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.