HALLOWEEN FUN!

HELLO! HELLO!! 

Well I've been busy all afternoon getting emails off to students.

And my brain is on overload! But, nevertheless I have a special message for you!

This weekend and next week mark the beginning of annual Halloween events, celebrations, and parties. I remember how much fun I had as a kid on All Hallow's Eve! My mom always made it a point to dress us up as little women. We got to wear her high heel shoes, and her jewelry, and her handbags, and, the best, her makeup!!! She even did our hair! I have some snaps (abbreviation of snapshot) of that time. Pictures of my sister and I, all ready to go out trick-or-treating.

I also remember how the fun continued later on in my life when I started teaching. Everyone came dressed up with their costumes and there were always a ton of activities organized at school. I played some mean tricks on a few school principals in those days. They still talk about it when I see them once in a while. I think that I traumatized them!! I always had an accomplice, I couldn't pull it off by myself!

The best fun I had though were the Halloween parties with friends and their friends! I enjoyed dressing up just as much at an adult age. The best costume I ever made was a Cleopatra one. I researched all the details and really tried to reproduce them as best I could. It was an amazing costume. And I got to wear a very dark haired wig and headdress!! No pictures to show though! Don't remember why! I loved it!

Today, not that many entertaining moments to share, except for the fun time in class with you playing a special Halloween game. Soooo I'm getting ready for that! I also intend wearing a special hat in class next week. I wish you would join me and decorate those wonderful heads of yours!! Surprise me! Let's have some fun and I can take some pictures.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your parties ... if any!

SUZANNE

LET'S TALK ABOUT .... AUTUMN!!!

Hi! And good Sunday morning to all!

This morning I was awoken by the 'dingling' NOISE of my neighbour putting up his TEMPO for the winter! Some people like to plan in advance and at the other end of the spectrum, there are the last-minute-people! Which do I like the best? NONE of them when they are installing such an ugly site for my eyes :( and not to mention, waking up the neibourhood!

That's from where I stand* ... and I would like to add:  

shovelling is a perfect winter activity. 

GET OUTSIDE PEOPLE! 

Manufacturers have IMPROVED all winter's tools. 

It's called ERGONOMICS!!l    

I looooove my winter shovel! 

But as usual, I digress*. Another topic for a future winter post. 

I too plan in advance although I am ... 
the worst procrastinator. 

I'll get back to you when I get my shovel out ;) 

because I am procrastinating right now, writing this post. 

I should be continuing what I started yesterday,

 getting my wardrobe officially winterised and in order. 

Call it a TEMPO for my fall and winter clothes ...

The following post is from fall 2010.

 Enjoy!!!

SUZANNE

*NOTE:  digress and where I stand, both have links to definitions. Try it!

LET'S TALK ABOUT .... AUTUMN!!!

When I say the word AUTUMN  ...

what is the first word that comes to mind ?

season, fall

trees, leaves, colours

afternoon, Indian Summer

festivals, harvest

outdoor markets

apples and apple pie

pumpkins and Hallow’een

change, weather, cool, rain

TEMPO’s (just kidding!)

Many words come to mind and many images do also. 

This is what is called ASSOCIATION!

Put all these words together and you get 

A STORY ABOUT AUTUMN.

Sounds like the title of a movie, doesn’t it? Actually it is in fact the reminder that in English, Autumn is a girl’s name, just like Winter is, and Summer and Spring as well. There are  April’s, May’s and June’s too.

But let’s concentrate on the word AUTUMN which is the name of a season, one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, from hot to cold, weather that is! The synonym being FALL. Which of course comes from LA CHUTE DES FEUILLES: falling autumn leaves and we get, fall foliage and fall colours. These are all expressions used while talking about autumn.

You have song lyrics and poems that celebrate this colourful season. There are novels and short stories too. You also have visual art forms, paintings and photographs and videos that show many of our fall colours. These are the ones used to best describe them: red, yellow, orange, gold and crimson, rusts and browns, and all the different hues of each. The most spectacular presented by the sugar maple tree!


You also have the sounds of fall: the Canada geese flying over, the rustling of leaves on the ground, the sound of the cool wind in the trees, the little squirrels running around gathering their nuts for the winter. And what about the smell of woodsy dying leavesand the cool fresh air hitting your nostrils. All your senses are sollicited!!!

So, no wonder that autumn is so much 

a part of our lives here in Québec …

YOU CANNOT MISS IT!!!!

You can SEE it, SMELL it and HEAR it!

You can also EAT some of it

But mostly be TOUCHED by all of it!

I WISH YOU ALL A GREAT FALL

and

A HAPPY AUTUMN!

A message of encouragement

 ESl teacher, DAVE SCONDA

TODAY ...

A word of encouragement 

from Dave Sconda.

"Straight from the horse's mouth" (idiom)

that is from his Twitter account:

«Be courageous with language learning-

don't let any fear/bad feeling get in your way

you're learning, mistakes are good, keep moving forward!»

I couldn't have said it better myself!

My feelings as well.

Suzanne

NOTE: CHECK OUT the tools on your right.

I have UPDATED: added and removed some of the links.

GROWING PAINS

GROWING PAINS ...

Some of you are experiencing 'growing pains' !!!

 difficulties that arise in the early stages of any project.

As your teacher and coach,

I can understand how difficult some of the English language's 

vocabulary and spoken language can be. 

How learning the verbs and the verb tenses is ploblematic.

How mad you must get at me, when I say:" It's easy!"

Don't worry ... I can take it.

It's called to transfer your frustration on someone!!

I'm used to it! 

But I digress ...

Right now, in our classes, you are experiencing 

what it REALLY IS to learn a language, any language!!

The biggest problem is that you are not starting 

FROM SCRATCH or FROM ZERO! 

You have to FORGET what you have learned in a wrong way. 

You have to OPEN UP to a new way of operating! 

A new way of thinking! A  new way of learning!

I am your cheerleader!

I am here to help!

I am here to support you!

The biggest MISTAKE that you can make as a learner of English 

is NOT LETTING GO of many many years of relying 

on French to translate all that you want to say!!

You have to RETRAIN the part of your brain

in which we can find the title: LEARNING a LANGUAGE!

Here's a little anecdote that can illustrate

what I went through learning Spanish.

When I was in Cuba studying Spanish,

I remember my teacher telling me 

that I would NEVER BE CUBAN!

It hurt my feelings then ... but today, 

I understand where he was coming from.

He was talking about IDIOSYNCRASY

which in simple words means: 

CULTURE and WAY OF THINKING!!!

Sooo, learning a language is not 'a piece of cake',

it's more like 'pulling teeth' ...

Today, above all, I want to reassure you

and let you know that I'm there for you.

You will get the results you are hoping for,

remember 'it takes two, you and I, to tango'!!!

For those who watch Dancing With The Stars,

it means COMMITTED and DAILY WORK.

HOURS and HOURS of PRACTICE,

and finally the word we all hate:

D I S C I P L I N E.

I CAN HEAR YOU !!! ............No BUT's nor I CAN'T's

JUST DO IT to quote the popular slogan!!

I love you all and 
I'm really really sorry for the growing pains!

Your teacher and number one supporter!

SUZANNE

NOTE: Piece of cake and pulling teeth are idioms or idiomatic expressions.

You will finfd the meaning by CLICKING on expression. I have created a LINK.

Any UNDERLINED and BLUE words are all linked to their definitions.

FALL IN QUÉBEC

 ...and a good SUNDAY morning

        to all my ESL students!

I’m writing to you from the summer cottage

I have been renting for the past four years.

The scenery is incredible

when the fall colors are at their peak!

It could not be any more colorful!

It is chilly outside but the orange,

yellow, and red leaves warm up the ‘air’.

What an incredible and awesome sight!!

The Canada Geese are also very present.

Their distinctive calls can be heard overhead.

I think they are saying:”Let’s go, gang!

We are flying South for the winter.”

They are so brave to travel 'there and back'

every year of their lives.

The only words I can think of right now are:

MOTHER NATURE!!!

We are lucky to have such wonderful sights

to look at and admire for each

and every season of the year.

Now about the classes!

I have met all of you this week:

all five groups and just over sixty students!

WOW! The English classes are becoming popular!

And I am so pleased with the groups.

I have my 'work' cut out for me:

from beginners to conversation!!

I also have some really good news to share with you.

After a lot of negotiating, I finally scored

an early delivery of all the dictionaries.

So I will be able to show you

how to use them at our next class.

I will prepare a few activities to help you

"find your way around"

and get you started using it!!

NOW ... Don't forget to get familiar with

all your new documents.

And spend some time classifying them in your binder.

It will make things much easier

if we all are 'on the same page'.

Also please explore the TOOLS offered on my blog.

right here ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE

They are there to help you

with the different aspects of learning!

So I am going to stop here,

for I could easily go on and on!!

I'll see you in class this coming week!

         SUZANNE 

LINKS FOR THE SOUNDS of ENGLISH:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/phonemic-chart

BBC