Archive for the ‘Education’Category

Choosing School Areas

Recently, someone wrote in asking me to recommend the best public schools in Toronto. I’m afraid that isn’t an easy question to answer since it depends on a number of factors.

For instance, schools in more affluent areas often have better supplies and facilities because their parents can afford to contribute more to help supplement their children’s education. Read the rest of this entry →

10

08 2009

Slang Terms

When I worked within the English as a Second Language (ESL) department at George Brown College, the students were often very interested in learning some of the slang terms used by native Canadians.

Although the majority of slang is used by younger people, I thought I’d mention some of the most common terms and their meanings (these will probably not be found in any dictionary and are slightly fadish, which means that they may become unfashionable to use as time goes on).

  • wicked – while the proper definition of wicked is “bad”, people use it to mean something that is really amazing. For instance, “that’s a wicked movie”, meaning it’s a really great one. This is my least favourite slang term.
  • my bad – used when someone makes a mistake or admits to doing something wrong. Example: “I didn’t finish my homework. My bad.”
  • bro – short for “brother”, but used as a greeting not only for actual brothers, but good friends as well. Example: “See you later, bro.”
  • later – instead of saying “see you later”, the phrase has been shortened to “later” when saying goodbye to a friend.
  • peeps – refers to your “people”, that is, your circle of friends. Example: “I’m going to the movies with my peeps”.
  • not – used after you say something obviously untrue. Example: “I hate chocolate. Not.”

There are many more slang terms that I, as a grandmother, don’t know. Just be aware that words in the English language aren’t always used the way they should be.

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09

05 2009

Literacy Group

Here in Ontario, the Literacy Group offers free help with reading and math skills. They are also beginning to focus more on computer skills. It seems that the majority of people who sign up to improve their computer skills are Canadian, since many other countries already realize the value of computer literacy for their citizens.

I started this week helping with a small group in our area. We have 5 participants, the trainer and I. It’s a small, friendly group and we’re starting from scratch. This week all we did was paperwork, learn the parts of the computer, and learn to turn them on and off. But everyone was quite interested and can’t wait for next week. Child care and transportation costs are also provided by the program. Do you have anything similar where you live?

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22

02 2009

Rogers Television Appearance

Recently I was asked to participate in a live television show at our local Rogers TV station.  I was part of a three woman tech panel and was there as a blogging expert.  While on the show, we talked about how women could bring their businesses online with a blog or website. It was an interesting experience that I wouldn’t hesitate to repeat.  

If you have arrived at this blog as a result of seeing the television show and would like more information about doing business on the Internet, I do have a site at motivatedtolearn.com, where you will find information on everything from blogging to creating a Squidoo lens, to writing articles that will help you gain traffic, to using an auto responder to send e-mail messages to your clients.  I recently revamped that site, which is why I didn’t mention it during the Rogers show. 

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24

05 2008

Using Your Credit Card

While I’m on the subject of credit, be careful when giving out your credit card number. My son-in-law was on the phone about a free trip he had supposedly won. He gave them his charge card number for what he thought was a small handling fee. The next thing he knew, they were telling him about the large amount of money they had just charged on his card.

He informed the credit card company right away, but was told that since he gave out his card number, he needed to try to resolve it with the travel company first. Only if that didn’t work and a number of weeks had passed, could he dispute the charge with his credit card company.

So yes, you should have a credit card to establish your credit rating, but keep the maximum amount fairly low, and be very careful when giving out the number to anyone.

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03

04 2008