Race with a thief

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

Josefine Hass, Trudy Wieczorek, and Otto Haas
Photo courtesy of The Province

Adapted from The Province

Level 1
December 2010

Otto Haas was a famous runner in Germany.
He ran 100 metres in 12.5 seconds.
And over 70 years later, he raced again.
Otto, his wife Josefine, and her sister, Trudy, live in Kelowna.
They visited Vancouver in 2009.
In a parking lot, a young thief took Josefine’s purse.
Otto ran after him.
Josefine screamed and screamed.
Help came.
The thief could not escape.
Otto said, “I am surprised I could run that fast.”
Otto was 90 years old!

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.

Race with a thief-PDF

Don’t miss out on the Richmond and Chinatown Night Markets!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Ana-MariaG

Richmond Night Market 2012
Photo credit: RickChung.com (Flickr)

Opening tonight at 7 pm, the Richmond and Chinatown Night Markets are two of the biggest local summer attractions.

Let us know in the comment section if you attended the opening, and what you thought. Don’t forget to dress warm: it’s not summer YET!

Check out the two videos below from the 2012 markets:

Richmond Night Market – by Vancouver blogger Geoff Peters

Chinatown Night Market – by Vancouver travel blogger WiserTraveler

Start a container garden

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

Mark Macdonald shows seed packets.
Photo by Ian Smith, The Vancouver Sun

Level one
April 2011

Save money

Grow your own vegetables.
It is a great way to save money.

Start your garden

You don’t need a big space.
You can grow many things in a pot or a container.

Plant vegetables

You can plant some herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes and peas this month.

Put in a sunny area

Vegetables need about six hours of sunlight everyday to grow well.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.

Start a small container garden-PDF

Continue reading →

Father of Haida manga

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

Haida Art, by Thomas Granade

Red, a comic by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Courtesy of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Manga, iStockphoto

Story adapted from The Vancouver Sun

Level 2
March 2010

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a Haida artist.
He was born in Prince Rupert, B.C. in 1954.
But Michael was raised in Haida Gwaii
The old name for Haida Gwaii is Queen Charlotte Islands.
(Click here for a map of Haida Gwaii.)

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
Photo by Glenn Baglo, The Vancouver Sun

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.

Father of Haida magna-PDF

Visit the links:

See Michael’s work in a gallery in Vancouver.
See Michael’s website.
Watch videos here. Watch Michael do his work.
Manga tutorials
Art lesson plans for teachers

Continue reading →

Fun things to do in B.C. – May 2013

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Ana-MariaG

Photo credit: Samantha DeWitt (public domain)

Summer is not officially here yet, but the warm weather is inviting us to get out of the house and start having fun. Festivals, shows, concerts, fairs, races and rodeos are all waiting for visitors!

Below, you can check out some of the most interesting things to do in British Columbia for the month of May. There are also many farmer’s markets that are open. Many towns have May Days events, for the Victoria Day long week-end.

If you know of any other exciting events in B.C. that are not on this list, please share them with us in the comment section.

Feast Tofino
Where: 660 Ocean Park Drive, Tofino
When: May 1st – May 31st

Okanagan Spring Wine Festival
Where: Kelowna
When: May 3rd – May 12th

Continue reading →

BC garden wins

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown
Photo courtesy of The Vancouver Sun

Adapted from The Province

Level 2
January 2012

A new National Geographic book names
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden the number one city garden in the world.
National Geographic is a very popular and old magazine.
It is famous for its stories and photographs.
B.C.’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden beat
other famous city gardens in 2012
in Paris, Hawaii, and New York.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.

BC garden wins-PDF

Continue reading →

The Great Blue Heron

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

Herons in a tree
Photo by Ward Perrin, The Vancouver Sun

A young heron looks for food.
Photo by Lez Bazso, The Province

Adapted from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and The Province

Illustrations by Nola Johnston

Level 2
May 2011

In BC, people can see Great Blue Herons all year.
Herons live on the coast.
They also live in the southern part of B.C.
The heron is a large bird:

It is taller than many 8-year-old children.
It weighs about the same as a small newborn baby.

Over 5,000 herons live in B.C.
The B.C. government protects these birds.
It also protects their nests and their eggs.
More than 100 heron nests are in Stanley Park in Vancouver.
There is also a heron park in Chilliwack.

Read the PDF. Try the Exercise.

The Great Blue Heron-PDF

Continue reading →

A Romanian Orthodox Easter

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Ana-MariaG

Traditional decorative Easter eggs from Romania
Photo by: KLMircea (Flickr)

Submission by Ana-Maria Gheorghiu

Not everybody celebrates Easter on the same date.
Western Christians and Eastern Christians follow two different religious calendars.
Western Christians (mainly Catholic and Protestant)
follow the Gregorian calendar,
and Eastern Christians (mainly Orthodox)
follow the Julian calendar.
The countries with the most Christian Orthodox believers are:
Russia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Cyprus, Georgia, Macedonia,
Bulgaria, Moldova, Montenegro and Belarus.

I am Romanian, and I live in Vancouver, B.C.
Easter is the biggest religious holiday in my home country.

Continue reading →

And the winner of our Spring haiku contest is….

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Ana-MariaG

Photo credit: blmiers2 (Flickr)

Bahareh Sobhani, with the following haiku:

This new year, I will
paint all the walls in my room
The shade of your eyes.

Bahareh won a $25 gift card to White Spot. Congratulations!

Choosing between so many beautiful haiku was very hard. Check the slideshow below to see the readers who got honorable mentions in our poetry contest.

Shop smart

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Nila Gopaul

An aisle at a store
Photo by Nila Gopaul

Level 2
October 2009

Save time

Write out a list of food you need.
Only buy what is on your list.

Read the PDF.

Shop smart-PDF

Save money

Shop on the outside aisles (parts) of the store.
There are healthier foods there and foods in season, which are cheaper.
Eat less meat. Meat is expensive.
Protein such as tofu, beans, legumes, nuts, and fish are cheaper.
These foods are healthy, too.
Check your prices. “On sale” does not mean the best price.
If it is a good deal, buy more than one.
Pay attention at the check out!

Most big stores in Canada follow this rule:
If the store charges you more for one of the items you bought, they must:

give you $10 off the price (if it cost more than $10).
give it to you for free (if it costs less than $10)!

A woman is buying fruit and vegetables.
Photo by iStockphoto

	Phoning my mother
	Giving my mother a card or a gift
	Cooking her a meal
	Taking her out
	Spending time with her
	Honouring her memory (my mother has passed away)

The Official Westcoast Reader

An Online Resource for Adult Learners of English

Race with a thief

Don’t miss out on the Richmond and Chinatown Night Markets!

Start a container garden

Father of Haida manga

Fun things to do in B.C. – May 2013

BC garden wins

The Great Blue Heron

A Romanian Orthodox Easter

And the winner of our Spring haiku contest is….

Shop smart