Friday's assignment

Listen to that video and then answer the following activities:

Listen to the speakers describing their favourite things and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

1. Preparation: matching

Do this exercise before you listen. Match the verb with the correct noun and write a – g next to the numbers 1 – 7.

1…….. take                                                                                       a. a designer

2…….. listen to                                                                                b. your scooter

3…….. watch                                                                                   c. a business

4…….. stroke (= move your hand gently over something)         d. films

5…….. park                                                                                      e. photos

6…….. make it as (= be successful as)                                         f. the cat

7…….. set up (= start)                                                                    g. music

1--e    2--g   3--d  4--f   5--b   6--a   7--c 

2. Check your understanding: matching

Match the speakers with their favourite things. Write a – e next to the numbers 1 – 5.

1…….. Speaker                   A a. a tablet

2…….. Speaker                   B b. a sewing machine

3…….. Speaker                   C c. a scooter

4…….. Speaker                   D d. a set of knives

5…….. Speaker                   E e. a cat

1--A   2--E     3--C   4--B  5--D

3. Check your understanding: gap fill

Do this exercise while you listen. Write the word to fill the gaps.

A. My favourite thing has to be my new tablet. It’s really light and quite _____small________, so I take it with me everywhere. I’m always writing to friends and it’s big enough to do college work on it too. It takes really good ______photos_______, and I play games and listen to ________music_____ on it as well, of course. I often download ____films_________ onto it, and watch them in _______bed______. My mum says I’m ___addicted__________, because I’m always on it. I even read things on it at breakfast time. I’m not allowed to at ____dinner_________ time, though. I have to be ____polite_________ and talk to people then. “Welcome back to real life,” my mum says.

B. My favourite thing? Does my ___cat__________ count as a thing? She’s not really a thing, but anyway. She’s a really _____beautiful________ little cat. I’ve had her since she was _____four________ months old. You know how some cats are really ___independent__________ and hardly talk to you? I know cats don’t really talk, but you know what I mean. Well, she’s not like that at all. She’s really _____affectionate_______ and comes up to me as soon as I get home, purring away like mad. She makes a lot of ______noise___ for a tiny thing. She loves being stroked and comes and curls up next to me when I’m on the _____sofa________. She’s great _______companion_____.

C. My new scooter! It’s quite small, but _______fun______, and just what I needed for getting around the ____city_________. I used to have quite a long walk to the ____metro_________, then a longish walk at the other end to get to __college___________. But now I can just whiz there on my ___scooter__________. And there’s no problem parking, there’s always ____space_________ for it. You have to be ____careful_________ with the cars and ___lorries__________ – they don’t always see you – and when it rains the surface of the road is ______terrible_______, it gets really slippery. But in general it’s perfect for me, and I can fit a _______friend______ on the back too – I’ve got an extra ______helmet_______ for a friend. It’s great. Riding along makes me feel so free.

D. This might sound a bit old-fashioned, but my sewing ______machine_______ is my favourite thing. I’m studying ___fashion__________ and love making things, as well as designing them. I also love _____clothing_______ myself and often buy second-hand clothes – everyone loves the “vintage” _________looked____ at the moment – and then I adapt them to my ____size_________. It’s much easier using a machine to do that than doing it by ______hands_______. I do alterations for my mum and my sister too. If I don’t make it as a ______designer_______, I suppose I can always set up my own alterations and customising ____business_________. Customising clothes, by taking things off and adding things on, is actually very ______creative_______, so I wouldn’t mind that.

E. My set of Japanese knives. That sounds a bit sinister, doesn’t it, but I’m not a ____murderer ________ or anything. They’re chef’s knives and the best ones come from ______Japan_______. Cooking is my new hobby. I got into it when I started watching Masterchef on TV. Then I went to an evening ____class_________ for

beginners, and I haven’t looked back since. I try and have a ____dinner_________ for between four and eight_____friends________ every two or three _____weeks________. That gives me something to work towards and I

always do new ____dishes_________ so they can try them out and give me feedback. It’s quite an_____expensive________ hobby if you use good ___ingredient __________, but now my friends help towards the____cost_________. They still get a good _____meal________ for a very low price.

4- What’s your favourite thing?

My favourite thing is my computer.

5- Why is it important to you?

I do lots of things with my computer. It's the bond that I can keep touch with my family and friends. My favourite files and photos all store in it. Definitely, I use it to do my job. I am used to download some documentaries and watch them on it.

6- Vocabulary Box: Write any new words you have learnt in this lesson.

affetionate
lorrie
companion
 

Wednesday's assignment

Good morning everyone,

We are still trying to assess our skills and part of that is to identify your soft and hard skills.

Task 1:

Sort the following skills into two categories as soft or hard skills. Write SS for soft skills and HS for hard skills:

1. Patience                                               
2. Proficiency in a foreign language
3. Leadership Skills
4. Persuasion
5. A degree or certificate
6. Typing speed
7. Time Management
8. Machine operation
9. Teamwork
10. Computer programming
11. Communication
12. Flexibility
13. Motivation

Task 2:

Now click on this link and decide which of these skills are soft and which are hard skills. 

Task 3: 

Think of two or more of your hard skills and soft skills, then write them down, and provide one example for each skill as how you have demonstrated this skill on the job.

Task 3:

Soft Skills

Patience---I am a patient person. In school, I listened to the students talking about their problem and tried to understand their situation, then helped them to solve problems.

Organization-- I am very organized. Every day, I made a schedule of tomorrow's work and marked the important things.

 

Hard Skills

Teaching---I had been a teacher for more than ten years, and I taught Archaeology and History.

 

Identification--- I got the certificate of identification cultural relics. 

 

Task 1:

Hard Skills	Soft Skills
A degree or certificate	Patience
Typing speed	Flexibility
Machine operation	Leadership Skills
Computer programming	Persuasion
Proficiency in a foreign language	Time Management
	Teamwork
	Communication
	Motivation

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