Field Trip Friday Dec. 3 - CBC Sounds of the Season

Led by Teacher Donald, our MicroSkills Language Program will be participating in CBC's special open house on December 3 (random videos available here).

Participants are to meet at 9:30 a.m. at Union Station under the big clock (see pictures below). Do not be late. There will be a walking tour to the CBC Broadcast Broadcast Centre's Glenn Gould Studio.



If you're late, please make your way to the Glenn Gould Studio and join the group there. Please bring along warm clothing, good walking shoes, drinks and snacks, cameras, and an open mind.

 

 

 

What a big class we have!

From left: Philly, Rachel, Selena, Lily, Daisy, Monica (thanks for the camera!), Hanieh, Yumei, Valdes, Zumurod, Michael, Cindy, Mahnaz, Mahshid, Leo, Haocheng, Daniel, Amanda, and Nelly
In absentia: Amar, Ameer, Benerd, Charles, Daisy, Keivan, Liji, Ping, Raymond

Have you ever gone to a brain surgeon?

If not, here's what it's like:



Enjoy the video clip and write down under Comments three new words that you learnt.

MicroSkills Crashes the AGO

Some 50 participants hit the Art Gallery of Ontario today at 10:30 a.m., some by car, others by streetcar or subway, and at least one on foot, for MicroSkills Language Centre's first field trip to this premier showcase of Canadian culture.

Once inside, participants headed first to the Canadian galleries, where they took in firsthand what they'd studied for days before: Krieghoff, the Group of Seven, the Indian Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr, Kurelek, and more.

 

At William Kurelek's theologically strident The Rock, one Chinese-looking individual was spotted jotting down the evils attacking the mighty Romish Rock, which are listed on both sides of a gigantic dragon in the middle:

Left of the dragon

1. political intrigue
2. racial intolerance
3. nationalism
4. inquisition
5. laxity
6. wealth
7. simony
8. arrogance
9. power
10. leakage
11. properties
12. personalities
13. class
14. dearth of vocations
15. ennui
16. schism
17. superstition
18. graft
19. factions

Right of the dragon

1. absenteeism
2. apostasy
3. heresy
4. puritanism
5. obscurant[ism]
6. errors in political alignment
7. sloth
8. ghetto mentality
9. warmaking
10. modernism (shows spear plunging into sandbank with Kurelek's signature)
11. bad example
12. in loco parentis

 Some even made it over to the Galeria Italia with its wonders in wood.

Happy campers, sort of.

Field Trip on Nov. 19 to the AGO

Weeks of waiting and preparation can finally be framed with a field trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario--this Friday!

For those going by subway, we'll be leaving the Southbound Platform of Sheppard Yonge Subway Station at 9:45 a.m. For those starting from Don Mills, it might be wise to leave at 9:30 a.m.

You can arrive at any time, but for free tickets, please be inside the AGO entrance on Dundas St. West at 10:30 a.m.


The Address of the AGO:

317 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON M5T 1G4

(416) 979-6648

Here's looking forward to a great time there: Check out the Canadian Gallery, where you will find works by Toronto's own Group of Seven.




Who remembers or recognizes the artists who painted the two pictures above?







Who created the above (not by the Group of Seven)?
Answers (clockwise from The Rock): W. Kurelek, C. Krieghoff, E. Carr, H. Moore, N. Morrisseau

United Way Volunteers Help Job Seekers from Levels 4 - 7

Volunteers from P&G, via United Way, were on hand this morning to introduce our class and Donald's class to interview skills and resume preparation. The session opened with an interactive presentation in our classroom.

Although the presentation went at a clip and listening comprehension wasn't always stay at 100%, it was useful in exposing everyone to the pace of normal spoken language.

Also inspiring was the fact that one of the presenters also learned English as a Second Language and had no discernable accent.

The session broke out after the break into groups with or without resumes, in different LINC levels.

Beyond the technicalities of resume writing, presenters and participants got to know one another better.

They're always welcome, United Way volunteers from various professions!

O yeah, not forgetting the hand-outs ... psst, from the Queen's Business School, no less!

What did you learn from our United Way/P&G volunteers today? Post your learnings on your blog or drop a comment below.

Field Trip November 11 to George Weston Recital Hall

You've watched the movie Passchendaele, but here is some recently discovered footage of that hell of a place.

Our MicroSkills Language Program will be observing Remembrance Day at the City of Toronto's service at the George Weston Recital Hall of the Toronto Centre for the Arts at 5040 Yonge St., just a block south of North York Centre Subway Station (see map below).


View Larger Map

The ceremony includes a procession, the singing of the national anthem, prayers, hymns, the laying of wreaths, speeches, a reveille, and "God Save the Queen." Time to brush up on our singing and older English forms--thees, thous, thys and wheretofores! How fun!

As the program begins at 10:45 a.m., please be seated in the Hall by 10:30 a.m.

Some of the songs in the program:

O Canada (With Lyrics)



O God, Our Help in Ages Past (Lyrics with MIDI)




Faith of Our Fathers (Lyrics with MIDI)




God Save the Queen (With Lyrics)

Are You Smarter Than a Five-Year-Old? A 911 Call

You never know when you have to make or take an emergency call. Sometimes people overseas will call you about an emergency. Do you know how to reassure them and calm them down? Can you give clear instructions? Or perhaps you need to make a 911 call or take over such a call. This girl had no choice. Her dad made the call while having a heart attack and she took over. Click and listen to the conversation.



In pairs, take dictation of the six-minute conversation. When complete, make copies.

Then practise the conversation together, before trying it out with other partners.