Author: The Word Gourmet

“Why do strangers smile at you all the time? It’s very strange.” This was a question posed to me by my Japanese student who had recently moved to Canada. Well, being Canadian myself, I am often guilty of doing this. 😊 In fact, sometimes we’ll even say “hello” and “have a nice day” to complete […]

Hello! I was wondering, do you find it hard to #facilitate #meetings in English? And every time you try to do something about it, you either get stuck or can’t even get started. Don’t worry! You are not alone. I helped to facilitate meetings in Spanish for several years, so when I had to go to meetings in […]

Then… You are now officially a WORD and EXPRESSION DETECTIVE! This is what I tell my advanced English students. You worked hard (maybe years!) to get the basics of English. Then you spent more time on getting over the intermediate hurdle. Now you have great conversation English, but feel that you still don’t have a […]

How do you #staymotivated when you are learning a language, and even more so once you’ve learned it and speak it well, but want to continue improving? You set shorter goals. At first, the thought of taking on a whole new language can seem almost insurmountable. By setting short term goals you make it easier to prioritize […]

One of the biggest complaints I hear as an English Coach: “They speak too fast!” If you want to be a CLEAR speaker in English and share your message… slow down a bit! Whether you grew up in Wisconsin or Japan, speaking too quickly often raises more questions than answers, because your audience needs more […]

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a layman as “a person who does not belong to a particular profession or who is not expert in some field” and layman’s terms as “simple language that anyone can understand.”* In a more interconnected world, with disciplines crossing and influencing areas outside their own area of expertise, it’s more important than ever to use language […]