Wednesday's assignment

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.

Task 1:

Aggressive                      competitive

Annoyed                         very angry

Collaborative                  cooperated  

Customs                        a group pattern of habitual activities

Embarrassment             the feeling of awkward                   

equality                          justice; fairness

minimize                       make less

oblivious                        unconscious 

promptness                  the quality or habit of arriving or being on time ; punctuation 

rituals                         etiquette; special ceremony of groups

task                            assignment; mission

valuable                      worthy

values                         relative worth; merit 

Hi Lucy,

How is going in your vacation? I think everything is fine, right? Though I have been in Canada for one and half year, I still need to learn a lot about Canadian culture. Sometimes, I am oblivious and no respond to when other persons speak to me. It makes me and them embarrassed. Saying hello to whom they meet with is a kind of customs and rituals in Canada, even they don't know each other. 

And they more likely finish task in collaboration; freedom and equality are the most valuable values of this country. If I want to live here, I have to adjust to more quickly.

Sincerely,

Jane

Monday's assignment

Happy Canada Day to everyone,

 Let’s start our class today by listening to this video.

Task one:

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

1'  It has prime minister, not president.

2'  Its language are English and French, not American.

3'  It pronounces  "about", not "a boot"; 'peace", not "police".

4'  It's diversity, not assimilation.

5'  It speaks 'z' like "zed", not "they".

6' The beaver is noble animal.

7' don't live in igloos.

 

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   :  _xiasheng75@gmail.com____________________

2.     What country are you from?  _China _________________________

3.     What is your first language?  __Chinese_________________

4.     What other languages do you speak?  __English______________________________

5.     How long have you been in Canada?  ___one and half year________________

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

7.     What is your profession?  __Archaeology_________

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

9.     What is your highest level of education? 

1 university  1 technical college  1 secondary school   Degree? __Master Degree

10.  Did you study English before you came to Canada? 1 Yes  1 No. If yes, so for how     long? __11 years______

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

12.  What are your 4 CLBs?        L 5                   S 5           R 7           W5

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

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

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

1'  The reason is to communicate with other person in English.

2'  The reason is to find a job.

3'  The reason is to go to college.

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

Speaking, listening, and writing.

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	Canadian culture   Improve listening skills  Practise presentations Assessing your long and short term goals       Learn how to speak at work
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)

Monday's assignment

Good afternoon everyone,

This week, we will be talking about the writing mechanics. Let’s start by a short writing assignment to reflect your learning experience in this classroom.

Write one to two paragraphs on your experience in Workplace English class. Use the following questions as guidance to narrow down your scope in your writing.

• Why did I join this classroom?
• What is/are the skills/knowledge I wanted to improve?
• How much improvement have I accomplished? How long did it take me to improve them?
• What special segments/parts/activities/assignments in the classroom that have helped me to develop my language?
• What are the things that you still want to work on? 
• Add any ideas or suggestion that you have to  improve your learning experience.

It's difficult to learn a new language, especially my mother tongue is totally different from English. So the most important thing is to improve my English after I immigrated to Canada. I chose to go to LINC school, because I can learn from my level and make new friends.

I have been in Workplace Class more than two months before I went back to China. My listening ability got improvement rapidly. Hala, my English teacher, she teaches us a lot of vocabulary and background knowledge of Canada everyday. At the beginning, I can't understand what she said. But, I can catch most of her words now. And she records the CBC radio news every week and explains to us. It's a efficient method to practice our listening skills.

On the other hand, my writing skills make progress. I have learned how to write resumes, cover letters and so on. 

I love the presentations and morning talks she designs for us. Although it's a torture for me, I'm scared to present in front of the class. My speaking is not good. I need to practice.

I totally forgot my English when I came back. I should get my English environment back. Listening to radio, talking with classmates in English and participating the presentation, I need to do quickly.

Thursday's assignment

How a bill becomes law – vocabulary

Task 1:

Match the words with their definitions.

1.	legislative	A.	distribute
2.	bill	B.	present
3.	circulate	C.	official consent or approval
4.	policy	D.	a draft of a proposed law
5.	put forward	E.	of legislation (the process of making laws) or legislature
6.	debate	F.	a revision or improvement in a legal document
7.	amendment	G.	a course of action adopted by a government or party
8.	assent 1-- E                        2--  D          3--A                         4-- G             5--  B                         6-- H         7--F                          8--C	H.	discuss formally in a legislative assembly

Task 2:

For each verb, write the corresponding noun. Use a dictionary to check your answers. Then, complete the sentences using the correct forms of words from the list.

VERB		NOUN	VERB	NOUN
legislate		_legislation__--_ture______	approve	__approval____________
circulate		__circulation____________	draft	____draft__________
amend		____amendment__________	recommend	____recommendation__________
debate		____debate__________	proclaim	proclamation
1.	A local government has the power to legislate s related to public spaces and parking in a town or city.
2.	The Canadian Constitution has many constitutional acts and ___amendment____.
3.	The first _____draft__________ of a bill is prepared by the appropriate cabinet committee.
4.	A bill needs the ____approval____ of the House of Commons to be sent to the Senate.
5.	Parliamentary ____debate__________ is an important part of the legislative process.
6.	Sometimes, a new law comes into force when it is ____proclaimede governor general.

Monday's assignment

Task 1:

Click on this link, use a chart like the one below to take notes. Then write a brief summary of each speaker’s opinions with reasons. In small groups, present your opinion and give reasons.

	Opinion and reason
Albert	He agreed to pay such much money. He thought Ovechkin is the best player and get many scores for team..
Robert	He agreed with Albert. He thought Ovechkin is very young and can play well on his caree. Many players under him have been paid, why not?
Cathy	She doesn’t agree the two guys opinion. She thought because of  the high salary for the hockey star  she can’t afford the ticket of  hockey game for her kids.
Maria	She also disagreed. She thought anyone don’t deserve so much money. We should invest money on house care, education or something benefit for people.

Task 2:

In small groups, discuss what you consider an appropriate salary for each occupation. Complete the table. Then locate the actual salaries using the Ontario Job Futures website or click on this link.

	Appropriate Salary	Reason	Actual Salary
Airline pilot
Chef
Civil engineer
Computer programmer
Early childhood educator
Electrician
Elementary school
Teacher
Family physician
Receptionist