by Heather Chetwynd | Sep 27, 2021 | Language Training
Most cities have their landmarks. In Toronto, we have one that was sold after the death of its owner, Ed Mirvish. A poor immigrant to Toronto in the 1920s, he built a discount store in 1948 that catered to immigrants and the working class, delighting passersby with...
by Heather Chetwynd | Jun 10, 2021 | Language Training
I love vocabulary and English has a lot – the Websters Third Dictionary lists over 470,000 words, although many are obsolete. Of course, most native speakers know roughly 20,000 words and commonly use around 8,000. According to Andrei Tapalaga, in his article,...
by Heather Chetwynd | Feb 11, 2021 | Language Training
Pluto the dog is a character that has become popular under Covid. I’ve always enjoyed the humour but this one – called “Losing your Marbles” – is wonderful for my line of work. He speaks in almost pure idioms throughout the 3-minute clip. Listen to...
by Heather Chetwynd | Jan 29, 2021 | Culture and Values
I am often asked, “Is that ‘correct’ English?” It is not a simple question to answer. I have thought about this often but recently I was reminded of it again as I listened to the audio version of Between the World and Me. Written and read by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the book...
by Heather Chetwynd | Jan 8, 2021 | Accent Modification
When I do a pronunciation assessment, I look at three key areas. The first two are the ones that come to mind when most people think about pronunciation. These are the individual sounds – also called “phonemes” or “segmentals” – the vowels and consonants....