Winter in Toronto 3

"Yup, still snowing". The photo was taken by gardinergirl@flickr.


Do you know where this picture was taken?
Chinatown, Toronto

Would you like to explore Chinatown?
You can start with this map. There is also a satellite image.
Click on "Choose Neighbourhood". Then click on East Chinatown or Chinatown.

Do you know what celebration happened in Chinatown last weekend?
The Chinese New Year

Do you know what year it is?
According to the Chinese Zodiac, it is the year of the ox.


The biggest celebrations started on the weekend in the eastern part of the world. It was bitter cold last Saturday, so I sat back with my laptop computer and looked up what was happening in China. I was able to find a sneak preview of the Spring Festival Gala. So try to warm up with some
Chinese New Year entertainment.

*** Remember to click on underlined words for additonal activities or information.




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Help For Immigrants On Internet

There is new blog that was officially launched last week. It's called Loon Lounge. You might like to check it out at http://www.loonlounge.com/. A lot of future immigrants and newcomers to Canada are members on this site. It is trying to create a community where people can share information and ask questions. According to the Toronto Star, one of the hottest topics is the Citizen and Immigration Canada list of 38 priority jobs. For example, the occupation, registered nurse, is on this list. Another popular topic is language tests.

You may want to join this site. A good start is to watch the short video on the home page. If you do decide to join, you must register. It is free. Then you can join different communities. You can join a community with members from your home country, from your occupation or from the same location in Canada.

Each person has their own page. You can choose to give information about yourself, but remember many people are able to read this information. There is a privacy option. This means you share information only with people you accept as contacts. People will contact you and ask if they can join your page. These contacts can talk to you on line. Also, people can send messages to your page. You can answer their messages or you may delete any you receive.

You may like to read some of the blogs, forums or news. The news includes upcoming events for entertainment and jobs as well as immigration news. There is also a chat room that you can visit and have a conversation with several people.

Winter in Toronto 2

Ride the Rocket in Leslieville

Gerrard East Streetcar in a winter storm. Taken by William Self.


How's the weather?
Toronto continues to get a lot of snow. A snow storm is predicted for the weekend and then cold weather again.

Did you freeze during the blackout?
We had minus twenty (-20) last weekend. Some people in the west end were in a blackout for about 24 hours. They had no electricity from around ten o'clock at night on Thursday to ten o'clock the next night. Many people went to bed early on Friday with lots of blankets and were thankful to wake up in warm homes.

There was a lot of Internet activity as people tried to find out if their area had electricity or not. The lucky ones got their electricity back on Thursday. If you are interested, you might like to read the comments on blog TO



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Winter Events in Toronto

Enjoy Toronto's Winter City Festival. Check out the three activities.

1. Series @ Nathan Phillips Square
2. Warm Up Series
3. Winterlicious
________________________________________________________

Here's a scavenger hunt to explore the City of Toronto.

1. Attractions: Collect discount coupons.
(Go to Winter City. Then Discount Coupons.)

2. Toronto Star Video: Watch it.
(Go to Winter City. Then Schedules.)

3. Fireworks Finale: Enjoy the photo.
(Go to Winter City. Then Fireworks Finale.)

4. $15.00 Lunch: Read the menu.
(Go to Winterlicious. Press "List of participating restaurants".)

5. More Winter Fun: Find something free.
(Go to Winter City .Then More Winter Fun.)

Winter in Toronto

It's freezing now, but it's suppose to be okay by the weekend. This is a photo of Broadview Avenue Hill taken by Bob Duck. It's just north of Broadview Subway which is near the corner of Broadview and Danforth Avenue. Can you see what they are doing? Tobogganing.





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Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery is becoming more and more accepted, but be careful. Toronto Star recently ran an article about the rules and regulations for plastic surgery in Ontario. The present standards are so outdated, they are shocking! They are starting to change, but the government needs to do more to protect patients who undergo plastic surgery. The new laws are expected in the spring of this year.

Until we get new laws, you might be surprised by the lack of rules for medical clinics in Ontario. Did you know the government allows GPs or family doctors to perform plastic surgery in their clinics? GPs are not plastic surgeons. Moreover, they are not trained surgeons. As well, these operations are not observed by the medical board. Why would any room where operations take place not require visits by a regulating body?

Plastic surgery requires a lot of cutting and I worry some patients do not understand the health risks. Did the young Toronto mother who had liposuction surgery understand her risks? Well, I guess she will never be able to answer that question as she died following her operation. In 2007, the 32 year old woman had "23 incisions in 6 body parts in one surgical session". The Toronto family doctor had no surgical designation, yet performed cosmetic surgery.

Personally, I would like to see all plastic surgery operations done in hospitals. I think elective surgeries should be screened by an impartial counsellor. The counsellor could explain the surgery, and the expected outcomes of the surgery. In addition, the limitations, possible complications and risks could be explained. The patient needs to hear and read this information before giving permission for any operation.

I found a short documentary on two women who had plastic surgery. These women went to a foreign country to reduce the costs of their plastic surgery. I hope you enjoy it :)

1. Watch the video and answer the multiple choice questions. Don't forget to check your results.

Note: The first and second video are the same story, so you need to watch only the first video. (Unfortunely, the second video recently disappeared. I don't know why, but I added this new video above the original video. Sometimes videos get removed on the internet.)

2. Add a comment about the video. Would you do what these women did? Why or why not?

May your days be merry and bright,

And may all your Christmases be white.

Those words are taken from a traditional Christmas song, White Christmas. Christmas songs and Christmas carols are popular this time of year. Do you know the traditional Christmas carol, Jingle Bells? My favourite is The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole because my father loved it and sang it. My son, Nathan,likes to sing Hallelujah which was written by a Canadian singer/ song writer, Leonard Cohen. Another Canadian singer, Katie Lang, sings a current version and has helped to make this older song popular again. According to the Toronto Star, a recent version of Hallelujah hit number one in the British song charts. A popular older version hit number two and Cohen's version made number forty six. Not bad for an old song, but the holidays have people follow tradition and we look to fond memories from our childhood or our children's youth.

So, turn on your radios and get a flavour of the holiday tradition. If you turn on CHFI, 98.1, on Christmas Eve, you will catch Erin Davis's Christmas party. Her daughter and my son will be singing a Christmas carol together. Also, turn on your TV to catch some of those holiday movie classics. Three of my favourites are It's a Wonderful Life from 1946 with the actor, Jimmy Stewart and his angel, and A Christmas Carol with the character, Scrooge, and White Christmas where Bing Crosby sings White Christmas.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a song sung by an older Bing Crosby and David Bowie. The song is Little Drummer Boy. It sends a message of peace for us all. May you have peace this holiday and find time to spend a moment with someone you love.

Practising Verbs

Verbs are important. They are in every sentence and help to communicate the main idea. In fact, nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs are the most important words in a sentence. We stress these words when we talk, so our speech is clear to the listener. Here's an example.

On Christmas Eve, Santa likes to eat cookies and drink milk, and the reindeer enjoy carrots.

The most important verbs are irregular verbs. These are the verbs that are used the most in the English language. You must memorize the irregular verb forms. The back pages in some grammar books include a list of the irregular verbs in three forms, base form, past form and participle form.

Try the verb, eat. Santa likes to eat cookies. Santa ate cookies last Christmas. Santa has eaten cookies at Christmas for many years.

Memorizing the verb forms is boring, but your spoken and written English accuracy will improve a lot. Maybe you will find this video less boring. You might even enjoy it! This verb list has sound and pictures too. The pictures should help you remember the different verbs, and the sound should help your pronunciation. If you can, try saying the verb forms out loud with the speaker. Try it more than once if you like. Repetition helps you remember. Repeating this exercise more than once a week will help you remember.

Unfortunately, there is one error in this exercise. The voice says, "lead, led, led", but the words say be "lead, lead, lead". The words should say, "lead, led, led".





However, memorizing the verb forms and verb tenses is not enough. You must use them when you talk and write. You must develop an understanding of time. When you become a strong intermediate ESL student, you will be able to change tenses often. Did you notice the last sentence talks about the future and that this sentence is in the present? This is called a shift in time. The next video gives some examples.

Also, this video has a short talk about the Olympics in China that finished this summer. You will recognize the teacher in this video. Jennifer's videos were used in an earlier blog on pronouncing the /th/ sound. This video is a higher level and is suggested for advanced ESL students. Don't worry if you find this a bit difficult. It should teach you that you must be prepared to change your tenses. When you write, edit your sentences for shifts in verb tense. As your ESL level gets higher, changing verb tenses will become easier and more natural.

Tim Hortons

I couldn't resist this video. Have you ever tried to order a coffee? How do you like your coffee? Black? Double, double? Regular? Now, try going to Starbucks. It gets more diffucult to know what to order. Okay, so what is a tall? Ordering a coffee takes on new meaning,doesn't it? According to a Star Bucks's employee, you can order a small, tall, grande (pronounced granday) or venti ( pronounced vahntee). In French, vent means twenty and a venti is twenty ounces. The company doesn't want you to order the smallest size which is the small. The small is not on the menu board and if you ask for a small, the clerk will correct you and suggest a tall. Are you still confused?

Okay, so now you are thinking why is this blog called Tim Hortons? Well, that's because there are so many Tim Hortons in Canada and there are so many Canadians who love Tim Horton's coffee. Tim Horton was a real Canadian hockey star. He started his career as a Maple Leaf hockey player in Toronto. He was still playing hockey in his early forties when he was killed in a car crash February, 1974. His widow eventually sold the coffee franchise, but Canadians continue to line up at the nearest Tim Hortons. There is even a Tim Hortons for the Canadian soldiers in Afghanastan. They requested one because they wanted to feel like they were at home. The next video is a Tim Horton's commercial that takes place in Scotland.






After watching this commercial, can you think of a food or drink that is very popular in your home country? Why do you think it is so popular? Can you get it here?

A Change is Gonna Come

This is modern version of the song, "A Change is Gonna Come", performed by the American singer, Seal. It is from his new album, Soul. Another American, Sam Cook, wrote this song in the sixties. According to Wikipedia, Cook was moved by Bob Dylan"s song, "Blowin' in the Wind", because of Dylan's empathy for Racism. In the same year, 1963, Cook wrote this song on a bus after attending a sit-in demonstration. Unfortunately, Sam Cook died the following year, but his song continues to grow in popularity.

In this song from the sixties, Cook wishes for change. There have been a lot of changes since the sixties. Do you think things would be easier for Cook in 2008? What are some changes you like and some changes you don't like? Give some examples of change and explain why you like or don't like these changes. You may give your opinion or add to ideas started by another person.



Gonna = going to
Blowin = Blowing
sixties = 1961 to 1969

Cultural Notes:
1. Bob Dylan is a singer/song writer who was popular in the sixties. He expressed the thoughts of a lot of young Americans that wanted freedom and peace.
2. Sit-ins were popular in the sixties. Many people would meet at a specific location. They would all sit on the ground to show they were unhappy with their government's decisions. For example, many young people did not believe in the Vietnam war. They were peaceful demonstrations, but sometimes the police ended them by arresting some of the demonstrators.
3. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that you can use to look up information. You can find it on the Internet at www.wikipedia.org