Michelle's independent resources for ESL Students at Vancouver Community College

This is a Canadian ESL blog for Intermediate and Advanced Students who want to learn and improve their English. Each PAGE above contains thousands of free English lessons, tutorials and practice exercises to help you learn and improve your English grammar, reading, listening, pronunciation, speaking, writing and editing. Some of the resources are Canadian. Others are from around the world.

The resources on this Canadian blog are all free, and I spend a lot of my time working on it, so please consider becoming a SUPPORTER. I appreciate all the support I get. It is the fuel that keeps me going.

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NOTE: To leave a comment, click on the word "comment" at the bottom of the page. A comment page will pop up.


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

End of Summer Blues

Are you in summer mode, school mode, or something in between? 

I am definitely still delightfully relaxed and stress-free as I finish the last week of my summer holidays. In fact, you could say I have the end of summer blues as I contemplate going back to school for yet another teaching year.

I'm sure many of you feel the same way and want to enjoy these last days of summer. 
Ah ....Summer

I had a terrific summer filled with gardening, swimming, reading and simply being lazy in the sunshine here in Vancouver,Canada.  Of course, I also spent more time indoors than usual watching the 2012 summer Olympics in London. What an exciting and yet controversial Olympics it was!  Did any of you watch the Olympics? What did you think about some of the things that happened? 

I hope those of you who took a break during the summer had a great time, and those of you who took classes during the summer were successful.  

A Little Review? 

The fall term will begin in less than a week, so both you and I will need to be gearing up for school work soon. 

To make the transition a little easier, you might want to review some grammar, practice your English reading or listen to some English videos or music.

New Resources 
Although I didn't write many posts during the summer,  I have added several new pages - including a Study Skills Page. I have also posted a lot of new resources to almost all the pages - especially the GRAMMAR,   LISTENING,  and PRONUNCIATION PAGES 
 
In addition, I have added several NEW categories with links on the right hand side. 

Employment and Job Related Links: These contain links and resources for people who are looking for a job. Several links focus on job descriptions and what employers are looking for in Canada and other English speaking countries. 

Medical English: These contain links and specific resources aimed at those of you who used to work in medical fields and wish to upgrade your skills, and for those of you who are interested in entering the medical field. focusing on medical vocabulary and language. 

Professional English: This category contains links and resources for students who want to focus on English vocabulary and activities that are specifically aimed at different professions or careers.  Hopefully, this category will grow as I find more material for you. 

International Academic Tests: This category contains links to blogs and test resources for those of you who plan to take any one of a number of International Academic Tests. There is also a lot of tutorials and practice materials in ALL skill areas in the PAGES  above. 

Fun and Games: Everyone needs to have a little fun while learning English, and games are a great way to review grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling skills.  This category is aimed at helping you review while having fun at the same time.  mode - even for short periods of time to update my blog.  I suspect that I am not alone in the challenge of balancing enjoying the summer with the school work that I need to be doing.


Drop me a Line 

So.... send in a comment or two to let me know how things are going with you. I'm always interested in what my readers have to say.
  
A few things you could write about 
  1. How did you enjoy the Olympics? 
  2. What did you think about some of the scandals that  came out of the Games? 
  3. How do you feel about going back to English classes?  
  4. Are you finding this blog helpful? 
  5. Do you have any topics you would like me to write about?

Sunday, August 5, 2012

ESL 2012 London Olympic Resources

The Olympic games are half over and I have hardly written a thing. I'm sorry about that. I've been too busy enjoying them to write much.

Yes, there have been politics and scandals, but if you look beyond that and focus on the Olympic spirit and the effort that athletes from around the world are putting into these games, it's worth watching. 

Watching those flags go up to the sound of a national anthem certainly does tend to bring out strong sense of nationalism and pride in one's country. 

We should ALL be proud of countries, and the athletes who made it to the Olympics even if they don't win a medal. They are still the best in their sport in our country. 

Earlier I said I would post some useful resources for you. This is not a complete list, but here goes: 
I am going to divide them into categories so that you can pick and choose the kind of thing you want to do.

General Sites for Schedules, Results, Sports, Participating Countries 
  • The 2012 Olympic Games Official London Olympics website, You can find information about athletes, sports, London , minute to minute updates on all the events, video and photo highlights of specific events, schedules   
  •  



News and  Daily Highlights

Olympic Values and Symbols

History of the Olympics

Past Olympics 
How much do you know about the modern Olympics? 

LONDON


Reading and Issue Oriented Material with Some Video   
 ENJOY!!!!