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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The School!

B.E.S.T. is always interested in getting more students.  Everyone needs to learn English in order to be successful in Canada.
Come to our classes!  They're free!
For information:  416-201-1653

Or come to enroll:
Mondays 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Wednesdays 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Where?
At the corner of Peter Robertson and Bramalea (west side) you will see a parking lot that is affiliated with the Mormon Church.
Walk through the PARKING LOT and you will see a sign at the door.
Go through the doors, turn left and find the teacher in the classroom.

BRING A FRIEND!
Bring anyone you think needs English.
We specialize in Canadian pronunciation!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

New to Canada?

Canada is a country of immigrants and more arrive every day.  Moving to a different country takes courage and patience.  If you come to be with your family you have support but some people come because of problems in their home countries.


The government has set up an excellent webpage for newcomers.  The URL is:
www.settlement.org
You can read all the information in your own language if you have problems with English.


Many newcomers and even tourists have 'culture shock'.  What is culture shock?
(taken from:  http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/culture_shock.html)


"Culture shock isn't a clinical term or medical condition. It's simply a common way to describe the confusing and nervous feelings a person may have after leaving a familiar culture to live in a new and different culture. When you move to a new place, you're bound to face a lot of changes. That can be exciting and stimulating, but it can also be overwhelming. You may feel sad, anxious, frustrated, and want to go home.
It's natural to have difficulty adjusting to a new culture. People from other cultures (whom you'll be hanging out with and going to school with) may have grown up with values and beliefs that differ from yours. Because of these differences, the things they talk about, the ways they express themselves, and the importance of various ideas may be very different from what you are used to. But the good news is that culture shock is temporary."

If you need more help or have any questions, don't forget, you can always email us!


Friday, March 18, 2011

Excellent website: www.englishclub.com

Parts of Speech Table

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.
part of speechfunction or "job"example wordsexample sentences
Verbaction or state(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, mustEnglishClub.com is a web site. I likeEnglishClub.com.
Nounthing or personpen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, JohnThis is my dog. He lives in myhouse. We live in London.
Adjectivedescribes a nouna/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interestingMy dog is big. I like big dogs.
Adverbdescribes a verb, adjective or adverbquickly, silently, well, badly, very, reallyMy dog eats quickly. When he isvery hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronounreplaces a nounI, you, he, she, someTara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Prepositionlinks a noun to another wordto, at, after, on, butWe went to school on Monday.
Conjunctionjoins clauses or sentences or wordsand, but, whenI like dogs and I like cats. I like catsand dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjectionshort exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentenceoh!, ouch!, hi!, wellOuch! That hurts! Hi! How are you?Well, I don't know.
* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:
  • Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:
    • Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
    • Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
  • Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Syllables!

Many pronunciations in dictionaries are broken down into syllables.
Syllables are the pieces or chunks that make words...
for example:


bedside - say the word out loud and you will hear 2 'parts' or pieces
bed - side


Try a longer word like:  representative


re-pre-sen-ta-tive
so there are 5 syllables.


Dictionaries break down words into syllables so that they are easier to pronounce.
Some syllables of a word are spoken with greater force, or stress, than others.


Listen to an English first language speaker and try to think of where they put the stress on a word and then practice yourself.


How many syllables are in these words:


1.  university
2.  Canadian
3.  social
4.  paper
5.  laptop


If you have any questions or ideas, please send an email.