T.I.P.S – To Improve, Practice Skills

Tired of studying English through basic grammar practice? There are many other creative ways to practice and improve your language skills than just by using a textbook.

A common complaint of students when they have been studying a language for some time and have reached a good level of communication is that they feel that their skills are becoming worse and not better. This is a typical feeling of intermediate to advanced students, but is rarely true.

Often the reason that students feel their English is becoming worse, not better, is that they have become more critical of their skills. At this level, students become more aware of their grammar when speaking, and therefore recognize when they make mistakes. This is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing! As well, they are usually trying to break bad habits and therefore feel less confident in their speaking.

Honing any skills to become more proficient requires effort and a transition period in which we often feel uncomfortable. However, when you feel like this it simply means you are making a change – usually for the better!

If you would like more information on T.I.P.S for English, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.

CANADIAN, EH ?

One of the challenges of learning English is that the language changes depending on the English-speaking country in which you are in. Whether you are in Canada, the United States, England, Australia, or any of the many other countries in which English is the primary language, you will find the language changes. Not only are there distinctions in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, but there are also many cultural differences which affect how we use the language.

So, how much do you know about Canada? Here’s a little quiz you can try:
1. How many provinces does Canada have?
2. How many territories?
3. Canada is the second largest landmass in the world – True or False?
4. What is the leader of Canada called?
5. How many times zones are there in Canada?
6. What is a toque?
7. When did Canada become independent from Britian?
8. What did the name Canada come from?

See if you can find the answers to these questions before the next edition of Canadian, eh?

If you would like more information on CANADIAN, EH?, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

Do you find learning new words difficult? Well, don’t worry - you are not alone. Most students struggle with understanding meanings of new words.

One of things that is challenging about new words is learning them in isolation. It's more difficult to learn words individually, therefore try to link them together with other words that they are commonly found with.

For example: seek - When you seek the truth... / Children love to play hide and seek / Seek and ye shall find (this is from the Bible but lots of people say that when someone finds something they have been looking for).

These are probably the only times that people use the word seek, so it makes sense to learn it in those phrases. Practice those phrases out loud and then you will have a better chance of not only remembering them, but understanding them too.

Words that are commonly found together are called "collocations". You can buy a collocation dictionary to help you to learn new words.

If you would like more information on WORDS, WORDS, WORDS, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.

T.I.P.S – To Improve, Practice Skills

Tired of studying English through basic grammar practice? There are many other creative ways to practice and improve your language skills than just by using a textbook.

Reading is a great way to improve vocabulary and comprehension. One of the most challenging things to read are newspapers, but they can enhance your skills to help you better understand the English language.
Before reading a newspaper article, focus on the headline. Understanding headlines are challenging for a few reasons:

• They are not full sentences and are often missing articles, verbs and other grammar structure.
• Headlines often use vocabulary in unusual ways, and sometimes have a double meaning.

Before reading an article, try to understand the meaning of the headline by making it a complete sentence, and by identifying the meaning (or meanings) of the vocabulary. Through understanding the headline, you will have a basic idea of what the article will refer to, and will assist your overall understanding while reading.

If you would like more information on T.I.P.S for English, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.

CANADIAN, EH ?

One of the challenges of learning English is that the language changes depending on the English-speaking country in which you are in. Whether you are in Canada, the United States, England, Australia, or any of the many other countries in which English is the primary language, you will find the language changes. Not only are there distinctions in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, but there are also many cultural differences which affect how we use the language.

In Canada, it is helpful to know the names for our different types of currency. For example, the coins are referred to as follows :

$.01 – penny
$.05 – nickel
$.10 – dime
$. 25 – quarter
$1.00 – loonie
$2.00 – toonie

Do you know why the one dollar coin is called the loonie? Take a look at a one dollar coin and you will see a picture of a bird on the front. That bird is known as a loon. This is how the coin became known as the loonie. The two dollar coin got its nickname from a combination of "two" and "loonie".

Note that the word loony (pronounced the same as loonie) is a slang expression which means crazy, strange or eccentric, so sometimes people will make jokes about the coin which refer to this meaning.

If you would like more information on CANADIAN, EH?, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.