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  • Talking about function, purpose, and method in English: Part 2

    Continuing from Part 1, today we’ll look at how to explain the method of doing something and the to...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    136
    May 26, 2025
  • Talking about function, purpose, and method in English: Part 1

    It can be tricky to figure out which structure to use when talking about how to do an action, why a...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    170
    May 24, 2025
  • How I organize my work desk

    As I describe the setup or layout of my work desk today, I’d like to introduce some ways to talk ab...

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    Zach McLaughlin

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    218
    May 15, 2025
  • The LEGO man

    Image: LEGO Super Mario taking a napI’m an only child, so I spent a lot of time playing by myself w...

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    Zach McLaughlin

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    307
    Apr 29, 2025
  • Jury duty

    Photo by Wesley Tingey on UnsplashToday, for the second time in my life, I received mail from The M...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    448
    Apr 21, 2025
  • Talking about luck in English: Part 2

    Continuing from where we left off In Part 1, today I’d like to introduce some lucky actions as well...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    402
    Apr 3, 2025
  • Talking about luck in English: Part 1

    The weekly column topic is Do you have a lucky item? this week, so today I’d like to share some way...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    2
    426
    Mar 31, 2025
  • Adventure!

    Image: A “roper” monster from the event (which you can defeat by hitting its tentacles when they li...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    467
    Mar 29, 2025
  • Quick tips: weary vs. wary

    Recently, I’ve been hearing more and more English speakers mixing up the adjectives “weary” and “wa...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    2
    548
    Mar 18, 2025
  • Quick tips: adverbs of place

    Adverbs of place tell us where an action takes place. For example, in the sentence “I went downtown...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    406
    Mar 13, 2025
  • The tales of Edgar Allan Poe

    These days, I’m reading The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, which is a collection of ...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    520
    Mar 2, 2025
  • Winter in Toronto

    Image: Icicles on the building across from my homeToronto is one of Canada’s southernmost cities, s...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    724
    Feb 22, 2025
  • Role models

    Image: My father and I (during a trip to Manitoulin Island last year)When I was a child, my role mo...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    943
    Feb 2, 2025
  • Quick tips: ungrammatical (?) questions

    Most languages have ways to reduce the grammatical forms of questions, and English is no exception!...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    823
    Jan 22, 2025
  • Toronto’s unofficial mascot

    Thanks to all of the parks and green spaces in Toronto and across the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), t...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    907
    Jan 16, 2025
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    963
    Jan 9, 2025
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    758
    Jan 7, 2025
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    741
    Jan 4, 2025
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    728
    Jan 3, 2025
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    580
    Dec 20, 2024
  • Holiday decor: Part 1

    Photo: My grandmother’s living room, decorated for Christmas. If you’re not accustomed to celebrat...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    700
    Dec 18, 2024
  • Eggnog

    One drink that I only consume during the winter holidays is Eggnog. My father loves it and always b...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    593
    Dec 13, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    921
    Dec 12, 2024
  • Holiday gift ideas

    Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash       I have four suggestions for holiday gifts this year, a...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    812
    Dec 3, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    891
    Nov 28, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    745
    Nov 27, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    776
    Nov 23, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    1
    935
    Nov 14, 2024
  • 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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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    970
    Nov 9, 2024
  • A cinematic Halloween

    Halloween was unusually warm in Toronto this year, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees Celsius, w...

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    Zach McLaughlin

    0
    993
    Nov 3, 2024
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