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The month of April is filled with activities. San Francisco celebrates the 44th annual North American Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. The festivities include a parade attended by over 200,000 people. The Greek Cultural Parade also takes place at Civic Center plaza this month, to celebrate Greek Heritage. Baseball season has started again and fans are eagerly cheering the Giants on at AT&T Park. Finally, The San Francisco Film Festival will be held this month, with film screenings and actor appearances.
If you would like to stay in touch with GEOS San Francisco, please “friend” us on Facebook! Search for ‘Geos Sanfran’ and send a friend request. Check our status updates to see what’s going on at GEOS San Francisco! You can also view our activity photos, add comments and stay in touch.
"Hi! My name is Meredith Jaeger and I was born and raised in Berkeley- across the bay from San Francisco. I have dual citizenship with the United States and Switzerland and I’ve enjoyed many summers visiting Europe with my family. After spending a semester in the Netherlands as an undergraduate, I wanted to inspire other students to study abroad. I worked for the Education Abroad Program at UC Santa Cruz. After graduating from college, I moved to the Czech Republic and earned my certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language. I taught in Prague for one and a half years. I have also lived and worked in Sydney, Australia. I love spending time with international students, and practicing German. In my free time, I enjoy painting in acrylic and creative writing. I am working on my debut novel, The Trouble with Twenty-Two about an ESL teacher in Prague and her best friend in San Francisco. You can see it’s drawn from personal experience! My favorite San Francisco neighborhoods are the Financial District, the Mission and North Beach. You will probably find me there, out dancing with my friends."
Meredith Jaeger, Receptionist
May kicks off with the 7th annual Cinco de Mayo festival celebration in Dolores Park. The party will go from 10am until 6pm. Everyone is welcome to bring a picnic basket and enjoy the live Mariachi & salsa music, cultural performances and Aztec dancers. The festival is free, so come to the Mission and enjoy the sunshine!
San Francisco Carnaval 2011, “Live Your Fantasy” is California’s largest multi-cultural celebration, and one of San Francisco’s most popular and cherished traditions. San Francisco Carnaval 2011 will showcase the very best of Latin American and Caribbean cultures with a dynamic array of food, music, drumming, dancing, live music, and artistry. The Festival will feature a dance pavilion a food pavilion and stages with entertainment. The Carnaval Grand Parade will be Sunday, May 29 at 9:30 a.m. It begins at Bryant & 24th Streets and proceeds down Mission to 17th Street.
This Month a representative from Pearson Longman educated our staff on the newest editions of the Top Notch textbooks. These ESL course books are cutting edge and current. Some chapters touch on controversial issues, to spark classroom debate. We think our GEOS students will enjoy the new design and syllabus, with goals of English language mastery for each chapter.
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“Hello, my name is Emmanuelle and I am from France. I enjoyed studying with Matt because he has a great energy. He want that we really improve. It was very nice. It’s very friendly at GEOS, so I think you feel comfortable. For each student when you arrived you feel well, it’s good. The staff is friendly and there is a good ambience. Christmas it was nice, and for each party. I also liked the activities like trampoline and the cable cars. I would recommend GEOS. I wouldn’t stay six months if I didn’t! I really enjoy San Francisco for the people and my internship at the art gallery. Everything is different so I don’t have a favorite neighborhood. But I really like to go next to the beach where you can walk in the forest. It is somewhere near Golden Gate Park. I would describe GEOS as “friendly.” Everybody looks in a good mood. You smile all the time. It is a good energy. I will miss the students because you create some relationships.”
Emmanuelle Rousse, France
GEOS is offering two elective courses: Power Speaking and Communicative Grammar II. Power Speaking is available to high beginner and intermediate students (Levels 3 and 4) to improve confidence, clarity and accuracy in their speaking. Students will learn to communicate clearly and effectively, and given many opportunities to practice in class. Students will give speeches, participate in debates and lead discussions, which will be recorded for feedback purposes.
In our Communicative Grammar II elective, high intermediate and advanced students (levels 4 and 5) will develop and enhance skills while listening, speaking, reading and writing English. Special focus is on communication practice in addition to written schools. Students will develop an understanding of English structure and improve their reading skills to prepare for an advanced level of study. Students will refine their existing knowledge of English structures and translate grammar skills into writing competencies.
GEOS students got creative this month when we had an Easter egg painting contest. We used acrylic paint, glue, colored dye and glitter to make our designs. Students let their talent shine and came up with some wonderfully unique egg concepts! We voted for a winner, who received an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny. One student painted an effigy of our ESL teacher Matt, complete with a bald head and a beard! 
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