this.”

The recipes are all vegetarian, to avoid any cultural conflict with meat or pork, and for reasons of food safety. Most of the recipes are also fairly simple, so that students with limited English can still communicate as they work.

Early on, the recipes also strictly followed USDA health standards. But Fitzgerald said that the food was so bland that students rarely wanted to eat at the end of the lesson. That changed the day the class prepared chana masala, an Indian stewed chickpea dish. Suddenly, students were coming back for seconds.

“So we knew that we needed more flavor,” she said.

The teachers realized that students from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Africa often are accustomed to more spicy and flavorful cuisines. But they also had to strike a balance for students from European backgrounds who may have less tolerance for spice. Now students will learn to make a carrot coriander soup, a kale smoothie, a Mediterannean salad called panzanella — and, of course, pancakes.

While the vocabulary lesson progresses, O’Donnell assembles the ingredients for the pancakes: flour, eggs, milk, maple syrup. Then, everyone divides up into teams with classmates who don’t share their native language and tie up bright red aprons before turning to their recipes.

They use their new vocabulary words mixed with a lot of hand gestures to communicate. Some follow instructions more closely than others, separating the wet ingredients from the dry. Others forge ahead, whisking everything together before O’Donnell has a chance to dive in. One team eyeballs the flour, and accidentally doubles the milk. Another is trying to figure out whether they remembered to add the sugar.

But the point of the exercise isn’t to produce perfect pancakes: It’s to practice communication and problem-solving, O’Donnell said.

“I love that they get a lot from mixing up into nonnative language groups and cooking,” Southworth said. “They’re just communicating on the fly.”

JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

Gloria Conchola (left) from Mexico, and Yu Qi from China work together to make pancakes.

Although the class is aimed at advanced beginners or intermediate English speakers, the students represent a wide range of English levels. Mamadou Barry, 23, of Guinea, has been in the United States for just a year. He speaks five languages already, though, which bodes well for his ability to pick up a sixth.

Others have lived in the country for decades. Mila Borochin, 69, has been in the United States for 39 years, and in Philadelphia for the last six.

A native of the former Soviet Union — “it used to be Russia when I left; now it’s Ukraine” — she was also the most excited to make pancakes, which she said she makes all the time.

“I’m cheating. I buy the ready-to-eat mix, and I made waffles, pancakes, blintzes, crepes,” she said. “I try to stay away from pancakes, but I think they are my favorite.”

This class is an opportunity for Borochin, whose husband recently passed away, to meet new people and be social now that she is retired.

“I can’t stay at home all the time,” she said. “I would like to meet people, learn something new, keep being friendly with other people.”

On this day, class members come from Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guinea, Hong Kong, Mexico, Myanmar, and Spain. There’s a lot for them to translate in any given activity. Most students were raised in the metric system, and suddenly need to think in pounds and cups, not kilograms and liters. And some concepts, like milk that comes from almonds instead of animals, were downright bewildering.

But some commonalities emerged, too.

Zineb Marouf arrived from Algeria just six months ago. Back home, she used to cook — her favorite dish was couscous — but she hasn’t been cooking since moving here. She’s never had pancakes before, she said.

But as her group ladles the mixture onto hot, greasy pans, she realizes the dish is familiar. It’s just like beghrir, a spongy North African hotcake made with semolina.

JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

Camila Rojas (left) from Chile, and Zineb Marouf (center) from Algeria work together during a program at the Free Library that teaches English to newcomers through cooking.

The lesson ends with a shared meal, hotcakes slathered in maple syrup and drizzled with blueberries. They talk about the flavors and textures of the food, and what they learned that day. Experiential learning will stay with them longer than simply memorizing lists of words or verb conjugations,  Southworth said.

“We’re thrown into a situation where we use [English], and we realize, ‘OK, maybe maple syrup wasn’t the most important vocab word I needed to learn today — maybe ‘Don’t burn the pancakes’ is the most important,” she said.

Kwong Man of Hong Kong hadn’t made pancakes before. He thought it was easy — “just follow the instructions,” he shrugged — but he liked the experience because he typically cooks traditional Chinese food, like vegetables with steamed fish. This lesson let him learn more about different cultures, he said.

“As a cook, it is very interesting to me and special to learn more than English,” he said.

Published: July 12, 2018 — 10:06 AM EDT  

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

These popular Bose noise-cancelling headphones are a must-have for travel. Amazon

*We're noticing some glitches on Amazon.com at the moment, so a few of these deals may not be showing up yet. We think things will sort themselves out soon — but in the meantime, happy shopping!

Prime Day 2018 is officially here, and for the first time in the event's history, deals are available on hundreds of thousands of items for more than 36 hours. To help you save time and avoid having to sort through everything, we've rounded up the best deals on travel gear and luggage, including packing cubes, travel pillows, and other accessories.

We'll be constantly updating this list with new deals as they pop up throughout Prime Day, and removing items that are out of stock or no longer on sale, so check back often for the latest updates.

Plus, make sure to stay up to date on the latest deals by checking out this page, which is where you can find all of our Prime Day 2018 coverage.

To take advantage of any of these deals, you'll need to be an Amazon Prime member. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial that lets you take advantage of Prime Day sales and dozens of other perks. We also have tons of other articles to help you find the best deals in other categories, so you make sure to them out, too.

This is our list of the best travel and luggage deals for Amazon Prime Day. You can keep scrolling to check out our full list.

Amazon Prime Day offers deals on hundreds of thousands of items including luggage and travel gear. Amazon

Make sure you stay up to date on the latest deals beyond just travel by checking out this page, which is where you can find all of our Prime Day 2018 coverage.

If you want to see more from Insider Picks, we're collecting emails for an upcoming newsletter. You'll be the first to hear about the stuff we cover. Click here to sign up . Follow us on Pinterest. Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Business Insider's Insider Picks team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Have something you think we should know about? Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

Carvalho sees "the human body as a landscape."Courtesy of Monica Carvalho/Facebook

Monica Carvalho's photos aren't always what they seem.

The 25-year-old artist combines photos of the human body with landscapes to create stunning optical illusions that will make you look twice.

Her Instagram account, @mofart_photomontages, features original travel photography combined with self-portraits that are designed to illustrate the endless possibilities of the imagination to create new worlds.

Here are some of her most spectacular pieces.

Still, this is a great day (and a half) to get some travel bargains, with a couple of caveats.

Headphones

Headphones play a multiplicity of roles in the traveler’s toolkit. They are the portal to entertainment and diversion, whether via seatback screen or phone, tablet or laptop. They cut the noise from roaring engines, air blowers, announcements and crying babies. And of course, just wearing them can discourage unwanted conversation from nosy neighbors.

There are a plethora of headphones on sale on Amazon Prime Day, but why not step up to Bose? The Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones are available for either Apple devices or Android/Samsung for $125, a quoted savings of $174 or 58%. Bose claims the 7-ounce phones offer significant noise reduction for travel, around-the-ear fit, and the ability to control your music and calls (Samsung/Android) with inline mic/remote. The phones fold and fit into a compact, rugged case ideal for travel. Yes, there's a newer version, but you wanted a Deal Day bargain, didn't you?

Kindle Unlimited

If you love to read but also like to travel light, you might want to try Kindle Unlimited. You can get an Amazon Kindle e-reader, but you don’t have to; Kindle Unlimited allows you to read anytime, on any device with the Kindle app. Amazon says you’ll get unlimited access to over 1 million books and a rotating selection of popular magazines. You can also use those new headphones to listen to thousands of books with Audible narration. It’s not a no-risk offer, but it’s close: Amazon is offering 3 months of unlimited reading for $0.99.

But if you are tired of reading books on a tiny telephone screen, why not splurge on a dedicated reader? The Kindle Paperwhite, which Amazon says is their bestselling Kindle, boasts a 6" high-resolution display with 300 ppi (pixels per inch), plus a built-in light and WiFi capability. The Paperwhite, which normally sells for $119.99, is $79.99 as an Amazon Deal of the Day.

Water Bottles

The humble water bottle has become a travel essential, in these days of “dump it out or throw it out” at checkpoints, plus long waits on planes to get water. Even our friends at the TSA recommend a refillable. “You can’t bring a bottle of water through the checkpoint, but you can bring an empty bottle through the checkpoint and then fill it up once you’re through security. That will even save you a few bucks.”

For Prime Day, Amazon is offering Prime Members 20% off on Ello, Pogo, and Zulu Water Bottles If you’re looking for a big gulp, Prime Day brings you the 40-ounce Pogo Tritan Water Bottle. Priced at $ 15.46, it includes a chug lid and a soft straw, is available in grey, pink, fuchsia or teal and has a 'leak-proof' cover and soft carry loop. Better yet, it’s an additional 20% off on Amazon Prime day.

Luggage

So where will you pack everything? Samsonite is a strong brand in luggage, and Amazon is offering a pair of Samsonite hard-sided rolling ‘spinner’ suitcases in silver or black. The Samsonite Tread Lite Lightweight Hardside Set includes a carry-on Spinner that measures 20" x 13.8" x 9.5" (excluding handle and wheels) and weighs 7.26lbs. The larger, checkable Spinner measures 24" x 16.5" x 11" (excluding handle and wheels) and weighs 9.68 lbs. Yes, they’re on the heavy side, but Samsonite says they’re scratch-resistant, have a comfortable grip and allow expansion to pack more items, and compression to keep clothes pressed. They also don’t look like every other soft-side suitcase on the baggage carousel.

Best of all, at $119.99, the Tread Lite Deal of the Day represents a 72% savings from the regular price of $429.99.

 The stock market was mostly lower in midday trade Monday, yet Leaderboard stock ZTO Express (ZTO) broke out past a potential buy point. Meanwhile, top stocks Workday (WDAY) and Paycom Software (PAYC) neared the completion of double-bottom bases in the stock market today. Also, a sharp decline in the price of oil resulted in a sell signal for top energy stock Marathon Oil (MRO).

Workday is within striking distance of a double bottom's 138.75 buy point amid the stock's furious recent rebound, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. A previous breakout above a 133.66 double-bottom buy point failed when the stock fell more than 7% below the entry.

In the most recent quarter, earnings and sales growth measured 14% and 29% vs. the year-ago period.

IBD 50 stock Paycom Software is etching a double bottom with a 115.64 buy point. Shares regained their 50-day line last week during the stock's six-day win streak.

On the downside, the stock's relative strength line is lagging. The RS line measures the stock's performance relative to the general market. An uptrending line shows outperformance, while a declining line indicates underperformance. The RS Line should hit a new high on the breakout day or shortly thereafter, confirming the breakout's strength.

Oil prices sharply fell Monday, declining almost 4%. Marathon Oil hit the 7%-8% sell signal from a base on base's 22.22 buy point. In addition, the stock is breaking down through its 50-day line in heavy volume, another reason to sell.

The stock's July 10 breakout started off on the wrong foot. Shares were initially strong when the stock gained the buy point, but was unable to maintain the day's gains and closed below the entry.

IPO Leader ZTO Express is breaking out above a 21.80 buy point Monday, as the stock advanced more than 7%. Volume was tracking almost 70% above average. Shares are trading right at the entry midday Monday. The Chinese company that provides express delivery service in China is quickly gaining market share.

Tip: Before making any investment decisions, be sure to check current market conditions, and use IBD Stock Checkup to see if your stock gets passing ratings for the most important fundamental and technical criteria. To get ongoing chart analysis, and alerts to buy and sell signals, check out Leaderboard and SwingTrader.