Hey EC TORONTO students! The summer is at our doorstep! What better way to begin your day than coming to your EC Toronto school every morning, hair floating in the fresh wind, proudly riding your Bixi? But what is this mysterious Bixi? Bixi is a very innovative company that launched its bicycle sharing system in 2008. The system has been developed in Montreal, capital city of Quebec, French Canada. As this was one of the largest projects in Transit during those years, Bixi expanding around the world. This new system was ranked 19th in Time Magazine’s 50 Best Inventions of 2008. BIXI was created for short trips in large cities: It is a useful transit solution which consists of renting a bike from a station A to go to a station  in the city. Today in Toronto, there are not less than 80 stations and 1,000 bikes. The Bixi bike season has begun in Toronto! Bike stations are up and running as of today and are installed everywhere Downtown. Martin and Benjamin, our Bixi loving students Entering in the Bixi fellowship… There are two steps to follow if you want to become a Bixi rider. First, you can obtain a “Bixi Key” through a long-term subscription on the website (monthly or annually). In Toronto, this fee is $111 (taxes included) for a year, $47 a month. If you are a one-time user you can also acquire a 24 or 72-hour access provided by the bicycle station (all stations are equipped with touchscreen-operated terminal, powered by solar panel). The occasional fee is $5. After your registration, you can take out a bike as many times as you want! Finally, Bixi is a young and dynamic company. Different worldwide teams organise special events, such as “Coldest Day of the Year Ride” in Toronto, … Read more

Do you know the recipe to be a great school? Take a handful of very good teachers and staff who love what they do Take a beautiful city like Toronto Take lovely students like EC Toronto students ………..& go the extra mile for them! At EC Toronto, we are not just a simple school. Every day, we try to help students succeed in a global community. That is why, every Wednesday we propose to our students an Academic clinic. Academic clinic? What is it? This is a short workshop on a practice subject in order to acquire specific skills or knowledge. Therefore, every Wednesday, we have a clinic with an interesting topic! Last Wednesday, it was advice about “Speaking fluency”, with Andrew.  He gave some valuable advice in order to improve the fluency for people who study ESL abroad at EC Toronto. You can see the photos on EC Toronto Facebook. Next week (June 5), we are impatient to attend Peter’s clinic, to learn about “Resume Building” for Intermediate to Advanced students. You can find the entire schedule of these great workshops at the office on the 4th floor, but here are some examples of upcoming workshops: Pronunciation practice for Spanish speakers,  June 5,  with Ashe Presentation skills, June 19, led by Dave Understanding vocabulary without a dictionary, by Skylar, June 26 Job interview skills, with Evan , July 3 All these clinics are great means to help students to develop their skills out of the class, so feel free to attend.

Hey EC TORONTO students! What is black and white and loved all over, and a bit lazy? The giant panda of course! Whaaaaaaat? G-I-A-N-T  P-A-N-D-A-S! Wake up EC TORONTO Students! Er Shun and Da Mao, a lovely couple of Giant Pandas, coming all the way from China, have decided to visit Canada! And guess what, as the first part of their journey, they choose to settle down in our great city of Toronto! They landed in the city two months ago and are now ready to receive their visitors, for our greatest pleasure. What a nice chance for us, who already can enjoy meeting them at the Toronto Zoo! Here, in EC Toronto, we have also a very famous Panda! Background From long-term collaboration with China, it is the second time ever that Canada has received Giant Pandas. The first time was in 1985, when two of them spent the summer at the Toronto Zoo. This time, the pandas will be in Canada for at least 10 years. Benefiting from this great opportunity, the Zoo’s keepers have develop the ‘state-of-the-art Panda Interpretive Centre’, a center nicely designed where you can learn a lot about our friends the pandas! Project The Giant Panda is one of the most endangered species in the world, with only around 1,600 left in the wild. And, as always, their most deadly predator is man. That’s why the Toronto Zoo supports a bamboo and habitat restoration project in China through the Endangered Species Reserve fund in collaboration with the Memphis Zoo. As well the Toronto Zoo employs a Reproductive Physiologist who will utilize her expertise to establish a perfect breeding program for Er Shun and Da Mao. Panda Facts.. The giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family. 99% of a giant panda’s diet consists … Read more

We are sure you have met one of them in the school! Our 3 guys come from the south east of France, where they were classmates. They studied management, accounting and law and join us here to both learn English and work! Romain, Dorian and Xavier What could three French guys do in EC Toronto? Good question! Romain is in charge of the Junior Programme. Do you know what it is? During the summer, EC Toronto welcomes teenagers between 13 and 17 years old and organises a special schedule for them: English classes mornings and awesome activities afternoons, evenings and weekends! Follow us on FACEBOOK to know their summer activities because it’s still a secret kept by Romain! Xavier works with Joe and Candice, in the Academic team. He is in charge of organising student’s arrivals, attendance, tests… But he  also organises activities the Academic Year students’ activities with Renee. He is looking for student’s talent to organise “EC GOT TALENT” on May the 30th: If you want to show your talent, don’t hesitate to contact him! Dorian is in charge of organising communication with students thanks to the “What’s on in Toronto” board and social networks: Facebook, blog and Instagram –he reminds you our Instagram competition is now open! Also, Dorian works with students who have projects to help them to communicate and promote their events. Please say hello when you see our 3 interns!  The EC Toronto team is very happy to welcome them to our school!

  Camila is one of our Student Ambasadors here at EC Toronto and is one of the most confident and outgoing students I have met. When I spoke to her about her experience during her first few days as a new student at EC Toronto I was surprised. She talked about being nervous in a new city and about making new friends and fitting in. This conversation was great because it reminded me that ALL new students go through the same adjustment experience, even the ones who appear confident and outgoing! I asked Camila to share her story on our blog so that other students can be comforted by her experience.  Elizabeth, Operations Manager, EC TorontoI remember perfectly my first day at EC Toronto. I was excited, but nervous at the same time. When I arrived at my class I saw many girls, the boys were absent, and I imagined they were a group of good friends. It seemed to me as if they had known each other forever because they looked so close and at that moment I asked myself if one day I could belong to that group and when would that happen. Time kept going and it was lunch time, I remember that I was so worried about with whom I was going to have lunch! haha. And then here comes a Latin girl and asked me if i would like to have lunch with her!! and obviously I said yes. The name of this girl is Ana Carolina and we’ve become good friends and we even hang out together. About my classmates, I became really close to them in less time than I expected.  What I’d like to say is that at EC Toronto everyone is looking for new friends and they are very welcoming and also kind … Read more

Meet Renée Rochard, our new AY Coordinator! Today, it is a double comeback for Renée: she just landed in Canada 3 months ago and has returned to one of her first workplaces! Indeed, Renée had taught English at LSC Toronto (now EC Toronto) for a few years in her early career. Originally from Toronto, Renée, a passionate Francophile, followed her dream and went to live in France. She spent the last 7 years living and working as an English teacher in Paris. A seasoned teacher, Renee has over 10 years of experience working in language education. Other than teaching English, Renée is a fine wine connoisseur, likes folk music, plays guitar, enjoys cultural exchange and loves running. She is also the mother of two young children, who keep her very busy! Renée is now in charge of our AY program, for students who are staying more than 24 weeks at EC Toronto. Renée is also responsible for all of the Higher Score exam preparation classes (IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC) here at EC Toronto. Renée is very pleased to be working here in EC Toronto’s new office space and with such a great team: “I am very excited about my new role with EC Toronto.  I consider myself lucky to work with such an exceptional group of people and I look forward to contributing as much as possible to the success of the Academic Year program.” AY student? Want to pass an English test? Need more information about tutoring? Come in to the office and ask for Renee. She will be very pleased to help you! Welcome Renee, we are happy to have you as a part of our EC Toronto team!

SCENE 1, TAKE 2… ACTION!  Or  EC Toronto does Hollywood !  At EC Toronto, we believe that students learn best by doing. Indeed the best way to improve skills and fluency is to practice English outside the classroom; that’s why students come to an English-speaking country to study English.  And that is why Peter, one of our incredible teachers, along with the incredible students in his Film Studies class, is producing an original film called “She Hasn’t Decided Yet”. Students are script writers, directors, cameramen, film editors, actors, promoters — taking on all the roles necessary to produce a first class film! Moreover they have been learning while having fun and have done everything themselves: the story, the outline, the script, and the storyboards… Film Studies class at EC Toronto Filming is expected to wrap up this week, and the worldwide premier will be held next week at EC Toronto. Roll out the red carpet, get ready, it will be an exciting event! Your EC Toronto team hopes to see you there! Check out the trailer that will certainly make you want to see the final cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymL6t4MZrQE&feature=player_embedded

Brittany’s Elementary class at EC Toronto wrote  amazing reviews of restaurants near our school at Yonge and Eglinton, a great location in uptown Toronto, near the Eglinton subway station.  The name of the class is Survival English and it is an afternoon special topic class open to all Elementary level students at EC Toronto. The aim of the class is to help students with everyday English for getting around the city. Tim Horton’s It’s a cozy coffee shop. It’s typical in Toronto. They offer coffee, bread, muffins, and bagels. It’s very easy to find in Toronto. The service is fast, so when you go to work or school, you can buy something quickly. You can try the French Vanilla coffee. It’s delicious and sweet. It’s a good way to start your day! authors: Shadiah and Cherry Mandarin The restaurant is called Mandarin. It has 3 country’s foods:  Japanese, Korean and Chinese. It is a buffet style restaurant, so you can try everything. You’ll enjoy many foods like soup, main dishes and dessert. The soups in this restaurant are delicious. There is broccoli soup. Maybe many people will like this soup. You can choose any salad and dressing. It’s very fresh. The sushi tastes very fresh and soft. There are many desserts like cake, cookies and kanafe  that are all very sweet. Are you finished eating? You can drink a tea! Mandarin’s atmosphere is traditional, crowded and a little luxurious. You will feel relaxed and find calmness, but it is a little expensive. Do you want to go there? Just walk 5 minutes after class. You will be happy! one of the authors: Chul Aren’t these well written for their level? Don’t you wish you were studying at EC Toronto? You can — just contact us! www.ecenglish.com And check our EC Toronto Facebook … Read more