Suggested Topics for March NewsLINC

With January almost over and 2011 firmly along, here are the topics for the March 2011 issue of our NewsLINC newsletter:

1. Spring season article
2. March Break activities
3. What you need to apply for a Canadian Citizenship?
4. Share your experience about job hunting and employment preparation
5. Tips on integrating in Canadian society
6. March 8 - International Women’s Day
7. March 10 - Purim (Jewish Festival)
8. March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
9. March 20 – Holi (Hindu Festival)
10. Community recreation programs and how you and your family can benefit from them?
11. Adult learning programs for immigrants

Those who have never submitted an article are encouraged to do so. Write the draft in MS Word and submit it to me via email attachment before February 15, which gives you at least two weeks to work on it. We took a break for the February issue, but let's start it up for March.

So, who's next?

Discipline Gone Viral

Should kids be happy, or should they be obedient? Should parents try to be popular or feared? Should there be discipline or freedom in the family? This past week has seen a nonstop flurry of opinions on these issues.

The discipline of Chinese moms has just become legendary or even proverbial, with ethnically Chinese law professor Amy Chua of Yale University proclaiming in the Wall Street Journal the superiority of Chinese Mothers in raising children. In the article, she details how she and other Chinese mothers maintain high expectations of their children and would spare no effort to get them to overachieve in every sphere of life, with the exception of sports. If a kid does not perform, she's put through more drills and/or insulted. The stated goal is, of course, to draw the best out of her.

As expected, not everybody's impressed. In fact, Chua's piece has generated quite a media hurricane worldwide. At the present time, the number of comments on the WSJ website is in access of 7,300, and an innumerable number of opinions continue to proliferate on Facebook pages, newspaper op-eds, talk shows, and who knows where.

In the LINC program, learners come from all over the world, from different cultures. Living in Canada, what are some of the cultural differences that you face in terms of child raising? How much would you adopt of the Canadian way of teaching your kids? What about the values of the people here? Some of you may wish to read the whole article and some of the comments there before either:

1. Submitting a comment below by clicking on the Comments link, or
2. Posting your thoughts on your own blog, with a link back to this post of mine.

Have fun!

IEP Conference, Friday, Jan. 14

If you happen to be in Downtown Toronto on Friday, do consider attending the IEP Conference, and not just for the free lunch!

Catering to overseas skilled workers in engineering, infocomm, healthcare, finance, and business services, the conference tackles some of the most common and frustrating challenges they face.

Supported by the federal government's Citizenship & Immigration Canada, entrance to the IEP Conference is free, but it's a good idea to preregister through the website: iep.ca.

Program Schedule

TIME	PROGRAM
7:30am	Registration in MTCC North Building (LOBBY)
OPENING & WELCOMING REMARKS - John Bassett Theatre
8:30am	Cultural Presentation by Native Canadian Centre of Toronto
	Conference Welcome Address by Silma Roddau – IEP Conference Chair and President, PCPI and Christopher Alexander – Chair Board of Directors, PCPI
	Opening Remarks by Tarek El-Hennawy – Regional Program Advisor, Ontario Region, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
	Welcome Remarks by Michael Williams – General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, City of Toronto
OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER - John Bassett Theatre
9:00am	Opening Keynote speaker Ratna Omidvar – President, Maytree
IEP PANEL- John Bassett Theatre
9:30am	IEP Panel
BREAK
10:15am	Refreshment Break - Marketplace	Room 106/107
CONCURRENT SESSIONS - SECTOR HUBS
10:45am	ENGINEERING	Room 105
	INFORMATION TECH & COMMUNICATIONS	Room 103
	BUSINESS SERVICES	Room 104A/B
	FINANCE	Theatre
	HEALTHCARE	Room 104C/D
	Sector hub panels include representation from sector employers, regulatory/credentialing bodies, professional associations, educational institutions, government and successfully employed IEPs.
LUNCH (Foyer of Room 106/107)
12:15pm	Take advantage of this opportunity for informal networking with fellow IEPs, and visit the Marketplace (Room 106/107) to connect with supporting organizations and employers! Note: Box lunches will be provided for delegates.
PLENARY SESSION - John Bassett Theatre
1:15pm	Plenary Keynote speaker - Shereli Najak, Senior Producer/Director, Live Remote Productions, , CBC's HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA
CONCURRENT SESSIONS - WORKSHOPS
2:15pm	Debunk the "No Canadian Experience" Myth	Theatre
	Get Motivated and Stay Motivated	Room 104B
	Business Startup	Room 104C
	Getting Comfortable with Networking	Room 105
	Understanding Workplace Culture	Room 104A
	Borderless Leadership	Room 104D
	These sessions will offer IEPs an opportunity to hone their skills to compete in the Canadian marketplace. Please click on the workshops for more details.
CLOSING REMARKS - John Bassett Theatre
4:00pm	Rahul Bhardwaj – President & CEO, The Toronto Community Foundation
	Tarek El-Hennawy – Regional Program Advisor, Ontario Region, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
4:30pm    Conference Ends

Program Subject to Change - Please check back often for updates.

Will we see some of you there?

Another Humdinger--What a Great Start to the Year

Congratulations to the three classmates who got published this month:

1. Inna's seasonal reflections in the Student Forums, titled Greeting the Winter
2. Michael's New Year entry in NewsLINC, titled Resolutions
3. Maria's fun article, also in NewsLINC, on Winter Activities

Keep up the great work! I hope you feel your progress in English as I do!

Welcome Back to Heart-Warming Topics for February

Hopefully, with Christmas well celebrated and New Year finally welcomed, we're all raring to go again on our English-learning quest. Scarcely has the last of the turkey carcass gone into soup, when our next NewsLINC writing assignment comes on the wing, with the following topics to choose from:

·         World Cancer Day, recognized by the UN (health tips to prevent cancer) - February 4

·         Valentine’s Day  - February 14

·         Family day – February 21

·         International Mother Language Day, recognized by the UN (Let us know about your mother language) - February 21

·         Your first winter in Canada or your first experience of snowfall.

·         An essay on benefits of community services/programs for newcomers in Canada.

·         How Canada can benefit from multiculturalism

·         How to integrate in Canadian society

·         Winter recipes

We always welcome student biographies, so please keep submitting them

In order to allow time for editing, please submit your article to me in a Word.doc by email attachment by Saturday, January 15.