| English Refresher
Keeping Learning Alive!!! |
A different language is a different vision of life.
- Federico Fellini -
Italian movie director (1920 - 1993)
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Joke
Question: What are two things people never eat before breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and supper.
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A man is as old as he feels.
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Bend over backwards - to try very hard.
"The teacher bent over backwards to help the student with all her extra grammar questions."
Break the ice - to do something friendly in order to overcome shyness or to ease tension in a social situation.
"The teacher told the students a joke the first day of class to help break the ice."
A lone wolf - a person who is very private and prefers being alone.
"We never see Roy out with anyone else. He's such a lone wolf."
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Vocabulary
Picturesque (adjective) - visually charming or quaint, as if resembling or suitable for a painting.
"The campus at the University of Victoria is quite picturesque."
Showcase (verb) - to present as a special event.
"The students at the Summer Cultural Fest & Picnic showcased their country through displays, activities and games."
Guru (noun) - a leader in a particular area or field.
"Fashion gurus will enjoy reading magazines like Elle or Vogue."
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Hello,
I'm from Saudi Arabia, my name is Khaled and I'm very happy to learn English at KGIC.
I thank all the teachers, and I thank the teacher, Tracy, for giving me the Top Student in Reading & Writing for the month of April 2009 certificate.
I came to Canada because I knew that English Education, together with the ability to speak English fluently, would open up a great deal more employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia. I've begun to enjoy my English course more and more and my English has improved notably.
My experience in the Canada has been fascinating. I am meeting people not only from Canada, but also from all over the world. Although I have experienced some tough times, I believe that I have really benefited from studying at KGIC and it has made me more disciplined towards my study and work.
I have benefited greatly by studying at KGIC in Toronto.
Thank you so much
Regards,
Khaled Almuhana
Riyadh. Saudi Arabia
Do you have a message about your time or experiences at KGIC that you would like to share with other Alumni students? If so e-mail your message to alumni@kgic.ca and we will be happy to post it in our next newsletter.
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Here at the KGIC Alumni Society we want to keep you informed about what is happening at KGIC. This fall the KGIC Education Group is happy to introduce a few new initiatives on campus designed to improve the student experience.
Green Cards
KGIC Alumni students are well aware of the school's Red Card policy. KGIC is now introducing Green Cards. These will be given to students in class for exceptional work, positive attitude, general helpfulness or strong performance. Green Cards are a chance for KGIC teachers to give students some positive reinforcement. By receiving a Green Card KGIC students will become eligible for a monthly prize.
Smile Awards
Students can now also give KGIC teachers and staff some positive feedback as well with the Smile Awards. KGIC students can vote for a staff member or teacher that they think is always cheerful and positive. The staff member with the most votes will receive a monthly prize.
PowerCoach Program
The KGIC PowerCoach Program is a new way for teachers to help support students in their learning. Students will meet once a week for a one-on-one coaching session with either their Reading and Writing or Communications and Pronunciation teacher. These meetings are five minutes long and are a chance for students to set weekly goals and get weekly feedback from their teachers. The PowerCoach program is designed to give students an extra push in their learning.
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This year King George International College was shortlisted for the Language Travel Magazine's prestigious Star Awards. Language Travel Magazine is a publication for individuals, professionals and companies involved in Language Education. The winners of the Star awards are chosen by other agents and schools. This year KGIC was shortlisted for a Star award in the category of "English Language School - North America." Though not winners this year, it was an honour to be nominated and is a tribute to the hard work of our teachers, staff and students.
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| Greetings!
 September is upon us and the long hot days of summer are slowly fading into memory. With autumn approaching we prepare for the changing of the leaves and cooler temperatures. Fall also brings many important and fun holidays with Thanksgiving and Halloween. Next month the KGIC Alumni Society will have a Halloween Photo Contest. Send in your best Halloween pictures from KGIC or with a KGIC logo in the picture and you can win a prize. More details on the contest will be on Facebook later this month and in the October issue of the newsletter. As Ramadan comes to an end this month we would like to wish our Muslim Alumni members a happy Eid this September 21st. We would also like to congratulate Brazil and Mexico on celebrating their Independence days this month. In Japan we hope Alumni students enjoy the countries first "Silver week", a special three day holiday near the end of September. We hope you all have a great start to fall. We look forward to  seeing your Halloween pictures next month and as always look forward to hearing from you. Send an e-mail to the Alumni Society any time to alumni@kgic.ca .
Sincerely,
Your KGIC Alumni Society
King George International College
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Student Alumni Committee Hard at Work
Summer Cultural Fest & Picnic
 On August 29th the KGIC Alumni Society hosted the Summer Cultural Fest & Picnic. A day in the park with friends enjoying fun activities and delicious food made for a great fun-filled day for KGIC students. The day was a great success with great weather and a fantastic location at the beautiful Stanley Park in Vancouver. Take a look at all the pictures of the day on Facebook.
What truly made this event special was the involvement of students. Sixteen KGIC, CTC, KGIBC and KGIC Alumni students met every week at KGIC Robson campus from the end of July until the day of the picnic as the KGIC Student Alumni Committee. These students represented eight different countries: Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey.
The Student Alumni Committee was involved in planning the entire event. This was great experience for the students in event planning, promotions and marketing. The Alumni Committee showed incredible enthusiasm in planning and making decisions. It was quite amazing how well they worked together. As a group they decided on the food, schedule, prizes and name of the event.
Alumni committee members also worked in smaller groups on various parts of the planning. One group worked with the KGIC graphics department to create the poster for the event. Another group worked on marketing and promoting the event, while others helped coordinate volunteers and assisting to make sure everything went smoothly.
Each country also organized a display and activities from their country for the day of the event. Japan held an entertaining chopstick race; Mexico entertained students with a lively game they called chicken/rooster; Brazil offered delicious treats and dodge ball; Saudi Arabia let students dress up in traditional Arabic clothing for pictures; Turkey taught students how to play backgammon; South Korea showcased a stick throwing game called Tuho; Thailand let students play foot volleyball and Taiwan played a group number calling game.
The Student Alumni Committee did a great job organizing this event and we here at the KGIC Alumni Society would like to sincerely extend to them our appreciation and gratitude.
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Extra! Extra! Read All About It
How to make reading fun. By: Hee-jeong Yun, Ji-eun Kim, Jeong-in Kim, Su-min Kim, Akira Ebisawa, Yoshihiro Hoshino, Miki Taumi
Most English as a Second Language (ESL) students don't like reading or writing. We get tired when we read long articles, but we force ourselves to keep reading because we want to improve our reading skills. Maybe you have even tried a complicated magazine like The Economist, TIME, or Newsweek. But is that the best choice? Think about it! Definitely, you will face lots of advanced, professional lingo, and become bored. In the end, you will not study reading anymore. So, what should we do? Here is some fabulous advice.  1. Read manga (Japanese comic books) in English. Manga is easy to read and it has artistic drawings. These comics have a ton of vocabulary, slang, and idioms. Also, you can choose any category of manga: if you like gossip, you read manga about gossip. If you like basketball, read about basketball! Whatever you read, you will get good reading skills unconsciously. One English website with boatloads of free comics is One Manga. Go check it out right now! Second, check out this blog (made by us!). 2. Read about your hobbies. What's your hobby? There are two reasons why reading articles about your interests is a great suggestion. First, you might enjoy learning more about your hobbies. Imagine your hobby is watching movies. Movie websites discuss previews, reviews, celebrities and directors. Here are two fantastic movie review websites:
Second, who isn't interested in their hobbies? You can easily find blogs. Do you love to eat? Read restaurant reviews and food recipes. 
Here are two attractive restaurant review and food recipe websites:
3. So you think you can read? If you are an advanced reader, here are websites where you can read longer articles. They have a wide range of topics and they are only in English, so don't be surprised...
If you are a fashion guru and a gossip lover, check:
- Elle- Style.com for Vogue- W
If you want to be the man, visit:
- Esquire- GQ- TORO magazine
 Do you want to look like a genius? Go to:
- Vanity Fair
Do you feel life is too difficult only for you? How about finding something sad at
- Cracked.com
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The Link Program
New Opportunities at KGIC/KGIBC Victoria Campus
The University of Victoria has a beautiful campus with trees, flower gardens, paths and a mountain backdrop. Alumni students who have lived in Victoria are sure to be aware of the picturesque setting as well as the friendly atmosphere of the University. There is no better way to meet and make friends with Canadians than to attend a Canadian University. The KGIC Education Group can now help students who wish to take a University of Victoria course through its new Link Program.  The Link Program is a partnership between KGIC/KGIBC Victoria campus and the University of Victoria Continuing Studies. For the last eleven years, UVIC Continuing Studies has offered a Certificate in Business Administration (CBA). The CBA can be taken through their Fast Track Program, which is an intensive 12 week period of studies. This highly successful program teaches students valuable business management skills along with support for students and real-life practice. Normally an International student is required to submit their TOEFL or TOEIC score as part of their application. Through KGIC's Link Program students who have successfully completed a diploma in Power Speaking and Modern Media (PMM), Global Business English (GBE), or Power Writing for Journalism and Publishing (PJP) at KGIC/KGIBC Victoria campus do not need to include a TOEFL or TOEIC score with their application. The University of Victoria Continuing Studies accepts these programs as meeting their language requirement for the CBA Fast Track Program. Of course you'll still need to meet all the other entrance requirements of the program to enroll. "The KGIC Education Group is very proud of our new relationship with the University of Victoria Continuing Studies," says Mike Henniger, marketing Director of the KGIC Education Group. "UVIC is a great university and this is a fantastic opportunity for students to obtain both a KGIC diploma and UVIC Continuing Studies diploma. We really look forward to watching our students benefit from this Link Program." Back to top |
Here at KGIC we appreciate all our Alumni Society members and hope that you enjoy the information and updates offered in our newsletter. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to a friend and invite them to sign up for future updates. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to receive our monthly newsletter click on the link at the bottom left of this page or visit www.kgic.ca and click on the "Sign Up For the Alumni Society Newsletter" button.
If you missed a past issue of the KGIC Mosaic visit the KGIC Newsletter Archives. Here you can read past issues of our Alumni Society Newsletter.
Sincerely,
Your Alumni Society King George International College King George International College
201-1400 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V5K6H6
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