Weekly emails to help you say goodbye to fear and speak English fearlessly. Learn effective and practical tips to help you prepare for and conquer the CELPIP Exam. I also host The CELPIP Success Podcast.
Elvis has left the building
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Hello Reader, Last Sunday afternoon I went on an hour long road trip to visit my Dad because I didn't get a chance to see him at Christmas. We had a nice time visiting and eating together. He showed me a painting he was working on restoring. Pretty cool! And, as many of you know, I'm an avid podcast listener, so I had my podcast app LOADED with shows to keep my ears and brain busy on the road. I've been looking for new shows to like so many of the episodes I downloaded were brand new. Never heard them before. Sadly, only one became a favourite, and I thought: I've gotta share this with you! Have you ever listened to Decoder Ring? It's, according to the show tagline, all about cracking cultural mysteries. Here's the episode I listened to: Yo-yo's, Sandboxes, and Encores. Loved it from start to finish! I think you will too. My favourite part? Learning where the expression "Elvis has left the building" came from. (Have you ever heard it?) Anyway, the whole episode is quite interesting, and well put together. No...it doesn't have Canadian English, but it's still a worth while practice session for you. Give it a listen, and let me know what you think, ok? And for all you power commuters out there, this episode is nearly an hour long - but there are commercials, so be warned! :) And Julia, a lovely member of this community, shared a few of her favourites with me - and I realized that I don't think I ever passed these along to you. (Sorry Julia!) She loves listening to:
If you have a favourite podcast that you'd like me to share, please reply to this email and let me know. I'll gladly pass it on. **** And don't forget - special Boxing week pricing on my CELPIP speaking skills program ends on December 31. Let's start 2026 rocking your speaking skills! Just
Have a great week! Aaron |
Learn How To Speak English Fearlessly + Effectively Prepare for the CELPIP Exam
Weekly emails to help you say goodbye to fear and speak English fearlessly. Learn effective and practical tips to help you prepare for and conquer the CELPIP Exam. I also host The CELPIP Success Podcast.
Hello Reader, Speaking Task 6—dealing with a difficult situation—can feel like one of the tougher speaking task questions you'll face on the CELPIP exam. The challenge? How to stay firm without sounding rude? Here are some ideas from one of my most downloaded speaking skills focused podcast episodes, with over 6,000 downloads. In it, I share how one of my clients handled a challenging speaking task question. She had to refuse a customer's request, and she nailed it by following these three...
Hello Reader, But first, I wanted to quickly reach out and say how much I appreciate you. Thank you for being a part of my newsletter community, and for letting me pop into your inbox each week. I pray that you are able to have some time off over the next few weeks, and that you are able to enjoy some time with your loved ones. My prayer for you is that you sense God's perfect peace, His great comfort, and joy. Being on your own or away from family during this time of year can be especially...
Hello Reader, I read it again this week over on Reddit: how do I stop myself from saying "Um" and "Uh" all the time when I'm giving my speaking task responses on the exam. Here's the short answer: Notice your habit: You can’t fix what you don’t hear. In this podcast I share a simple exercise using your phone to catch those sneaky “ums” (and reveal my own weird “filler” habit that my wife had to point out!) - by the way, don't feel bad about having filler words. We all use them! Embrace the...