Sunday, 15 December 2013
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Coffee, Curry, and Concert for Christmas - Sounds of the Season!
Coffee, Curry, and Concert for Christmas - Sounds of the Season!
Announcement for Monday afternoon: As the teachers will be having a lunch meeting, there will be no classes in the afternoon. Instead, please update your blogs with a report on last Friday's field trip as homework and for the purpose of attendance.
Perhaps due to the enhanced advertising campaign this year, this year saw a bigger crowd at CBC's annual Sounds of the Season open house. Nor was the nippy weather any hindrance. After swigging our cups of free Keurig and visiting the museum and theatre behind the atrium, we snuck into the PATH underground city for lunch, several of us hitting Amaya Curry. And then it was back upstairs for the studio recording. Hope everyone had a grand, glorious time!
Welcome to Canada! Merry Christmas!
Perhaps due to the enhanced advertising campaign this year, this year saw a bigger crowd at CBC's annual Sounds of the Season open house. Nor was the nippy weather any hindrance. After swigging our cups of free Keurig and visiting the museum and theatre behind the atrium, we snuck into the PATH underground city for lunch, several of us hitting Amaya Curry. And then it was back upstairs for the studio recording. Hope everyone had a grand, glorious time!
Welcome to Canada! Merry Christmas!
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| Here we come: Marjan, Iris and Aiden, Fazi, Tracy, Fides, Jielin, Maribel, Cheyenne, Aswathi, Esmail, Bo, Ling, Chang--photo taken by Mohammad on Chang's DSLR, and where's Yang Yang? |
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| You're goin' down, clown. Courtesy of Bo Lin |
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| Guess lunch wasn't too bad. Hope everyone stayed awake in the studio! |
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Singing Christmas Carols
One of the happy customs of Christmas is the singing of carols, or carolling. Here's one big carolling session in Downtown Toronto last year:
What carol did they sing? Do you think they broke the world record? Discuss with a partner; then click below for the answer.*
Here are your tasks for this morning:
What carol did they sing? Do you think they broke the world record? Discuss with a partner; then click below for the answer.*
Here are your tasks for this morning:
- Listening and Role Play: Singing Christmas Carols
- Listen to “Silent Night” without the video (switch off the monitor), and see if you can fill in the blanks. Then check it with video on. Practise singing with your partner.
- Now practise together with the:
- Winchester Cathedral Choir
- Mormon Tabernacle Choir
- Toronto Choirs (starting from 1:30)
* Answer below
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa
2005-12-22
ESLPodcast 112 - Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa
Download Podcast Tags: Entertainment , Relationships
ESLPodcast 112 - Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa
Download Podcast Tags: Entertainment , Relationships
| Audio Index: Slow dialog: 1:10 Explanations: 3:46 Fast dialog: 16:56 |
| The holidays in my family are very diverse . Our custom is to celebrate Christmas every year as areligious observance, complete with Advent wreathes and Midnight Mass. Most of my in-lawsobserve Christmas purely as a secular holiday, with the focus on exchanging gifts, stockings, aChristmas tree, and other traditional customs. There is a lot of listening to Christmas music—my favorites are the carols sung by Nat King Cole —and sometimes even some eggnog. My nieces and nephews enjoy the day the most, especially when they get to open the gifts under the tree from Santa Claus . One of my brother-in- laws is Jewish, and so he celebrates Hanukkah, the festival of lights, when he lights a candle each of the eight nights on the menorah. My niece gets a small gift each night of Hanukkah and of course spins the dreidel. With both celebrations in the same family, we sometimes call itChrismukkah. But the holidays are no longer just Christmas and Hanukkah in the United States. More recently, there are some people who celebrate a new holiday, Kwanzaa. This is a mostly African- American event, with parades and other parties to highlight African-American heritage. Started here in Los Angeles, this celebration runs for 1 week after Christmas, and is a mostly secular celebration. Whatever tradition you celebrate, December is always a festive time of year. |
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
ESL Podcast 750 – After Christmas Sales
| 2011-12-26 ESL Podcast 750 – After Christmas Sales  Download Podcast Tags: Shopping
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Monday, 2 December 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Monday's Assignment
Welcome to a week on the theme of Canadian Celebrations: Christmas!First, please note our field trip this Friday to CBC's Sounds of the Season. Watch this space for details, soon to be announced!
In the meantime, pick out a non-perishable food item (like canned food) to bring along and donate.
Check out the following video for a foretaste of the program
Okay, and now for your writing test:
Write three paragraphs comparing how Christmas is celebrated overseas and in Canada. Use your imagination if you're not sure. Post your writing on your blog by 10:15 a.m.
Monday Afternoon's tasks:
What is Christmas about? This well-loved holiday in Canada has long roots in history. How long? Well, some people think it goes back to Santa Claus at his H0H 0H0 (Ho Ho Ho!) postal code in the North Pole. Others trace it back to Saint Nicholas of Myra (in today's Turkey), a generous church leader whose name later became "Santa Claus." Or does that history trace yet further back?
Fortunately, we still have hundreds of historical documents of the event, and they have been translated into English. Following are excerpts from a couple of those documents. Do the listening exercises, record your answers under Comments, and discuss them with your instructor.
Listen to this reading (right click and click on Open in New Tab) and take dictation on the following blanks:
1 Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, ___ ____ _______ ___ ___ ___ ____ ____. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs.
Listen to this narration (right click and click on Open in New Tab) and fill in the ten blanks:
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be (1) _____________. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own (2) _____________.
4 And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was (3) _____________. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give (4) _____________. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the lodging (5) _____________.
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were (6) _____________. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be (7) _____________, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the (8) _____________: 11 Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.12 This will be the (9) _____________ for you: You will find a (10) _____________ wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”
13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,and peace on earth to people He favors!
15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.
Check your answers in Hebrews 1 and Luke 2.
- Reading: Check out Christmas and Its Impact on Canada and leave a comment.
- Listening Exercise: The Original X'mas Story
What is Christmas about? This well-loved holiday in Canada has long roots in history. How long? Well, some people think it goes back to Santa Claus at his H0H 0H0 (Ho Ho Ho!) postal code in the North Pole. Others trace it back to Saint Nicholas of Myra (in today's Turkey), a generous church leader whose name later became "Santa Claus." Or does that history trace yet further back?
Fortunately, we still have hundreds of historical documents of the event, and they have been translated into English. Following are excerpts from a couple of those documents. Do the listening exercises, record your answers under Comments, and discuss them with your instructor.
Listen to this reading (right click and click on Open in New Tab) and take dictation on the following blanks:
1 Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, ___ ____ _______ ___ ___ ___ ____ ____. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs.
Listen to this narration (right click and click on Open in New Tab) and fill in the ten blanks:
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be (1) _____________. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own (2) _____________.
4 And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was (3) _____________. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give (4) _____________. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the lodging (5) _____________.
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were (6) _____________. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be (7) _____________, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the (8) _____________: 11 Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.12 This will be the (9) _____________ for you: You will find a (10) _____________ wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”
13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,and peace on earth to people He favors!
15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.
Check your answers in Hebrews 1 and Luke 2.
Writing Test--Chrismas
Christmas is a big event in Western Culture.I am so lucky I am going to have Christmas in Toronto this year which is the first year I am settleing down here.I also have Christmas in China,but the meaning of Christmas in China is have fun and shopping.It is just a western Festival not a Vacation that no school or company will recess in that day.This is the young person's time.They always play with their friends after school or work.Other person select go shopping in that day because so many things on sale in the store like the boxing day in Western County.
I am exciting to wait to Christmas coming in Toronto.I can imagine people staying in the home have dinner with their family ,Children are looking for the Christmas gifts for their parents .
I am exciting to wait to Christmas coming in Toronto.I can imagine people staying in the home have dinner with their family ,Children are looking for the Christmas gifts for their parents .
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