Quick tips: there is vs. there are
Most people learn about the “be” verb and how to use “there is” and “there are” from the very begin...
Zach McLaughlin
ChatGPT: The hot topic in AI these days
Since the beginning of 2023, one app has been taking over headlines and generating lots of buzz - C...
Zach McLaughlin
What movie or book influenced you the most in your life?
For most of my life, I only picked up fiction books to read for enjoyment, but through friends, fam...
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: less vs. fewer If you have studied English grammar, you probably know that the word “f...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byMadison Oren onUnsplash I recently read an interesting article on CNBC about why Finland i...
Zach McLaughlin
I live in Toronto, Canada, which is the capital city of the province of Ontario (but not the capita...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byvadim kaipov onUnsplash The word “hobby” is very common and it seems to represent a very s...
Zach McLaughlin
In the past, I have posted long “Talking about… in English” columns, but this year I would also lik...
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about looking back/ahead in English
With the start of the new year, you may be looking back on 2022 as well as looking ahead to 2023, s...
Zach McLaughlin
My 2022 in the rearview mirror
My biggest achievement of 2022 was earning my master’s degree in applied linguistics. For a long ti...
Zach McLaughlin
Yesterday I hopped on the VIA train and traveled out to a little town in the countryside called Nor...
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about Christmas decorations in English
Christmas is less than two weeks away, so today I’d like to introduce some vocabulary for talking a...
Zach McLaughlin
I’ve had several jobs in my life. I’ve been a tractor driver, an archaeologist, an illustrator, and...
Zach McLaughlin
It seems like winter has arrived in Toronto! It snowed all day yesterday and all night, and this wa...
Zach McLaughlin
Image: Wellesley Park, TorontoThis week’s column should be about three good aspects of your favouri...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byArtiom Vallat onUnsplash Different things have scared me at different times throughout my ...
Zach McLaughlin
5 English idioms related to bones
Continuing from my 5 English idioms related to blood column post, we’ll look at some idioms related...
Zach McLaughlin
5 English idioms related to blood
Continuing from my 5 English idioms related to fear column post, we’ll look at some idioms related ...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo: Halloween party - Me as a vampire with one of my students as a Jedi from Star Wars My very f...
Zach McLaughlin
5 English idioms related to fear
Continuing from my 5 English idioms related to graves column post, we’ll look at some idioms relate...
Zach McLaughlin
5 English idioms related to graves
Halloween conjures feelings of fear and images of graves, bones, and monsters, so from now until th...
Zach McLaughlin
Image: The Nightmare Before Christmas movie posterA chill is in the air, the leaves are changing co...
Zach McLaughlin
I haven’t written anything in a while, but I’m still alive! After taking some time to recover from ...
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about unknown reasons in English
Sometimes we don’t know why certain things happen or why/how we do certain things. In my recent col...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byKelly Sikkema onUnsplash Somehow, I managed to catch the flu a few days ago, and it’s the ...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byy.nasx onUnsplash When I was quite young, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, my friend Colin and I ...
Zach McLaughlin
Self-directed learning in English
Joining a full-time intensive ESL class is, of course, a great way to improve your English quickly....
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byTimothy Eberly onUnsplash This week’s topic is about something that makes you smile, but I...
Zach McLaughlin
In a recent column titled Scary movies, I used words like scary, terrified, freak out, fear, and ha...
Zach McLaughlin
Photo byJan Baborák onUnsplash I came across a TED-Ed video recently called “Why sitting is bad fo...
Zach McLaughlin