Cafetalk 讲师专栏

Desire for approval

Social media is becoming more and more popular these days, and we often hear the phrase "desire fo...

How to sound professional on the phone – common telephone conversations and phrases

Speaking on the phone in English can be nerve-racking for English students.  Nerve-racking means ca...

How to politely end a bad conversation

We have all been there - being stuck in a boring conversation, or that the other person is saying s...

How to conduct or participate in an English online meeting

Since the pandemic started three years ago, online meetings have replaced many face-to-face meeting...

How to benefit from news discussion lessons

My News Discussion lesson is popular among high-intermediate to advanced students. It is a good way...

Most Common New Year Resolutions and how to follow through

Happy New Year ^_^  Every year, around the end of December, millions of people make New Year's reso...

Snow storm in Toronto on Thursday

A winter storm brought freezing rain, heavy snow and ice to Toronto yesterday.  I was lucky that fr...

How to answer the question "How are you?"

The way how you should answer "how are you?" depends on who is asking. If you are talking to your b...

Daylight saving time

Hello students,Please note that Daylight Saving Time will end on Sunday November 6, 2022, and the t...

I created my own English podcast!

Hi everyone,I am excited to announce that I have created my own podcast.  I just uploaded the first...

Be content

Contentment is a simple word but it is a difficult concept.  Most of us know the meaning of the wor...

Roasted pumpkin soup

INGREDIENTS   4 tablespoons of olive oil, divided One 4-pound sugar pie pumpkin 1 large yellow onio...

Meet my new puppy

Oreo is my puppy's name.  We named her Oreo because of her colour - black and white, like the Oreo ...

Canada hit by massive mobile and internet outage on July 8

First of all, I would like to apologize to the students whom I didn't show up for lessons on the ev...

How are you? vs How have you been?

Hi everyone,How have you been?Most of my students are more familar with being asked "how are you?"....

Wordle is addictive

You might have heard of the online word game Wordle, or you might have tried it yourself.I decided ...

If you could go back in time, what would you say to the middle school version of you?

This topic sounds like something a therapist will ask you when you have some self-healing to do. I ...

8 ways you know you are walking in self-love

What is self-love?  Self-love means having a high regard for your own well being and happiness.  To...

Easing your anxiety by changing your story

It is the beginning of a new year, let’s make this a better year and make positive changes. We can ...

Let me tell you what is happening in my country right now!

Further to my post yesterday, I would like to share the dire news regarding Covid 19 cases.The numb...

Efficacy vs effectiveness

These two words are very similar in meaning, and yet they are not the same.   I have often h...

Let me introduce you to my town - Richmond Hill in Toronto.

I live in the suburbs of Toronto, in the Town of Richmond Hilll. It has a population of 195,020 (20...

Free online English test for English students

I found a website which may be useful for students who are planning to take international English e...

Planning S.M.A.R.T.

New Year Resolutions - Plan SMART Happy New Year! It is the time of the year to make resolutions...

Fit “Unhealthy” People

Many people have the misconception that if they work out a lot, then they can eat anything they w...

Let's learn business idioms - Part 6

1.     Not going to fly – describe a solution that will not be effect...

Let's learn business idioms - part 5

In the red – if a company is “in the red”, it means it is not profitable and ...

Let's learn business idioms - part 4

Let’s continue business  idioms– Part 4 1.     1. Go brok...

Let's learn business idioms - part 3

1.    Cut one losses – means to stop doing something that is unproductive an...

What you need to know about Vitamin D

Many of you may know the benefits of vitamin D and are eating foods enriched with this beneficial v...