What do the winter holidays smell like to you?

Do you eat something special over the holidays?

I just spent last weekend making latkes with a friend who celebrates Hanukkah. I also recently made tourtière. Have you ever heard of it? It's a French word that means meat pie in English.

Listen here to learn more about this French-Canadian specialty, and when you’re done, send me a message about the foods you eat during the holidays. You can contact me on my website: English with Catherine.

If you like to cook, why not read recipes in English to practice your reading in English? Or watch cooking videos to practice your English listening?

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram where I share some language used in the podcast: definitions of vocabulary, the meaning of expressions, as well as tips for listening to all those sounds in English that are messy and hard to hear.

I will love Taylor Swift until I die. In fact, I want her music playing at my funeral. I'm not kidding. That woman saved my family.

In 2020 and 2021, her voice and music filled our home and soothed our pain. This is a very personal episode, kind of a love story. But, it's also about the English language. It's about English grammar. It's about how verb tense and time in English are flexible.

Taylor Swift's music is not only beautiful, but her lyrics are great tools for practicing English listening and reading. You can learn a lot about how to speak (sing!) English and how to write in English if you listen to her music and notice the language she uses.

Do you want to know more? Check out the full post.

Thanks for listening!

The famous children's writer, Dr. Seuss, wrote that "A person's a person no matter how small". He liked kids and treated them with respect. Kids are people, just small people.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is 33 years old, and it was created to make sure that governments around the world treat children as people with human rights.

In this episode, I'll share a little history about the convention, and why it was and is necessary, as well as some good news that I hope will inspire us to keep working and make life better for all kids.

Thanks for listening. Can I ask a favour? I would love it if you followed or subscribed to the podcast and left a review. You can listen here on Podbean, or on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Share it with your friends to help grow our listening community.

Remember that transcripts and extra materials are available on my website: English with Catherine. Sign up for the newsletter to never miss an episode or transcript.

I taught beginner and intermediate English in libraries for many years. I loved connecting in English to people from all over the world who were learning to speak English and start a new life in the USA and Canada.

That's reason number one why I love libraries. Libraries offer English language courses. They also offer millions of books to read in English and movies for you to watch to practice listening in English.

Do we still need libraries though when the internet can give us information, entertainment, and English language courses on our phones and computers?

Yes, yes, yes! Listen and find out why libraries are amazing and more than just places to get books.

Thanks for listening! Please follow the podcast and leave a review.