Southern Ontario Cooperative of ESL Ministries
I am Lynette Bloedow. I call myself a ‘Transplanted Canadian from West Indies’ and a ‘Curious Canadian History Buff’. My website is: https://christianrootscanada.org/. I publish and sell curriculum, books and other products which reinforce our research and fill in the gaps of knowledge lacking in the Canadian Christian’s understanding of the true Christian foundations of […]
TWR Canada has recently completed a 12-week video-led small group curriculum for groups wanting to expand their cross-cultural skills. Twelve different missions ministries from across Canada contributed teachers, and it is now available without cost through an online portal. You can access the full course by signing up here or view all the videos by visiting […]
By Jennifer Tong “We like lively classes, we want to see the students participate, speak up, take the floor, contribute actively to class discussion. Communicative language teaching puts a premium on talk and thus often rewards students who ‘do’ conversation and self-expression rather than those who reflect and understand in silence.” (Kramsch, 2009; quoted in […]
By Sandy Ho This past October, I returned to SOCEM for the first time since the pandemic. The drive that morning was smooth, and the crisp autumn air, bathed in golden sunlight, lifted my spirits. Upon arrival, I was greeted by familiar and new faces, and the laughter and chatter felt like a warm embrace, […]
SOCEM’s annual fall training conference, Gathering XIX, took place on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at Martin Grove Baptist Church in Etobicoke. Close to 50 gathered in-person for a day of equipping, networking and sharing together surrounding matters of ESL ministries. After a brief devotional and worship time at the sanctuary, participants divided into different sub-groups […]
Christmas is fast coming and many of us have started thinking about Christmas special activities with our students. Here are some ideas collected from different churches in the past, as well as some fresh ideas. If you pause and think, ideas can be endless. Might you send your ideas to us at eslministries@gmail.com? Remember that […]
Check out the rich Christmas resources on our SOCEM site including Christmas lessons from the Virtues series and the Conversation Guides: https://eslministries.org/resources/teaching-materials/seasonal-resources/ An excellent reading about the North American Christmas traditions, with a glossary: http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/christmasday.pdf Christmas traditions around the world; good for starting conversations with students: http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/ http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/ Stories behind favourite Christmas carols and […]
By Tom More The winter solstice, December 21, marks the darkest day of the year. For an ancient people, the sun giving way earlier each day, relenting more and more to the darkness, must have carried with it the question of whether the light would ever return at all. World plunged into darkness. Christmas, then, […]
By Carey Jo Johnston The need for ESL ministries is growing in Canada as the number of newcomers increases each year. More Christians and Churches are realizing that they have an amazing opportunity to share the love of Jesus with newcomers through ESL ministry. Sometimes trying to start and keep an ESL ministry going seems […]
By Mary-Jane Davison Fight4Freedom (F4F) is a Christian ministry that outreaches to and journeys with individuals impacted by the sex industry and trafficking. F4F outreach teams visit locations known to have sex industry activities and seek to build relationships with the individuals at those locations. When they express interest to receive support and/or would like […]