Language Classes in Canada – English Language Bits

Match these words with their meanings below. You can type the words or copy & paste them. Check your answers by clicking Submit at the end.

fund – schedule – satisfy – complicated – assessment – realize – depend

a plan with times; a list of times of when busses/trains arrive or depart –

to know and understand, or suddenly begin to understand something –

a process of assessing a person, a skill, or situation; deciding on their level (of success) –

to provide what is needed or wanted –

difficult to understand because of many different parts –

to provide money for an activity or event –

to be connected to something; to need something in order for the next thing to happen –

Fill in the missing words in the text. You can type them or copy & paste them. You can check your answers by listening or by clicking Submit at the end.

fund – schedule – satisfy – complicated – assessment – realize – depend

Yuliya: Tim, could you tell us more about free language classes for newcomers to Canada?
Tim: All of the free language classes for newcomers in Canada, they are funded by either the federal government, or the provincial government. And the programs -ed by the federal government is called LINC, and the ones funded by the Ontario government is called ESL classes.

It’s important for people to that there are a lot of different schools that offer ESL or LINC.

It’s all free for the newcomers, but each school is different, and they might have different -s, different services, but it’s all free.
Yuliya: So, what would I do? I’m a newcomer, I would like to join a class, where do I go? Where do I start?

Tim: Right. Well, you can imagine, with so many different schools all offering the same program there has to be a central office for registration, so the YMCA does that. And it’s not always the YMCA, it -s on where you live. So, if you live in Toronto, it is the YMCA, but if you live in some place outside of Toronto, it might be the local Welcome Centre, or the Newcomer Welcome Centre, it depends who got that job.

So in Toronto, the YMCA, and not any YMCA, but only one of the five centres, and they’re located at a few different places around the city. You go, you do the language test, they check speaking, listening, reading, writing, they ask you if you need part-time or full-time, they ask you where you live, they ask you if you need childcare, and with that information they can put you in the best class for you.
Yuliya: And what do you mean, best class?

Tim: Well, like I said, it depends on what you want, right, the one you need. If you need childcare, they find a school that has childcare, if you live in a certain location in Toronto, they find one that’s closest to you. If you need evening classes, they’ll find that school that has the evening classes. So, they try to all of those things that you need, that you talk about. And the point is you talk about what you want, and you make the choice. It’s your choice in the end. If you want to go to our school, you go to our school. If you want to go to a school that’s far away because your friends are there, that’s OK too, it’s your choice.

Yuliya: That sounds like a great program.
Tim: It is, it is. And it’s and it’s big. And also, the LINC program is across the country, so different provinces will manage it differently, but in Ontario, that’s the system.

These questions can help you practice speaking or writing. You can choose any questions that seem interesting, skip those that don’t seem interesting, or make your own ones.

What are the differences between the two programs that Tim mentioned?

Have you tried any of these programs (if you are in Canada)?

Have you ever studied English outside of a public school or university?

If yes, tell us about your language learning experience: where did you go first, where was it, how did you find it, how did you feel?

If not, would you like to join a class, or would you prefer to study with a private teacher?

What could be different between learning a new language alone, with a tutor, or in a class?

Which one has been most effective for you?

How would you choose the school or the class? What would be the most important for you (schedule, location, building, childcare availability, the teacher, the classmates)?

Find the best sentence for each of these words. You can type the words or copy & paste them. Check your answers by clicking Submit at the end.

fund – schedule – satisfy – complicated – assessment – realize – depend

The program is designed to the needs of adult learners.

What are you going to do now? – It will on what they say.

Their of the situation was optimistic, but we still decided to be very careful.

I did not that we were one hour late, so I didn’t worry.

This program is not -ed by the government, but is run by a charity.

The buses usually run according to the , but during snow storms the service can be really slow or even cancelled.

To me, the US election system looks very . I don’t really understand it.