Our students showed off their artistic talents today by decorating some pumpkins just in time for the Halloween party! We set up different shaped pumpkins on every table in the lounge with an array of decorating material. The students gravitated towards the paint brushes and let their creative juices flow! They were so happy with their final result and posed proudly for a photo! We love Halloween at EC Montreal! Join us to learn English and French in Montreal!
We celebrated Halloween at EC Montreal today! All staff and students were asked to come dressed up in a costume. We had a classroom competition to see which class had the most costumes. The EC Montreal administrative team went around to all the classes to wish our students a Happy Halloween and to distribute candy! We also took this time to judge the winners of our competition. The winning class would receive a pizza lunch as a prize! We are so happy to report that two of our English levels; Souha’s Intermediate and Sohban’s Pre-Intermediate classes had 100% participation! Sohban’s class had a vampire theme. They had even turned down the lights and were playing spooky music when we arrived! In addition, EC Montreal held its annual Halloween party and fashion show! We had prizes for the best student costumes and best teacher costume. We served some festive refreshments and got everyone into the Halloween spirit! Our winning teacher was Clelia who dressed like like a Parisian, sporting her beret, cigarette and poodle. The EC Montreal administrative team dressed up like the Language Police! We had tons of fun all day long with our staff and students! Happy Halloween from our EC Montreal family! Come learn English and French in Montreal and be part of the fun!
Canada has been ranked the #1 country to travel to in 2017 by Lonely Planet. In 2017 Canada will be celebrating 150 years since confederation and Montreal’s 375th Birthday! There will be festivities and celebrations from coast to coast! Here is what the Lonely Planet had to say about Canada: Bolstered by the wave of positivity unleashed by its energetic new leader Justin Trudeau, and with dynamic cities that dominate global livability indices and a reputation for inclusiveness and impeccable politeness, the world’s second-largest country will usher in its sesquicentennial in 2017 in rollicking good health. Marking 150 years since confederation, the elongated birthday party promises to be heavy on bonhomie and highly welcoming to international gatecrashers. And, with a weak Canadian dollar pushing down prices, the overseas visitor should have plenty of pocket money to spend on Canada’s exciting fusion food and mysteriously underrated wine. Let’s party Canada – all students from across the globe WELCOME!! Don’t wait to book your stay to learn English and French in Montreal! Click this link to see the complete Lonely Planet article: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/countries
EC Montreal held its annual Cupcake Madness activity this week! As we approach Halloween, we are introducing our students to some common customs and activities. The students were given plain cupcakes and an amazing variety of frosting, icing, and sprinkles. The toppings had a special Halloween theme. We had eye balls, black icing and knives. The students had a great time decorating their little cakes in the most creative ways. EC Montreal loves to give its students these opportunities to interact with one another, practice their English and French skills while having a marvelous time! A full immersion English and French programme in Montreal goes beyond the classroom. We see it in every activity and event we organize for our students. As October 31st approaches our students are getting more and more excited to experience Halloween! For many, it is a custom that is not celebrated back home so it is even more anticipated!
We are delighted to introduce you to Mirka Rasoanilana, our new Student Services Coordinator assigned to our Accommodation department. Mirka has administrative and sales experience and has recently worked as the Student Life Coordinator at McGill University. She has already proven to be an incredible addition to the EC Montreal team! Here is what she would like to share with all of you: Hi everyone! My name is Mirka Rasoanilana. Don’t worry, I know it’s long and I don’t expect anyone to get it perfectly! I am the new Student Services Coordinator at EC Montreal. I was born in Canada, but my family is from Madagascar. My background is in Social Science from the University of Ottawa, with experience working in sales, customer service and student services. Shortly after completing my studies in Ottawa, I moved to Montreal and have fallen in love with all it has to offer. I am so glad I found out about EC and I look forward to sharing my love for Montreal, a multi-cultural environment and love for helping others with the EC community. I also look forward to meeting and learning from everyone! I love knitting, Quantico, the Mindy Project, singing, dancing and basketball. You can always catch me watching street performances at the various festivals throughout the year. Most of all, I love trying new foods here in Montreal and wherever else I can. Don’t hesitate if ever you have excellent recommendations!! Come by the office to say hello to Mirka! When you choose to learn English and French in Montreal with EC, you will find a team of employees who love what they do and care about our students’ success!
EC Montreal encourages open conversations as part of its active learning plan. It is sometimes difficult to break the ice with people and get the conversation going. The Business Insider has come up with some tips on how you can have a conversation with just about anyone! If you follow these suggestions, you will become a natural conversationalist. The more conversations you have, the more practice you will bet with the language. Eventually, you will be completely bilingual and be able to converse without any difficulty or apprehension. Here are 7 of the tips from the article entitled Start a Conversation with Absolutely Anyone: 1. Ask for their opinion. Everyone has one! For someone you don’t know well, start with light subjects like the food, the music, the atmosphere, etc. “Do you like your Margaritas with salt or without? Do you watch horror movies? Do you like this song?” 2. Ask for their advice or recommendations. This works very well when commenting on someone’s outfit or accessories, as in “What a great t-shirt! Where did you get it?” or if you are at restaurant looking at a menu “Everything looks great, what are you having?” 3. Ask them a question that is easy to answer. This is great when you know or find out that a person has expertise in a particular field. Avoid asking anyone to explain something super complex or involved; if that’s where the conversation leads, great, but asking a really complicated question up front can feel demanding. 4. Comment on the environment. No matter where you are, there are things to comment on: the music, the food, the lights or the guests, for example. 5. Ask for an update. If you know someone a little or know them by reputation, ask for an update on something … Read more
We are celebrating fall season at EC Montreal and the perfect way to celebrate is with food! As it is pumpkin season we held our annual pumpkin pancake breakfast! The students simply had to follow the delicious aromas drifting in the air from the pancake griddle. The students lined up to get a taste of the pancakes! Most came back for seconds! We love giving our students these opportunities to interact with one another and to make friends. It warms our hearts to overhear them saying “I love Wednesdays at EC”. Every Wednesday we treat our students to a taste of Montreal, a team-building activity or a sports event! Come join us to learn English and French in Montreal and be part of the fun!
EC Montreal held its annual Oktoberfest celebrations on Wednesday! We wanted to make our German students feel at home and wanted to introduce our other students to this very special time of year for our German students from Munich. There are Oktoberfest celebrations all over the city of Montreal this month! The Oktoberfest event at the school consisted of imported German beer, grilled sausages and pretzels. We decorated the student lounge with Oktoberfest banners! The students loved it! They all lined up to get a taste of this German tradition! We like to introduce our students to these different traditions and special occasions from around the world! It also gives them many opportunities to interact with each other and to practice their English and French skills. When you come to EC Montreal to study English or French, you will learn a lot more than a language, the world will come to you in so many wonderful ways! Prost from EC Montreal!
Monday October 5th teachers all over the world were celebrated for the invaluable work they do: World Teachers’ Day! At EC Montreal we believe the out teachers are at the heart of everything we do because they are the ones that make the miracles happen: turning a beginner student , either in English or French, into a confident speaker of the new language! Whether they are helping our students to learn English in Canada or French they are always dedicated and engaged , thus offering our EC Montreal students first class learning experiences. On Wednesday, we celebrated our teachers with a surprise party and honoured our loyal teachers with the EC service award. It has already been 5 years since our school joined the EC group. Thank you to our team of dedicated and professional teachers! Happy World Teacher Day to you!
This week EC Montreal welcomed its Centre Director, Elisa Gazzola, back from her one-year maternity leave. Elisa has been part of the Montreal school since 1998 and has been leading the EC Montreal team since 2012. Elisa gave birth to twin girls Alessandra Grace and Alicia Isabel on August 31, 2015. She has been busy taking care of her girls this past year while centre was in very good hands under the leadership of our Student Services Manager, Renee Lee. Elisa has resumed her role as Centre Director and is thrilled to be back! We want to wish her a warm welcome back and many successes at EC Montreal!
