Peace by Chocolate is a movie that tells the story of a Syrian family who found community, and re-built their lives and business in Canada. It's a beautiful movie that shows how difficult it is to leave your home country and start all over again.

It's a great movie to practice your English listening!

My friend Emma, and a group of her friends in Toronto, sponsored a family from Syria in 2017, and she joins me in this intermediate English conversation to share that experience and tell us about how the family is doing today.

We recorded this episode before the horrific earthquake in Syria and Turkey earlier this month. Now, as in 2017, there are people who will need to relocate and rebuild their lives. Let's do all we can to help them.

I hope today's English conversation and the movie Peace by Chocolate will help you understand better what it's like to be a refugee, and how empathy and community can help.

I dedicate this episode to everyone who has re-built their lives. You are brave and heroic.

My Instagram feed is full of ads showing beautiful bouquets of flowers, and delicate, tasty chocolates and desserts. Pink and red everywhere. I like flowers and chocolates, but I don't really like Valentine's Day.

So let's avoid it, and talk about "love languages" for our English listening practice today instead.

Have you heard of "love languages"?

I hadn't until I read a funny news story about them a year ago. I've included the link to it below, as well as a quiz you can take to figure out your love language.

I wonder if it's easier to learn a love language than to pass the advanced English exam? LOL.

Today's episode is a shorter one, but I encourage you to listen a few times, and think about the topic and the language used.

Practice your English writing by taking some notes on your opinion of "love languages". Do you speak the same love language as your partner?

Whatever your love language is, my wish is that we are all generous with our love, today and every day.

Winterlude is a celebration of winter here in Ottawa, and with luck and good weather, it will take place in February. It's like a cold weather carnival! There are skating, hot chocolate, and ice sculpture competitions. But Canadians aren't the only people who experience and enjoy winter.

In this episode, I'll share my thoughts about winter in Ottawa, as well as some good advice from the Danish and Norwegians who are also experts in all things winter. What do you like about winter? How do you stay active and happy in these colder weeks of the year?

Winter can be difficult for some people, such as the elderly who find it hard to get around, and for many of the students I've taught over the years, who come from much warmer climates. And if winter is affecting your mental health, please talk to someone.

Hello everyone!

Today, I'm offering you something a little bit different. Here's an intermediate English conversation for you where you'll work hard at your listening practice.

My first guest is Dan Hay, the sound engineer and producer of the Hear You Go podcast.

Dan is an accomplished musician who plays in the band Amos the Transparent, the band responsible for the soundtrack to the podcast, a song called Change my Mind.

Dan is also a music teacher who owns his own music school called The Spark Music Academy He teaches at a local elementary school as well.

You'll hear us talk about:

• how we make the podcast

• music

• our approach to teaching

• how to motivate students

• how teachers stay energized

I hope you will hear the excitement we have about teaching and learning. Like Dan, I believe that learning English is your journey: I'm here to help you speak English the way you dream of speaking it, but you are the leading the way, not me. It's a partnership.

P.S. You might also hear my nephew bouncing a ball, and that's life! Some things just can't be (or shouldn't be) edited out :)