Hello Reader, This week I had multiple requests for help with CELPIP reading skills, so I wanted to share some resources with you that will help. First, here's a dedicated 3 video reading skills playlist from my youtube channel. This playlist will teach you How to take effective notes What you MUST read - it's not the entire text! Why you have to start reading WIDELY right now to build your vocabulary. How to skim and scan when you read Prefer audio only? Here is a 10 episode playlist from my...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Have you been following the World Cup? Who are your favourite teams? Go ahead, hit reply and tell me - it would be great to hear from you, and bonus: you get some writing practice in! My family and I have been watching many of the games. The main teams we're rooting for are Canada and Mexico. For all the other matches we are mostly cheering for the underdog teams. (Maybe Canada is one of those kinds of teams!) Wouldn't it be great if a 'nobody' team somehow managed to topple one...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Exams make mistakes. I came across this article today on the BBC and wanted to share it with you. "...computer-automated marking errors with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) qualification led to 62,794 test takers receiving incorrect results." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gypr2zp9eo Impact? The article goes on to say that of those 62,794, roughly a third of them - 20,600 actually got higher scores when their first results were recalculated due to...
11 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, I remember when someone in my life said just the right words of encouragement to me in just the right moment when I needed it the most. Their words helped me so much, and you want to know something strange? I'd never met them in person. They hosted one of my favourite business podcasts at the time. Their words of encouragement? "Failure is not a person. It's an event, something that happens. But it's not who you are." I needed to hear those words. Maybe you are in a similar...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Did you know that opportunities to practice for your CELPIP exam are literally happening all around you a daily basis. The question is, are you noticing and taking advantage of them? **** Have you ever wondered what it's like to work with an RCIC (Registered Canadian Immigration Consultant) but you were too shy or nervous to ask? A good person to check out is Ana Canseco. She recently shared her process so you could see for yourself what it's like to work with her. Maybe it will...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Something unwelcome happens when many people who take the CELPIP. Maybe it has even happened to you. The moment you sit down for the speaking section of the exam, and see the microphone, and the faceless computer in front of you waiting to record your every word, your nerves and anxiety shoot through the roof. Then the timer begins. And something worse happens: your ability to think quickly in English vanishes. Poof. Gone. And you sit there frozen. It's a terrible feeling, isn't...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, You know what I find hard to do? Stay focused on one conversation when there are MANY conversations happening around me. Example? I can't talk on the phone (easily) if there are other people in the room talking at the same time. I end up having to leave the room so I can stay focused on who I am talking with. On the speaking section of the CELPIP, can you guess which tasks are the most difficult to stay focused on? If you're thinking task 3 and 4, where you need to describe an...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, You know what? Opportunities to practice for the CELPIP are all around you every day. But most people miss them because the opportunities are disguised in the plain clothes of regular life. Here's an example: Yesterday I had to pick up some milk for an event at work, so I quickly made my way to the nearby convenience store. I found the milk, and noticed the price at around $6. (Ouch.) I grabbed it and made my way to the checkout counter. Beep. The cashier scanned the barcode of...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, A few months ago I was listening to a client describing the image you see below - a crowded playground on a bright spring day. They loved the spot in the picture where a woman is sitting with her dog enjoying the sun, so they started talking all about them because they loved dogs! The busy playground But I was totally lost! Instead of listening to what my client was saying, I was lost in the picture trying to figure out where the dog was. There's a dog in here? I couldn't find...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read