Ski Trip Pictures: Thanks, Lan!

Brave participants all raring to go!

More pics and a video ...

Field Trip CANCELLED: Toronto Reference Library

OUR FIELD TRIP HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY THE SCHOOL DUE TO THE WEATHER SITUATION. SEE YOU BACK IN CLASS ON THURSDAY MORNING!

We're leaving from Bayview Station at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, February 27, to go to the Toronto Reference Library. Please meet at the station about 10 minutes before that.

Our guided tour of the ESL section begins at 10 a.m., and if the weather's good, we could go for lunch together, somewhere.

As a reminder, would those of you who went on the ski trip like to share your videos and pictures? I'd like to put them on my blog.

Monday's Assignment

Welcome back to school, and welcome to a week on roles and responsibilities in a family!

1. Blog on Activities during the Family Day Break, or write about relationship problems in immigrant families. Check with a partner before publishing.
2. Listen and write notes, and then role play with a partner: Roles Within the Family 
3. Listening Comprehension: Family Relationships   

BONUS: Check out this Facebook post on February 18 at the LINC Folks in Toronto Facebook Page regarding immigration patterns to Canada.

Tips and Tricks of ASKING Interview Questions

Some of you have practised and become good at answering job interview questions.

But have you ever wondered what to do if they ask if you had any questions at a job interview?



Would you ask what the interviewer likes most about the company?

Would you enquire about the company culture?

What salary and benefits they offer?

Their monitoring of social media?

Not a good time for a faux pas.

How about checking out this article?

Monday's Assignment

Ah, for a lovely week on taxes! Here goes:

1. Reading: File Your Tax Return by April 30 Every Year
2. Role Play: Filing Taxes http://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=5220277
3. Listening Comprehension: Canadian Taxation System http://eslcorner.settlement.org/canadian-citizenship-and-culture/government-and-community-services/canadian-taxation-system  
4. Use this tax calculator, and discuss with your partner where you'd like to live in Canada in the next few years.

SNOW DAY: SCHOOL CLOSED FRIDAY

See you on Monday! Have a great weekend!

For anyone dying to do our Friday assignment on modern diseases, here goes:

1. Listening: Cosmetic Surgery
2. Role Play with a family member or neighbour: Describing Symptoms to a Doctor
3. Use Vocaroo to record role play.
4. Build your Facebook and LinkedIn networks.
5. Email me your suggestions for weekly themes.

Register Now: IEP Conference

You can pencil this into your calendar right now.

 

One of the top three events for newcomers, the annual IEP Conference is intended for Internationally Educated Professionals (IEPs) seeking employment in their profession. Registration is free, and you get to:

1. Hear other IEPs' success stories
2. Meet experts from engineering, IT, sales & marketing, finance & accounting, healthcare, and other sectors
3. Visit exhibitors at the Information & Resources Marketplace
4. Lunch with other delegates and classmates
5. Think about keynote speaker Idris Moutee's talk on "Strategic Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership for Radical Times"

Spaces are limited. So register now.

Rain Check on Sun Article

"Wynne nixes break on car insurance," reads the headline on p. 12 of today's Toronto Sun.

This, of course, is about our new Premier nixing, or saying no, to a break, or reprieve or lowering, of Ontario's notoriously high premiums for car insurance.

The subhead says, "Going after fraudsters 'will save money.'" Going after means pursuing. Fraudsters are people who commit fraud, who cheat the system.

The first paragraph goes, "Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne has hit the breaks on a New Democrat proposal to force insurance companies to lower auto premiums by 15%." This refers to an earlier suggestion by the New Democratic Party's leader, Andrea Horwath, which Wynne is saying no to, or hitting the breaks on, or nixing.

Wynne, instead, seems to have a different way to solving the problem of high auto insurance rates.

Check out the online report here. Thanks for asking the question, Samira.

Wednesday's Assignment

How strange--those not attending our Chinese New Year luncheon are invited to deal with the problem of obesity:

 

1. Listening and Role Play: Is Obesity a Modern Disease? 
2. Write a post on your blog, no longer than 100 words, about three other modern diseases. Make sure to check and edit it carefully with two partners (write their names at the bottom of your post) before publishing it.

Monday's Assignment

Welcome to our week on Health & Safety--Modern Diseases!

The focus of our assignment today is on dental diseases:

1. Using your editing checklists, correct your writing and update your blogs.
2. Listening Comprehension: Medical advice 
3. Role Play 1: Going tothe dentist 
4. Role Play 2: Seeing a dentist 

Friday's Assignment

1. Find the following things at the Toronto Public Library website, and post your findings on your blog: 

1. Tense Buster
2. Oxford English Dictionary
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica
4. technical journals
5. MAP locations
6. eBooks
7. latest DVDs
8. free courses
9. ESL resources
2. Record on Vocaroo.com your most surprising discovery at TPL and embed your comments in your blog post.
3. Find a new Adult DVD and tell a partner why you chose to put it on hold.