Activity Calendar for April

Here is the VanWest activity calendar for April!

Here are some highlights for this month.

Tonight, we have a graduation party at Shenanigans (1225 Robson st.) from 8pm. Don’t forget to bring 2 pieces of ID including passport. Enjoy your time with your friends and the activities coordinator, Clyde!

Do you like dancing? If you do, you should join Sarka’s dance team!  Sarka is one of our ESL teachers and she has started teaching dance to the students a few weeks ago. They did a great performance at the graduation today. They usually practice during lunch time. If you want to join them, please ask Sarka!:)

On April 22nd, it’s a yellow day! Please wear yellow and come to school. We’ll have yellow snacks and win prizes!

Enjoy your long weekend!

Happy Easter!

♥Anna

バンクーバーの天気

みなさん、こんにちは＾＾　いかがお過ごしですか？最近、夏が近く、まだまだ雨は降りますが大分、晴れて気持ちの良い気候の日が増えてきました。データ上、4月の雨量は1番雨の多い月（12月）の3分の1になるそうです。日照時間もだんだん長くなり、一番日照時間が長い時期は、夜の11時近くまで外は明るいです。日差しはかなり強烈で、紫外線は日本の7倍という説もあります。アジア人の私達は肌が弱いので注意が必要です！

バンクーバーの気候について詳しくはこちらをどうぞ。http://www.ryokojoho.jp/CAN_yvr_weather/

よい1日をお過ごしください＾＾　　　　　ちあき

무료로 즐기는 장애인올림픽

안녕하세요. 벤쿠버 동계올림픽도 막을 내린지 2주가 지나고, 장애인 올림픽도 막바지에 이르렀습니다. 올림픽의 열기가 그리우신 분들! 무료로 즐길 수 있는 올림픽 이벤트들이 아직 남아있으니 이번 주말에 한번 찾아가 보는건 어떨까요?

 BC Pavilion (VAG; 벤쿠버 아트겔러리) 3월12-21까지, 10-5시 : BC주의 현재와 과거의 모습을 볼 수 있는 이벤트와 무료 라이브 공연들이 준비되어 있습니다. 또한 아트갤러리에서 전시중인 Leonardo Da Vinci 전시회도 무료 관람 하실 수 있습니다.  You definitely gotta be here!

Korea House (Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard Street) 21일까지, 11시-6시: 평창 올림픽을 유치하기 위해 한창 홍보중인 코리아 하우스 입니다. 비보이 공연, 한지공예 등 한국을 느낄수 있는 이벤트들이 마련되어 있습니다. 게다가 VanWest에서 2블럭! 수업끝나고 한번 들려보는것도 좋을것 같아요.

Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion (VPL; 벤쿠버 공립도서관) 21일까지: 장애인올림픽에 맞춰 도서관으로 장소를 옮겨 다시 오픈한 민트 파빌리온입니다. 메달이 어떻게 만들어졌는지 궁금하지 않으세요? The Mint는 벤쿠버 올림픽 & 장애인 올림픽의 공식 메달 공급처로 올림픽 메달과 동계올림픽 특별제작 금 동전 등을 이곳에서 만나볼 수 있습니다.  

 더 많은 이벤트들을 보시려면 http://www.citycaucus.com/paralympics 참고해주세요.  오늘도 즐거운 하루되세요:)  Jamie

Activity Calendar for March

Here is the activity calendar for March!
Of course, we have a lot of fun activities in March as usual. Here are some highlights!

On March 17th, don’t forget to wear green to school because it’s St. Patrick’s Day! Also, we’re going to a pub at night. I’m sure also a lot of people in Vancouver will wear green on that day!

On the 18th, we’re going to see a hockey game, Vancouver Canucks VS. San Jose Sharks. It cost $60 and it’s going to be an exciting game.
If you would like to go and see the game, please ask, the activity coordinator, Clyde.

From March 8th, please don’t forget that our all classes time will be back to 9am to 4pm. Also, time for conversation class will be back to the regular time, 4:15 to 5:15pm.

Tonight, we have a graduation party at Shenanigans (1225 Robson st.) from 7:30pm! Don’t forget to bring 2 pieces of ID including passport and enjoy your time with friends and Clyde!

♥Anna

Cambridge P.E.T. class (Preliminary English Test)

I would like to introduce one of the popular courses at Vancouver campus, P.E.T.  (Preliminary English Test) with the fun and energetic teacher, Jennifer!

P.E.T. is an intermediate level Cambridge exam offered at VanWest College. It is for people who can use basic communication skills without any problems in English in all the aspects – writing, speaking, reading and listening. Most of the students take P.E.T. as the first step to take FCE (First Certificate in English) course or exam. If you would like to know how P.E.T. is recognized in your country, please click this link.

I got a chance to interview some of the students about P.E.T. class. Max, Tiago and Raied.

1. Why did you want to take P.E.T. class?

Max: I wanted to improve English, especially my listening and speaking skills.

Tiago: I’ve heard it is a well-known course at universities.

Raied: It’s a Cambridge course.

2. What do you like about P.E.T. class?

Max: My teacher, classmates, everything!

Tiago: We do a lot of different kind of activities in class and we can often work with a partner and learn from them.

Raied: It’s very fun and I can learn a lot of things in class.

3. What did you benefit from taking this class?

Max: I learned a lot of grammar.

Tiago: I feel my English improved very quickly.

Raied: I’ve improved English a lot in the all aspects.

4. Please write some comments for your teacher, Jennifer!

Max: Jennifer is a really good teacher. She teaches grammar very clearly. Also, she taught me a lot of idioms. I love her a lot!

Tiago: Jennifer is very patient with us. She speaks very cleary so it’s easy to understand her.

Raied: Jennifer is an easygoing, funny and a great teacher! She knows how to teach us English in a simple way and that helps us a lot!

Thank you for feedback, guys!

If you’re interested in knowing more information about P.E.T. class at VanWest College, please contact us!

♥Anna

Activities Calendar ~ February 2010 ~

Here is the February Activities Calendar

Hello everybody!  I haven’t update the blog for a long time, because I’ve been in Japan.

We are going to have the Winter Olympic Games this month in Vancouver.  This is a very excellent event!  Let’s enjoy the Olympic Games with Clyde and friends!  Please keep watching our blog for updates on the Olympic events at VanWest.

Have a happy day!                                     Chiaki

Activities coming up!

Hello everybody,

It’s been pretty nice here in Vancouver and people are getting really excited for the Olympics!

As usual, we have some exciting activities at VanWest this week!

Have you ever gone ice skating? We’re going ice skating this Thursday, January 28th.We’ll meet at the front desk at 4pm and then going to Robson Square. It’s free to go ice skating there and it costs only $3 to rent skates! You’ll have an awesome time going ice skating with the activity coordinator, Clyde and friends!

Also, we have one more fun activity this week on Friday, January 29th.
We’re going bowling and enjoy pizza for lunch! There also will be a pool table so you can enjoy playing the pool with your friends if you want. We will meet at the front desk at 1pm. Please bring $10 for playing bowling and pizza.

I hope a lot of  students join these activities and have a wonderful time with friends!

♥Anna

Volunteer work at the Foodbank

The Kelowna Community Foodbank provides food to local families and individuals who are in temporary financial difficulty.  VanWest Kelowna students volunteered at the foodbank on Monday, December 14th from 9:30 to 11:30AM. It was -12 degrees and was a cold day but students never complained and enjoyed their new volunteer experience.

About 20 students helped out that day and they did different kinds of work there depending on their class. The students of Karma’s and Jenn’s classes arranged food according to the type of food and the students of Alanna’s made the hampers (bags full of assorted food) for people who are not able to afford food by themselves.

After their volunteer work, the ESL teacher Jenn Peachey asked the students about their volunteer experience. The students said they enjoyed it and liked that it helped other people out. Even some students are eager to go back to do some more volunteer work at the Foodbank. Thanks, VanWest Kelowna!

♥Anna

Tips on Low Cost Studying at VanWest

Most people know that being able to speak English nowadays is very important for success. At VanWest College we understand that during these difficult economic times not everyone is able to spend a lot of money to learn English, this is why we’re sharing some tips on low cost studying at VanWest College:

Part Time Studies: VanWest College offers its students a variety of options when it comes to studying here.  A VanWest student can choose between studying 12, 15, 21, 27 or 30 hours per week, and if someone is trying to keep costs low, they can focus on the part time options of 12 and 15 hours per week.

The 12 hour per week program is an afternoon only option from Monday to Thursday from 1pm – 4pm.  Students get to choose 2 classes from our many afternoon elective classes which includes:  Pronunciation, Debates, Tourism, Idioms, Business English, TOEIC, Job Skills, Writing, Vocabulary and more!

The 15 hour per week program can be done as a morning or an afternoon program. The morning option is our General English program and the afternoon options include Cambridge Business English (BEC) or preparation for the Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT).

Short term Studies: Another option for those who are on a tight budget is to take a short and intensive course at VanWest. Students can study between 1 week to 3 months of full time intensive studies, learn a lot of English, and save money on accommodation, entertainment and transportation that they would have spent if they had stayed for a longer period of time in Canada.

Study in Kelowna: Studying English at VanWest Kelowna is another excellent option for anyone who wants to learn more for less money. Although Kelowna has many great qualities, the fact is that the cost of living is lower in Kelowna than it is in Vancouver.  In Kelowna, students can chose from almost all the same programs as in Vancouver while saving money on cheaper tuition, accommodation, transportation and entertainment costs.

Online Learning: VanWest offers students high quality internet-based English lessons for self-directed study. This program gives students the option of improving their English grammar, reading, listening and test preparation skills without leaving home.  This option is an interactive and economical way to learn English. Programs include General English, IELTS, IT, hospitality, business and more.

If you have any questions about studying English in Vancouver or Kelowna, please contact us!

Beautiful city, Kelowna

Hello everybody!

Today I would like to show everyone the essays about Kelowna which VanWest Kelowna TOEIC students wrote for the blog! 🙂

The essays are all well written and it was hard for me to pick “first, second, third and the honorable mentions”. Good job, everybody!

Thank you very much to all the Kelowna TOEIC students and their TOEIC teacher, Jenn Peachey!

The winner and first-place essay is…

Local Food “Been There, Done That” by Sung and Faisal

This essay includes all the good points of Kelowna and should make people want to visit Kelowna! This essay made me miss Kelowna a lot especially, all fantastic fruit in summer…hmm yummy! Very well written. Thanks, Sung and Faisal!

Next, the second essay is…

The Most Friendly City by Yuki and Steven

The essay is about how friendly people are in Kelowna! The essay includes nice stories about Yuki and Steven’s experiences with people in Kelowna. If you need a help, always you can ask people in Kelowna and they would be happy to help you! Nice work! Thanks, Yuki and Steven!

The third essay is…

Weather Paradise by Bora and Mira

This essay is about the weather in Kelowna. When people guess about the weather in Kelowna, people usually would think it’s cold all the time because it’s in Canada! But Kelowna is called “Hawaii of Canada”. It’s very hot, dry and nice in summer. In winter, it snows sometimes but you can enjoy winter sports a lot! Very nice essay. Thanks, Bora and Mira!

I also would like to give honorable mentions to two essays.

First, Beaches by Tina and Bryan

The essay is about nice beaches in City Park and Peachland! The beaches in Kelowna are fantastic! The beach in City Park is also my favorite beach. On the weekend, there are a lot of people relaxing and having a good time there. In summer, people often play beach volleyball and it’s a good experience for students to join them and make new friends! Thanks, Tina and Bryan!

Okanagan Lake by Roy and Jeon

This essay is about the beautiful Okanagan Lake. It’s a very big and beautiful lake and it shows different faces depending on the season and the weather. If you ever have a chance to drive to Vernon from Kelowna, I would like you to see the beautiful colour of the lake and the sky with a magnificent view!

I also lived in Kelowna and all the essays reminded me the great memories in Kelowna. It’s such an amazing city!

Again, thank you all the Kelowna TOEIC students for writing great essays about the city!

♥Anna