Sunday, April 13, 2008

The end of this semester

It is almost the end of this semester . I did have a wonderful time. I can still remember how hurry I was when the next day was due day but I did finish my assignment. I can remember however it is hard to communicate with different classmants having different culture backgrounds we still talk with each other and enjoy ourselves. I can remember the time when I practise spoken Engilsh although it is not easy for me. Three monthes is not a long tome but I did experience a lot that I never had before. That is a part of life. Having different feelings, meeting different people, making different friends and experiencing different lives are the most wonderful things for the whole life. Not only to learn something but also to enjoy something is my real goal in the studying in EAP. Maybe fifty years I will forget my classmates' names but I can never forget the things which we did together.Exciting thing ,happy thing , sad thing are already deeply in my brain. Wish everyone good luck in the future.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Library

I went to a local library today with my friend Bob. We were not allowed to talked in the library but on the way home we had a conversation. He said he liked the libraries here because they were good places to study. In a library you could really enjoy reading. I said I liked libraries too although internet was more popular in today’s world. We could check information in the internet easily but I would feel uncomfortable when I read towards the screen. I liked finding a bright room, sitting in a comfortable chair and enjoying the interesting books. It was more like an enjoyment than a study. Bob said we could a lot of information in a library. Not only books but also videos and some experiment instruments could be found in the library. We should use the resource in libraries. Books were the ladders to success. Maybe it is a good idea to read more books in the future because I could practise my English and learn some knowledge while reading.

Friday, April 11, 2008

University in Calgary

Today I visited my friend Bob. He had been in Calgary for 2 years and now he was a student of University of Calgary. We talked about something about university. He said studying in university in Canada was not as restricted as in China. I agreed with him. I said when I studied in China’s university I had to get up at 6 in the morning and punched my card every weekday . I also had a lot of homework to hand in every week. He said studying here was free and he could choose his class and his teacher. But he said it was not a good thing sometimes. Once he forgot to take a test because he did not check his email but in China teachers would inform every student and the all the students in university had exams in the same day. “There is no good or bad, it is only some difference.” That was my conclusion. Thanks to the conversation I knew something about the university in Canada and I understood it was a good idea to prepare before I entered a university.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Presentation

To do a good presentation is not an easy thing. After today's presentation, I seem to know more about how to do it. First is not to be nervous. I was a little nervous when I was speaking and every time I got nervous I would forget my words. The best way is to prepare well. Doing a good preparative can offer speakers confidence which can stop from being nervous. Preparing is important. I know that because in contrast to my last presentation which I did not prepare well, this time I can speak more fluent and at least do not need to look to my clue card. It is an improvement because of good preparative . Also, when doing the presentation, feeling free to do some actions is also a good idea. Some students gave an excellent presentation because I felt that I really communicated with them according to the actions.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Summer

The weather of Calgary is so weird. Winter is supposed to be cold but it is not. Today is a good sunny day while tomorrow may be snowing heavily. After some unpredictable weathers finally I feel uncomfortable several days before. Interestingly, in my hometown the weather is even colder than Calgary but I seldom catch a cold there. I cannot stand the changeful waether.
But I like the summer here. not cold and not that hot. The sunshine is not strong and the wind blows gently. Especially after the dinner, sitting beside the Bow River and reading a book or listening to some music is an enjoyable time for me. Also, summer is a exciting time. Unlike staying at home in winters, in summer I can go to play basketball or tennis outside with my friends. When having suitable time we will drive to picnic. Now is spring, summer is comind soon.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Food

Today my mother was not busy and she also wanted to practise her English so we had a talk after today’s dinner. Because I used to work in a deli my mother asked me something about cooking Canadian food. I said Canadian ate meat a lot especially chicken. I had cooked many kinks of chicken. Most of the dishes were full of meat but only one was vegetable and one was rice. My mother said in China we usually ate vegetable and meat half to half. That was more nutritional. I said although we could many Chinese restaurants in Calgary but they were not real. Only in China we could eat Chinese food. We also talked some traditional food in China and some favourite food. I missed them a lot! I wished I would go back to my home to have a big dinner. It was really hard to speak English between two Chinese but we managed to do that. I believe this kind of practice was necessary because it was useful for us to communicate in English.

Friday, March 14, 2008

No Topic Writing

Scott asks us to write something. So let's talk something about the computer which I am using. I like the computers in labs of University of Calgary. In contrast to the computers in my former university, the computers here are more advanced and most of them are kept in good conditions. What's more they are free to use. when I used computers in the labs of my former university I had to pay extra money per hour. I believe opening labs to students is important for the well-being of students.It is effecient to study in university. Although students can write papers or check information from internet on their own personal computers, the environment is not good for study at home. In a lab, we can communicate with classmates and we can feel ambious when we see others are studying as well.When I am at home I only want to take breaks. I always tend to make myself confortable when I an studying at home. In addition, students can also learn more in labs in university because most labs are nor far from libraries. It is easy to find some information when we are studying in labs. On the other hand, it is not comfortable to study in labs. Of course siting on one chair for a long time makes us tired easily. However the benefits of labs are more improtant. That is the reason why a lot of students prefer to study in labs other than at home.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Breakthroughs

I want to talk about my own breakthroughs because I believe it is importamt for people to understand what have they done. I have to say I have made some great (just to me) breakthroughs but most of them are relative to my study. (I used to be a studious student.) Now I believe the most breakthrough I made was coming to Canada. Just like inertia, people like to keep former custom. Some people like to challenge new stuff because it makes them excited. So do I. However, together with the excitement I have to meet the fear of new thing. Living in a space where everything is new, new people new system and new customs is not easy and even communication has a big problem. But I survive. Now I can do some basic communication and have more confidence to speak. My live becomes normal, studying English and going to university. My parents are both happy too. Life is good.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Talking in my work

I worked in a supermarket so I had many colleagues to talk with. Today was a fine day so Jason and I talked something about the weather in Calgary. He said the weather in Calgary changed quickly and advised me to prepare. He said “Today is so sunny but tomorrow may rain a lot and rather cold.” I said to him that the weather in Calgary is a little similar to my hometown. Both of them had a long winter and it was not hot in summer. That was the reason why I could live here without much trouble. He and I both liked winters. He said he liked playing hockey games, skating and skee in winters. He also told some interesting thing when he played. Maybe I would try them in the future. They seemed to be good exercises and could make a lot of fun. I felt better when I talked with native speakers. I found I cold follow him when he spoke. Even when I could not understand some words I could guess their meanings. I could also build up my self-confidence when I was talking with them.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Working...

I have worked in Calgary for a fwe months. It was my first regular job. The last one which was a job I worked as a tutor two years ago was not considered a job. In my opinion, a part-time job was washing dishes or selling fast food, that kind of stuff.As a tutor, sitting in front of a desk, facing a high school student, teaching something which is much easy than what I was learning at that time ang earning more than thirty dollars an hour was more like a white-collar job. However, now I know how hard it is to work as a part-time job. Endless dishes, hot oven and heavy frozen chicken, that was my only memory when I was working in Coop as a deli clerk. Now I kind of understand why people want to go to university to study other than go to work directly after graduating from high school. I want to study and find a better job. That is what I learn during I was working and that is really important, I believe.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

My Editing Experience

A few days ago I had a chance to edite other's essay. I found it is useful for me. When I was reading his essay I could learn some new expressions which included new words, new sentences and new structure of a article. It is significant for me because I always can not find a different way to express a same idea when I am writing a essay. I can learn it from reading others' articles which are writen by the students who have the same English level to me. Also, Learning other's idea is interesting. Nothing is absolutely right or absolutely wrong and the more I know the more I can write. For example, I prefer learning English in classroom but my partner's essay is to say that learning English should be more easier when we merge in a English circumstance. I think it can be used as a topic to support my statement. Finally, Editing is good to my grammar. Sometimes it is hard for us to correct a grammar mistake of myself. However, we can find others' mistakes easier. Even the mistakes I did not make is useful because they can remind me of not making them. So I say editing is good for my English writing.