Archive for June, 2008
Bonne St. Jean Baptiste!
Jun 30th
Hey! That title isn’t English! “Bonne St. Jean” is like “Happy St. (Saint) Jean!
On June 24 Quebec celebrates St. Jean Baptiste, their National Holiday. On this day Quebeckers party! There are big concerts in Montreal and Quebec City and crowds of people in blue and white (their official colours) celebrate their heritage (history and culture) all night.
Culips is based in the multi-cultural and bilingual city of Montreal. Montreal is located in the Canadian province of Quebec whose official language is not English. Quebec is the only French province in Canada.
In the late 1700s (after 1750) the English and French battled on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The French were defeated and there was a shift in complete power to Great Britain. The English went on to treat the French culture here poorly and even tried to force them all to stop speaking French! It is for this reason that Quebeckers have a lot of nationalism (to be proud of your country or nation). It is the reason for the huge party!
If you want to learn more about Quebec click here.
Bookworm
Jun 23rd
Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a nice weekend. I was very happy this weekend because it was supposed to rain all weekend but instead we had a beautiful weekend in Montreal (it rained a bit but it was mainly sunny). I did a lot of walking this weekend and my legs are tired. I’m ready to spend the evening reading.
I LOVE reading. I can spend hours and hours reading. Ever since I was young I have loved reading. When I was a kid (or a child) I was often called a bookworm. This is someone who spends a lot of time with their nose stuck in a book reading. I love reading all sorts of books. I mentioned in the latest podcast, Catch Word #10 “Stone”, that when I was young I used to love reading Nancy Drew. I love reading anything and everything, sometimes if I don’t have a book or a magazine I will read the backs of different boxes especially the cereal box. I have many favorite writers including Isabel Allende, James Clavell, and Sophie Kinsella.
I am also a big fan of the library. I am a bit of a nerd because my library card is one of my prized possessions. I still remember the day I learned how to spell library and realised my last name is in the word, l-i-B-R-A-R-y. After telling that story I’m sure you can all tell that I am a very big nerd.
When learning another language it is important to try to practice reading as much as possible. From my own experience of learning French I think that trying to read a novel is very intimidating and discouraging but reading shorter articles, in a magazine or in a newspaper, is much better.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog!
Harp Brar
Many expressions with “Stone”
Jun 21st
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Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Do you know this expression? It’s a good one for kids to know. Check it out and other definitions like the one below in this episode!
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Harp – I have a really bad poker face. I can not be stone faced. When I have good cards, if someone looks at me, they know cause I have the biggest smile on my face.
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast
Slang: We’re going to dinner? Sweet!
Jun 18th
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Sweet! Have you all heard of this new slang term? What does it mean? When can you use it? Find out in this podcast.
We will give you a couple examples.
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Maura: And “Hey, that’s a cool bike,” mean the same thing.
Harp:“I really like your new coat. It’s sweet.”
Harp: “Your new haircut is sweet.”
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast
Vocabulary: Wave
Jun 14th
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Hey! Over here! We’re over here! We are waving at you so you look over here!
This week’s word is wave and all of its different meanings. Listen in and see if you are on the same wavelength as us.
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Robin – Right, so we were on the same wavelength so we decided to work on this project.
Maura – Exactly….
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast
Friday the 13th
Jun 13th
Today is Friday the 13th. A Friday on the 13th of any month is considered bad luck in most western countries (North America and Europe) and some Asian ones too.
I should say that it is an old superstition (a belief based on no reason) of the unlucky number 13, and that most people nowadays do not take this superstition very seriously.
In the past we even made buildings without the 13th floors, which sounds pretty crazy (strange) to me because this all happened before my time (I was born).
Whenever Friday is on the 13th, I like to think that something exciting or different might happen. But it is usually just an average (normal) day!
To read more about Friday the 13th go here.
Linda starts her new job
Jun 11th
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Linda has started her new job and meets one of her new colleagues. What can you say when you meet someone new? It is the best time to make a first impression, so let’s listen to what Alice and Linda talk about here.
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Linda: Nice to meet you too.
Alice: So, how do you like everything around here? Do you like the job so far?
Linda: Yeah, but there sure is a lot to learn.
Alice: Yeah, don’t get discouraged, though. When I first started working here, I found it tough too. It just gets easier, and, after a while, you’d say a monkey could do it.
Linda: That’s good to know. What exactly do you do here?
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast
Hot and muggy (slang terms for the heat)
Jun 9th
Canadians generally like to talk about the weather. We complain about the cold, cold winters and we whine about hot summers. It’s a pretty varied climate in this country. In the winter, even in the southern part of Canada, it can be -30 °C (-22 °F)!
This weekend summer arrived in Montreal! And it sure was hot and muggy (humid). Everyone was sticky (wet from the heat). The temperature went up to a sweltering (very hot) 32 °C.
We recorded some podcasts for you and we needed to shut the windows and turn off fans to keep the noise out. It was boiling! (very hot, water boils at 100°C)
Weather forecasts say that this year we will have a scorcher (a really hot summer).
What is the weather like where you are?
Food Idioms
Jun 7th
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Here we tried something new! We looked at one category of idioms: food. We discuss hearing something through the grapevine and spilling the beans. We hope this episode is your cup of tea!
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Robin: Well, one year my dad was buying something very special for my mom for their anniversary and I asked my mom if she knew about it because I didn’t know it was a secret.
Maura: Right.
Robin: So I spilt the beans…
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast
The California Raisins – I heard it through the Grapevine
Jun 7th
This post goes along with our Catch Word episode about idioms that use food. It will be posted later this week!
I really like this video because it makes me reminisce about when I was a kid. (to reminisce is to think about your past and have a positive feeling)
Below is a video is from the late 80’s. It is a commercial for California raisins that became really popular when it was playing. The song is called “I heard it through the Grapevine” and is originally by Marvin Gaye.
To find out what “I heard it through the grapevine” means listen to the new Catch Word podcast soon!
Of all the podcasts with 'real world' English examples, I like yours the best. Maybe its the fun you put into the lessons. The students can here that in your voices. And they also feel your dedication to what you are doing - it's just not a job you do, but a gift you give to everyone who listens. And while the students like the Lipservice PDFs for all the information it contains, as a teacher I am impressed by the professional effort put into making them. I give the Culips podcast and the Culips crew my highest recommendation, both as a teacher, and a listener. 
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