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Hello again to all our friends and partners around the world. Welcome to the 3rd edition of GEOS Ottawa’s international newsletter. We’ll be sending out this information every month, to help you get to know our school, our city, our staff and students. We are looking forward to welcoming some of your clients very soon, so they can experience it all firsthand.
Where in the world is Ottawa?
Whenever you mention Ottawa to people in other countries their first reaction is often “Where?” Most people think the capital of Canada is Toronto or Vancouver. The map below shows you our location and the other major cities in our region. As you can see, we’re in a pretty prime location for convenient travel to some cool places.
For example we regularly organize trips to Montreal (2 hours by bus), Toronto (5.5 hours by bus) Niagara Falls (6.5 hours by bus). If you have a US visa, you can also visit New York City for the weekend (8 hours by bus) or Boston (10 hours by bus).
The eastern region is the birth place of modern North America, with the oldest cities and longest history. And Ottawa is at the heart of it all.
Please find below one of our English teachers. Her name is Joanne McLeish:
Joanne is one of the rare Ottawa natives teaching at GEOS Ottawa. After finishing university, she moved to Toronto and lived there for many years. She decided to come back to this great city about 4 years ago, when she began teaching at GEOS. She says the best thing about teaching at GEOS is the students. “It’s always amazing how hard our students work to immerse themselves in a new language and often a new culture. It’s pretty inspiring.” Thanks Joanne. Joanne is currently teaching our level 2A afternoon class and our level 5 afternoon class.
We also welcomed 2 new teachers to our staff this month, as we start to increase numbers for the busy summer months. Our 2 new hires are Natasha and Brian. Welcome to you both. Look out for profiles on them in future newsletters.
 Hi My name is Ayca Ozaslan . I have been studying in GEOS Ottawa since 7 months ago. Ottawa is a great city to learn English in. Ottawa is a "Bright City". It is home to a wealth of culture. It is one of the world's safest and most beautiful communities in which to live, work, learn and play.
I have met a lot of international friends. Everybody is very friendly and cheerful. Ottawa is home to national museums, official residences, government buildings, memorials and heritage structures. Therefore we make a lot of activities after school.
You can live the four seasons in Ottawa. Spring, summer, fall and winter are the changing seasons are an integral part of city.
I use public transportation. It's very easy for transportation. The Government thought of everything. There are heaters in big bus stations for winter and also everyone can easily learn bus schedules.
I believe that Ottawa is right city to live and learn English for me. Ayca Ozaslan
Turkey
 I’ve been studying in GEOS for almost two months.
Unfortunately only two months! It was a really great time, and a big praise to everyone.
In GEOS you’ll find a lot of competent teachers who will help you to improve your English.
I can recommend this school to everyone, and to be frank I regret it that I stayed only 2 months.
At this point I want to say thank you and you will see me again :)
Yannick Borer
Switzerland
Niall’s trip to Istanbul
Niall had a great trip to Turkey at the start of the month. It was a business trip to promote all 11 GEOS North American schools. He attended the Alphe fair in Istanbul, and also had the chance to visit the offices of a lot of the education agencies who send students to GEOS schools. 
It’s an amazing city and Niall would like to thank all those who made the trip so enjoyable. Hopefully, it will be successful in encouraging more Turkish students to come and study in one of our schools.
Coming up in May
From May 6th to 23rd Ottawa comes alive with colour with the annual Canadian Tulip Festival. Our students often volunteer at the events, which is a great way to practice their English skills and have fun. Check out the link below for pictures of last year’s festival.
http://www.tulipfestival.ca/gallery/
Coming up this summer
Royal Visit on Canada Day
If you open a magazine these days or turn on a celebrity TV show, you’ll probably see a story about the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The couple will get married at the end of April in London. For their first official tour as a married couple, they’re coming to Canada. They’ll be the guests of honour at the Canada Day Celebrations (July 1st) on Parliament Hill. One more reason to be here for the biggest party of the year!
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Currently we have 26 Nationalities represented in the school among our 151students.
New this month – We opened a new level 1 class this month because it’s just so popular! Our promise is that we have a maximum of 14 students per class and when our numbers grow, we open a new class. More space for more students.
Intensive English – 24 academic hours –
A program based on the Communicative Method of language teaching that is second to none! GEOS is the only private school in Ottawa to operate 6 levels of ESL year-round.
Our morning course, called Integrated Skills (IS) allows students to develop their ability in all four skills of English (reading, writing, listening and speaking). Our afternoon program is called Active Listening (AL) and focuses on improving the practical communication skills of listening and speaking.
Super Intensive – 31 academic hours –
Many of our students choose to enhance their studies with an extra elective class (7 hours per week). Our current elective classes are:
Levels 1&2 – Pronunciation
Levels 3&4 – Grammar Works or IELTS Preparation (Intermediate)
Levels 5&6 - IELTS Preparation (Advanced)
Super Intensive Plus – 36 academic hours
A recent addition to our course options, our Writing classes are available for all levels and are designed for students who need extra practice with spelling, written grammar and composition.
Full-time TOEFL iBT Preparation Program (Advanced) – 24 academic hours
GEOS Ottawa is the perfect choice for the more serious student who is thinking about applying for university in Canada. Our very popular TOEFL iBT program prepares students in all aspects of the test to significantly increase their chances of passing.
Private Instruction / Closed groups
In addition to our regular scheduled group classes we also offer private and small group lessons in English and French with flexible schedules and class content to suit the needs of the student.
Whatever the weather Ottawa is great for cultural events and activities, with more than 26 museums, art galleries, theatres, and concert halls. In the past few weeks our students have gone indoor rock-climbing (a really uplifting experience!), go karting, and mini golf. Of course, we had to do something related to Easter, so we had our students participate in the traditional art of Easter egg decorating. The messy part is blowing the inside of the egg out first, which is fun and kind of gross. After that you choose your design and paint. As you can see, we have some pretty talented artists.
Welcome to the Capital of Canada!
Although Ottawa is not as famous as many other capital cities, it is surely among the most beautiful. Its European charm and convenient size make it a wonderful place to live and study.
Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital more than 150 years ago because of its central location, and that makes it easy to travel to other cities. We’re only 2 hours from Montreal and 5 from Toronto. Our students also often visit Quebec City, Niagara Falls, Boston and New York.
Ottawa has Canadian Culture at its best. There are more than 26 museums, the beautiful Parliament buildings, art galleries, theatres, and concert halls. And there’s nowhere better to enjoy the Canada Day party on July 1st. http://www.ottawatourism.ca
It’s a city of festivals, and the people of Ottawa love welcoming visitors to join the party. Every month brings exciting new festivals, concerts, exhibitions, and sporting events. We have Winterlude, Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, the Tulip festival and so much more. http://www.ottawafestivals.ca
Canada is famous for its natural treasures, and Ottawa has everything you could ask for - beaches, parks, woodlands, hills, rivers, and lakes. There is a great variety of outdoor activities to choose from. So, what are you waiting for? From canoeing and white-water rafting to skating and skiing, we’ve got it all.
CONCLUSION
We hope you have enjoyed our newsletter. Please let us know your comments by email at info@geosottawa.com. We would love to hear from you.
Until the next issue you can keep up with GEOS school life by becoming our facebook friend.
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