Hear You Go

Today's listening practice episode explores the different ways people are choosing to live, and by that I mean where they live and who they live with. In a sense, it's also about the communities we build. At a time when the cost of buying or renting a home is very expensive, and when many people are suffering from loneliness, should we consider other living arrangements? Let's explore some new tre...

Hear You Go podcasts are AWESOME, aren't they?   We use the adjective "awesome" a lot these days, maybe too much. It comes from the noun awe.    What is awe, and why should we try to put more awe in our lives? Should we wait for awe, or can we go out and find it?    We'll explore these questions in today's English Listening episode, and learn more about the topic of awe. The study of awe is new, b...

Who doesn’t want to be empathetic? Isn't it a good thing to be kind and generous? Don't we all aspire to be more empathetic? Imagine my surprise when I came across a video that argued against empathy!  One of the teachers in my Pronunciation for Teachers Course had a similar reaction to mine: she too was surprised by the argument that empathy might not always be a good thing. So let’s explore this...

You know I love winter, but it was a very long and snowy one this year, and I've been waiting and waiting to see spring flowers. Today, I talk to a flower farmer!   Simegn Mengesha, the owner of King's Creek Blossoms, joins me in this intermediate English conversation. We talk about her journey to become a flower farmer, as well as the challenges she confronts in order to offer her beautiful flowe...

Books: They might be my favourite things to talk about. Is there really a day to celebrate books? Yes, there is, and it's coming up on April 23rd. In order to celebrate this day, I thought we'd talk about reading, why it's important in general, but specifially for learning English and boosting our advanced English through vocabulary and other expressions. I'll also ask if it matters whether we rea...

Sorry. Mum. Pasta. These are three words I don't pronounce in English the same way my New Jersey friends do. My Canadian friends say them like I do, but my French Canadian friends say them a little differently. Accents are everywhere, and they're not something to be ashamed of. Not at all.  Accents can be a controversial topic, and by that I mean they're related to the issue of native-speakerism....

If you open a book about trees or google "maple trees", you will see that there are many varieties of this tree. In fact, there are over 100 different species of maple around the world, and in Canada, we have about 10 of those species.   What's the most important one? The most famous one? For us in Canada, I'd say yes, it's the sugar maple, the one that gives us that delicious liquid gold we call...

Fearless Girl. Do you know about her? She's about 4 feet tall and 250 pounds. She's a tiny sculpture who made a huge splash, a big impact, in March of the year 2017. I adore her, and fully endorse and support the message she sends about the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of young women. Of course, I do! I'm a woman and the mother of a daughter. I'm a feminist because who doesn't support the equal...

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,...

Roses and chocolates? 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 fu...

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 a...

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 s...

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...

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.   Ta...

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...

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 lis...

So I lived in New Jersey for over 20 years, and let me assure you that there are many different ways of speaking English in The Garden State. In this episode, I share some of my family's favourite things about the state we called home for many years. It's not a typical travel guide because it's personal. I'll also share some of the ways the locals could tell I was Canadian: it had everything to do...

Jeans. Classic, blue, denim pants. I love my jeans. What about you? Question: Do you speak English like an American when you wear your Levi's? Jeans are kinda like English: they're made all over the world, in different styles and colours. Some are more traditional, some are more stylish, and some are basic. English too is a global product, spoken in different styles, and some is more colourful tha...

The key to a happy life is not speaking perfect English. The key to having a happy and healthy life is to have friends and close relationships. What do we do when we move to another city or country, and we have to learn to speak English and try to make new friends, and, and, and...? How can we make friends as an adult when our lives are SO full and busy?  In this episode of Hear You Go, we'll thin...

How many friends do most people have? Why is it important to have friends? What is a good friend? These are some of the questions we will explore in this intermediate English listening episode of Hear You Go. Sign up to my newsletter to access the transcript for free.    Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherineangus_hearyougo/ For more information, see my website: https://www.en...

The most passionate chef I've ever heard talk about tomatoes is Chef Jose Andreas. He expresses his passion in his beautiful English. His confidence and passion inspired this episode. So, let me ask you: do you like gazpacho? Did you know that there are many different varieties of gazpacho? Is there a regional food where you come from that people feel strongly about?    In today's episode, we'll l...

Summer is the season of professional baseball in North America. Today, you'll hear about a team in Mexico that is winning games and changing minds. I'm a big fan of these players, and I hope you will be too! Get the transcript and Extra materials when you visit my website and sign up for my newsletter at English with Catherine. Follow me on Instagram. Music by Amos the Transparent: https://www.amo...

In episode 1, learn about me, and why listening is an important skill to practice, how learning to listen better can help you improve your English and give you more confidence to speak English.