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View: 141 | 2025-01-09
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about fictional worlds in English
Many adjectives in English have nuanced synonyms that can be tricky to use. In my most recent artic...
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View: 127 | 2025-01-07
Zach McLaughlin
The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか)
The Boy and the Heron, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is a Studio Ghibli movie that came out in 2023, ...
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View: 183 | 2025-01-04
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about New Year’s resolutions in English
In my most recent article (titled Goodbye 2024 - Hello 2025!), I reflected on the past year and tal...
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View: 257 | 2025-01-03
Zach McLaughlin
Goodbye 2024 - Hello 2025!
Happy New Year, everyone! As I look back on 2024 and look ahead to 2025, these are some of my refle...
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View: 240 | 2024-12-20
Zach McLaughlin
Holiday decor: Part 2
In Part 1, I introduced some of the most common Christmas decorations, and today I’d like to add a ...
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View: 342 | 2024-12-18
Zach McLaughlin
Holiday decor: Part 1
Photo: My grandmother’s living room, decorated for Christmas. If you’re not accustomed to celebrat...
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View: 235 | 2024-12-13
Zach McLaughlin
Eggnog
One drink that I only consume during the winter holidays is Eggnog. My father loves it and always b...
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View: 476 | 2024-12-12
Zach McLaughlin
The “Tough Guy Santa” genre
Santa Claus has long had the image of a gentle old man with a big smile and a jolly laugh, but in r...
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View: 461 | 2024-12-03
Zach McLaughlin
Holiday gift ideas
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash I have four suggestions for holiday gifts this year, a...
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View: 533 | 2024-11-28
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about your favourite things in English
The weekly column topic is Your favorite place on Earth! this week, so today I’d like to share some...
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View: 398 | 2024-11-27
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: should have vs. should of
Have you ever come across a sentence such as “They should of fired the coach” or “I should of known...
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View: 512 | 2024-11-23
Zach McLaughlin
Should feeding wild animals be illegal?
For many years I have enjoyed feeding peanuts to the squirrels during my visits to local parks and ...
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View: 658 | 2024-11-14 | 1
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: groups of animals
Did you know that English has many words to describe different groups of animals? Here are the most...
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View: 710 | 2024-11-09
Zach McLaughlin
It's time to build a puzzle!
Image: The Halloween puzzle that I built this year.I think that building things is a lot of fun! Yo...
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View: 745 | 2024-11-03
Zach McLaughlin
A cinematic Halloween
Halloween was unusually warm in Toronto this year, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees Celsius, w...
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View: 816 | 2024-10-18
Zach McLaughlin
Halloween word origins
Photo: A Halloween decoration in my neighbourhood in Toronto.Halloween is a holiday which has been ...
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View: 890 | 2024-10-09 | 1
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about fall/autumn leaves in English
Fall is here and the leaves are changing colour in Canada, so today I’d like to share some vocabula...
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View: 848 | 2024-10-07
Zach McLaughlin
Northern Ontario road trip
In September, I took a long road trip with my father, driving for 5 days through the province of On...
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View: 900 | 2024-09-17
Zach McLaughlin
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: The juice is loose!
The original Beetlejuice movie, a quirky blend of horror and comedy, came out way back in 1988 (whe...
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View: 1039 | 2024-09-12
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: slide vs. slider
The word “slider” is sometimes used in Japan to refer to a long, smooth structure that one can slid...
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View: 838 | 2024-09-05
Zach McLaughlin
My top 5 fun activities for autumn
Exploring When the weather cools down in the fall, it’s time to get out and start exploring again!...
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View: 838 | 2024-08-29
Zach McLaughlin
The little monster that’s not so scary
We don’t have a lot of scary or dangerous insects in Canada, but the house centipede is one that mi...
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View: 865 | 2024-08-20
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: learn vs. learn about/of
This is a tricky one because both “learn” and “learn about/of” refer to gaining new knowledge/infor...
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View: 741 | 2024-08-19
Zach McLaughlin
No-see-ums attack!
Have you ever heard of a “no-see-um”? Until just a couple of days ago, I hadn’t! They’re tiny insec...
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View: 830 | 2024-07-30
Zach McLaughlin
Talking about festivals and holidays in English
This week’s column topic is Summer festivals, so today I would like to share some ways to talk abou...
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View: 880 | 2024-07-29
Zach McLaughlin
The Canadian National Exhibition
The Canadian National Exhibition is a festival that takes place in Toronto and marks the end of Sum...
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View: 948 | 2024-07-23
Zach McLaughlin
Summer meals in Canada
People often ask me about the food that is typically eaten in Canada, and I usually answer that Can...
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View: 1008 | 2024-07-08
Zach McLaughlin
Hot topics in Canada
Photo by Ali Tawfiq on UnsplashIn weather news, heat alerts and warnings have been issued across Ca...
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View: 992 | 2024-07-02
Zach McLaughlin
Happy Canada Day!
Photo bysebastiaan stam onUnsplash July 1st is Canada Day, so let me share a few facts about my co...
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View: 942 | 2024-06-28
Zach McLaughlin
Quick tips: pregnancy
As one of my students pointed out to me recently, there are many ways to express the idea of being ...
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