Monday's assignment

Good afternoon everyone,

Our theme for this week is ''Know Yourself.'' Based on that, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses in order to better evaluate ourselves and set our goals.

Task 1:

Essential Skills refer to the nine skills and abilities that are essential to success in Canadian occupations. The Government of Canada has compiled detailed lists, called Essential Skills Profiles (ESPs), of how workers in hundreds of jobs use these nine skills.

Write down next to each skill which one best describes you better:  expert - good - intermediate - beginner -  no knowledge

Nine Essential Skills:

• Reading Text----------   Good

• Document Use--------   good               

• Numeracy------------    expert            

• Writing ---------------   intermediate

• Oral Communication---------beginner

• Work with Others-------------expert

• Thinking Skills----------------good

• Computer Use----------------good

• Continuous Learning--------expert

Task 2:

Complete an Essential Skills self-assessment:

Strengths: I am confident that I can be numeracy, team-work and continuous learning.

Weaknesses: I feel I struggle with communication and writing in English.

Areas for Improvement: I would like to improve my ability to/on all of these aspects, because it is different in Canada from my home country.

Wednesday's assignment

Good afternoon everyone,

Today, we have talked about the “Unwritten rules of Canadian manners”. Now, you are required to write a letter to a friend back home, who he/she is planning to move to Canada soon, and give him/her some advice on how to adapt to the Canadian culture, also tell your friend some tips on the most important Canadian unwritten rules, from your perspective, to avoid embarrassment.

Ask one or two of your peers to edit for you. 

Hi Hui,

I'm very glad to hear that you will immigrate to Canada. First of all, I wanted to tell you an interesting thing.
 My friend and her husband went to a restaurant for dinner last week. After meal, they asked the waiter for the bill. It cost their about 50 dollars. My friend gave the waiter 50 dollars and wanted to leave. But, the waiter still stood beside the table. He had no intention to move and sent the money to the counter. My friend was very confused. She told the waiter that they had already paid the bill. The waiter looked unhappy. He said they still needed to give him tips besides the bill. My friend and her husband felt embarrassed.  They asked the waiter how much it would be appropriate and gave it to him.

In Canada, when you eat in the restaurant, you need to give the waiter or waitress tips. It is totally different from our country. It is not only related to money, but also to show your respect.  It is not by law, but everyone knows you need to do. It is called unwritten rules. You should prepare some another type of tips,  if you want to adapt to live here quickly. For example, don't cut in line, don't beep the horn when you drive a car, keep the personal space and so on. If you break the rules unconsciously, make an apology. Then, ask the reason and obey the right way.

I hope these tips can be helpful, and eager to see you soon.

yours

Jane

Thursday's assignment

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

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.

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)?

Number	Situation	Relationship between speakers	Speakers’ emotions
	One family was invited to their friend's family.	Friends	From their tone and the phrases they used, they were so happy and excited.( glad, gorgeous, good and so on)
	A mother had an interview with teacher.	teacher and parents	serious and patient.(aggressive, pinch)
	It took place at someone's funeral.	maybe friends or relatives	upset and unbelievable   (sorry, shocked, terrible, overwhelming.)

Task 2:

overwhelmed	I was overwhelmed by homesickness after I landed this new country.
optimistic	Though many experts predict economic of China will be in recession in a few years, I’m optimistic.
ambivalent	Some people think diversity is good for new immigrant; some don’t think so. I am ambivalent about it.
furious	I felt furious after I heard the news that terrorists killed many innocent people.
enthusiastic	I am enthusiastic in my major.

Task 1:

ambivalent	unsure,	neutral
discouraged	disappointed, hopeless	negative
overwhelmed	dominated,	neutral
annoyed	angry, troubled	negative
embarrassed	awkward,uncomfortable	negative
regretful	sad, sorry,	negative
anxious	worried	negative
enthusiastic	passionate, positive	positive
apprehensive	anxious	negative
frustrated	Disappointed	negative
shocked	horrified, surprised	neutral
concerned	worried	negative
furious	enraged, mad	negative
thrilled	excited, delighted	positive
content	satisfied	positive
grateful	happy, appreciative	positive
uneasy	anxious, nervous	negative
defensive	protective	positive
grieving	sad, heartbroken	negative
vulnerable	endurable	negative
determined	decided	positive
miserable	sorrowful	negative
wary	cautious	nagative
disappointed	upset, frustrated	negative
optimistic	positive,hopeful	positive
upset	disappointed	negative
relieved	grateful,comforted ,happy	positive
word	definition	Identify emotion

wednesday

Hi Lucy,

What is going in your vacation? I hope everything is fine. 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 have no response to strangers speak to me as I am used not used to that.  . It makes them and I feel embarrassed. Saying “hello” to anyone they meet with is a kind of customs or tradition in Canada, even if they don't know each other. 

Another thing is that, they are more likely to do task in collaboration; freedom and equality are the most valuable values in this country. If I want to live here, I have to adjust to the lifestyle quickly.

Sincerely,

Jane

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