gingerbread lane 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver

Rea and Leila were talking about the annual gingerbread house display/competition that takes place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Click here to find out more about this fun event.

End of term Testing Information

Here is some information about the schedule for this week and next week. Both the writing and reading tests will be done in our classroom.

Thursday November 22: Writing test

*Everyone must arrive on time (6:45). The test will begin promptly at 7 p.m.

Lower Advanced students will write a multi-paragraph composition (approx. 200 - 250 words) and will have until 8:30 p.m. to finish.

Upper Intermediate students will write one paragraph (approx. 100 - 150 words) and will have until 8 p.m. to finish.

Tuesday November 27: Reading test

*Please check your time and make sure you are on time and ready to write.

Lower Advanced students will write the ART from 6:55 to 8:05 p.m. So, please get to class by 6:45 p.m. so you have some time to get settled.

Upper Intermediate students will write the Gates test from 8:15 to 9 p.m. Please get to class by 8:05 p.m. so you have some time to get settled.

Thursday Nov 29: One-on-one consultations with Sara - please sign up in advance for a meeting time to discuss your progress, placement, and next steps. Bring all of your writing and reading work that you have done this term (freewriting journals, practice writing, in-class freewriting, etc.)

Circle Craft Christmas Market

I had a great time this afternoon at the Circle Craft Christmas Market! There are so many things for sale. I think I will go back tomorrow morning. Sorry I forgot to show you what I bought!

Click here to go to the Christmas Market Website. If you buy tickets online, it's $2 cheaper than at the door. 

Click here to see a list of all of the different craft fairs in Vancouver in November and December. There are so many!

Click on the arrow below to look at the Christmas Market information booklet.

Open publication - Free publishing

Hallowe'en Safety Tips from the Canadian Red Cross

Click on this link to see the Hallowe'en Safety Tips from the Red Cross.

Notice the introduction and the conclusion. Also pay attention to how each tip begins with the imperative (give, instruct, prepare, etc.).

ESL Grammar Workbooks A & B

The VCC Bookstore sells these VCC-produced workbooks for Upper Intermediate grammar practice:

ESL RESOURCE BOOK: UPPER INTERMEDIATE - $19.05

ESL GRAMMAR WORKBOOK A: UPPER INTERMEDIATE - $19.45

ESL GRAMMAR WORKBOOK B: UPPER INTERMEDIATE- $19.75

Ask at the Downtown campus bookstore if they have these in stock. Also check the library to see if there are copies available for borrowing.

What do you call law degrees & medical degrees?

Good old Google! This is the information I found on the internet:

Law degree: "Juris Doctor - J.D. or D.Jur, graduate degree and professional doctorate in law offered by universities and law schools in a number of countries. Law schools still call the law degree a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). It is considered to be a graduate degree. The three year law school program covers the same areas of law as do law schools in other jursidictions. Update: Some Canadian law schools are now converting, retroactively, the LL.B. degree to  D.Jur." (from http://wiki.answers.com - click here to see the original page)

In Canada, a doctor will have an MD, which stands for Doctor of Medicine. According to Wikipedia, "In Canada, the M.D. is the basic medical degree required to practice medicine." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Medicine)

Preparing for an Earthquake in BC

Click here to read the whole text about preparing for an earthquake. We read this together in class tonight.