workplace meeting

I am sure that all of us attended in a meeting at least once in our life. How do you fill about it? Do you fill it was useful or it was just boring? the researches show that lack of etiquette and poor planning are two of the main reasons why many meetings fail. There is some important rules for having useful meeting.

1. being punctual.Arrive to the location of the business meeting at least 15 minutes early.

2. If everyone doesn't know one another in the meeting room, you need to make introductions. You should do this by starting with the person of the highest rank first.

3. Meetings should have a break every two hours. Breaks should be 20 minutes long

4. the speaker should speak as loud as every one can hear

5. If you cant not understand something you can interrupt speaker and ask question.

6.Turn off your cell phone prior to the start of the meeting. If you are expecting an urgent call, then set your phone to vibrate. 

by following these rules you can improve the quality and effectiveness of various meeting

and receive some useful informations. 

Business idioms

Yesterday our land lord announce us that our time is up and we should leave the apartment.

These days by using technology you are able to touch base with your old friends.

 To avoid the corruption the government prohibited  paying under the table.

I am interested in going to collage but I have not decided yet. It is still up in the air.

I am not really in to having a white collar job.I think it is so boring.

I am worry about my job interview. My English is not very well ,so I think the native candidate have the upper hand in passing interview.

Edited by Amin

Yesterday our landlord announce us that, your time is up so you have to leave the apartment.

These days by using technology you are able to touch base with your old friends.

 To avoid the corruption the government prohibited  paying under the table.

I am interested in going to collage but I did not decide yet. It is still up in the air.

I am not interested in white collar job, I think it is so boring.

I am worry about my job interview, because my English is not well , so I think the native candidate have the upper hand in passing interview.

Listening

1. Preparation: matching

Do this exercise before you listen. Match the verb with the correct noun and write a – g next to the numbers 1 – 7.

1…e….. take                                                                                       a. a designer

2…g….. listen to                                                                                b. your scooter

3…d….. watch                                                                                   c. a business

4…f….. stroke (= move your hand gently over something)         d. films

5…b….. park                                                                                      e. photos

6…a….. make it as (= be successful as)                                         f. the cat

7…c….. set up (= start)                                                                    g. music

2. Check your understanding: matching

Match the speakers with their favourite things. Write a – e next to the numbers 1 – 5.

1…A….. Speaker                   A a. a tablet

2…E….. Speaker                   B b. a sewing machine

3…C….. Speaker                   C c. a scooter

4…B….. Speaker                   D d. a set of knives

5… D….. Speaker                   E e. a cat

3. Check your understanding: gap fill

Do this exercise while you listen. Write the word to fill the gaps.

A. My favourite thing has to be my new tablet. It’s really light and quite small, so I take it with me everywhere. I’m always writing to friends and it’s big enough to do college work on it too. It takes really good photos, and I play games and listen to music on it as well, of course. I often download film onto it, and watch them in bed. My mum says I’m addicted, because I’m always on it. I even read things on it at breakfast time. I’m not allowed to at dinner time, though. I have to be polite and talk to people then. “Welcome back to real life,” my mum says.

B. My favourite thing? Does my cat count as a thing? She’s not really a thing, but anyway. She’s a really beautiful little cat. I’ve had her since she was four months old. You know how some cats are really independent and hardly talk to you? I know cats don’t really talk, but you know what I mean. Well, she’s not like that at all. She’s really affectionate and comes up to me as soon as I get home, purring away like mad. She makes a lot of noise for a tiny thing. She loves being stroked and comes and curls up next to me when I’m on the sofa . She’s great companion.

C. My new scooter! It’s quite small, but fun, and just what I needed for getting around the city. I used to have quite a long walk to the metro, then a longish walk at the other end to get to college . But now I can just whiz there on my scooter. And there’s no problem parking, there’s always space for it. You have to be careful with the cars and lorries – they don’t always see you – and when it rains the surface of the road is terrible , it gets really slippery. But in general it’s perfect for me, and I can fit a friend on the back too – I’ve got an extra helmet for a friend. It’s great. Riding along makes me feel so free.

D. This might sound a bit old-fashioned, but my sewing machine is my favourite thing. I’m studying fashion and love making things, as well as designing them. I also love clothing myself and often buy second-hand clothes – everyone loves the “vintage” look at the moment – and then I adapt them to my size. It’s much easier using a machine to do that than doing it by hand. I do alterations for my mum and my sister too. If I don’t make it as a designer, I suppose I can always set up my own alterations and customising business. Customising clothes, by taking things off and adding things on, is actually very creative, so I wouldn’t mind that.

E. My set of Japanese knives. That sounds a bit sinister, doesn’t it, but I’m not a murdereror anything. They’re chef’s knives and the best ones come from jepan. Cooking is my new hobby. I got into it when I started watching Masterchef on TV. Then I went to an evening class for

beginners, and I haven’t looked back since. I try and have a dinner for between four and eight friends every two or three weeks. That gives me something to work towards and I

always do new dishes so they can try them out and give me feedback. It’s quite an expensive hobby if you use good ingredient, but now my friends help towards the cost. They still get a good meal for a very low price.

4- What’s your favourite thing? Making animation

5- Why is it important to you? Because I enjoy it and it makes me happy when I create something new by myself

6- Vocabulary Box: Write any new words you have learnt in this lesson. Stroke , sewing machine,

Task 1:

Sort the following skills into two categories as soft or hard skills. Write SS for soft skills and HS for hard skills:

1. Patience SS
2. Proficiency in a foreign language HS
3. Leadership Skills SS
4. Persuasion SS
5. A degree or certificate HS
6. Typing speed HS
7. Time Management SS
8. Machine operation HS
9. Teamwork SS
10. Computer programming HS
11. Communication SS
12. Flexibility SS
13. Motivation SS

Task 2:

Now click on this link and decide which of these skills are soft and which are hard skills. 

Task 3: 

Think of two or more of your hard skills and soft skills, then write them down, and provide one example for each skill as how you have demonstrated this skill on the job.

I have experience in working with maya soft war. I made a short cartoon 2 years ago.

I can make different handicraft. I have made special tools and dolls since 10 years ago.

I am so patient . I spend long time to make one cartoons carachter  in computer.

I pay attention to details so I can make some complicated object with my hand.

Task 3

Task 3:

Listen to three short dialogues. Complete the chart to identify each situation, the relationship between speakers, and their emotional states. What helped you to identify each speaker’s emotions (e.g., tone, phrases)?

Number	Situation	Relationship between speakers	Speakers’ emotions
1	Party	Two friends	Thrilled & content
2	School	Teacher and one of parents	Concerned & anxious
3	Funeral	Two friends	Overwhelmed & stunned

Canadian culture

Hi Zahra,
Welcome to Canada. I known that you landed hear just ten days ago. If you don not mind I want to explain about Canadian culture a little; because, I think we can not be oblivious of their custom.

At first, I should say that they are peaceful people and you face to aggressive one rarely. They really care about collaborative activities. when they accept a task they do it to the end. In Canadian culture time is so valuable, so most of them are promptness. they respect different races and cultures equall ,so you should not embarrass if you can not speak very well at first.

I hope this information minimize your problems in the future.

with warm regard.

Personal information

Personal Information

1.      Email address   behnooshseghatzadeh@gmail.com

2.     What country are you from?  Iran

3.     What is your first language? Farsi

4.     What other languages do you speak?

5.     How long have you been in Canada? 35 days

6.     Are you working right now? 1Yes   *No         If yes, what is your job? ________________

7.     What is your profession? animator

8.     What was your job before you came to Canada? I worked as an animator

9.     What is your highest level of education? 

* university  1 technical college  1 seconary school   Degree? 

10.  Did you study English before you came to Canada? * Yes  1 No. If yes, so for how     long? 1 year

11.  Have you studied in ESL classes before in Canada?  1 Yes  * No

12.  What are your 4 CLBs?        L 6                       S 6            R 6             W 6

13.  What language skill is the easiest for you? Please order from 1 (easy) to 4 (difficult).

1 reading           4 writing              2 listening         3 speaking

14.  List three goals or/and reasons for you taking this program.

I want to have communication easily……………………………………………….

I need to find a job………………………………………………..

………………………………………………..

15.   Which skill(s) do you want to work on in this class: speaking, listening, reading, or writing?

speaking listening…………………………………………………………………………………………

16.  What do you need to learn in this class? Choose the most important 5 things and write them in order in the opposite column.

 How to use grammer in sentences 

more new vocabulary

Improve my listening

Improve my writing