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Welcome to our August Newsletter. Our month of July was so exciting! It was our busiest month ever. We had groups of students from Spain, Taiwan, and Mexico. The weather was also great. We were really lucky. The weather gods were very kind to us in July; it almost never rained. And, as is always the case in Victoria - NO mosquitoes! :) Everyone is enjoying the flowers and festivals that have been going on each week. In July we got to enjoy an amazing Jazz Fest and an international Busker’s festival with street performers from all over the world. We also get to continue enjoying the fireworks at the famous Butchart Gardens every Saturday evening.
If you would like to stay in touch with GEOS Victoria, please join our Facebook group! Feel free to upload pictures and share your experiences with your friends and even former students. You can find out about our activities anytime – just go to http://www.geosvictoria.com/activities. Don’t forget to look at the testimonials on our website (http://www.geosvictoria.com/testimonials).
If you also would like to take a look at a video about GEOS Victoria, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDzFBaffjR0
 Gerard (Gerry) Young has a Bachelor of Arts in English and History, an Associate Degree in Journalism and a TESOL certificate. He has been teaching at GEOS for almost three years and before that he taught in Thailand, Myanmar and South Korea. Gerry is currently teaching levels 2 and 3 and he also teaches English for the Business World, Communicative Writing, TOEFL and SAT. Gerry believes that a teacher first has to show his students that he cares about them before they care about what he has to say. He never goes into a classroom without thinking about that. However, since not everyone has the same personality or ability, a teacher has to care about each student as an individual – not just look at the class as a whole. That means ensuring that no one is left behind in a class, but rather that every student, no matter how weak or strong, gets as much as possible out of every lesson.
 Congratulations to Matt our manager on turning 50!!! It's hard to believe someone who looks so young.
We are happy to announce we have two new teachers for during summer time!
Welcome aboard Andrew & Carolyn.
July was an awesomely fun month at GEOS; we went zip-lining, horseback riding, and had a fun-filled day trip to Vancouver, where we went shopping and walked and cycled through Stanley Park. Wow! What a great success everything was! Check out Zip-lining at http://www.adrenalinezip.com/. Even though many of the students had already been ziplining before, they said this course, with its 8 Zip-lines (the longest is 1,000 feet and the highest is 130 feet), they said this was the best one they had ever been on. They marvelled at zipping through a Canadian mountain forest. For horseback riding, not only did we ride the trails for 1 hour, but we also barbecued hotdogs after that. Giddy up cowpokes!! We are counting on August being just as exciting as this month has been, and, we can’t wait to make more friends, hear more amazing music, and have more adventures! Next month, check out Rock-climbing...
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Currently we have 14 Nationalities represented in the school among our 242 students.
Taiwanese: 24%
Saudi Arabian: 24%
Korean: 20%
Japanese: 14%
Spanish: 7%
Canadian: 3%
Mexican: 2%
Others: 6%
Victoria is a safe place, and has a beautiful weather as well as there are good neighbors & people in this city.
I chose to study at GEOS because I was told from my agent that this is great place to learn English communication skills and also all the staff and teachers are very friendly and nice. I studied at GEOS for 6 months and I think my English Communication skills & Listening Skills definitely improved through my study at GEOS. Not only English, but also I learned how to make a good Resume & cover letter in Business English class at GEOS school.
That helped a lot to get a job and volunteer job!
The study & work program of GEOS is definitely helpful for your English.
You’ll get good memories and work experiences as well.
I usually speak English a lot at my work place. It helped me be more comfortable to speak in English.
I had a hard time understanding a variety of English accents of all visitors.
Actually, it’s still not that easy, but trying not to be too nervous was helpful.
To improve your English, study English at school first and try to use that out of school as well. The Study & Work program is perfect to learn since you can apply what you learn at school to many places at your work place. Volunteer job is also really good for you. You can get various experiences and meet friends. Sometimes it can be a chance to find a job in Canada.
I really enjoyed my program at GEOS, and
Thank you very much for everything, GEOS!
So-Yeon
Korea
Study-Work Program, 48 weeks
TESL
The next GEOS TESL Program will start on July 18th. This program aims to provide language teaching training to individuals who want to teach English as a Second or Foreign Language. The program will develop linguistic and cultural competencies in students intending to use their skills in their home country or abroad as teachers of English. The program is broken down into modules that focus on both theory as well as practice.
Students will learn how to prepare a lesson, and resolve issues related to planning selection of materials to teach. They will discuss issues related to teaching specific language skills (i.e. listening and speaking, reading and writing, and grammar) and will be given an opportunity to prepare lessons and teach in front of peers. They will receive feedback from their teachers and peers and will develop an ability to assess their own teaching skills.
Holiday Group Program
GEOS Victoria is currently hosting Holiday Groups from Spain and Taiwan. These students enjoy a blend of engaging English lessons and a variety of exciting extracurricular activities. These students will spend four weeks learning from their host families, their teachers and their classmates from all around the world.
The only Dragon Boat Festival in Canada!
Visit one of Victoria’s most spectacular summer festivals and the only dragon boat festival in Canada to take place in Inner Harbour.
The Festival hosts up to 90 Dragon Boat teams from across North America that will race across a 500-metre water course. The dragon boat races begin early Saturday morning and finish with the fastest competitors on Sunday afternoon to be followed by the Awards Ceremony.
Free-B- Film Festival A stellar collection of family-friendly films has been lined up for our Free-B Film Festival, so get ready to curl up under the stars and enjoy free films on the 20-foot-wide inflatable screen. Every weekend in August, join us at The Cameron Bandshell in Beacon Hill Park or in Spirit Square at City Hall, where everyone will enjoy these treasures from moviemaking history! Remember to bring blankets and snacks. Films start at 9pm.
We are happy to introduce our GEOS Victoria new photo ID student card, available for only $5.00! If any students would like one, please come see us in the office at GEOS.
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