Cafetalk Tutor's Column

Talking about resolutions in English

Many people have been talking about their New Year’s resolutions recently, and I’ve had some great ...

Life without a cell phone

Photo: Raffi - BananaphoneIt’s rare these days to meet someone who doesn’t have a cell phone. For m...

New Year’s resolutions

Photo: Kingston, Ontario When it comes to making resolutions for a new year, I like to plan someth...

Indoor winter activities

"Canoe Lake" painting by Darrell Bush It’s been pretty cold in Toronto recently, and Covid-19-rela...

2021 in review

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash The beginning of 2021 was a very uncertain time for me (and most...

Thanks and happy holidays!

Hello everyone! Time really flies and the end of 2021 is fast-approaching! I would like to say a bi...

Talking about how things are made in English

This week’s column topic is What is the best Christmas dish in your country/area?, and lots of peop...

Winter weather words in English

Although today is an unusually warm day in Toronto (15°C), we’ve had plenty of snow already, and I ...

This is how I spend my time in winter

Photo: Santa enjoying some mince tartsOne thing I always do: Snow brings out my inner child, and ev...

Christmas music

Christmas is a month away and there's plenty of Christmas music playing on the radio and in stores,...

Canadian jokes

Most jokes about Canada and Canadian culture are about the snow, the animals, hockey, or people bei...

Complimenting in English

This week’s column topic is The best compliment you have ever received, so for anyone studying Engl...

Why Tipping is An American Custom

The topic of tipping often comes up in my Welcome to Canada lesson and also when I discuss the topi...

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was mostly cancelled last year, but now it’s almost here (in Canada at least) and it’s ha...

I’m a forest person!

I’m not a mountain person because there are no mountains anywhere nearby and I’m not a beach person...

My daily life: Fall 2021

My day usually starts when my alarm goes off at 6:30AM. Sometime between then and 7:00AM, I drag my...

Tools for vocabulary building

Today I’d like to introduce two simple tools that you can use to better understand new vocabulary. ...

A newfound interest in money

Photo by KMR Photography/Flickr I suppose most people have some interest in money, but with the ext...

Zoom fatigue

Videoconferencing fatigue, usually just called “Zoom fatigue”, is familiar to anyone who has spent ...

A small bucket list for the rest of this year

Photo by Blaz Photo on Unsplash   Well, there are only 3 months left in 2021. Fortunately, they’re ...

Making mistakes in speaking

Since returning to university to start my MA in Applied Linguistics, I’ve been able to take lessons...

Back to the 90s

Photo by ???????? ?????? on Unsplash If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t go far. I wouldn’t try ...

Thank you for 500 lessons!

I recently reached the 500 lesson mark and just wanted to make a short post to say thank you to eve...

Talking about important places in English

This week’s column topic is World heritage sites that you would like to visit someday, so for anyon...

Welcome to September!

Photo: Black Creek Pioneer Village (Toronto, Canada)Although the first day of fall isn’t until Sept...

An unusual encounter

Photo by Filip Mroz on Unsplash I usually try to avoid random people in Toronto because some of the...

Living with lizards

Photo byAlex Williams onUnsplash I grew up on a farm in the countryside, so animals have always be...

Talking about pets in English

This week’s column topic is About my beloved pet(s), so for anyone studying English, here are some ...

The strangest food I’ve ever eaten

I’m not very adventurous when it comes to food, so I don’t eat strange things often, but I have tri...

Talking about sports in English

The Olympics have just wrapped up, and the Paralympics will soon begin, so for anyone studying Engl...