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Slide 1:
Landeskunde Kanada:
John Abbott College: A School in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Slide 2:
My name is Alan Weiss. I am the Austrian student representative at John
Abbott College. The most important information on this page is my email
address and the webpage address of the Austrian Student Program at
John Abbott College. At the end of the power point presentation I will ask
you to write down this information if you would like to contact me or get
more information about John Abbott College.
Slide 3:
John Abbott College is located in Montreal in the Province of Quebec in the
country of Canada. In the recent Programme of International Student
Assessment (PISA), Canada was one of the leading educational countries
in the world. In the science exam, for example, Canada ranked third in the
world behind Finland and Hong Kong.
Slide 4:
Canada is the second largest country in the world with 9,093,507 square
kilometres. 110 Austrias would fit inside Canada. Canada has a population
of 33,311,389, which is only 4 times bigger than Austria. Canada has a
growing population because of the influx of new immigrants. Canada is
composed of ten provinces and three territories.
Slide 5:
The Province of Quebec has 1,542,056 square kilometres, and is the
largest province in Canada. 19 Austrias would fit inside the territory of
Quebec. The province of Quebec has a population of 7,560,592, which is
slightly smaller than Austria. Most of the population of Quebec lives near
the St. Lawrence River, which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Great
Lakes.
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Slide 6:
The city of Montreal is an island in the St. Lawrence River. The
metropolitan population of Montreal is 3,630,000, which is larger than the
metropolitan population of Vienna of around 2.30 million and around the
size of Berlin in Europe. Around half of the population of the province of
Quebec lives in or near Montreal. Along with San Francisco, Montreal is
one of the two most beautiful cities of North America. Here you can see a
lovely view of Montreal from the mountain that overlooks the city. One also
has a very beautiful view from the island where the Formula One Race
takes places. But besides being a very beautiful city, Montreal is also a
very safe city. If you have seen the film by Michael Moore, Bowling for
Columbine, he compares American and Canadian cities and says that
Canadian cities are much safer. Personally I have been in all parts of
Montreal and have never felt that I was ever in any danger.
Slide 7:
John Abbott College is located on the western tip of the island of Montreal
next to the village of Sainte Anne de Bellevue. Public buses and commuter
trains connect John Abbott College with downtown Montreal. Here you can
see the John Abbott College campus. Here is the village of Sainte Anne de
Bellevue. Here is the Veteran’s Hospital. An English course is held there
where students look after patients and study the novel by Erich Maria
Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front.
Slide 8:
Sainte Anne de Bellevue is a popular tourist destination during the summer
because of its locks (Schleuse). Tourists eat and drink in restaurants along
the village boardwalk (Uferpromenade aus Holz) and watch the pleasure
boats and yachts as they go through the locks.
Slide 9:
Here is the campus of John Abbott College. John Abbott College has
6,000 students. Here is the main building, Herzberg Hall. We have two
football fields. Here is the football field for Canadian football. Here is the
football field for European football or soccer and rugby. We have two
dormitories (Wohnheime). Here is Laird Hall. It belongs to the agricultural
college of McGill University with which we share the campus. Here is
Stewart Hall, which belongs to us. Here is our ice hockey arena. Here is
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the Casgrain Centre with our large sports complex, fine arts complex,
television, radio, and much more. You can’t see that in the picture, but we
have a college bus which takes students from the college to the arboretum
(Baumgarten) for courses in hiking and orienteering in the Fall semester
and cross-country skiing in the Winter semester.
Slide 10:
This is what John Abbott College looks like in the Winter term. For
students who like winter sports, John Abbott College is a real paradise.
Slide 11:
Here are a few examples of our sports complex.
Slide 12:
We have a 25 meter swimming pool. The college offers courses not only in
swimming, but also in canoe, kayak, and water sports. However, I want to
discuss our sports complex in a different context—that John Abbott College
is a college and not a high school. Classes go from 8:30 in the morning
until 5:30 in the afternoon. But that doesn’t mean that students are always
in classes. Each student schedule (Stundenplan) is individual. It can
happen that for one student, he or she may have no classes on Monday,
but classes from early until late on Thursday. Another student may have
no classes on Friday, but classes from early until late on Monday. If a
student has no classes between 12:30 and 1:30 any day of the week, there
is free swim time when he or she can go for a swim. Free swim times are
also available two afternoons in the week.
Slide 13:
If a student has no classes in the afternoon, he or she can play basketball,
volleyball, and in the winter term indoor soccer in the gym after sports
classes have finished.
Slide 14:
In our gym there is also a climbing wall, which is for courses in rock
climbing. On Friday afternoons members of our rock climbing club can use
the rock climbing wall to practice rock climbing.
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Slide 15:
The college also has ten squash courts. In the afternoon when there are
no classes, students can play racquetball or squash. If they develop an
interest in this sport, they can play intercollegiate squash (gegen andere
Colleges) at a high level (Leistungssport). One sweats quite a bit playing
squash. If students want to sweat some more, they can go to the changing
room and there are saunas for both boys and girls.
Slide 16:
The college also has a fitness studio. It is open every day from 8:30 in the
morning until 5:30 in the afternoon. Whenever students have no classes
and feel like working out, they can go there.
Slide 17:
Our ice hockey arena is available for ice skating during lunch time.
Austrian students have the same rights as all other students and can
access all the free time facilities the college has.
Audio File Slide 18:
We have a beautiful campus, wonderful facilities (sehr gut ausgestattet)
and literally thousands of computers. However, that is not the main reason
why the college is attractive for international students.
Slide 19:
The most important question is the first question and the answer to that
question is the most important answer. Are you interested in a school with
Slide 20:
courses that mean you will have the skills to pass on to grade 8 and not
have to repeat grade 6 or 7? I want to talk about the first thing that makes
John Abbott College special. In Austria, the United States, and all other
provinces in Canada but Quebec students go to school for 12 years. The
one exception is Quebec. In Quebec students go to school for 11 years.
College is grade 8 and grade 9. Quebec students start school about a half
year before Austrians, so the age difference between Austrians and
Canadians is about a half a year. The fact that school ends after 11 years
makes it possible for Austrian students to be able to go to college and not
high school. Our international program is for grade 7 students and grade 6
students who have already turned 16. International students generally
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speaking take the following six courses: English, French (and if not
French, either Spanish or Italian), math, science, physical education, and a
wish course.(Wahlfach).
Slide 21:
The second question is the second most important question. Are you
interested in a school with students who are in classes because they have
chosen them and are there because they want to be there and not because
they have to be there? I want to discuss the second thing that is special
about John Abbott College. When Quebec students finish high school,
there is no more general education. When they enter college they have to
join a program. When the program is science, of course, they will take
courses in math, physics, chemistry, and biology. But they will take no
courses in fine arts. If the program is fine arts, of course, they will take
courses in drawing, painting, wood art, metal art, printing, and ceramics,
but they will take no courses in math, physics, chemistry, and biology. In
this special program for Austrian students you are the only students who
have the right to take courses in different programs. Quebec students
taking the math course you will be in want to become doctors, engineers,
and business people. Quebec students taking the professional fine arts
program we offer want to become artists. That makes all the difference.
Slide 22:
Are you interested in a school with course offerings in math, especially
calculus 1 (Differenzialrechnung) and calculus 2 (Integralrechnung) that
meet or even exceed your needs in Austria?
Slide 23:
Because our math program is geared towards science and business
students, we do have the right math courses for you. Math courses are
quite intensive with five hours per week of instruction, and with us an hour
is 60 minutes. In one semester students will do about the same amount of
work as Austrian students do in one year. Quebec students are placed in
math according to their skill level and prerequisites. To help choose the
math course that is most appropriate for you, you will be given a math
placement test. The math department will make a recommendation based
on your performance on the math placement test. If you don’t perform so
well on the math placement test, they will recommend you take Introduction
to College Mathematics, if stronger, Algebra and Trigonometry, and
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stronger still, Calculus 1. The course you need in Austria for grade 8 is
Calculus 1. You have the right to accept or not accept the math
department’s recommendation. If the math department recommends you
be placed in Algebra and Trigonometry, you can discuss the matter with
your school, the math teacher, and your family and decide to accept or
reject that recommendation and decide to go into the course that you feel is
most appropriate for you.
Slide 24:
Are you interested in a school with at least two hours of lab per week?
Remember, physics, chemistry, and biology courses are geared for
students who want to specialize in science. Like math--physics, chemistry,
and biology courses are also five hours per week, but they are three hours
of lecture and two hours of lab. There is no placement test for international
students for physics, chemistry, or biology. Instead, after the student
receives the results of the math placement test, a list of all the science
courses are sent out to you and you can then choose the science course
that is most appropriate for you.
Slide 25:
The appropriate physics course for Austrians is mechanics. If students
stay for two semesters, usually in the winter semester they take electricity
and magnetism. For students who are not so strong in physics,
introduction to college physics is recommended. Students in programs like
fine arts have to take two complementary courses completely outside their
area of specialization. The physics department offers fun physics courses
to students who will have nothing to do with science in their life. In
mysteries, magic, and myth students work with magic tricks and learn
physics principles. Rocket science is another fun physics course you can
take.
Slide 26:
The appropriate biology course for Austrians is general biology. In the lab
of the human anatomy and physiology course, which is geared for nursing
students, students dissect (sezieren) a pig. Fun biology courses include
environmental biology, biology of sex and nutrition. The geology
department offers courses in earth science and oceanography.
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Slide 27:
The appropriate chemistry course for Austrians is chemistry of solutions.
An easier chemistry course is introduction to college chemistry. Fun
chemistry courses include chemistry of crime, environmental chemistry,
and chemistry of winemaking and beer brewing. One student, Konstantin
Pechtl, who was strong in science decided to take chemistry of winemaking
and beer brewing as his wish course (Wahlfach). He then decided to study
wine production. Last year he was in Italy and discovered a new spring
wine, Jazz, which has become a best seller in Germany, Austria, and the
Netherlands. This year he is in South Africa doing further studies. He will
become a European wine expert, and his father is very thankful he took
that course.
Slide 28:
Here is what the physics mechanics lab looks like. In class students learn
the basic theoretical principles of Newtonian physics. In the lab these
principles are put into practice. Here students are working with a pendulum
and learning how gravity (Schwerkraft) works.
Slide 29:
Technicians prepare the chemistry lab in advance so when the teacher
enters the lab everything is already prepared. In the chemistry lab there is
one computer for every two students. Teachers report that with the
computer students can do twice as much as what they used to do and
there is less wasted time. Students report that the experiments are really
interesting and lots of fun.
Slide 30:
Are you interested in a school with the possibility in a French and English
environment to improve your English language skills? It is important to
know that John Abbott College is an English college. Everything is taught
in English except French, which is taught in French. Students who want to
simultaneously improve their English and French language skills can
choose to live with a French speaking family.
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Slide 31:
English courses are taught at four different levels. What is important to
know is that in the Province of Quebec if you’re French or an immigrant you
don’t have the right to go to an English school. You have to attend a
French school. The first level where there is freedom of choice and French
and immigrant students have the right to attend an English school is at
college level. Outside of Montreal, there are parts of Quebec where
English is hardly spoken at all. Nevertheless, young people from these
outlying areas still have the right to come to John Abbott College. For them
the college offers an English course entitled Preparation for College
English. If you have a 4 in English or the English placement test indicates
you need that course, you will be placed in it. If you’re stronger, you’ll be
placed in Composition and Literature, stronger still, in Introduction to
College English, and stronger still, in Literary Genres or Literary Themes.
You will choose the subjects that interest you, whether they be horror
stories, science fiction, or drama. The level will be decided by your
performance in the English Placement Test and your grades in English. As
for French, it is taught by mother-tongue speakers. There are six levels of
French: absolute beginner, bridging French, and levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.
There is a French placement test to place you at the most appropriate
level. If you prefer, you can take Spanish or Italian instead of French or no
second language course at all.
Slide 32:
John Abbott College has a language lab with internet access that is
furnished with the most modern equipment in the world. The sound in the
language lab is as good as in an IMAX theatre. Students report that the
activities in the language lab are entertaining and engaging. Classes in the
English Department can be highly communicative or task oriented with
group work activities. In some courses students spend time in rooms with
individual computers so that teachers can help students prepare their
essays.
Slide 33:
Are you interested in a school with teachers who keep office hours
(Sprechstunden) and where there are various learning centres to help you
through your courses?
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Slide 34:
Here is a picture of Bruce Stacey of the Physics Department. He has to be
in his office 6 ½ hours per week ready to see students and help them with
whatever problems they’re having in physics
Slide 35:
If you’re having difficulty with French, you can see a tutor in the French
Learning Centre, centre d’aide en francais. The English Department offers
a Writing Centre, which is located in the basement of the library. The
weekend before the start of classes there is an orientation. The college
opens up the library so you can see where the writing centre is located.
Essays (Aufsaetze) don’t happen right away. And when they do, there is
no reason to panic. Tutors at the Writing Centre are some of John Abbott
College’s best students and they take a class to learn to become a tutor. If
you use this facility, you can make sure that you will hand in a paper to
your teacher without grammar and punctuation errors. Perhaps just as
important as learning English and French, what you learn at John Abbott
College is how to manage your life.
Slide 36:
The college has a general learning centre. If you’re taking a course in
anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, or religion and are having
problems, tutors will be provided to help you with your studies.
Slide 37:
Each science department has its own learning centre. Here is the biology
learning centre with computers with software for biology
Slide 38:
Here is my favourite learning centre, the Math Learning Centre. When
classes are over, if students have no other classes, they stream into the
math learning centre to work on their math problems. Let’s say on the first
day of classes the math teacher starts to talk and you don’t understand
much, what do you do? Do you phone your mom and tell her you want to
come home? Remember, math is a task-oriented course. Listening
comprehension will come soon enough. The most important thing is that
you have to solve math problems. You can start out with your neighbour.
If that doesn’t work, there is the Math Help Centre. There is a teacher
there every day from 8:30 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon. Say
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your teacher is Frank Lo Vasco, the author of the math placement test, and
he’s not there. You can go to any teacher in the math department to get
help, as long as the door is open. If that doesn’t work, you can ask to see a
tutor. You will spend one hour per week with a tutor as long as you need it.
There is also another wing of the computer lab with computers. There you
can work through your course with the assistance of computers. We have
had students who have had very weak math skills when they arrived at
John Abbott College and left with very strong math skills. It can be done if
you avail yourself of the services our college makes available to you.
Slide 39:
Are you interested in a school with sports courses and clubs you don’t find
in Austria?
Slide 40:
Of course, schools in Austria offer courses in soccer and volleyball. John
Abbott College has soccer and volleyball courses, clubs, and teams. If a
student wants to take two wish courses, we recommend that students do
sports in the form of a club or team instead of as a course. John Abbott
College also has tennis courses and a tennis team.
Slide 41:
John Abbott College also has something quite special, Outdoor Education.
In the gymnasium one learns how to do rock climbing. Then there is a
weekend rock climbing trip. In the Fall term students practice hiking and
orienteering in the arboretum (Baumgarten) and then there is a weekend
survival trip. In the Winter term students practice cross-country skiing in
the Arboretum and then there is a weekend cross-country ski trip.
Evenings students will build something like an igloo to sleep overnight. In
the swimming pool one starts out with canoeing. Practice continues in the
Saint Lawrence River in front of the college. Then there is a weekend
canoe trip. It’s the same for kayak. One learns the Eskimo roll in the
swimming pool and then practices in the Saint Lawrence River. Finally,
there is a weekend white water (Wildwasser) kayak trip. As an alternative
to courses, there is also the Outdoor Adventure Club, Rock Climbing Club,
and Kayak Club.
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Slide 42:
Are you interested in a school with courses in film, business, web design,
or fine arts besides the traditional academic subjects? For your wish
course you can take courses in subjects you have in Austria like history,
political science, and western civilization. However, you can also take
courses in subjects that are a little more exotic. Here are a few examples.
Slide 43:
The students in this picture want to become actors. John Abbott College
has a professional theatre that seats 350 people. You can take an acting
course or a practical course that includes instruction in set design, costume
design, make up, and lighting.
Slide 44:
If you’re interested in becoming an engineer, you can take an engineering
course. Here you see the electric circuit (Stromkreis) lab where students
learn in practice what they learned in theory in the classroom
Slide 45:
This student wants to become an artist. She learns about German and
Austrian expressionism and then puts what she learned into practice. If
you’re interested in art, you can take courses in drawing, painting, wood
art, metal art, printing, or ceramics.
Slide 46:
These students want to become web page designers. You can learn to
work with flash and learn how to make your own professional web page. If
you’re interested in computer science, you can take courses in visual basic
or c++.
Slide 47:
If you’re interested in radio or television, you can take courses in radio or
television production. In the radio course at the end you will produce your
own radio show. This will be sent out vis-à-vis McGill University Radio
Station and your parents can listen to your radio show as you’re speaking.
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Slide 48:
Besides filming TV shows, students learn how to edit them. These are the
computers students work with to edit their TV shows. These computers are
also used for the digital photography course.
Slide 49:
These students want to become professional photographers. You can also
take a course in regular photography where you learn how to work in a dark
room.
Slide 50:
Are you interested in a school with unbelievable clubs, free time activities,
and travel opportunities?
Slide 51:
If you have no classes and are free at 1:00 in the afternoon, practically
every day there is something going on. When the weather is nice there are
outdoor rock concerts. When the weather gets cooler, events move inside
into our Agora (Aula). There we have rock concerts, magicians, hypnotists,
and comedians. On Fridays there are films that were in the cinema two or
three months earlier.
Slide 52:
In the Winter term there is the multicultural week. Montreal has people
from 150 different countries speaking 80 different languages. John Abbott
College has a very diverse student population and students want to show
the culture of the country they came from. Austrian students can also show
their colors by putting together an Austrian stand.
Slide 53:
Here is our Agora. Besides entertainment, there are also discussions on
sexuality, women’s rights, the environment, and politics. If you’re free and
have no classes at 1:00 in the afternoon, you can participate in these
discussions.
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Slide 54:
In January between the Fall and Winter term, John Abbott College
organizes a trip for downhill skiing. In the Winter term you can take
courses in downhill skiing or snowboarding. The Rob Roy Ski Club
organizes downhill and snowboarding ski trips on weekends during the
Winter term.
Slide 55:
In the Fall term the college organizes a trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto.
At the CN Tower you can look straight down from the top to the bottom
through the glass floor. During Spring break the college organizes a trip to
New York City.
Slide 56:
In January between semesters the college organizes a trip to the
Caribbean.
Slide 57:
Bandersnatch is our college newspaper. If interested, you can write
articles in English, French, or German. If you’re interested in being a DJ,
you can join our radio station, CSKY. If you’re interested in politics, in the
United Nations Club you learn the politics of a particular nation. There is
then a big United Nations simulation in Montreal in the Fall term and New
York City in the Winter term you can participate in. A popular club is the
Anime Club where they watch and discuss Japanese cartoon films.
Slide 58:
Living Arrangements
Slide 59:
Here you can see one of our home stay families, the Taylors. Here is
Campbell Taylor who was principal of a high school and his wife, Suzanne
and their two international students, Damian te Heesen and Alexander
Ziegler. John Abbott College is located in a part of Montreal called the
West Island, which is one of the most prosperous areas of Canada. In their
home the Taylors have a billiard room in the basement, a computer room, a
wood working room, and a piano. There is also an extra room for guest
home stay students. With home stay you have your own room and three
meals per day--breakfast, a lunch bag for the college, and dinner--are
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included. Babysitting and house cleaning are prohibited. Our home stay
families are quite diverse. One Caribbean family invited their home stay
student to holiday with them in Jamaica.
Slide 60:
We have two dormitories, Laird Hall and Stewart Hall. In dormitories food
is not included in the price and students share a room with another student.
Slide 61:
This slide is very important. If for any reason you are unhappy about your
living situation, you can discuss the issue with people in the International
Programs Office. They will try to help you resolve whatever problems there
may be and if necessary arrange for you to change your living situation.
Slide 62:
Our International Summer Program runs for seven weeks and follows
directly after the end of the Winter term. The Summer program runs from
approximately the third week of May until the first half of July. For the
Summer Program there are no age restrictions. The idea of the summer
program is that students will learn English not only through general
conversation but also through specific academic courses that are needed in
Austria for you to graduate.
Slide 63:
In the summer program there are four courses: statistics and quantitative
methods, environmental biology, a Montreal writer, and the history of
Montreal. Math, biology, English, and history are academic courses that
are required in Austria, but the courses we offer should give the feel of a
summer program. The courses will be both task oriented and related to
place. There will be four hours of classes per day from Monday to
Thursday. On Fridays there will be museum visits and other activities.
Slide 64:
In the history course one of the museums you will visit is the Lachine Fur
Trade Museum. When the first discoverers went down the Saint Lawrence
River and came to Montreal they couldn’t go any further because there
were rapids (Stromschnellen). That’s why Montreal became a settlement.
The French voyageurs travelled to the west of Canada by canoe, traded
with the Indians for furs, and brought them back to Lachine where they
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were taken over land to Montreal, processed, and delivered to Europe.
Later, the Americans built the Erie Canal in Upstate New York so that boat
traffic would go through the United States and not Canada. In response,
the Canadians built the Lachine Canal. Later still, because of water power,
industrialization in Canada started in the area next to the Lachine Rapids.
Slide 65:
For the environmental biology courses, one of the museums you will visit is
the Biodome. During the Olympic Games in 1976 this was the Velodrome.
After the games were over, it was converted into a Biodome. There you’ll
find arctic, continental, and tropical environments. Near the Biodome is
Montreal’s botanical garden, which you’ll also visit and which is the second
largest in the world after London.
Slide 66:
For the English literature course you’ll be studying the poems and songs of
the Montreal writer, Leonard Cohen. In his song Suzanne he wrote, “And
the sun pours down like honey/ On our lady of the harbour.” The lady of
the harbour refers to the statue of the Virgin Mary at the Bonsecour Chapel
in old Montreal. You’ll visit this site and others that inspired the writing of
Leonard Cohen.
Slide 67:
In the statistics and quantitative methods course you’ll actually visit a
market survey research firm. You’ll see how people make a living with
mathematics.
Slide 68:
We’ve come to the end of this power point presentation. The college has
two semesters and one summer program. The Fall semester runs from
approximately the third week of August until shortly before Christmas. The
Winter semester runs from the middle of January to the third week of May.
Students who come for one semester only do not have to take make-up
exams at their school when they return to Austria. The summer program
runs from the third week of May until the middle of July. The summer
program costs half as much as one semester and one semester costs half
as much as two semesters. For more specific information about John
Abbott College, the college calendar, and the costs of the program and to
inform your parents about the college, please write down my email address
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and the college Austrian homepage. If interested, please take out a pen
and a piece of paper. My email address is alanzweiss@johnabbott.qc.ca
and is spelled alanzweiss@johnabbott.qc.ca. The John Abbott College
Austrian home page is www.johnabbott.qc.ca/international/austrian and is
spelled www.johnabbott.qc.ca/international/austrian. I hope you enjoyed
the pictures and were able to follow my English. If you have any further
questions about John Abbott College or education in Canada, please do
feel free to write to me. Au revoir.