Archive for year 2008
Culips Christmas Party
12/28/2008
by Robin
in Culips news
Thanks for turning up for the Christmas party everybody. For those who missed out, there is always next time! We had a blast. In fact, I think we had over 90 people hanging out, singing and partying all together in my apartment. It is always nice to see that sort of fun, pleasant vibe. I made a couple of new friends that night, which is always a nice thing about these social events. How about you (if you showed up, that is)?
Well, if you weren’t able to check out our Halloween party or our Christmas party, don’t worry because we’ll be having another social event in the upcoming months.
Happy holidays everyone from the Culips gang!
To turn up = To finally show up to an event.
To miss out = When you are unable to witness, attend or participate in an activity that you would have liked
To have a blast = to have fun
To show up = to turn up, to arrive
Culture: Christmas
12/22/2008
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Here is your Culips Christmas episode! This time we are trying a new format, with three distinct categories for you! We discuss Christmas Greetings, funny Christmas traditions and Harp’s worst and best presents from past Christmases.Most people learn the basic Christmas vocabulary so we wanted to offer you something a bit different. Have you ever heard of fruitcake? Do you know mistletoe?
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Harp: So I never had mistletoe at my house but I have always seen it in TV. Can you describe to me what it is?
Maura: Sure, it is a small plant and it has green leaves and little white berries and yeah I had one at my house when I was a kid, it was fake, it was not real. We used the same one every year but yeah we had mistletoe.
Harp: Ok so basically with mistletoe you hang it from the ceiling and when there is two people under it they have to kiss.
Maura: Exactly, you need two people, you can’t kiss yourself. So when two people suddenly find themselves underneath the mistletoe they are supposed to kiss.
Harp: Exactly, so it is a fun, I would say harmless, tradition.
Maura: Sure, it is a small plant and it has green leaves and little white berries and yeah I had one at my house when I was a kid, it was fake, it was not real. We used the same one every year but yeah we had mistletoe.
Harp: Ok so basically with mistletoe you hang it from the ceiling and when there is two people under it they have to kiss.
Maura: Exactly, you need two people, you can’t kiss yourself. So when two people suddenly find themselves underneath the mistletoe they are supposed to kiss.
Harp: Exactly, so it is a fun, I would say harmless, tradition.
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Culips Team
How do you end emails? – Standard & Creative Ideas
12/17/2008
by Culips
in Curious Questions
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Are most of you out there writing emails in English? Are you getting bored with ending your emails the same way all the time? Well, then this episode is for you! Here we discuss which email endings are appropriate and when to use them. We also give some fun ideas on how to be more creative with your email closings! |
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Maura: Yes, there are tons and tons of ways to end an email. Often people use the standard ones, always the same kind of thing. But then other people are really creative and original.
Jessie:Yeah. There are some people who will never end an email the same way twice.
Maura:Yeah, that’s true. And since it’s a new way to communicate, there aren’t really any “rules” about how to end it.
Jessi:Yeah. It’s not like you can just look it up in the dictionary.
Maura:Exactly. And some people don’t write anything. If you’re writing a really quick email you just sign your name or nothing.
Jessie:Yep.
Maura:So in her email, Yuko mentioned two ideas in her question. She said that she uses “Thanks” and ”Bye for now”. And with “Bye for now” can pretty much use it any time, yeah?
Jessie:Yeah. There are some people who will never end an email the same way twice.
Maura:Yeah, that’s true. And since it’s a new way to communicate, there aren’t really any “rules” about how to end it.
Jessi:Yeah. It’s not like you can just look it up in the dictionary.
Maura:Exactly. And some people don’t write anything. If you’re writing a really quick email you just sign your name or nothing.
Jessie:Yep.
Maura:So in her email, Yuko mentioned two ideas in her question. She said that she uses “Thanks” and ”Bye for now”. And with “Bye for now” can pretty much use it any time, yeah?
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Illust: m-c
Will you find a crush at our Christmas Party?
Hey everyone!
We are just getting everything ready for our Christmas Party tonight! If you are in Montreal, check out the details in the previous blog entry and come join us. Santa is coming!
I also wanted to post a little video for you. This week’s episode was about the word “crush” or “to have a crush on someone”. If you want to know what it means you will have to listen to the episode 
The video below is a song called “Crush” from the 1990s. It has all the words written out so you can follow along and understand (and sing too, if you like).
So enjoy the video and we will see you tonight!
The Ballet – The Nutcracker
12/11/2008
by asami
in Culips Blog
The Nutcracker is a classic Christmas ballet and I had wanted to watch it since I was a young girl. This last weekend I finally had the chance to go and I was not disappointed. It was an amazing show. I would recommend the ballet to everyone out there who has a chance to go.
There were a lot of young children (between the ages of 3 and 12) there and it was cute watching the young girl sitting in front of me reacting to all the beautiful dancing. It was nice leaving the theatre to a light snowfall.
