Month: June 2019
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How can grammar improve your summer work experience?
My students wandered in — late, fewer than usual, not as bright and bouncy as usual, but faithful to their weekly summer English class. “What are the advantages to working during the summer?”, I asked them, perhaps a little precociously. They looked at me like I was out of my mind, so I explained. “This […]
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3 Reasons to Savor the Summer Solstice
Got to admit it, I didn’t know much about the Summer Solstice. Yet the more I Googled, the more I learned, and the more I realized that this is a date to celebrate. 1. Summer has arrived! The word solstice comes from Latin and basically means the day the sun stands still (solstitium: sol – […]
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Have you connected today?
People matter. With those two words, American psychologist, Chris Peterson, summarized his life research on how to enable people to go from surviving to thriving, discovering and pursuing what really what makes life worth living for them. In the Huffington Post Canadian edition today, publishes a video with the astounding title: The most connected generation […]
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Disrupt the humdrum and go creative at the coffee machine!
You know the drill. You get to the office, leave your stuff at your desk, grab your coffee cup and head to the coffee machine. Then the conversation begins. Hey Charles! How are you? Oh, you know, busy usual. Or: Hey Laurence! How are you today! Not bad, you? Or: Good morning, Simon! How are […]
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Do you always need to have the last word?
Here’s one fancy way to do just that: use an epiphonema! What in the world is that? So glad you asked! According to Dictionary.com, an epiphonema is, and I quote, “a sentence that is an exclamation, a general or striking comment, or a succinct summary of what has previously been said“. In other word, it’s […]
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Do you believe in what you’re doing?
Why does it matter? More like: why doesn’t it matter? I was having a conversation with one of my adult sons about personal work choices. I suppose he was trying to figure out my mindset. It got me thinking. I realized that at some point I made a decision to only do work that I […]
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In Honour of Father’s Day
How many ways do you know how to say father in English? Three? Five? More?! I thought it would be à propos on this Father’s Day (note that it is Father’s, the day of father, as opposed to Fathers, plural, the day of/for fathers) to write a post on that precise question, and perhaps provide […]
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From Arrested Development to Attested Development: 3 Simple Ways to Get Back on Track
“You come to the gym more than the average member”, the gym employee commented. “Wow! Really? Thanks for the encouragement!”, I responded, feeling dissatisfied with myself all the same. “I guess the problem”, I thought, as I drove home,” is that I’m not seeing any progress”. In fact, after a very cold winter which […]
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Need a shot of chutzpah?
I’m thinking I sure do! Chutzpah is that zingy Hebrew word that means gall, effrontery and sometimes outrageous audacity. It’s the stuff that entrepreneurs, politicians and every-day go-getters have loads of. What does it look like? How about not taking no for an answer, daring to ask why when everyone else is frozen in stunned […]
CLAIRE MARIA FORD 