An Upbeat Dictation Exercise!

First, listen to Dr. Kimberly Alyn's 3-minute 10-second speech. What kind of phrasal verbs does she use?




Now watch the video again and post a list of all those phrasal verbs. How many of them are there? What do they mean? Pick five of your favourite and write a sentence or paragraph for each to bring out its meaning.

Finally, if you like, take dictation of her speech from beginning to end. Read it to a friend over the phone! Was it fun? What kind of response did you get?

P.S. Don't forget to post the website that has the full transcript of this speech--you should be able to find it by googling!


Answers here: http://uptimeamerica.com/PrintedUpTime.asp, http://republicaninthearts.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-up-time-america-by-kimberly-alyn.html,
and http://boudicabpi.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/up-time-america-by-kimberly-alyn/

Halloween: The Bad and Ugly and the Good

You already know the bad and ugly Halloween that your classmate Nelly talked about in her presentation.

However, could there be a good side to it?

It depends. If you're looking to popular culture, the jack o' lanterns, the ghost masks and costumes, witches on broomsticks, trick o' treating, horror movies, Samhain, etc., forget it. The same goes for the crazy amounts of candies kids collect on that day--any parent knows that can't be good for weight or attention management!

But if you check out the history of Halloween, especially that particular one in 1517 in Wittenberg, Germany, you will see the event that helped a town, a nation, and the world overcome a thousand years of darkness, superstition, fear, and corruption, an event that gave us what we now call western civilization or the free world(including this great country of Canada!).




The Halloween of 1517 is one alternative celebration embraced by those who don't really go for the ghouls or the candies.

Feel free to click the article below and enlarge the picture.

Which Halloween are you celebrating this weekend? Some of you have blogged about it already!

New Materials from Conference

It was nice seeing Penny and other "long lost" friends and acquaintances today at the TESL Ontario Conference downtown. The presentation I attended was boring, unfortunately, as it seemed more suitable for government officials than Teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL). What a bummer; I was actually looking forward to it.

But there a couple of highlights: First, this interesting series of posters on helping Arabic speakers learn English:

Here's a shout-out to Sehim, Philly, Zumurod, Amar, and Abdulameer: did you read the above suggestions? Hope they're helpful!

Also, despite the fact that I didn't think I'd find anything interesting from the book displays, I did pick up two resources to prepare you for work in Canada. You should go into the interview:

1. Knowing how to translate your prior experience idiomatically with English buzzwords, and
2. Being prepared to hit the tarmac running (aha, that's a nice little set of buzzwords!) should you be called up for work.

So, I'm looking forward to the fun as we break open these new resources!

Here's your word for the week ... or at least the weekend

In case you thought English words are short in comparison to those in your first language, here's a word for you to consider, and negotiate:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

How many syllables do you see? Which syllables are stressed? How do you pronounce each syllable? How do you say the word? This website provides the pronunciation; remember to click the speaker icon.

Do you think any of the 33 Chilean miners might suffer from it? Thank God they're safely out!

Arrrrrrrgh! Alumna Aidin Suctions Out My Mouth

No, no funny ideas here. Former student Aidin probed my oral cavity with a dental suction tip this week, while her boss, Dr. Umit Terzioglu, did other things to my teeth. Ouch.

The only reason I let them hurt me so is because Aidin's now a certified Dental Assistant, Level 1, from Everest College. She is expecting to get her final, Level 2, qualifications by the end of the year. Congratulations and best wishes!

 

You can see pictures of Aidin and Ehsan on the following posts:

1. Old Blog
2. New Blog

Aidin's husband and dad have both been through our MicroSkills LINC Program, and her mom's still studying here.


If anyone would like their mouth poked out by Aidin, do let me know!

In the meantime, keep flossing!

A City of Music Lovers

What's the hurry? was all I could think as we headed out of Eaton Centre for the short walk over to Four Seasons Centre. There were 12 participants in all, from MicroSkills, including Mahnaz, Zumurod, Yumei, Leo, Jie, and alumnus Norman from Level 4 - 5.

Happily uneventful, the subway ride took us to Queen, where we did a pit stop at Eaton Centre (thanks for the wisdom, Teacher Ariane!), before heading outdoors past The Bay, Old City Hall, and City Hall.

Looping around Richmond St., we were accosted by a horde of red-shirted PC Financial promoters, looked up and down University Avenue, and then got into line for Four Seasons. And what a line-up awaited! As it turned out, about the whole city turned up for the free concert.

No seats available? That's okay, we're tough; we'll stand.

Or just pull up a floor!

Great music about to begin ... but some of us bailed sometime into the marvellous performance.

Mental note to self: get a group reservation next time! Sitting on the floor or standing throughout's not to for the posteriorly unendowed!

Welcome, Teacher Ariane and Friends from LINC Level 1

We are honoured and delighted to have the company of our Level 1 class for our field trip this Thursday.

We plan to leave the Southbound Platform at Sheppard-Yonge Station at 10 a.m. and get off at Queen Station for a short walking tour of Downtown Toronto.

Those going on their own should be at the entrance of Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts by 11:15 a.m.

View Larger Map

The concert begins at 12 noon in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Details are as follow:

10 21 12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company. Chamber Music Series: The Hungarian Violin. Ádám Banda, violin; Gergely Szokolay, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free.

Please bring your cameras, walking shoes, umbrella, snacks, and a ready ear to enjoy some music.

Hopefully, we won't need to break out our umbrellas!

What's More at Whittamore's

 

All Pictures Courtesy of Our Friend Jacquie V.

Thanks, Jacquie, for coming and helping us in so many ways, not the least this pictorial record of our field trip!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

But how did it happen?

Did it have anything to do with

1. Martin Frobisher, 

2. Plymouth Rock, 

3. John A. MacDonald, or 

4. None of these? 

The answer is ... (drumroll) ... read on:

Excerpt, in Plain Text:

The Ecclesiastical Gazette

November 8, 1859, p. 114

http://books.google.ca/books?id=oJ0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA114&ci=330%2C35%2C359%2C764&source=bookclip



COLONIAL.

CANADA.--PUBLIC DAY OF THANKSGIVING.

_________

PROCLAMATION

PROVINCE OF CANADA.

EDMUND HEAD.

Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, defender of the faith, &c., &c., &c.

To all to whom these presents shall come--greeting:--

John A. Macdonald, Attorney General.

Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, in his great goodness, to vouchsafe unto our province of Canada the blessings of an abundant harvest; we, therefore, adoring the divine goodness and duly considering that the blessings of peace and plenty now enjoyed by our people in the said province do call for public and solemn acknowledgments, have thought fit by and with the advice of our executive council of our province of Canada, to issue this proclamation, hereby appointing that a general holiday and day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for these His mercies be observed throughout our said province of Canada, on Thursday, the 3rd day of November next, and we do earnestly exhort all our loving subjects therein that they do observe the said public Day of Thanksgiving.

In testimony thereof we have caused these our letters to be made potent, and the great seal of our said province of Canada to be hereunto affixed: Witness our right trusty and well-beloved the Right Honorable Sir Edmund Walker Head, Baronet, Governor General of British North America, &c., &c. At our Government House, in our city of Toronto, in our said province, this 13th day of September, A.D. 1859, and in the twenty-third year of our reign.

By command, CHAS. AILEEN, Secretary.

Budgeting for Healthy Food - Follow-Up on Yousra's Talk

Due to some printer problem, we're unable to provide hard copies of tips on how to get the best value for your money.

However, here are the links that you can access directly from the Toronto Public Health website:
Shopping


Best Buys: Grain Products (PDF)

Best Buys: Meats and Alternatives (PDF file size 1.1MB)

Best Buys: Milk and Alternatives (PDF file size 1.7MB)

Best Buys: Vegetables and Fruit (PDF file size 2.3MB)

Bon Appetit!

Group Buy Deals

UPDATE: Just came home tonight from redeeming six Team Save coupons on a Chinese buffet dinner. Burp.

Update from Fab Find: "The Madness is Officially Over." Yay! Time to get on with life and over with iPad envy. Not everybody wins, but we all learnt a lesson, hopefully! Let's share our experience of the day in class, okay?



Sometimes, buying things as a group can save you a lot of money. Instead of one customer buying a buffet meal for $13, how about 100 people buying the same meal for $6 each? Or maybe 1,000 people? Many businesses love this idea. Customers, too! This is known as economies of scale. Here are few great group-buying sites:

1. Fab Find - Just for today, they're offering an i-Pad for $10! But it's a rush to get it.

Here's an email update from Fab Find: Now, in regard to some of the questions that we have received about today's deal, here's a recap:

1.) Is this for real? Yes! We really are selling iPads for $10. We would actually get to sell more if everyone eased up on the refresh button.

2.) We've got a limited number of iPads to sell today. We're selling more than 10, less than 100. That's all we're saying.

3.) The deal is technically live. When we're able to re-open the site, we'll release quantities slowly, a few iPads at a time in small batches over the course of the day.

4.) If you want to know when more iPads have been added to our site, follow us on Twitter or watch our Facebook Fan Page.

5.) If you miss out on buying an iPad, we're going to give away the last one to the customer who makes the best plea. Just go to our Facebook Fan Page and tell everyone why you deserve the last iPad. That just about covers it for now. Thanks again for your overwhelming interest...and as always, stay fab! 

2. Group On
3. Team Buy
4. Wag Jag
5. Team Save
6. Deal Find
7. Steal the Deal

Some of these sites also give you a bonus if you introduce your friends to group buy, like what I'm doing now! Check these out and let me know what you think.