This weekend, Relax!

"enjoy your weekend, relax yourself" Murray said to every EAP 3 student. I thought his words was right because we are smart enough, right guys? I had some plans for this weekend, but I still needed to review those textbook, especially vocabulary. For listening, I tried to take notes more effectively and quickly than before, but it was still hard for me to take notes when i listened to lectures. I thought everyone had the same problem, but the difference was more or less. I was trying to get used to Murray's note-taking method, Cornell. I think it is a pretty good method for taking notes. I always think about how to improve my note-taking, and I listen to CBC radio every day. However, I think I should take notes when I listen to the Radio. There is a English Saying "Practice makes perfect". I truly feel that because my co-workers, Canadian friends and my parents all said that My English was huge different from the first day I arrived here. I will try to get more hours from where i am working now, and try to find another job in order to get more opportunities to practice my English. I remember last summer I worked 6 days a week, and my English blew like a boom(I know it is really hard but I was happy about practicing English every day). And I will do the same thing in this summer, try to be aggressive and hard-working (should work smart).

we've done the final writing exam by 3:38 pm!

I was quite shock when I finished my essay because I used causal chain structure essay. I had never ever use it on my essays at all before I took the writing exam. I chose the first topic for my final essay in EAP 3 program(I hope so), and the topic was "what is the major reason why most businesses fail in their first five years of operation." well, I didn't know why I wanted to talk about this topic, and I was pretty interested in this topic. Moreover, I remembered what Scott taught us about causal chain in the class because I concentrated on that class, and I liked to try something new(honestly, it's not a good idea for important exams). At the beginning, I was struggling how to organize my essay. I had some supporting ideas to form a chain, but I didn't have many really good examples. However, I started to write because there was not too much time allows me to think that long. Every one knows brainstorming is very important, so I tried to do well on brainstorming.

Finally, I was done at three minutes before the exam was finished. I was concerned about my grammar part, but I didn't really look at it. In stead of that, I checked my every sentence to see if is made sense to my readers. I hope everybody doing well for the rest of exams.

I can't believe I am gonna graduate from EAP program

I still can't believe it, I am almost done for this semester. Meanwhile, I will graduate from English for Academic Purpose program(I hope so). when you've done something, you may ask yourself what you got from it. Therefore, what did I learn from EAP program? That's a big question for me and anyone in EAP 3. This is good to recall what we've done and what we've learned by the end of the semester. First, I like to talk about my writing. Well, I think I still need to improve my writing such as increasing my vocabulary, perfecting my grammar, expanding my strategies(metaphor). However, I think I need to how to brainstorm and organize my essay (through EAP 1) because there were two great teachers(Pam and Marcia) in EAP 1. I had built up my strong traditional English essay structure when I was in EAP 2. I felt my weakness was vocabulary, and also I needed to rich my sentence structure(how to express ideas in different ways, it's kind of grammatical improvement) after I finished EAP 2. Now, I can see that I have made some improvement on my vocabulary, especially academic words. Also, I've learned about comparing and contrasting more. Those knowledge is what I need to succeed in the university and my career. Listening/Speaking, I still need to improve my listening skill, especially note-taking because that is very important for those who are going to universities and be successful. I'll work on it in this summer. Speaking, I am glad I can have a terrific speaking/listening teacher. I really enjoy his teaching on pronunciation, and I am very interested in it. He taught us many tricks on pronunciation. I like to practice them because I know speaking is very important, and even more important if someone wants to find a job in Canada or US because everything is on it. I think Murray is right, it's good to practice and have a good pronunciation, and then fluency. I can study and practice pronunciation a day long. I don't know why, but I'm just interested in it. Most of the time, I like to repeat someone's word, especially Canadians, because I think it is really helpful. Some of my students may laugh at me, but so what? I like to repeat people words in TV. I talk to myself when I take shower, and every time I come out from the bathroom, my mother asked my if i was on the phone when i took shower. Am I idiot? if yes, so what?

I am excited about finishing EAP 3 and also feel sad about finishing EAP 3. I am excited because I can do my degree, and I feel sad because everything in EAP 3 is unique and worth missing. good luck for everyone.

Am I nut?

Crazy! I said a word i am not supposed to say in my final presentation. I think I completely lose my mind. I had no idea why I said that, and it just came out automatically. I wish I would not say that word, seriously. I have to get it over. Tomorrow, I will have a writing exam which is the hardest one to pass, actually I am doing all right in my writing.
I really need to motivate myself because I am concerned about I don't have time to finish a 400-700 words essay because I write pretty slowly. Moreover, I need more time to brainstorm to come out terrific ideas, hee. What can I do is go through the textbook and remember some "power" vocabulary, and that will help me a lot on the category of language use. On the other hand, using academic words will help to elevate your essay to higher level, and beautiful words also can make your essay more attractive. There is another thing you can do to prepare for writing is read the essays you've done before. First of all, it will help you to pick up your grammar a lot because you would know what you did wrong before, so you may not do it again. Second, you will review those strategies and structure you used before, it will help you organize your essay well.
therefore, it is important to review essay we've done before. (this is conclusion ?)

Can you Believe it!!

Can you believe we're almost done for this semester? holy shoot. I feel I just started this semester yesterday, and now I will finish it in two weeks. Oh, Time is flying so fast that I couldn't feel it. we are all struggling our last term paper and OTHER assignments. Speaking of term paper, I think this major assignment is very useful and realistic for EAP students to have a feeling what university's life looks like. I do like it even thought it is a really killer for us. Everyone is working on his or her term paper, and I think everyone wants to write a fabulous term paper in order to get a high marks because it worths 15% of the final grade in writing course. If someone gets a good marks on term papers, it will really help him or her pass writing course significantly. When I did my previous term paper, I did not do well on my research part. I spent too much time in researching information, but what I got is not really helpful for me. I think this time I need to do well in researching, and develop my ideas from the information I've got. I think the most important thing is how to develop one's own ideas from specific information. I mean how to glue one's ideas with the information. Another thing is how to make information support the ideas, and it will dramatically elevate the content of the term paper we are doing. Above suggestions or ideas are my term paper tips. I hope it can help everybody do well on their term paper.

PS: The dog in the picture is my parents', she is gonna be the first audience of my last presentation, hee, hee :) she may say "what the heck are you talking about?"

The Missable EAP 3

First of all, Let me tell you guys something. Did you guys still remember Slava announced there would be a party in Den last Thursday? I came to MacHall at that day, and I saw some EAP 3 students such as Fan, Lisa, Slava, etc. Slava was wearing formal cloth, and it seemed like he was going to a high school prom. However, there was a Den staff checking ID by the entrance, and Slava could not enter because of his age. Oh, man. He was really freaking out, and tried to persuade me help him get in Den. He told me that I could get in and open the door at the second floor, but I saw there is another Den staff standing by that door. So, I told him I couldn't open the door because there was another staff by it. He was really pissed off because I said he was a looser. :) just kidding.

The funny story just began. I met Yun and Martin at the cafeteria in Machall. Yun went to Den to see if there was any friend of her, but she said she could not find any one when she came back. Therefore, we talked about what we were gonna do for tonight. Yun suggested we should go buy some drink, and go to one of us house to celebrate GOOD FRIDAY. Martin thought about it for a little bit, and he said you guys could go to his house. All of us agreed with Martin, and we went to a Drink shop to buy some beer. Before Yun bought beer, she ask everyone how many bottles he or she could drink. I remembered slave said he only could drink one bottle. Guess what! Eventually, he had two bottles of beer at that night. Oh! he was such a big fat lier. Just Made fun with him. Don't be Mad, Slave, just kidding. we hanged out so late at that night, it was great though. we talked about everything we could, such as music, movie, personal goals, etc. I had a great time. Thanks, guys. EAP 3 is MISSABLE.

ToEfL, have you taken it Yet?

Oh,God! I am gonna tell you something, ToEfl is the hardest English test i ever have had in my entire life. I just took it in this morning, and I felt EAP 3 was much easier after I finished the test. Now, I am glad about I am taking EAP courses, and I am in the final level. Thank god! However, I am still thinking about the difference between EAP program and ToEfl, and which one can really test our abilities for universities' level. To tell the truth, reading section in ToEfl is extremely hard, much harder than the tests or exams we've done in EAP 3. Listening sections in both are pretty much the same. Speaking is harder than EAP 3, especially reading a passage first, then listening to a lecture and compare what you read with what you listened. Another hard is summarize the lecture and use the information from the lecture to explain a question. Summarizing lectures is a very crucial skill for surviving at universities. Using and Explaining is another important skill for doing academic presentations. For writing section, I think EAP 3 is a little harder, but ToEfl has a very interesting writing task. In the task, You read a article first, and then listen to a lecture which is based on the same topic as the article. After that, you have to use information from the article and lecture to answer a question, writing about 200 words. It also tests listening skill......ToEfl is just a test, and EAP Program provides courses which helps students prepare for universities. Students who pass ToEfl may not survive at U of C, that is why Murray said ToEfl is garbage, but Can students who pass EAP 3 survive in regular courses? I am concerned about it NOW. Anyway, I felt I do have a lot of work to do after I took ToEfl. It makes me work hard. go to classes every day, be on time, do homework, and KEEP BLOGGING :) cheers.

New schedule and summer plan

We started the new schedule yesterday, and it was my first time to be in Ilana's grammar class. I know we need to give the new schedule some more time to see how it works, but I have some my own opinion. First, there is no doubt that Ilana is very good at English, especially at grammar. Second, she was serious in the class, which showed she quite cared about her job. However, is she good at teaching or teaching English? I felt she was not as enthusastic as Scott, and I think she not felt happy teaching English and just took teaching EAP3 as a job. I know English is her second language, and she is good at it. That may be why she liked to show how good her English is. When Jen asked her questions, probably Jen said not clearly and she always said "what" instead of "sorry" or "pardon me". Oh, man. A good teacher is tring to help his or her students, not telling them that they are looser. Gotta be patient, I felt like she just did what she gotta do, and that's it. All of above is my own opinion.
Anyway, life goes on. I have thought about my summer plan already! That's quite exciting to think about it. we will finish EAP 3 program in April 12th, I guess. Well, anyway, I never remmeber the date. We will have a very long break, about more than 4 months. Is that amazing you could almost do whatever you want. For me, I still need to work on my English, and I try to make it better in order to survive my Bachelor degree studying. I am thinking about taking some spring cources such Math, Chemistry, etc. Perhaps, I just sleep for a month. for the next month, I wanna turn in full-time and try to get more hours from where I am working right now. You know why, because I want to go back to China. Oh, yep, to achieve that goal, hOhO, I need to make some money. I miss the food in China so much, and I miss my friends so much. At the time I am in China, I probably go to Thailand. it sounds good. take care guys.

Wow! workig.

Hi, guys, wat's up? I have not blogged for 3 weeks because I am lazy. Yes, I know it. Anyway, I just realized I needed to catch up blogging. First of all, congratulations to all the EAP3 students who survived the mid-term exams. I can't believed only half of this semester to go, and I can't wait finishing this semester. Also, I want to thanks EAP3 teachers who demonstrated valuable and useful lessons.
This week we finished chapter 7, working. I learned some very useful grammar, reported speech, embedded questions, statements, etc. reported speech can be used in essays when I want to use other people's speeches instead of quoting. Embedded questions can be implied in conversations in university level, and it makes speeches more polite. I learned about how to deal with job interviews in Listening/Speaking lessons. I think Listening/Speaking lessons for this week are more practical than before, and it is very valuable and helpful for us to find jobs in Canada in the future because we can understand some Canadian culture about job interview and have knowledge about how to prepare job interview. To avoid cultural misunderstanding, we can have more chance to succeed in job interview and working. For Reading class, I just don't want to take about it....... about 45 students class size, if I were the teacher, I would have not clue abut how to teach.

I want to talk about work. since I came to Canada, I have asked myself why I am here many times. Personally, I want to learn English because it is extremely dam important now. Well, the second reason is I like traveling, I need to know English for communication. The main reason I came here is having abilities to find a good job. The universities in North American have very high quality of education system, and they have very good reputation in the world. There are more opportunities in Canada and United States than in China. However, I still have no idea what I want to learn. First of all, I had one and half year university experience in China, and my major was computer science. I pretty much like it but it really takes time and energy to write application programs, websites, etc. Therefore, I probably not choose it again. Anyway, I like math, biology, chemistry, physics which are logical to me. if you like those stuff, what can you do? to be a engineer. Yes, I really want to try engineering, and Calgary is a engineering city, especially civil and chemistry engineering. Engineers can make a lot of money(honestly, money is one of my concerns). Business, I kind of like it, but not too much. well, my parents like me to take business, international business. since China has been the biggest market in the world, many and many companies have required people who know Chinese. If you can know Chinese and English in proficiency level, you will be really hot plus your business degree. Chinese is the biggest population language, and English is the most widely used language. Well, it is really really hard not to be hot if you know both languages. Well, before doing those, I still need to pass EAP3, and I can really think about what I like to do in the rest of my life during the semester. Hopeful, I can have a little clue.

Holy Cow! Mid Term is coming

It is getting busy! OK, first of all, I have book project due is next week, but I forgot which day(I'll check schedule). I just finished my book, The Great Expectation. I love the story and the emotions.
I may read that book again because the story is so long and I spent too much time on it(not really, but I stopped reading for a week somehow). I'm gonna write a summary about that very emotional story.
After book project, I got research project. You know what? the worse is I have never done it before, and I need to use APA format to do it. Basically, I will learn what the heck APA format is, and then I find some articles or books about language learning, daring and danger, and Mind. Read three articles or books about them, and write three entries of summary. THE DUE IS FEB 11th.
After research project due, I have a presentation with my partners in-class. I think it will be a lot of fun. I think this is the only fun we can have in Murray's class. However, my mid-term exams are coming up right after presentation. Is that a joke? I'm going cazy.
Anyway, forget about school stuff. I went to a party in Brentview Baptist Church which is very close to Brentwood station. The party is held by Focus Club which has many international students. Tonight, we celebrated Chinese new year, and we had many performances which are from different countries(China, Japanese, Canada). The first one was Chinese song singing, and song's name is Rain Forest(S.H.E). It was pretty good actually. I liked it. The second one was Japanese song singing, the singer is my friend, Naodo. He is taking international relationship at the U of C. He has not played guitar for two or three years. He was playing guitar and singing, and his voice was wonderful to me. I liked that Japanese song, Cool. I really enjoyed the party.
By the way, who wants to come to party again with me, please contact me.

It is Harder Than I Thought

I finished two weeks of EAP 3, and I felt it is harder than I thought. Seriously, I think Writing course is the hardest course in EAP 3. At the beginning of this semester, my goal of Writing course is to get B+ in order to skip effective writing test. After two weeks, I realized that can be really very very hard to achieve because writing exams can be very hard if you do not work hard. Today, I had a grammar quiz, and it seemed like very easy. However, it only worths 1.6%, Does it really make sense? Anyway, my writing teacher is very enthuzastic and crazy, and he could give you super surprise every day. Like today, he just gave us an hour in-class writing test or something, and the title was "Is English a difficult language to learn", of course, yes, it is. Holy shoot, that just made me wake up. You know, after a winter break, I need to pick up vocabulary, essay brainstorming and organization. Seriously, at that time I had no idea about how to wrote an essay, but when I asked myself what I learned from last semester. Then, I knew how to wrote an essay, well, basically.
I just got my listening quiz and reading quiz yesterday, and listening quiz was pretty good, but reading quiz was just fine! My reading teacher is as crazy as my writing teacher, may be crazier. He can make the quality of reading quiz like mid-term exam if he wants, like the quiz I got yesterday. I was quite worried about it. Reading quiz can be isolated from reading textbook because my reading teacher is going to lose his mind. Vocabulary from the quiz were not from the textbook. What a crazy thing! Anyway, what can we do? learn as much as we can, and do homework almost every day. I hope everyone doing in the rest of this semester.

First blog of my new semester

Hi everyone!
Today is the fourth day of winter 20008 semester. I was exited about starting this semester because I would have wonderful teachers in EAP 3. Scott, I think he is the craziest teacher I've ever met. Scott is super crazy, and he is always enthusiastic in the class. I like his speech because it is very funny and interesting. Scott is a energy guy, he can make the class interesting. I like him. I have another teacher, Murray. He is a new teacher in EAP 3, but Murray is much seriouser than Scott. Anyway, he is still very funny guy, and I think his mind is crazy too but different from Scott super crazy. I am not sure Scott and Murray both are good teachers because I have known them for just four days. I think they must be good, otherwise they cannot get job in EAP program and won't teach level 3-final level. Finally, good luck for eveyone in EAP 3.
I want to pass EAP 3. I'll make it happen.