Cafetalk Tutor's Column

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...

Summer has arrived

Photo: Summer vacation with my family - barbeque and beer by the pool!It’s getting harder to tell w...

My Bucket List

Photo by Heather McKean on Unsplash   My bucket list is a fairly short and affordable one! Short-t...

Making wishes in English

This week’s column topic is If you could magically make just one wish come true, what would it be?,...

Just one wish

I have plenty of silly little wishes. I wish I wasn’t allergic to watermelon; it looks so good! I w...

The McLaughlins

The McLaughlin side of my family originally came to Canada from Ireland, and in the early 1900s the...

Talking about rain in English

In my last column, Rainy days, I mentioned that it has been raining a lot in Toronto lately. I know...

Rainy days

Photo by Hannah Domsic on Unsplash It’s another rainy day in Toronto and the temperature has fallen...

Talking about legends in English

In one of my recent columns, Myths and monsters, I introduced the North American legend of the Wend...

Myths and monsters

Image: Baku and Makura-Gaeshi by Japanese artist Shinonome Kijin (in The Book of Yōkai) I recently ...

Making recommendations in English

This week’s column topic is 3 Best Places to Visit in Your Country/Town, so for anyone studying Eng...