NewsLINC Publication: Congratulations, Vlada and Wazira!

This season's NewsLINC features two published articles from one of our very own classmates--Vlady I., who recounted her flight to Canada in detail and described the celebration of women in Ukraine.

On the silver level, articles that are not in NewsLINC get featured in LINC Home Study's Forum. Among these is Wazira O's Comparing Spring in Canada to Spring in Ethiopia.

Let's make sure to read their articles and the other articles in NewsLINC and the Forum.

Congratulations to Vlady and Wazira on getting published! What an awesome achievement! Let's all aim to get published in the next season!

CLB5 E-Portfolio Artefacts

Copy the following questions, and publish them with your answers on your blog:

CLB5L Follow a teacher’s instructions for performing a mathematical calculation. Check out this video lesson. Then publish your written answers to the following 4 questions.

CLB5S Ask a colleague or fellow student to help with a task. (Could you empty the garbage? Would you mind if I went first?) Check out this video lesson. Then record your requests of no more than 3 minutes on chirbit.com.

CLB5R Read an email message or letter from a friend containing a discussion of interests. Identify the likes, dislikes and preferences expressed. Here's your reading sample. Based on it, publish three True/False statements, with answers provided, on your blog.

CLB5W Fill out an accident report form at work. Listen to this video lesson. Then check out this sample of a reporting form. Write out your answers for only the lower half of the form, and publish them on your blog.

CLB3 E-Portfolio Artefacts

Here are your tasks. Copy each onto your blog and publish your answer beneath each task:

CLB3L Listen and respond to an informal greeting, simple exchange and leave-taking when meeting a
child’s teacher, a new colleague or a neighbour. For each of the following, listen and record your response on chirbit.com:

• When meeting a neighbour
• When meeting a child's teacher

CLB3S Talk about simple activities of last weekend. Ask about a friend’s weekend, recording your discussion for about 3 minutes on chirbit.com.


CLB3R Read an invitation to a wedding or company event to find the time, location, address and RSVP details. List the required information on your blog using bullet points.


CLB3W Copy from a dictionary 3 different definitions for the same word to learn the meanings. Choose one word from this page. See if it has more than two meanings in any of the following diectionaries: Dictionary 1, 2, or 3. You can also type the word in Google and add the word definition or meaning to your search. If there are three or more different definitions, copy the definitions to your blog.

Good ... Or Really Bad ... Friday?

If someone captured your leader, beat him up brutally, stripped and shamed him publicly, and then nailed him on a cross to wait for him to die, how could such a day be a good day?

Yet Christians all over the world call this day Good Friday. That leader they honour is Jesus Christ, whom they receive as the Son of God and Saviour, who was helplessly killed before the Jewish and Roman authorities. So, are Christians crazy, seriously crazy, to call such a day good?

Here's a video (among others) that explains it from a Christian perspective.



There is also another explanation of why it's call Good Friday, from an etymological viewpoint. The word Good comes from a form of the word for Holy.

Perhaps there's some truth in either approach. What do you think? And what are you going to do this Good Friday?

E-Portfolio Artefacts: CLB 7

So, for those ready to try some higher-end tasks, here are 4 for CLB7:

1. CLB7L Follow detailed directions on how to get a job interview. Listen to this video, and write briefly your answers to the following:
1. What should women who have not been working do to get back on their career tracks?
2. What is the best way to get into contact with employers--face to face or by phone?
3. Why are alumni networks or associations important?
2. CLB7S Participate in a small, informal meeting of a movie club and express opinions and feelings about the movie being discussed, which is 6:02 - 6:43 of this video. Susan thinks the scenes are realistic and helpful, but Heidi disagrees because she feels it is disrespectful to the person Christians worship as God. Record your advice to Susan and Heidi in 60 to 90 seconds on Chirbit.
3. CLB7R Read a letter or email from a co-worker conveying feelings about some bad news or expressing disappointment about not getting a promotion: "Thank you for your patience while the tenure committee considered your possible promotion to associate professor. We all agree that you have made significant contributions to the Biology Department in your teaching, and we congratulate you on being voted "Teacher of the Year." After reviewing your curriculum vitae, however, we have decided to withhold the promotion to Associate Professor until a later date.While you have several promising research projects in progress, the committee would like to see more refereed publications before granting Associate Professor status. We will be happy to reconsider your request for advancement next year, if the number and quality of your publications increase. Again, we salute your contributions to our department and wish you continued success in your professional endeavors" (Source: Sample Letter 2). Based on the above letter, list briefly the following:

1. Recommended actions for the future
2. Positive commendations
3. Objections to promotion
4. CLB7W Take notes while listening to tenant rights information from a pre-recorded public information line. Based on the recording, draft a short email to a friend who is a landlord sharing with her 2 tips on building a good relationship with her tenant.

Copy the question with the CLB code (e.g. CLB5L) and paste it with your answer on your blog.

LINC Home Study and You

As you know, LINC Home Study is a program that helps learners who can't attend a local classroom master English and settle successfully across Canada via distance education.

The program is generously funded by the federal government, and it is good to let them know how and if it has been helpful to you.

Write 5-6 sentences under comments below to share your thoughts and feelings about your experience so far!

What do you know of our third largest visible minority?

Do you know who are the visible minorities in Canada? Do you know anyone who might be one?

What are the biggest groups among the visible minorities?

February is Black History Month to celebrate the identity and accomplishments of one of Canada's largest ethnic groups. Be sure to check out some of the resources here:

1. CIC's Comprehensive Information Site, including Quizzes
2. The Black History in Canada Education Guide (PDF) and other items
3. Thirteen Films that Inspire
4. Ten Interesting Facts about African Americans

When you have done the above, write or tell about your reflections on Black History Month on your blog. Use Chirbit.com to do your audio recording.