There are some differences between TOEFL and IELTS, you will decide which test depending on your needs. These two tests are commonly used for examination of international university students. Here are 8 of the most clear differences. 1. Form of Speaking Test TOEFL speaking test is conducted by a computer, so you need to talk to it within a certain time, which makes it hard to make an opinion in such a short time. On the other hand, in IELTS speaking test you can talk with an interviewer in person. You can ask again if you miss a question, and it is easy to control your pace. 2. Listening Test/ Different Accent Compared with TOEFL, IELTS uses speakers from different countries, but most of them use a British accent, which many students are unfamiliar with. The TOEFL test has a bit of a difficult form, asking the detail after listening to a long lecture. However, IELTS uses mostly a dictation section, filling in blanks of pictures or sentences, so you can find answers while listening. Also a lot of time is given in IELTS. For example, there is time to look at questions before listening or to copy answers to an answer sheet so it will make it easier to organize your time. 3. Integrated Task TOEFL has an integrated task which needs multitasking skills, writing answers in the form of an essay after reading some articles and listening to a lecture about the topic. It is based on the actual university life (reading textbooks, listening to lectures, writing essays), and it is also the most difficult part in the test. 4. Number of words in Reading Passage IELTS test has more words than TOEFL, so examinees are required to read quickly in IELTS as opposed to TOEFL, where you … Read more

Have you ever tried escape rooms? Breakout team Adventure’s real life escape room in Toronto is the largest in North America. In the escape room, you can enjoy different types of scenarios such as military story or mystery. Currently, there are two scenarios which is “The Liberty Squad” and “Hangover.” In 60 minutes, participants need to run away from the locked floor by some clues hidden in the room. You can join with your friends, especially the military scenario makes you one team, so it will be fun for the people likes these things. But now it’s time to hunt treasure eggs! According to their site, Miss BreakOut Bunnies has hidden her the most precious Golden Eggs in the escape rooms. This limited events are from March 30th to April 5th, so  don’t miss the chance. HP: http://breakoutadventures.ca/ PRICE: $19.46/person LOCATION:Unit 43, 705 Progress Ave. Scarborough, ON, M1H2X1 Let’s enjoy the escape room after you learn English in Toronto! Of course in EC Toronto!

Are you sure that your preposition is right? Let’s make sure that to solve these questions! George Washington was born 1.___ Virginia 2.___ 1732. He died 3.___ the age 4.___ 67, on the 14th 5.____December 1799. The capital 6.___ the United States and one federal state are named 7.___ George Washington. answers:1.IN  2.IN  3.AT  4.OF   5.OF  6.OF   7.AFTER #1 is about place and it shows country. #2 is about time and especially year. #3 is about the certain time.  #4 is what does it belongs to as well as #5 and #6. #7 is a little tricky, but name after is a phrase of verb and it means to give someone the same name. Thus prepositions questions are mixed basic rules with some irregular grammar or a phrase of verb. So if you are often confused about prepositions, you would need to make it clear what you tend to stumble.   If you are not good at common use of prepositions, it is recommended to practice repeatedly at these sites. https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/prepositions(with explanation) http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/preposition_quiz1.htm(quiz) http://www.eslgamesplus.com/preposition-interactive-grammar-game-for-esl-wheel-game/(game) Or if you need to improve your knowledge about phrasal verbs or idioms, you can memorize with these sites. https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/phrasal-verbs-list.htm(List) http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/prepositions.html(Quiz) http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/prepositions.html(Blog)   When you take IELTS course in Toronto, you might be lacking of these vocabulary and need extra work to use English in reality. These grammar sites will support your study at home.

  Carson Ellis is an artist, from Vancouver. She is know to be the author of mainly child books and in several times her books have won prizes. Also she published New York Times best sellers. The TACF shop will welcome to her visit and hold an autograph session of her new picture book Home. This is only for today in TACF shop (Map), so go and see her after class! LOCATION: TACF shop (Toronto Reference Library) : 789 Yonge Street Toronto HOUR: at 6pm Find more about ESL class in Toronto.

Can you imagine surfing under the roof? Try a surfing workout in Toronto! SURFSET is new type of workout studio in the city, it uses surfing board during training and make our body resistant and fit. There are different classes of individual aims. For instance, “Blend” is the most popular course, uses an unstable surfing board and effectively trains your body mixing every class. Build focuses on muscular training. Some other courses also can be geared toward your goal. This unconventional way will attract and motivate you. A drop in class will set you back $22, or you can choose for a five ($95), 10 ($180) or 20 ($330) class pass. If you think you’ll keep training at Surfset for a long time, you can also get a 6-month unlimited membership for $720 or a year for $1260 – both come with meal and fitness planning. Continuous training makes you healthier, and surfset will make you feel summer much earlier. It’s time to prepare for summer! SURFSET (2481 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor Toronto, ON M4P 2H6) HP: http://www.surfsettoronto.com/ Find out about learning English in Toronto.

English learners’ very common mistake is  using “always” and “never” often in essays even though they don’t really know that it exactly always or never happens. It might be understandable to use them while talking, but it’s not recommended to write these words down in your essays. In other word, you don’t have to use them unless you are definitely sure about it. Therefore when you want to say “always”, it is better to use “usually”. For example, if you wrote “I always go to a school.”, you would be asked “Are you sure that you’ve never been absent?”. Instead, you can say “I usually go to school.” This sentence doesn’t lose any meaning and is safer than the last one. Thus foreign students tend to use strong or simple words, learning the difference between similar words correctly is significantly important. This picture means using proper words in  each situation makes your essay close to what you want say exactly. It’s easy to say something using only basic words, but it will be more fun that you can express your opinion with a wide range of vocabulary. There is “always” new finding at EC, so let’s study English! Find more about EC, including IELTS course in Toronto. Reference: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/always-never-usually-often-most-and-more

     One of the most confusing grammar categories will be “countable” and “uncountable” nouns. English learners are used to some of them like “a peace of paper” or “a cup of coffee”, and some of you would memorize these nouns without any rules. There are not completed, but certain rules to classify nouns whether countable or not.      Countable nouns are very simple, it’s what you can count objects such as dog, cat, pencil, person, coin, dollar, table, chair, and so on. A/the/my/this is put before these nouns, and you can use them with some, many, any, a few. A dog is running over there. Do you have any coins? I need to buy some chairs. In contrast, uncountable nouns are substances or concepts which cannot be divided. Uncountable nouns like water, music, love, information, research, rice, gas, money, furniture, luggage, etc are usually used as a singular noun. These nouns can be used with some/any as well,  and also much/a little can be used together. I spent much money today. Lots of information confuses people. Any research of them is not useful.   Probably most of you already understood those basic rules so far, but did you know pasta and ice cream are uncountable? Especially a group of food is very confusing, so let’s see lists and study!   LIST Here are some questions, if you are not sure about answers, that site of lists is recommended to take a look. We need to buy ( many new / lots of new ) computer equipment. Don’t worry, we have ( many / plenty of ) time to get to the airport. There are ( many / much ) clothing stores in the mall. How did it go? You can study those detailed topics in IELTS course in EC Toronto. … Read more

Have you already visited the Art Gallery in Ontario? AGO is the biggest museum in Canada, and there are always different kind of exhibitions internationally. You will find thousands of wonderful pictures, designs, and sculptures that makes difficult to choose just one to introduce, but now it is held Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition who is one of the most famous artists in the US. He had become popular among whole New York city, creating his powerful artworks until he died at the age of 27. This is ticketed exhibition priced at $25 for adults. If you’re student, it can be saved by $16. It’s a good opportunity to know his work, including private paintings offer you something new. The time is also limited only in the evening, so you’d better check the time. HP Besides, every Wednesday night, from 6pm to 8pm, you can enter to the AGO for free. At the beginning, it will be better to try without any fees though the Michel’s exhibition is closed at the time. Let’s go see his impressive work after IELTS class in Toronto.

Toronto Babel is an international language and cultural exchange group that brings together native and non-native speakers of many different languages from various countries around the world.  The group provides a fun and relaxed atmosphere where you can practice speaking a new language, you can still improve your English learning and make new friends with people from all over the world completely for free.   TorontoBabel gatherings take place in a bar with music in the background and plenty of pool tables (to play pool it’s $8 per hour, paid to the bar). Usually there is about 100 people, so it does get a bit loud with people from all over the world chatting away until late in the evening.  

March 20th, is the vernal equinox day. Vernal means spring, and equinox means that the length of the day and the length of the night is almost the same. It also marks the beginning of spring, so many events or festivals are going to be held after the day. In fact, the average temperature becomes higher and higher, and day time also change longer day by day. In your country, is the vernal equinox day celebrated as a special day? Cristian Easter and Jewish passover is set to this day, because this special day played a big role calculating the dates. Easter eggs are popular symbol of easter and used egg hunting which is a traditional playing on the Easter day. The balance of daytime is considered as lucky in China, and also eggs are used as a symbol of fertility. In Japan, people celebrate the coming of spring on the day. On the other hand, ancient relatives are remembered on the fall equinox. The Iranian new year day, called Nowruz, occurs around the equinox according to Iranian calendar.  Thus equinox day is used to celebrate different cultural things in several countries.  Learn about different cultures while learning English in Toronto.