Idioms of interest

Here below are some common idioms that you may hear in the workplace. It is a good thing to have an understanding of them. Downtime ( time to get some rest, some Rest and Relaxation (R&R) I could do with some downtime. I ‘m totally exhausted because I worked 20 hours overtime this week. Give you a leg up ( help someone out in an endeavour, help someone achieve something) My supervisor really helped me with an important report; thereby giving me a leg up in getting this new promotion. Give you a toe hold ( opportunity to get into something e.g. a job, into a good school, etc…) I sent out 100 resumes , but starting my own blog gave me a toe hold in the job market and got me several interviews. You haven’t been straight with me ( truthful) My son said to me that he had been doing his homework every night as required. However, his teacher called me the other day and informed me that he had not been doing it after all. When he got home, I told him that he had not been straight with me Dial it up or down ( raise or lower the volume) If the music is too loud in the next suite, I just tell them to dial it down a bit. My friend speaks so softly that I can hardly hear her, therefore, I often have to tell her to dial it up. I’m all over that (covered all the bases- been very thorough and already prepared for what needs to be done) Don’t worry. I’m all over that is what I said to my supervisor. I have taken care of every single detail in this project and missed nothing of importance. Hilary Duff “dishes” about fashion ( celebs talking about something) Hilary Duff was on TV lately dishing about her latest line of clothing that will be coming out on the market soon. Suck it up ( stop complaining, and just deal and accept the situation) I lost about $100.00 at the casino last night, but my friends were not very sympathetic, because they had lost even more, They just said to me to suck it up. Ragging on ( razzing someone , teasing or bugging someone) My friends are always ragging on me about being too stingy. I’m tired of them always commenting on how cheap I am. The truth straight up ( telling the truth as it is) I was very direct with my friend. I said he would have to redo his resume because of all the errors in it if he wanted to get a job. I gave him the truth straight up. You’re good to go ( ready for the start of something e.g. project or to continue with something) I just got all my monthly office supplies from Staples; therefore, I’m good to go for the month.

Basic research sites for career and life goals

For your career and life goals, you have to do research, so I thought I would include here some user-friendly ones that will provide a basic yet good foundation . Good luck. Some other sites for information finding: ( a lot of these are American –based so you have to consider this when researching) **** a cautionary note always double check the information for reliability through a 2nd and 3rd source. www.ask.com www.about.com wwww.reference.com www.askmefirst.com www.webcrawler.com http://www.savenkeep.com http://www.kuidle.com http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com for Canadian content http://www.thefreedictionary.com For quick and usually brief answers to basic questions try these www. life123.com www.answers.com www.allexperts.conm ( only 1 free question) www.ehow.com www.howcast.com Wiki Answers Wiki How * For reviews of services, etc... and other research you can also use ...yelp.com, Google local, and citysearch.com StumbleUpon.com- is part Social networking site & part web content classification engine—this is a definite must for research

Toronto Public Library Services for ESL Students and Others

Toronto ESL Public Library Services Toronto Public Library Service- call 416-393-7209- to book an appointment with library staff that can help with research and info re: job searching, profession and the trades, ESL materials, tests and more. They will also help learn your way around the library, order books , movies and the like, and how manage your library account. Workshop for Newcomers to Canada The library has workshops for Newcomers to Canada. To register you go to the Newcomer Information Service desk or call 416-917-6717. You can connect with the Toronto Public Library on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, and Flickr. Other Toronto Public Library sites to check out : torontopubliclibrary.ca/e-news torontopubliclibrary.ca/blogs For answers to your questions: There is an Answerline 416-393-7131 to answer questions re: programs and info. you are searching for. To check out all the programs-- go to torotnopubliclibrary.ca/programs.

Money Saving Tips

Well, we are into the summer season and it seems it is all about thinking of ways to save money for ourselves and for our families. So, here below are a few sites to check out with this goal in mind. h Info. and services about Toronto: blogto.com/Toronto for the best of Toronto at your fingertips—services, restaurants, stores, movies, etc... Toronto’s official discount ticket booth—T O Tix—discount for buying tickets to theatre, dance, opera, comedy—www.totix.ca or in person at Yonge and Dundas Square. http://www.torontogasprices.com/- for the highest and lowest prices for gas www.gasbuddy.com-- for gas prices as well www.gasticker.com for gas prices and locations across Canada http://www.tomorrowsgaspricetoday.com/-- a site to determine the best time to buy gas. www.moneysense.ca- ways to save money in everyday life

Welcome to ESL Resources

A good share of the content of this blog is a truncated version of the ESL Resource/Guidebook I have created for Newcomers to Toronto. When I first arrived in Toronto, I would have so appreciated something like this to turn to when I needed resources and info. This need was one of the primary reasons I developed it.. All of the resources that will be posted are searches I have done at one time or another regarding my own need for specific information. I look forward to sharing with you all of my great discoveries. I will also be sharing other resources that Newcomers to Toronto will be interested in learning and knowing about so that they may conduct themselves professionally in the workplace.