Have you considered studying abroad? Moving to Canada to study? With more than 100 world-class universities across the country, there’s good reason to. From coast to coast to coast, it offers many international students a safe and supportive learning environment and the opportunity to work after graduation.
Want to learn more? In this guide, we cover ten things you should know about studying in Canada:
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There is a strong link between well-being and friendship, which is just as accurate for children as it is for adults. that children with stable friendships are happier, more able to cope with stress, and have higher self-esteem. Moreover, too, and children who experience friendship adjust more easily to school and perform better academically. School friendships are also a valuable way of learning social skills like sharing, resolving conflict, and engaging with peers positively.
Having friends is an important part of school life, and teachers can play a significant role in creating a positive classroom culture and helping children and young people to form friendships. How can you promote friendships between your students? Here are some ideas:
If there is an example of a good friendship in a book you are reading with students or in your lesson materials, draw your students’ attention to it. For instance, The Jungle Book is an excellent example of a story about friendship. Encourage your students to think critically about the friendships that they read about. You can ask questions like:
By discussing friendship regularly in the classroom, your students will learn about the behavior and characteristics of being a good friend.
You can create lots of opportunities for students to build friendships with one another during class time. Design activities that call for pair or group work, and include at least one or two in every lesson. Focusing on a common goal or problem is a great way to encourage your students to bond with one another.?As a bonus, this collaborative way of working promotes important 21st century skills like communication and problem-solving.
Another way of promoting friendships between different groups of students is moving them around. Adjust your seating plan regularly to ensure that all your students interact with and work alongside different classmates, to promote positive, friendly classroom vibes.
Friendship is a social skill that children need to learn – and you can help by teaching them. Be explicit about exactly what you expect from them. Saying, “Be kind” is an abstract, vague concept that children might struggle to put into practice. Instead, give them concrete examples of behavior, such as:
When you see a student engaging in these behaviors, draw attention to them and praise them.
But to really convey the importance of school friendships and kind behavior, it’s not enough to tell them. As the teacher, you must model the behavior you’d like to see in your students. Be consistently positive and upbeat in your interactions with students, thank your learners when they offer help with something, and try to refrain from sounding impatient (even when you are!). All these steps will help to build a positive classroom culture where students feel secure, supported and happy.
Conflict is an inevitable part of school life, but you can help students to navigate arguments and other difficult situations in the classroom. If two students argue, you can help them to resolve it with the following steps:
Following these simple steps teaches children a framework for resolving conflict and gives them the tools to process strong emotions.
An excellent way to promote a positive classroom culture is to do friendship-focused activities with your students:
You could do a Venn diagram activity, where students work in pairs to discuss and write down things they have in common and areas of difference. It’s good to pair students who don’t spend much time together for this activity.
Another positive activity is a 'Honey Roast'. Give students enough squares of paper to have one for each of their classmates. Get them to write their classmates’ names on the paper, and then, on the other side, write down a compliment or something they like about that person, for example, “I like your handwriting”, or “You always use kind words”. Collect the pieces of paper and read out some nice examples to the class. Alternatively, give them directly to the students to read to themselves.
Younger learners may find speaking in English comes easily to them, more so than reading and writing. However, they need to be well-prepared and familiar with what they have to do in order to be successful in an exam. Let’s look at a few ways we can prepare our students for the International Certificate Young Learners (PEIC YL) oral test and have fun along the way!
The PEIC YL oral test includes two speaking tasks that have an emphasis on real-life communication. Throughout the four levels, the format of the speaking tasks remains the same, with questions and topics suitable for each level and age group.
Learners take the oral test in groups of five, with one examiner, who gives instructions and assesses the learners.
For both parts of the test students are assessed on their vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
There are lots of ways in which you can prepare your learners for the test in class. The game-like format of the speaking test makes practicing the tasks an ideal end-of-lesson activity. Here are a few ideas:
Playing board games will allow learners to get used to the functional language they will need to play games, e.g. "It’s your turn" / "Where’s the dice?".
It will also give them plenty of practice in counting the squares in English, which they are expected to do in the test. You can use traditional board games designed for English language learners or make your own.
Include questions on familiar topics such as family, clothes, or vacations.
Young learners love to make things so why not have them make their own board games and cards? Put students in groups to make a board game for the other groups to play. You can provide a board template, have them write questions, and draw pictures in the squares.
Make sure you have students write a rough draft of their questions first so that you can check for any errors. It can be helpful to write example questions and prompts on the board as a guide, e.g. 'What (sports) do you play at school?' 'How often do you …?'. Depending on the level, students will need to include questions in a variety of present/past/future tenses.
To prepare for the short talk, give students plenty of practice at speaking for one minute. One way of making this more engaging is by having the students choose their own topics by talking about pictures they have drawn or taken.
If students have mobile phones, you can ask them to choose a photo from the gallery and discuss it with a partner. If mobile phones are not an option, have them bring in some photos from home. These could be pictures taken on vacation, birthday parties, or at other celebrations.?
You could also write a list of topics on the board, have each student choose one, and draw a picture to illustrate it.
The key to good test preparation is to make it a part of your regular lessons, rather than something you do in just the weeks before the test. The more familiar your students are with the tasks, the more relaxed they will be on the day of the test.
Education has embraced remote and hybrid learning – and it looks like it’s here to stay as a more accessible option for students everywhere. For the same reasons, even higher-stakes English exams are proving it’s possible to throw off old-fashioned approaches and adapt to the changing needs and expectations of today’s test-takers. The 色猫AV English International Certificate is available online (as well as in paper-based format) and can be taken in a home environment. It has a number of benefits for both teachers and test takers.
In this post, we will look at why testing from home is a good option and explore the rules and requirements for the online 色猫AV English International Certificate.
One of the great things about taking the online International Certificate is that test-takers can do it from any private location with a reliable internet connection.
While we offer the option to take the test in one of our authorized computer-based testing centers, we now also offer testing from home with the . Both delivery methods are backed by the same level of robust security, meaning International Certificate test results can be equally trusted regardless of where the test was taken.
The online International Certificate allows test-takers to schedule their 2-hour test at a time that fits into their timetable and is not restricted by location. This means that they don’t have to take time off work or education to take the test, or suffer the additional stress or inconvenience this can cause to their lives.
Using just one system and one log-in, they register for the test, schedule it for whenever suits them and then, when the time comes, sign in to gain access to the online proctoring system.
The International Certificate is available through , the online assessment portal that brings teachers, test-takers and tests together in a single, user-friendly space.
Test Hub is extremely straightforward to use for scheduling, taking tests and accessing results – while also delivering powerful, data-rich insights into test performance for both teachers and test-takers.
Furthermore, we have clear resources showing new users how to navigate the platform, as well as online videos on to help learners familiarize themselves with the online International Certificate format.
Also available through Test Hub is the Readiness Test, which predicts readiness to pass the International Certificate, as well as the Level and Benchmark Tests – assessments that teachers find invaluable for placing new students in the right class and tracking their progress to proficiency.
All tests are scored using an AI system. This speeds up the turnaround time for results, making the whole process much more efficient than the paper-based exam.
Governments trust 色猫AV’s world-leading scoring technology, businesses and universities globally and is powered by the expert input of thousands of skilled, experienced English teachers. Since 2022, the online International Certificate has been scored entirely using this system, bringing the score turnaround time to under 2 weeks – a fraction of the time taken to score the paper-based test.
Running an assessment online means that many people from around the world can access it. So, this will allow people in some of the world's most remote areas to get a recognized English certificate and change their lives, as long as they meet the following requirements.
There are a that test-takers need to be aware of when taking the exam from home. These include:
There are a number of simple, yet critical rules to follow when taking the International Certificate test from home. These include:
Teaching teenagers can be a rewarding yet challenging experience.
When planning classes, we need to consider the environment in which the students are growing up. Most of our teenage students do not know a life without the internet, instant messaging or Google.
Commonly referred to as ?(or Gen Z), they are the most tech-savvy generation to date; this should be reflected in how we teach them.
However, not all of us have access to computer labs, interactive whiteboards or class tablets. But there is something that many of our teens bring to class in their pockets and bags every day.
You’ve guessed it - a phone.
By bringing students’ phones into your classes, you can bridge the technology gap between the learners and the curriculum, keep them engaged for longer and make them feel more empowered at the same time.
Here are four low-tech activities that use phones in class.
Activity requirements: one phone per student (or group of students) and a pre-made quiz.
is an app designed to help you create quizzes online, which can be a fun, engaging way to challenge your learners in the classroom.
Quizzes are an ideal activity to use at the start of a class to recycle previous vocabulary or to pre-teach new language.
For example, you could choose 10 British English phrases or idioms. Write a series of four possible definitions for each word, phrase, or idiom (with only one correct answer).
In class, ask your students to take out their phones, find the app, and link to the quiz.
Tell the students that they must vote for the definition they think is correct. They can keep track of their scores directly on the app while competing with their friends.
Not only will it immediately engage your learners and help them interact with what’s being learned, but they’ll also have a lot of fun.
Activity requirements: a phone with the Google Translate app installed and a pen and paper per pair.
Did you know Google Translate has a feature where you can ? This is a perfect tool for text that you might find on a poster, in a book or uses an alphabet which you are unfamiliar with.
Bring in samples of different languages to class – the more complex, the better. If you don’t have anything suitable at home, find something online and print it out.
Get one student to take a photo of the text using the app and with their finger, select the section of the text they’d like to translate from the original language to English. (Note: if you download the Google Translate language file to your phone, it will translate everything automatically).
Then, have them dictate what it says to their partner, who has to write it down.
Finally, they work together to improve the English translation. After all, everyone knows Google’s English isn’t perfect (not yet, anyway).
Activity requirements: a mobile phone with a camera per student.
Do your students love taking photos? Tap into their love of photography and make activities more exciting by incorporating the photos on their phones into your classes.
Adapt speaking activities from common exams such as the B2 Cambridge First. Instead of using the pictures in the book, put the students in pairs and get them each to choose a more relevant photo from their phones. You may find they have more to say and will communicate naturally while still practicing the necessary language and skills required in the exam.
Another idea is to get students to take photos of things they encounter in English in the street. This could be on a sign outside a restaurant or in their favorite clothing shop. Use these photos to start the next class with a discussion about where they saw it, what it means and if the English is correct.
You could also nominate one student each week to bring a photo they took that weekend. Share it with the class and get everyone to write Instagram captions. You wouldn’t believe how many already do this in English, so why not help them?
If you are worried about the misuse of mobile devices in your class – don’t be! Here are our top three strategies to help avoid students getting distracted:
Practicing English is a thing that ideally needs to be kept up with regularly, and when school breaks up for the holidays, it's easy for what’s been learnt to be forgotten. This phenomenon is called summer learning loss, and it’s something that affects students of every age and stage.
So, how can you encourage your students or children to keep practicing their language skills over the holidays? There are apps and online activities –but the school holidays are a good opportunity for young learners to disconnect and enjoy some time offline. So here are some activities to suggest to them. There are no screens in sight, and the whole family can enjoy practicing English together:
Get them out into the fresh air with nature spotting. Make a list of things for your students/children to find in their garden or local park. You can keep the list simple for younger learners, with things like trees, grass or flowers, linking them to colors or numbers. For older learners, you can make the search a bit more challenging by including specific species of tree, flower or insect.
This offline activity reinforces the links between English and the natural world. It helps to build children’s observational skills and builds their natural vocabulary along with their gross motor skills. What’s more, have shown that spending time in nature is enormously beneficial for children, restoring their attention, reducing their stress and helping them to become more creative and engaged in learning.
For this activity, choose a recipe that you think your students/children will enjoy making.
Cakes or cookies are popular choices – most young learners have a sweet tooth! Then, with their parents or caregiver, they can make a shopping list of the ingredients they need, buy them from the supermarket, and then follow the recipe steps.
This type of offline activity helps young learners use their English in a practical way. It will develop their vocabulary and link their English language skills to other skills like math and science. Following a recipe from start to finish teaches children how to follow instructions and problem solve. It also builds their fine motor skills as they pour, stir and chop. They’ll get a considerable boost to their confidence when they take their cake out of the oven – and they’ll be able to share that success with their family and friends. After all, nearly everyone likes cake!
Reading has numerous benefits for children (and adults too). It is good for building vocabulary, developing creativity and promoting empathy. What’s more, reading has been shown to . It’s the perfect antidote to too much screen time and a good way for learners to maintain their English level over the holidays. But it’s essential to ensure the text's level is correct. If it’s too difficult, they will be frustrated and put off. It’s crucial for reading to be enjoyable!
Older learners can read independently, but you can also suggest some books to read with parents/caregivers. Reading aloud together is a really positive way for adults and children to spend time together. It positively impacts children’s self-esteem and builds good associations with reading, hopefully encouraging them to become independent readers.
This activity involves a little bit of preparation– but it’s a fun activity and gets children outdoors and away from screens! Open up local maps, and have children select somewhere they’d like to visit. Then, they can create a navigation guide in English, building on their vocabulary of directions and surroundings to describe the route.
Learning how to read a map and follow directions is an excellent cognitive and physical exercise. It helps young learners to solve problems and builds their decision-making and observational skills.
Suggest some DIY science experiments to do at home. Just like the recipe challenge, learners will need to make a list of the materials they’ll need and gather all the experiment components before setting everything up. Then, they will follow the instructions in English and see how their experiments turn out!
Science experiments are a great way to nurture children’s intellectual curiosity and develop critical thinking skills. It also encourages learners to solve problems and analyze results. Who knows, you could even be planting the seed of a STEM career in future years!
Studying for the 色猫AV English International Certificate (PEIC) is a challenge for any student, but there are many different areas where you can help yourself or your students achieve top grades.
By becoming familiarized with the test format, equipping test-taking strategies and having awareness of commonly occurring vocabulary and topics, learners can be on the path to success in the PEIC.
Understanding the test format and what to expect in each exam section will give students the confidence they need on test day.
Do drills on how many sections there are, how long they have for each section, and the order of the sections too. This will help learners anticipate what’s coming next and feel prepared throughout the exam. For example, the recording is played twice in listening section 2 – dictation. If students are aware of this, they can use the first recording to note key ideas and the second to complete the dictation fully.
Give yourself/your students plenty of practice under test conditions. Do timed mock exams, without phones or dictionaries, to help get a feel of the real test.
As the speaking section is done simultaneously for all candidates, get yourself/your students used to communicating in loud environments. Doing mock exams for the writing sections will also help students become aware of their word count and how long it takes to achieve this. It’s important to note that each writing task has a word limit and there are penalties for being significantly above or below.
Knowing the test format is important, but so is being equipped with test-taking strategies. For all sections, train yourself/students to use the questions and rubric to their advantage. Underlining the keywords from the question will help learners prepare for the task ahead and predict potential answers.
In the listening sections, students are given ten seconds before the recording is played. Learners should identify and underline keywords and use this time to predict the topic and vocabulary of the recording. Remind yourself/students that even if you think you have the answer, you need to listen carefully to the entire recording, as it’s also likely that some of the keywords will be used as distractors.
It’s also helpful to highlight keywords in the prompts and questions in the reading sections. For example, when dealing with multiple choice questions like in section 5, test takers should first highlight keywords from the question, then scan the text for these keywords. This is the part of the text where the answer is located, and where they should direct their attention. It’s important to read this section of the text carefully and also be aware that the answer may be paraphrased or a synonym.
Planning is crucial in the writing sections, and highlighting keywords from the question is an important planning step. Read the task carefully and identify the words that indicate the type of writing that is required and the audience. This will help guide the writing style and register. For example, in section 8, noticing the difference between writing a letter to a friend and a letter to a magazine editor will change the tone of the task.
Prepare further by building a strong grammar and vocabulary base with topical and functional language.
Introduce yourself/students to a wide range of themes on social and current issues, as well as personal and familiar topics. It's useful for learners to note useful vocabulary and phrases and test themselves on these regularly, making a note of the spelling, as this is essential in all sections of the exam.
Test takers will encounter gap-fill style tasks in both the listening and reading sections. Students can predict what kind of word is missing by reading around the gap. Train yourself/your students to consider what part of speech the answer will be, and if the other words in the sentence give clues to the topic or theme. Give them plenty of practice with word formation so they can easily identify the missing information.
Higher points are awarded for complex structures and expressions during the speaking and writing sections. Teachers should provide learners with functional language such as discourse markers and linkers, so they can connect and extend their ideas. It’s also important to have a range of vocabulary they draw on to express their opinions, offer suggestions and to give reasons, as this will help give their answers complexity and depth.
Studying these things should provide a solid knowledge base of the exam format and structure, coaching learners to use different test-taking strategies and directing their study of vocabulary and grammar, so they can work more efficiently and confidently toward their goal of passing the PEIC.
Online language learning and teaching brings with it a lot of things to think about. The following tips are designed to help you plan your primary-level online classes effectively and manage students in a digital environment.
The school environment is an active and incredibly social space. It’s hard to replicate this online, potentially leading to boredom and frustration among your students. For this reason, you should take regular 'movement breaks' during the day to energize them. You can do the following quick sequence sitting or standing:
This excellent energy booster allows your students to revise parts of the body, commands and even make the link with other subjects.
Small talk and gossip are fundamental parts of the regular school day. It’s essential to give students a few minutes to chat freely. It will help them feel relaxed and make your classes more comfortable.
Let your students do this in whatever language they want and don’t get involved, just like at school. Alternatively, ask someone to share a YouTube video, song, Instagram, or TikTok post in a digital show and tell.
After students have been chatting freely in their own language, take the opportunity to bring in functional language depending on the subject they were talking about in English. This will help get them ready for the lesson. Here are some ways to do this:
To optimize learning time, consider dividing your class into smaller groups and teaching each one individually for part of the timetabled class time. You may find that you get more done in 15 minutes with eight students than you would be able to get done in 60 minutes with 32 students.
At the same time, you will be able to focus more easily on individual needs (you’ll be able to see all their video thumbnails on the same preview page). If it is not acceptable in your school to do this, divide the class so you’re not trying to teach everyone the same thing simultaneously.
Having the whole class do a reading or writing activity is a lost opportunity to use this quiet time to give more focused support to smaller groups of learners, so think about setting a reading task for half the class, while you supervise a speaking activity with the other half, and then swap them over.
Alternatively, set a writing activity for 1/3 of the students, a reading for 1/3 and a speaking activity for the remaining 1/3, and rotate the groups during the class.
Don’t expect to get the same amount of work done in an online class as in the classroom. Once you have waited for everyone to connect, get them to turn on their cameras, etc., you have less time to teach than you would usually have. Add this to the fact that it’s much more complex and time-consuming to give focused support to individual learners in a way that doesn’t interrupt everyone else.
So, don’t plan the same task density in online classes as you would for face-to-face teaching. Explore flipping some of your activities, so your students arrive better prepared to get to work.
It’s also much harder to engage students, measure their engagement and verify that they are staying on task online than in the physical classroom. In an online class, measuring engagement and reading reactions is harder. Always clearly explain the objectives and why you have decided on them. Regularly check to see if everyone understands and is able to work productively.
When you’re all online, you can’t use visual clues to quickly judge whether anyone is having difficulties, like you can in the classroom. Ask direct questions to specific students rather than asking if everyone understands, or is OK. During and at the end of class, check and reinforce the achieved objectives.
How a physical classroom is organized, decorated and laid out impacts how your students feel, interact and learn. It’s just as important to think about how your virtual teaching space functions and what it looks like, as it will greatly affect your students’ learning experience.
Classrooms are usually full of posters, examples of students’ work and other decorations. Just because you’re teaching online doesn’t mean your environment needs to look dull.
Take some time to think about your virtual teaching space. Picture it in your head. What’s behind you? What’s on either side? Is there an echo? Is it light or dark? How far away are you from the camera?
While teaching online isn’t always that different from teaching face-to-face, there are quite a few things you might not have considered before. Here are some of my top dos and don’ts to help:
Here are some ways to get the most out of technology, build your student’s digital literacy skills and increase motivation:
Students should connect from a private space where they are not interrupted by siblings, pets, housekeepers, or parents. The space should be well-lit and have a good Wi-Fi signal.
Just like you, they should use earphones with an inline microphone. Their webcams should be on, not just so you can see them, but so they can see each other. Encourage learners to have fun and personalize their space by changing their backgrounds or using filters.
Parents and caregivers should be aware of the negative effect of noise and distractions on their children’s learning. It’s important that where possible, they avoid having business meetings in the same room their children are learning in. They should also ask other people in the house to respect the children’s right to enjoy a quiet, private, productive learning environment.
If you and your students are online using some form of computer, tablet, or mobile device to connect to class, make sure to use the resources available to you. Reinforce how to correctly use spell check when writing a document; for example, have your students use their cameras to take photos of their work to share or even their favorite toys.
Instead of trying (and often failing!) to get all your students to speak during the class, have them make videos or audio recordings for homework that they send to you or each other for feedback. Alternatively, experiment with breakout rooms, if using a platform that allows this.
If you want to show a YouTube video during class, send the link to your students to watch for homework before class, or have them watch it during class on their own devices.
Besides saving your internet bandwidth, they may even be inspired to click on one of the other recommended (usually related) videos alongside the one you want them to watch. It’ll be on their recently watched list if they want to go back and watch it again.
If you set group work that involves writing a text or designing a presentation, ask your students to collaborate with a shared Google Doc. You’ll be able to see what they’re doing in real-time and give them feedback. It works like you are walking around the classroom and looking over their shoulders.
Explore the focused feedback tools your web conferencing platform offers, such as breakout rooms or an individual chat. But also, don’t forget to share relevant information and learning with the whole class. This helps them all benefit from your expertise, just like if they listen to you answering a classmate’s question in the classroom.
If your students are at home, they can access materials and props they would never have at school. Think about how you could incorporate this into your teaching.
Finally, ensure that the materials you use are suitable for online learning. If you use a book, it should have a fully digital option and a platform available to your students with practice activities, videos, and audio recordings. You should avoid using static pages in favor of dynamic activities, or online documents that allow real-time collaboration.
Create an online learning document for parents explaining how they can create a positive and productive learning environment for their children. Some families may experience significant difficulties and may be unable to implement everything. But it’s still important to explain to them how to optimize the experience if they can.
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