Social Conversations at East and West Learning Connections 2025

Have you ever wondered what to talk about in a social conversation? Or, as an immigrant, do you sometimes feel it is difficult to join your local co-workers’ conversation because you don’t know the people or things they are talking about, or you have some everyday questions that you would like to know how local people would think or deal with? Or do you just want to find a safe, relaxing and friendly environment to talk to some native English speakers, and enjoy a pleasant conversation?

Judith Lawrence and her native English-speaking volunteer team are kindly facilitating Social Conversations to address those questions for you at the East and West Learning Connections. They come from all walks of life. We are so delighted to have a group of open-minded, friendly, and fun people as our facilitators! You are welcome to bring your own topics of interest to the program. Register here.

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EAWLC Social Reading Club/读点东西俱乐部: Read Together, Chapter by Chapter

This online club meets ALMOST every week to read books together, chapter by chapter.  Club members, who come from diverse backgrounds and live in different countries, take turns to present the chapter(s) they volunteer to lead the reading, and facilitate the breakout room discussion that follows.  We welcome you to join us, and bring your unique life experience and perspective to the discussion!

Sessions will take place on Saturdays except for holiday breaks or otherwise notified.

Time: Saturdays from September 27, 2025, 7:30 -9 P.M. (Eastern Time).

Registration link for the latest book:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pmiukP8wQX2kODd2UPLZQw#/registration

 

 

Continue reading “EAWLC Social Reading Club/读点东西俱乐部: Read Together, Chapter by Chapter”

EAWLC Frank Wang’s Dialogue with Berlin Fang on Choices after Graduation: Flourishing versus Languishing

Frank Wang对话方柏林:就业?读研?间隔年?聊聊孩子大学毕业后的选择

This dialogue will conduct in Mandarin.  For English introduction please jump to next heading in English.

 

两位一路陪伴孩子成长,自己也手不释卷,喜欢思考、写作的博士爸爸,将结合他们孩子的经历,再次联袂做客东西联学社,探讨如何合理安排职业选项,让自己的人生与事业丰盈欣盛。

 

两位爸爸是知行合一的典范。2021年和2024年,他们畅谈过“ 剩时期的有效学习” 以及“人工智能时代教育的意义。他们各自的孩子也曾作客东西联学社,分享艺术与科学的跨学科教育体验,反响热烈。

 

欢迎大家参与这场对话,倾听两位嘉宾在教育问题上的真知灼见,也欢迎提问及分享自己的见解。

 

时间:2025年9月1日(周一)晚7:30-9:00 (加东时间)

语言:中文普通话

免费公益讲座,请点击下面链接注册报名,获取Zoom会议信息:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/803GgI4bQPOL3LQ-KIy6Kg

嘉宾简介

 

方柏林,教育博士,教育专栏作家,写作兴趣多为课程设计、教育技术的应用和接受、创新的扩散、变革管理、高等教育环境下的技术运用文化、国际教育比较等。在中美两国有超过20年教育设计和技术运用的经历。他还先后担任过国内外多家报刊的撰稿人,如《南方周末》《金融时报》中文网、《纽约时报》中文网等。

 方柏林博士也是一位文学翻译,译作包括 《喧哗与骚动》、《大河湾》、《布鲁克林有棵树》、《转吧,这伟大的世界》等。美国国家图书奖获得者、作家科伦·麦凯恩评价他对于中国、美国、爱尔兰文化都涉猎深广。…能自如而优雅地穿越在各种文化之间。

 

方博士的个人主页: berlinfang.com

点击查阅方柏林的公众号.

公众号二维码:

Frank Wang,多伦多大学工程学博士,现为安省专业工程师,先后在机器人自动化、航天工程、核能工程领域担任技术职务。作为三个孩子的父亲,他非常关注教育及其发展趋势。Frank有大量阅读的习惯,正在带领东西联学社的每周共读项目,也带领着一个家长读书俱乐部,倡导通才教育、终身学习。

 Frank最近发表的几篇关于教育的公众号文章:

计算机就业崩了!投1000份简历换0 Offer!北美博士爸:“富养”竟是孩子找不到工作的罪魁祸首……

8月1日特朗普裁撤教育部!中国留学生输惨了?北美博士爸:投入百万送儿女读美本我后悔了吗…

 

如有问题需查询,请致电: info@eawlc.org。谢谢!

  

Berlin and Frank are back again!  This time, they will, taking reference of their children’s experiences, discuss  on some of the choices a young person could make after university, and the landscape behind each of the options.  Most importantly, whatever we choose, how can we keep ourselves flourished, instead of languished, in this fast-changing world?

 

The two guest speakers  will share their latest academic research as well as observations of their own children’s growing paths.  They had a dialogue with us in 2021 on Effective Learning in the Age of Surplus , and  on The Meaning of Education in the Age of AI in 2024.  Their daughters, Faith Fang and Christina Wang, came to the EAWLC as guest speakers, too, in 2022 and shared their wonderful experience of crossing arts and sciences in education .

 

Everyone is welcome.  Don’t miss the opportunity to get some insight and foresight of two devoted experts and fathers who have sharing hearts!  Bring your own questions to discuss with Berlin and Frank, and make the evening even more fruitful for you, as always…

 

Guest Speaker Introduction

Dr. Berlin Fang is an educational columnist, author, literary translator, and expert at instructional design.  His major interests are faculty acceptance of educational technology, the diffusion of innovation, managed change, the ethnography of technology use in higher education, and cross-cultural comparisons of education.   He has over 20 years of experience in instructional design and educational technology in both China and the United States. 

Berlin contributes to numerous prominent newspapers such as Southern Weekend, Financial Times (Chinese), New York Times (Chinese), Radio Netherlands, and Caixin News.  His books include 10 Lessons in Online TeachingLearning in an Age of Abundance, Beyond Knowledge, More than the Passing Grade, English: Trick or Truth, A Translator’s Rant, Don’t Get Old until You’re Wiser, Tea Eggs Under the Star and Spangled Banner, and How the Pamuks Read

 

As a literary translator, Berlin’s works include translations of The Sound and the Fury (by William Faulkner), Bend of the River (by V.S. Naipaul), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (by Betty Smith),  and Let the Great World Spin (by Colum McCann) and Songdogs (by Colum McCann). National Book Award winner Colum McCann considers him “one of the finest translators I have ever worked with: he is incisive, discerning, and imaginative. He is a trans-national figure, deeply involved in cultures of China, the United States, and Ireland. While working with him, I found that he crosses cultural boundaries with ease and grace. ”

 

Visit Berlin’s website at berlinfang.com

 

Frank Wang is a professional engineer in Ontario who has worked in areas of robotics & automation, aerospace engineering, and nuclear engineering.  A Ph.D. from University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering, and most proudly a father of three, Frank cares very much about learning, education, and their trends in this rapidly changing world.  He runs a book club for parents, and is the organizer of the EAWLC’s Social Reading Club , advocating for lifetime study and generalist education. In his spare time, he enjoys writing columns for online magazines on education, among other hobbies.

Here are a few latest articles Frank wrote in Chinese on education:

 计算机就业崩了!投1000份简历换0 Offer!北美博士爸:“富养”竟是孩子找不到工作的罪魁祸首……

8月1日特朗普裁撤教育部!中国留学生输惨了?北美博士爸:投入百万送儿女读美本我后悔了吗…

 

Time: Monday September 1, 2025 at 7:30-9 P.M. (Eastern Time; Central Time 5:30-7 P.M.)

 

Free Online Event in Mandarin

Zoom registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/803GgI4bQPOL3LQ-KIy6Kg

 

For inquiries, please contact us at info@eawlc.org.  Thanks!

 

  • Please consider supporting our efforts to help people of different heritages break cultural barriers and get connected by volunteering, donating, or participating in our events.  Together, we can make learning and connections happen!

 

East & West Dialogue with Shen Wei and Promise XU: Creating and Growing Mulan International Film Festival in Toronto

New!

Watch this wonderful dialogue on our YouTube channel:

English version (please make it a clickable link using https://youtu.be/Ox-x4NOi-Dg)

Chinese version (please make it clickable using https://youtu.be/xLc1j6aYHPM)

Write to info@eawlc.org to get a 10% discount when purchasing tickets online.  Here’s the schedule and ticket link(pleases make it clickable using https://mulanfestival.com/festival-2025-schedule/). Continue reading “East & West Dialogue with Shen Wei and Promise XU: Creating and Growing Mulan International Film Festival in Toronto”

EAWLC Dialogue with Peter Hessler: Managing Cultural Difference and Political Conflict

EAWLC logo

A Dialogue with Peter Hessler: Managing Cultural Difference and Political Conflict” On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, from 7:30 – 9:00 P.M. (Eastern Time). Register here.

Peter Hessler (何伟), an award-winning writer and journalist for The New Yorker, will discuss his cross-cultural living experience and reflect on our fast-changing world. He will be interviewed by co-hosts Dr. Fei Song and Ed Shiller and answer questions from the audience.

Continue reading “EAWLC Dialogue with Peter Hessler: Managing Cultural Difference and Political Conflict”

East&West Dialogue with Charlotte Dean and Andrew Seok on Theatrical Creation: Solitude and Collaboration

At East & West Dialogue, volunteer guest speakers from different cultural backgrounds come to East and West Learning Connections to share their living experience, expertise, thought, concerns, and have a dialogue with our audience.

Continue reading “East&West Dialogue with Charlotte Dean and Andrew Seok on Theatrical Creation: Solitude and Collaboration”

EAWLC Dialogue with Peter Thurton

At East and West Learning Connections, we hold ongoing dialogues with people of different heritages to promote mutual understanding at an individual level. With deep appreciation we thank our guest speakers who volunteer their time to share life experience, expertise, thoughts, advice, and have a conversation with our audience!

We proudly kick off our 2025 Dialogue program with a compassionate lawyer, speaker, author and a super Jazz fan!

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English Social Conversation @East and West Learning Connections 2024

*We are constantly recruiting native English-speaking facilitator volunteers for the English Social Conversation program! Please see the invitation message at the end of this announcement.

Have you ever wondered what to talk about in a social conversation? Or, as an immigrant, do you sometimes feel it is difficult to join your local co-workers’ conversation because you don’t know the people or things they are talking about, or you have some everyday questions that you would like to know how local people would think or deal with? Or do you just want to find a safe, relaxing and friendly environment to talk to some native English speakers, and enjoy a pleasant conversation?

Continue reading “English Social Conversation @East and West Learning Connections 2024”

EAWLC Book Talks with Evelyn Chau on How To Speak To Anyone: Communication Tactics for the Quietly Ambitious Who Want to be Seen, Heard, and Valued

In our Book Talks program, authors and/or translators come to introduce their books, and facilitate discussions with our audience.

This month, we are delighted to have Toronto-based author Evelyn Chau to talk about her second works, a communication techniques book How To Speak To Anyone: Communication Tactics for the Quietly Ambitious Who Want to be Seen, Heard and Valued

Time: Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 7:30-9 P.M. (Eastern Time)

Click here to register.

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EAWLC Dialogue with Dan Xia: Making the Best out of Travelling the World

Come to East and West Learning Connections to meet with an amazing Chinese American young man who has traveled to more than 140 countries and created a clinic on an island in Kenya to help the people he loves. Dialogue with Dan Xia, and walk home with inspiration to embrace diversity, cultivate empathy, and strive for positive changes in our interconnected world!

Time: Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 7:30-9 P.M. (Eastern Time)

Register here.

Continue reading “EAWLC Dialogue with Dan Xia: Making the Best out of Travelling the World”