Thanks, and Bye, Canada!

The Globe and Mail has recently shared some interesting graphics about what newcomers do after becoming Canadian citizens:

1. The highest percentage of people leaving Canada after getting citizenship are from ___.
2. The European country with the most naturalized Canadians leaving is ___.
3. The country with the most naturalized citizens leaving its shores is ___.
4. The tiny country with more than 12 percent of its citizens leaving Canada after taking up Canadian citizenship is ___.
5. The world's most populous country has a naturalized-Canadian turnaround rate of ___.

So where are all these Canadians going? Write three sentences based on the following graphic:

For a holiday reading challenge, check out the main article itself. Is your home and native land mentioned?

Two Grand for Your Kid's College?

Anyone knows what this Canada Learning Bond thing is about? I just saw it in today's paper.

Check it out and let us know what you think ... using the Comments below!

School Field Trip: Picnic to Bluffers Park, June 24

Yep, it's pretty grim. Chances are, we're going to be stuck in the wet little holding pattern above our heads!

Come to school anyway at 10 a.m. for a jolly good time, indoors in all likelihood, of graduation and a potluck lunch!


It's confirmed and official: this Friday's field trip is a POTLUCK picnic! So please bring a big dish to share!

We'll meet at 10 a.m. at 200 Consumers Road before proceeding to our picnic location, weather permitting. That's Plan A. Plan B is to have the picnic indoors, in class, if the weather is bad.

Please bring your food, comfortable footwear, your camera, and a readiness to have fun!

After the picnic, you'll be enjoying a week's holiday before our LINC school reopens on Monday, July 4. Happy holidays!

Follow MicroSkills on FaceBook

Hey folks,

Look what I just found: MicroSkills' (or, MicroSkills's) very own Facebook page!

Can you find the page on Facebook? Will you "Like" the page?

Learn-to-Camp Overnight Sessions

Not everybody knows how to camp! It may not be rocket science, but there is a Facebook page dedicated to "EZ Tips" for camping for Toronto city folk. But it's one thing to read or hear about it and another thing to actually experience it, preferably with a guide.

First, the bad news: To help newcomers in Toronto and Hamilton experience the great Canadian outdoors and the joys and pains of camping, Parks Canada, with Mountain Equipment Co-op, is running a Learn-to-Camp event this weekend near Niagara Falls. Well, I just found out; it's too late to join them.


Next, the good news: On the provincial level, Ontario Parks is organizing a series of overnight sessions in the area, within a two-hour drive from Toronto. Be sure to book fast--some sessions have only four campsites left, and others are completely booked. They have helpfully provided a whole bunch of camping-related resources online as well as a schedule of activities:

Saturday (Day 1)

9:00-10:00 AM - Registration

10:00-10:15 AM - Welcome and Introduction

10:15-10:45 AM - Setting Up Your Tent

11:30-12:00 PM - Setting Up Your Kitchen and Packing your Cooler

12:00- 1:00 PM - LUNCH

1:00 PM - Campsite Safety

2:00 PM - Protecting You and Your Park: Meet a Park Warden

2:30 PM - FREE TIME

4:00 PM - Preparing Meals: How to Cook on a Camp-stove & Campfire

5:30- 7:00 PM - DINNER followed by FREE TIME

7:00PM - Your First Night Camping: What to Expect

7:30 PM - How to Build a Campfire

Campfire Treats

Sunday (Day 2)

9:00 AM - BREAKFAST

10:00 AM - How to Tear Down your Campsite, 'Leave No Trace'/ Green Camping

11:30 AM - Program Wrap-up and Conclusion

Wouldn't it be great if we could get some of these experts to come to our LINC school to teach us how to camp?

UPDATE: Good news! We'll be having a community workshop on camping on July 26, 2011.

Field Trip June 20: Food Business Entrepreneurs' Workshop

What a grand finale to our class work on Starting a Small Business!

Participants from MicroSkills received valuable information from representatives of Enterprise Toronto, ranging from legal setup (sole proprietorship, partnership, or incorporation), financing, and licencing to war stories from Michael Wolfson, an advisor with 35 years of food industry experience.

Talaat got there first, and then Xiuli. All attendees were given an information pack and an invitation to a free private consultation session.

We wish them the best in their small business endeavours!

Workshop with Toronto Tenants, June 14

More fine tenant cartoons at cartoonstock.com

So, you got smelly neighbours? Rats in your kitchen? Runaway rent increases? Grouchy supers? No hot water? Racial discrimination?

Bring your hardest questions to class today! Enjoy one of our favourite workshops, from FMTA!

From Bay St. to the Bohemian Way: Our Hike Through The Annex

Jumping off at Bay Station, our intrepid team of MicroSkills participants and volunteers made our way across a kaleidoscope of downtown scenes, from well-heeled Bay Street to the discalced, dishevelled  Bathurst end of The Annex.

The team included Peter, Talaat, Jacquie, Anna, Joan, and Sue.

The above are the latest pictures from Peter's camera. Hope you enjoyed them!

Field Trip to Toronto's The Annex, June 10

Weather Forecast (looks good if you leave before the evening!):

For radar maps, click here.




As usual, we will be leaving the Southbound Platform of Sheppard Yonge Station at 9:30 a.m. Please get there a little earlier than that, or you could plan to leave Don Mills Station with your classmates at 9:00 a.m.

FWIW, Honest Ed's, right on the edge of The Annex at the junction of Bathurst and Bloor, is having a fifty-cent sale:



Also in the neighbourhood, the UofT Fisher/Robarts Library is having an exhibition of ancient books. So we'll be playing it by ear!

Happy Ending

Listen to the guy talk. Then write down his words in your blog. Can you embed the video as well?



Feel free to share your feelings about skydiving.

Listening for Information Exercise: Social Media to Grow Business

Watch the following video and take notes:



On your blog, create a link to this video and write down three tips you learned about using social media to grow a business.

Spelling Challenge: Spot the mistakes

Here's the paragraph to check. You should find at least 3 spelling mistakes and fix them:

You’re acknowlegment of my atempt to accomodate enough wierd camoflage equiptment just shows a concensus would only inadvertantly embarass any seperate liason by the committee in trying to guage an miniscule withdrawl.

How many spelling errors did you correct? Post the corrections on your blog! Make sure you check it first using MS Word's or some other spell checker.

Some of these belong on the list of 25 most misspelled words!

Assignment to be completed by June 3, 3:30 p.m.

DONG! It's 8 p.m. It appears that no one's doing their homework, and Jenan alone attended the afternoon session. So she gets the attendance.

You got a fish!

Intonation practice

Listen, and say after them phrase by phrase:

"I think you got a fish! ...."



How did you do? Did you learn anything from the sound patterns?

How to ride a bike

All you nonriders, check out these words of wisdom, starting at 0:20: "Everybody, I know you can believe in yourself! If you ..."



Listen, take dictation of these pearls of wisdom, and post the transcript on your blog.