Environment Pollution

Nowadays, environment pollution is one of the most talked about topics of the world. Our environment is mainly polluted in three ways such as, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. Air is polluted in many ways. First of all, people make fire to cook their food, to bake bricks, to burn wood and to pave roads. All these things produce smoke, which in turn creates air pollution. In addition, buses, trucks, motorbikes, aeroplanes and cars use gasoline and diesel, which cause pollution air. Also mills, factories, power houses and railway engines use fossil fuels to operate. Therefore, all this things also create air pollution. Secondly, there are many causes of water pollution. Farmers use fertilizer in the land to obtain higher crop yields. This fertilizer, mixed with water, makes pollution. Also, people wash their cars and let the soapy water run through the city sewage. Mills and factories drain their waste materials into the lakes and rivers. These are some of the ways water pollution is born. Finally, noise pollution is another problem for the environment. Namely, noise from road traffic, construction sites, manufacturing plants, etc. give people headaches and add to noise pollution. Therefore, all kinds of pollutions are growing day by day, and we must all take part in reducing pollution for the environment.

My Favourite Hobby: Gardening

My hobbies are gardening, reading novel, cooking, doing music and playing badminton. I spend my leisure times doing these activities, but gardening is my most favourite one. I had a garden in Bangladesh. There were two sections in my garden. One was for flowers and the other was for vegetables. I had planted a variety of flowers as such rose, sunflower and jasmine; also, I had planted lots of vegetables. Cucumber, bean, gourd, tomato, radish, egg plant, carrot, arum, ladies finger were all grown in my garden. Every morning and afternoon, I worked in my garden. Now here in Canada, I miss my garden because the soil is frozen most of the year. I tried to do some gardening here, but I was not successful. Last summer, I had planted some vegetable and flower seeds here. Unfortunately, nothing grew in my Canadian garden. Only one rose bud came out and it died in a few days. That was very painful for me since I had put in a great deal of efforts in trying to grow that rose plant. That is why I did not plant anything this year. Currently, I have an apple tree and some western flowers in my garden at home.

Internet

Internet is a worldwide system of computer network. Many people use internet in the world. It is very important for all of us. Internet gives us lots of information. That is why people are increasing their knowledge using internet. Due to internet the world is becoming faster and shorter. People are able to contact far person on the net. They use e mails, chat rooms, web cams, online phone etc. Therefore, people can know about other culture using internet. Also, they can save their time. For example, people can save their time doing all kinds of work on the internet, such as, shopping, banking, paying bills, taking online courses, learning, teachings, job searching etc. Therefore, people can do their works very quickly. That is why people are improving their positions day by day. In addition, people can many kinds of study on the net. They can read varieties newspapers, magazines, novels, dramas of many countries. Also, they can watch movies, talk shows on the net. So, people use internet for their daily life. Internet is everywhere.

My first day in Canada

My first day in Canada is a very memorable one. I came to Canada on January 9th, 2007; this is a rather special day of my life, which I will never forget. Coming out of the airport, I saw lots of snow all around me and at the same time I felt very cold. In spite of wearing a heavy winter coat, I still felt the chills. I was born in a tropical country and had never been to any other northern countries prior to my arrival in Canada. Therefore, the concept of temperatures below zero was foreign to me. I felt so cold that I was becoming weak and feeble. Plus, I was having breathing problems due to Calgary’s elevation being so high. I was very afraid of the cold, so I entered the car very quickly. Being in a heated car I felt much better. Although the weather was cold, the view was very beautiful. On the way from the airport, I was very delighted to see the natural beauty of Calgary. I saw that the snow had covered everything such as, roads, hills, trees, roofs of houses, etc. I was very happy to witness this unique scenic beauty. Finally at the end of my scenic tour, we had reached our beloved home with all my family members.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a small but beautyful country in Asia. It is located Between Pakistan and India. It also boarders Myanmar. Bangladesh is an over populated country whose population is over 150 million. Where as, in Canada only 35 million people but Bangladesh is only one tenth the size of Alberta. Most of the people are Muslims and other visible minorities are Hindu, Christian, Buddho etc. The capital of Bangladesh is Dhaka. Most of teh people of are educated. The nation houses many rivers, hills, water falls, and the Bay of Bengle. Every year many tourists come from other countries to view its natural beauty. The weather of Bangladesh is mostly tropical. That is why the farmers plant many kinds of crops all year around. As such, Bangladesh can export many varities of fruites and vegetables abroad every year. In addition, Bangladesh exports many kinds of fish. Perticularly, it mostly exports Hilsha whish is our national fish. Anibg tgese exports, jute, tea, and cotton fabrices generate the most revenue in foreigh currency for Bangladesh. Bangladesh has some disadvantages, such as air pollution, traffice jam, water pollution, corrouption and b ad communication system. These problems are growing day by day. Though Bangladesh has some disadvantages, I love Bangladesh.

My friends

My name is Shabiha Sheela Yousuf, come from Bangladesh and I’m a recent landed immigrant in Canada. My parents and only one younger sister live in Bangladesh. My father is a journalist and mother is a teacher. In canada, I live in with my family in the NW part of the city. My husband is a softweare engineer and doing phd in Electrical Engineering at u of c. I have a baby boy of 6 months. I’ve completed my MSS in Political Science from Bangladesh. After completing EAP 1,2 @ 3, I will try to get admitted undergraduate programe in health science. I want to be a doctor, but it is very difficult for me. So I have to improve my English and study more. My hobby is playing music, gardening, cooking, playing badminton, playing computer games etc. I spend my leisure time playing music and playing with my beloved son. In holiday, I go outside to see natural beauty with my family. I have written about myself lots. Now I would like to know about my friends. So no more today.

Bye
Sheela

Five Communication Issues I have Experienced When Speaking in a Presentation

1. The main issue I face when delivering a presentation and which causes me the most grievances is the fact that my preparation is always adequate but my delivery turns out to be much worse than my practice runs. During my presentation, the sequence of ideas gets somewhat messed up, I start drawing blanks or I fumble on big words. However, the good thing is I do not stop when these happen; instead, I start improvising my own ideas into the content and recover back to the central topic.

2. An element of nervousness always plays a big role during my presentations. I get dehydrated and feel light headed. This hinders my ability to speak at my full capacity. My mind gets cluttered up by some kind of fear of public speaking, so my ability to process information and carry the discussion along suffers greatly. I have found that sipping from a bottle of water helps calm me down.

3. I have a moderate eastern accent when I speak. I have to put in extra efforts to speak clearly and to sound like a Canadian person. It is difficult enough in normal conversational settings, so one can imagine the strain I must undertake when it comes to speaking in front of a large group. Usually, I speak slowly to try to build up my confidence and reduce the accent.

4. I have a minor body gestures that could be distracting to some. If I have a piece of paper in my hands, unknowingly I would start to twist or crumble it. It does two things: it interferes with my speaking by adding noise and draws my audience’s attention to my hands instead of my discussion. Thus, it is a good idea to have nothing in my hands and have a dais to put all my scrap papers during the presentation.

5. Eye contact is an important aspect of delivering a presentation. I have a bad habit of focusing my eyes only on the instructor and kind of ignoring the rest of my audience. I do this to obtain immediate feedback on my performance from the instructor’s facial expression. It could be considered rude in some situations, so I should work on eliminating this bad habit. I think that will come from lots of practice and experience.

Visitor Policy at my House

My family, friends and anybody I know are welcome to my house but solicitors of any kind are not. Any members of my family can come to my place at anytime during the day or night without prior notice. However, the others can only visit me on weekday evenings and during the day or evening on the weekends, given that I am notified enough in advance of their visits.

There are six rooms in my house that I consider to be “public space”. Namely, the living room, family room, dinning room, music room, kitchen and washrooms are all accessible to my guests. Our bedrooms are considered “private space”, and nobody except my family would have access to these rooms. I would consider my boundaries in this regard to be mainly personal, since these are fairly different from my native culture.

In my opinion, my rules are somewhat in-between my native culture and the Canadian culture. For instance, Canadians will mind if even any of their family members drops by late at night for non-urgent matters, or they will not allow anyone in their family room, kitchen or bedrooms. On the other hand, in our culture the whole house is considered “public space” and “pop-in” guests are very much welcomed. Accordingly, my personal view on visitor policy is kind of formed by a mixture of both cultures. Perhaps, the Canadian culture is rubbing off on me due to my stay in Canada and my native culture is somewhat fading away. I hope this happens for the best so that I could retain the values that are the best of both worlds.

The Meanings of Colours in My Culture vs. in The Canadian Culture

Meanings of Colours in the Bangladeshi Culture:

Blue

When we think of blue, the endless skies, the deep oceans and the massive icebergs comes to mind and how these majestic creations of nature overwhelm us. Therefore, blue signifies nature’s way of exciting our senses using its splendour.

Yellow

Yellow usually signifies rejuvenation and rebirth. This colour comes to mind when spring is in the air. This colour is everywhere at the verge of spring, including the sun’s radiance. As such, the yellow revitalizes nature and enables us to draw from it for our own emotional growth.

Red

Red is a colour of many emotions. Sometimes it signifies rage and revolt. It is also associated with festivities. For instance, at Bengali weddings there is a strong presence of the colour red – from the clothing and jewellery to the food and décor. Thus, red brings out the utmost strongest emotions from within us.

Black

Black is not strictly a colour as it is the absence of all colours. Thus, it signifies the absence of life. Black usually sets the tone for sadness or mournfulness. During Bangladeshi Remembrance Day, we all dress up in black to express our empathy towards the thousands who gave their lives to free our country.

White

White is usually associated with purity and innocence. It also means the presence of peace and a new beginning. There is also a religious meaning for the colour white, and that is nobleness. White is the accepted attire at an Islamic funeral, and the deceased also is clothe in a white during the burial.

Green

Green has a patriotic symbology attached to it. The Bangladeshi flag is mostly green, which signifies the lush greenery that covers most of the country. During national independence and victory days, everyone dresses up in green and creates a green ambiance across the nation.


Meanings of Colours in the Canadian Culture:

Blue

Blue is a very spiritual colour and contains clarity, cleansing, healing and protective qualities. Using this colour, whether wearing it or lighting candles of this colour or decorating an entire room with it draws an increase in wisdom, harmony and peace.

Yellow

Yellow is associated with the expression of thoughts and the intellectual side of the mind. It can therefore aid the powers of memory and clear thinking, decision-making and good judgement. Magical purposes for use in rituals and Spell work associated with Yellow are for increasing motivation, inspiration and intelligence.

Red

Red is a very strong motivational and energetic colour. Its colour meaning for Magic rituals and Spell work relates to energising, manifesting love, passion and vitality. It adds vibrant energy to the Root Chakra to strengthen the body and promote will power and courage.

Black

Black is not strictly a colour as it is the absence of all colours. It absorbs all aspects of light. Although this colour has some negative connotations it does in fact enhance any positive elements given by other colours. Using Black for clothing or for an accent colour for home décor can convey an air of mystery, sophistication and elegance. If you are craving a need for change and transformation and for getting rid of the old and embracing the new then use this colour.

White

White is a healing colour and has clean purification vibrations and can be used to clear blocked energies. Although not strictly a colour in its own right, it contains all the colours of the rainbow and therefore all their qualities. This makes it a very useful and versatile colour to be surrounded with.

Green

Green has a strong association with nature, fertility and life. You instinctively seek it out when under stress or experiencing emotional difficulties. Feelings of comfort, relaxation, calmness, and space are induced by this colour.


What Have I Learned from this Exercise?

First of all, this exercise has enabled us to learn the deeper meanings of these six colours. Obviously the meanings in the Canadian culture were mostly new to me, so a great deal of knowledge was gained from there. Moreover, some of the more intricate meanings in my culture were unknown to be. As such, I resorted to the elderly in my family to get the information I needed about these colours and their significance to the Bengali culture.

I have also understood the importance of human perception. We may see things in a way that could be totally foreign to others. This “meanings of colours” exercise is a perfect example of that notion. It has made me aware of the fact that differences in individual perception are not obvious but could result in major differences in opinion.

ABOUT MYSELF

My name is Shabiha Sheela Yousuf, and I’m a recent landed immigrant in Canada. I’ve completed my MSS in Political Science, BA in Social Science and HSC/SSC in General Sciences from Bangladesh. I live in with my family in the NW part of the city.

I want to get into an under graduate program for which the EAP program is one of the requirements and would also strengthen my English communication skills.

I want to major in nursing because I love helping people and I take interest in health sciences.

I want to become some kind of professional in health sciences or medicine.

I like to surf on the net, watch TV and movies, do music, play computer games, cook, play badminton and gardening in my spare time.

Outside of class, I converse with my friends and family in English, watch English programs on TV, read the newspaper and try to think I English.

This is the only course I’ve signed up for this term. I’ve never taken any English courses before.

In my opinion English is relatively easy language to learn, but its most difficult part is mastering the verbal accent.

The hardest parts of going to college are managing one’s time and prioritizing the tasks that need to be completed on time.

As compared to other languages, English grammar is reasonably easy to learn.

I think I need the help in speaking, listening and sentence structure. And I also need to improve my writing skills.

I hope that I’ll reach all of my goals.

student