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Public Speaking: How to overcome stage fright
Are you terrified of public speaking? Do you freeze when giving a presentation? Fear of speaking in public is second to the most common fear - the fear of death. That's right. So you are not alone. Of course, when you are presenting in a language which is not your...
The Need for Cultural Competence in the Correctional System
Cultural competence is becoming essential in the workplace, especially in a city as multicultural as Toronto is. This was driven home to me recently when I accompanied a friend of Ukrainian origin, who has cancer for the second time, to a doctor's appointment to...
Throat Singing by Tanya Tagaq, Winner of the 2014 Polaris Music Prize
When I heard this throat singing performance by Tanya Tagaq, I was in awe. This traditional style of vocal music is found throughout the arctic, not only in North America, but Tanya's recent award has led to increasingly more people getting the opportunity to...
Canadian and American English: What’s the difference?
Canadian and American English have many differences. But while there are numerous strong regional accents, what we call Neutral North American accent is pretty much what we use in Toronto. One of the main ways accents differ can be found in the vowels (as I mentioned...
Australian babies understand the Canadian Accent better than the Australian!
When we compare a typical Australian accent and a Canadian accent, probably the main differences are in the vowels. And it seems the Australian vowels are more similar to each other than the Canadian ones. I have always found it interesting how babies are born with...
English spelling – Why is it so crazy?
English spelling is so crazy and I am constantly apologizing to my students for this. While there are reasons for why it turned out like this. there are ongoing attempts to standardize the spelling, none of which have worked to date. It seems now there is, once...
How to Be Concise – Choose More Specific Words
In Canadian written English, it is important to learn how to be concise. This is a quality of well-written, refined writing and speaking, although it is not as important in casual speech. Being concise involves using specific vocabulary which more clearly states what...
Pronouncing T in Canada
In Canadian English, there are several ways to pronounce the letter /T/. This depends on where the letter is in the word and whether it begins a stressed syllable or not. If so, the sound is sharp and has quite a bit of air. But what about the /T/ between two vowels...
Do Canadians really say “Aboot”?
I have often heard the pronunciation stereotype for Canadians which states we pronounce the word "about" as "aboot." But I always wondered where that came from since I certainly had never heard that. And recently, I came across the following article which backs me up...
Womyn by Alysha Brilla
This video - Womyn by Alysha Brilla - is the title song of her second album by the same name. I recently heard the Canadian singer-songwriter, who hails from Kitchener, at a wonderful house concert is east Toronto. I didn't know then but Alysha Brilla was recently...
