Tree/Leaf Identification

If you've ever wondered about the names of certain trees and their leaves, here's a useful website link to help you determine them:
http://www.domtar.com/arbre/english/p_07.htm

Useful Websites

You are sure to find something useful as you check out these websites:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ - The Free Dictionary (with sound)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page - Wikipedia - Free Encyclopaedia
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page - Simple English Wikipedia
http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/esl/index.html - CBC ESL
http://www.1-language.com/englishcourse/index.htm - Grammar Exercises
http://www.tcet.com/eaonline/ - ON ESL School
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ - BBC
http://www.elllo.org/ - Listening Activities
News Center – Highly recommended by Yury
Listening Games
Songs
Mixer
Speaker by Language
Levels Page – Listening activities with pictures
http://www.esl-lab.com/ - Listening activities by level and topic
http://www.eslcafe.com/ – Dave’s ESL Café
http://eslpartyland.com/default.htm - Karen’s Partyland
http://www.manythings.org/ - Interesting things
http://a4esl.org/ - Activities with bilingual quizzes and by level
http://www.lextutor.ca/ - Lexical tutor
Concordance
The Call of the Wild
http://www.lextutor.ca/bookbox/ - Book box
http://www.ualberta.ca/~sebaker/CALLWebsite/resource.htm - Sheila’s website - Resource page
http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/index.html - Adele’s grammar exercises by level
www.dictionary.cambridge.org - Online dictionary
www.eslbears.com - Especially for immigrants
http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/home.html - CBS
www.edmontonjournal.com - Edmonton Journal
www.englishpage.com - Advanced English lessons
www.biography.com - Biographies
www.English-zone.com - One of the best sites for English learners
http://www.soundsofenglish.org - Pronunciation guide
http://englishplus.com/grammar/letrcont.htm - Letter writing
http://www.eslnotes.com/home.html - Popular movies
http://www.canadainfolink.ca/teach.htm - Learning about Canada
http://www.better-english.com/exerciselist.html - Business English
http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/ - CAN8 Virtual Lab
http://www.pdictionary.com/ - Picture dictionary
http://www.languageguide.org/english/esp/ - ESL site for Spanish speakers
http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/esl/index.html - CBC
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html - Verb tense tutorial
http://www.fun-with-words.com/funny_signs.html - Funny signs
http://esl.about.com/blgrammar.htm - Grammar reference
http://www.orienteer.ab.ca/ - Orienteering (cross-country running)

Have fun!

Writing Exercise

Imagine you are a famous person. What do you do on the weekend? Write a story describing your daily activities and your leisure activities. Here is an example:

I am Gwyneth Paltrow (English actress that used to be engaged to Brad Pitt - guys can imagine to be Brad Pitt). I have a lot of fun on the weekends. On Friday evening, I go out to eat at an expensive restaurant and go dancing with my good friends. I usually get home at about 2 A.M. I get up at noon on Saturday. My cook makes me a delicious lunch. I go shopping in the afternoon. I sometimes go to parties on Saturday night. On Sunday, I get up and read the paper. In the afternoon, I always take my dog for a walk in the park. I relax at home on Sunday evening.

You can also tell me about yourself if you don't mind sharing what you do on the weekend.

Have fun with it!

Best Dictionary

Some of you have asked me about getting a dictionary. I've just attended a teacher conference on the weekend and found a very useful and up-to-date dictionary: "LONGMAN Active Study Dictionary."

It uses simple language to explain words and the more common words are highlighted in red. It also has key words of a topic, pictures, workbook with answer key. It even has a CD with both American and British pronunciation and exercises. I highly recommend it (about $28).

The Oxford English Dictionary...and fish and chips!

Question: What does Oxford English Dictionary have in common with the Tower of London, Monty Python, fish and chips, Sherlock Holmes, and a pint of beer?

Answer: They have all just been declared "Icons of England"!

If you'd like to read more:
http://www.icons.org.uk/news/news-releases/new-icons-in-the-newsWriting Class

Subway Crash in Rome

Some sad news: Two subway trains collided at the end of morning rush hour in central Rome on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 60 others, authorities said.

Note: Often people confuse "crash" and "crush." Do you know the difference?

Emoticons List

For a list of emoticons, you can visit the following site:
http://www.mytelus.com/internet/currents/article.do?pageID=currents_home&articleID=2395146&issue=

For example:

; ) this means I'm winking at you

(_8^(l) this is Homer Simpson

=^.^= this is a cat

(::[ ]::) this is a band aid to symbolize offering help/sympathy/comfort

Have fun with them!

Emoticons

What do you think this means?

:-&

My First Posting

Hello Everybody, Congratulations on creating your blog page!