Thursday

Dear Lucy:

    I have heard that you have been having a hard time looking for a job recently. There is a really good video that I want to introduce to you.  It helped and encouraged me after I watched it. I think this video will do the same job to you. In this video, the speaker mentioned two types of candidates during the hiring process; one is silver spoon and the other is scrapper. The silver spoon is the one who has advantages and is destined for success. Conversely, the scrapper is the one who has to fight against numbers of difficulties to reach the goals. I think we are the scrappers right now. I know how frustrated you are at this moment, because I have the same feeling as you. However, this video tells you that a lot of companies like to hire the scrappers instead of the silver spoons. There are some examples that the speaker talks about. The first one is Steve Jobs who was given away by his parents; he never finished college. He changed his job a lot and he had dyslexia, but he is a very successful man right now. Another example that the speaker mentioned is herself.  Her father had health issue; her family was very poor. She started her career as a scrapper but she is a human resource manager right now. Lucy, I think you must be very excited about this video since you read up to here. This speech gives me so much confidence and allows me understand that we – as the scrappers have a lot of potential. As long as we insist, we will succeed finally. Lucy, my dear friend, don’t underestimated yourself, and look at the good side of adversity. Let‘s encourage each other. Let’s believe in ourselves. Have a look at this video. You will find your hope in future.

All the best,

Your dear friend Monique 

Good morning everyone,

Hope that you have enjoyed your weekend. Now, we have a quick writing task to kick off our week.

You will have to choose between two options as follows:

Option A: For the ones who joined us on Friday’s field trip, you need to write a quick trip report elaborating on these questions:

Give a quick description on the location of the field trip;

What were the reasons that you wanted to join this trip?

What impressed you the most?

What did not impress you?

Would you go to that place again? Why?

Share at least one thing that you have learned new from that experience.

 last Friday, we had a very interesting field trip . We went to a golf course which is located in Mississauga. Although the weather was very cold, the students had fun from the tour. The place was huge and beautiful. One of the employees gave us a tour, so we took the golf carts up the hill and the employee showed us how this golf game works on the hill. When they arrived on the top of the hill, the employee allowed them to hit the golf ball for one or two shots. It was raining and our hands were freezing. Everyone acted like robots when they hit the ball. People laughed at each other. It was very nice for us to have this new experience even though we felt that we were going to freeze sooner or later. After 20 minutes of the tour, we went down the hill and into the warm room. However, this was not the end of the trip. The students decided to have lunch together. They went to a breakfast/lunch restaurant, its name is Bobby’s hideaway that they had never tried before. We read the menus and looked confused. Then, Hala gave us some advices about the food choices. They were glad that Hala was there with them; otherwise we would have never known how to order the dishes. Their food was so delicious; people enjoy the food so much. Hala also gave us a small lesson about the different ways to cook eggs which was so helpful for us– newcomers to know. We would never regret to have this new adventure.    

Tuesday

“I   know that is what I said, but it is not what I meant . . . "

Have you ever said that to anyone? Or anyone said this statement to you?

Can you think of reasons why this misunderstanding happens in general?

Briefly share your story and reflect on the reason why this has happened to you or with

you. Then, add a headline to your story.

Needs Assessment

How long have you been attending LINC 5/6?

What was your biggest concern(s) before joining the class?

Was/were this/these concern(s) resolved? Why or why not?

How do you feel after attending this class for x amount to time? What has changed in

you? What do you feel more comfortable with?

Is there any concern(s) that you still want to work on? What is/are it/they?

List 10 topics that you would like to learn about in order of their importance from the most to least important.

I have been in this class for more than a year. This class taught me a lot. I have improved my vocabulary and preposition a lot, but I forgot them faster which means that I didn't use them a lot. Therefore, I wish that I can keep practicing my speaking in the future class. I really like the cycle time which Hala brings a topic and then we all take part in this coversation. The big concerns that I still want to work on are the reading and speaking skills. 

10 topics:
speaking
reading
idioms
gramma such as preposition
interview (tell me about yourself) this question is easy to say, but it is hard to say that can attract people 

d

wednesday

through, along, in, off, over, across, around, under, up, down, into, back, after, on, onto, below

One day a girl was walking through the forest when she met a boy. “Hello” she said “What’s your name?” she asked. “My name is Bob” he replied. Suddenly a huge dinosaur came along. The dinosaur grabbed the boy. “Ha, ha, ha. I am going to eat you” said the dinosaur”. “Let him go!” said the girl. “You cannot stop me, little girl. I am a dinosaur. Only the magic sword of Wimble Bimble can stop me.” “Where is the magic sword of Wimble Bimble?” asked the girl. “It’s in a cave in the big mountain” shouted the boy. So the girl set off to find the sword. She went along the road, over the fence, across the field, over the fence, through the tunnel, across/around the farm, under/below/onto the little bridge, over the big bridge, up the hill, down the hill, through/across/around/back into the dark forest and into the cave. She found the magic sword and came and killed the dragon. And the girl and the boy lived happily ever after 

monday

To whom it may concern:

   I am writing this letter regarding the disappointing experience that I had in ABC restaurant. I ordered a lobster dish in the restaurant, but it came with empty shell. I tried to address my concern to the manager, but his unpleasant attitude insulted me. My problem has not been solved and I don't think that is acceptable.  I hope I can get refund and a proper apology from the restaurant.


sincerely,
Monique

Thursday

Task 1:

Read the following adjectives for emotions and identify which words describe a positive, neutral or negative feeling. If necessary, look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. Some words may fit into more than one category.

• ambivalent • discouraged • overwhelmed

• annoyed • embarrassed • regretful

• anxious • enthusiastic • relieved

• apprehensive • frustrated • shocked

• concerned • furious • thrilled

• content • grateful • uneasy

• defensive • grieving • vulnerable

• determined • miserable • wary

• disappointed • optimistic • upset

Positive	Negative	Neutral
Enthusiastic /enthusiasm	Discouraged /discouragement	shocked/shock
Relieved /relief	apprenhensive/apprehension	Ambivalent/ambivalence
optimistc/optimism	Annoyed /annoyance	overwhelmed
content/content: peaceful happiness	Embarrassed/embarrassment
Thrilled /thrill	Regretful /regret
Grateful /gratefulness	Anxious /anxiousness
Determined /determination	Frustrated/frustration
	uneasy/uneasiness
	Concerned/concern
	Furious/furiousness
	Grieving /grieve
	vulnerable /vulnerability
	Miserable /misery
	Disappointed /disappointment
	Upset /upset  defensive/defense wary/wariness

Task 2:

The list above contains adjectives to describe emotions. Where possible, change them into nouns. Then, choose five of the emotions from the list above. For each emotion, describe a situation you have experienced that made you feel this way.

1. when I was told that my son was hurt by another kid, I felt upset and furious 

2. when my son told me that his nose was in pain, I felt anxious and apprehensive 

3. I felt regretful that I didn't do a lot of school research before I came to Canada. 

4. I felt relieved right after I gave birth of my child. 

5. people living in the small town are very enthusiastic when I was working in that town. 

Task 3:

Listen to three short dialogues. Complete the chart to identify each situation, the relationship between speakers, and their emotional states. What helped you to identify each speaker’s emotions (e.g., tone, phrases)?

	Situation	Relationship between speakers	Speakers’ emotions

wednesday

Trying to observe and understand culture is like trying to observe and understand an iceberg. Anyone who is either looking for a job or starting out a new job will require some time to figure out the expectations, culture, and customs of any or prospective workplace.

Task 1:

Look up the meanings of the vocabulary words below.

Aggressive                                     equality                                       rituals  

Annoyed                                       minimize                                       task

Collaborative                                 oblivious                                     valuable

Customs                                         promptness                                  values

Embarrassment

Task 2:

Use at least five of these vocabulary words to write an email to a friend describing to him/her the Canadian culture.

Dear Sandra:

 It's been a very long time since I talked with you. How is your son? I hope he is getting better. I have a lot of tasks to do that keep me busy all the time. Yesterday, the daycare teacher told me that a boy used his toy to knock on my son's face. He was crying and his nose was bleeding that made me so sad. I heard that this boy had always been very aggressive. The teacher said she would talk to his parents because this behaviour was not acceptable: so, what can I do then? He is only a 3-year-old boy. However, I felt very annoyed; even though the teacher ensured that they would be more careful to minimize the possibilities of this event occurring again. Then, another friend said something that made me feel better. "This is very normal in the school," she said, "it is heartbroken event that your son became the victim this time, but you will feel embarrassed when another boy becomes the victim of yours."  

cheers
Monique

Monday

Task one:

Try to list down at least three misconceptions about Canadians that were mentioned in the video and write them down.

1. about pronunciation 

2. Z pronunciation

• 3. living in the iglu

4. speak English and French, not america 

Task two:

Check with your partner what he/she has come up with, and come up with the common ones to be shared with the rest of the class.

Task three:

Classroom Needs Assessment

Personal Information

1.      Email address   :  __moniquewang522@gmail.com_____

2.     What country are you from?  _______china_______

3.     What is your first language?  _______mandarin_____

4.     What other languages do you speak?  ______English__

5.     How long have you been in Canada?  _____13 years

6.     Are you working right now? 1Yes  1 No         If yes, what is your job? ________________

7.     What is your profession?  _____nutrition and DBA___________________

8.     What was your job before you came to Canada?  _____STUDENT_____________

9.     What is your highest level of education? 

1 university  1 technical college  1 secondary school   Degree? __________BACHLOR______

10.  Did you study English before you came to Canada? 1 Yes  1 No. If yes, so for how     long? ___________6 YEARS_____

11.  Have you studied in ESL classes before in Canada?  1 Yes  1 No

12.  What are your 4 CLBs?        L 7                       S 7            R 7             W 7

13.  What language skill is the easiest for you? Please order from 1 (easy) to 4 (difficult).

1 reading   2      1  writing       4       1 listening    3       1 speaking  1

14.  List three goals or/and reasons for you taking this program.

         learning more  vocabulary  and English grammar ………….

practice my writing skills……………………………………………..

practice my reading skills ……………………………………………..

15.   Which skill(s) do you want to work on in this class: speaking, listening, reading, or writing?

……all of them ……………………………………………………………………

16.  What do you need to learn in this class? Choose the most important 5 things and write them in order in the opposite column.

Skills/Topics
ü  Assessing your long and short term goals ü  Assessing your skills ü  Understanding the workplace culture ü  Resume and cover letter writing ü  Obtain a LinkedIn account ü  Pronouncing English clearly
ü  How Canadian society works
ü  How to understand speakers
ü  Starting small talks in English
ü  Improve writing skills
ü  Talking on the telephone
ü  Improve listening skills
ü  Practise job interviews
ü  Practise presentations
ü  Learn how to speak at work
ü  Learn idioms
ü  Learn grammar
ü  Canadian culture
ü  other (specify)