Whenever we learn something new like a language, making mistakes is part of the process. What is the difference between a mistake and an error in language learning? How do language teachers help learners correct their mistakes? Why don’t the people around us correct us when we make a mistake? Join Britta and Kelsey as they discuss these questions, and offer advice and suggestions to help us make the most out of our mistakes. Language teachers may also be interested to learn more about the effectiveness of different types of feedback in the language classroom. 

This week, our guest host is Kelsey Ulrich-Verslycken.  Kelsey fell in love with teaching English in 2013 when she moved to South Korea to teach English as a Foreign Language. Since then, she has worked as a teacher, a curriculum developer, an editor for EFL textbooks, and an assistant professor of English at a university in Seoul, completed her MA in Applied Linguistics, and is currently working with ACA and pursuing her PhD in Applied Language and Discourse Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

In our weekly recommendations, 

• Kelsey recommends forgiving yourself for making mistakes in the language you are learning. Try not to listen to your inner critic. 
• Britta recommends setting your digital assistant to communicate in the language you are learning. This will help you check your comprehensibility and pronunciation. Hola Siri! Bonjour Alexa!

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Here is some of the research we used in preparing the episode, if you want to read more about the research behind error correction: 

Li, Shaofeng. (2010). The Effectiveness of Corrective Feedback in SLA: A Meta‐Analysis. Language Learning. 60. 309 - 365. 

Lyster, R. and Saito, K. (2010) Interactional feedback as instructional input: A synthesis of classroom SLA research.  Language, Interaction and Acquisition, 1(2),  276 - 297

Mai, Zhou. (2009). Cooperative Principle in Oral English Teaching. International Education Studies. 2.

Nassaji, H. Anniversary article Interactional feedback in second language teaching and learning: A synthesis and analysis of current research. Language Teaching Research 20(4)

Sheen, Y. (2006). Exploring the relationship between characteristics of recasts and

learner uptake. Language Teaching Research 10, 361–392.

English and French have thousands of words in common - how can you tell which words have the same meaning in both languages, and which ones are false friends, words which look or sound the same, but have different meanings? Join Britta and Kimberly as they explore some of the similarities, and deceptive differences, between English and French. This week’s episode tackles verb tenses, parts of speech, and some essential business vocabulary! 

This week’s guest host is Kimberly Lamontagne. Kimberly studied psychology at Bishop’s University, and is originally from Baie-Comeau. She’s been part of the ACA team for the past three years. Her bilingual background has made her passionate about the topic of false friends. 

You can find visuals for this episode on Facebook, linked here. 

In this episode: 

Kimberly recommends the Great British Baking Show (also called the Great British Bake Off)  in order to learn some of the cooking terms which come into English from French. 

Britta recommends using the long winter nights to pursue your language learning, either with an evening class, or by pursuing one of your hobbies in the language you’re learning. If you’re interested in taking evening classes with ACA, you can find out more here. 

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Welcome to Season Two of Les Bons Mots! Join Britta and Taylor for a discussion of the business of language learning. How do successful organizations approach language training? Why does ACA invest in our instructors and our own made-in-Quebec curriculum? How has language training changed in the last decade, and what is next for language education and for ACA? 

This week’s guest host, Taylor ireland, is the president of ACA. Before he became president of ACA in 2009, Taylor travelled the world, worked as a second language instructor and studied finance. Find out how his experiences have shaped how ACA operates today. 

In this week’s episode, Taylor recommends the following resources for accessing business news in English: 

Business Insider

Inc. Magazine

CBC News | The National - CBC.ca

For those who would like to practice their English with a good comedy, Britta recommends the series Kim’s convenience, about a Korean-Canadian family living in Toronto. Taylor is planning to binge another great CBC series, Schitt’s Creek

Kim's Convenience - CBC.ca

Schitt's Creek - CBC.ca

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Explore language teaching with the Les Bons Mots Team, and get to know the creative team behind this project! What are some of the classroom activities we love to use? What challenges do our students face? What is our best language-learning advice, and what has teaching languages taught us? 

This week’s guest hosts are Lauren McIntosh and Nathan Elliott. Lauren has been teaching since 2014 and has taught English as a Second Language for the last three years.  She has a Master's degree in Linguistics from UWO and has recently finished her Ph.D. on communicative disorders in Alzheimer's Disease. Nathan has a Ph.D. in English Literature and has worked as a professor in Georgia in the US, on the island of Newfoundland, and in Montreal. Nathan has published creative non-fiction, fiction, research, and performed with the Montréal storytelling group Confabulation. Both Lauren and Nathan are part of the teaching team at ACA.

In this episode: 

Lauren recommends The Good Place, a charming comedy that she and her students use for present perfect practice. 

Nathan recommends the book Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, and if you are in the mood to hear colloquial English, the classic animated series The Simpsons.

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Do you attend meetings in French, or do you hope to attend them soon? Our French instructors and guest hosts Zoé Moamadi and Nicole Wirtz are here to help you, with some useful phrases to help you people who are learning French to participate in meetings. This week’s minisode is in French! 

Our guest hosts this week are Zoé Moamadi and Nicole Wirtz. Zoé has a master’s degree in visual arts from University Mark Bloch in Strasbourg, France, and has taught French to adults and teens. Nicole is from Belgium, and she has master’s degrees in sociology and adult education. She has taught French in private, university, and government contexts. Both Zoé and Nicole are French teachers at ACA. 

In our weekly vocabulary section, we look at a false friend, the verb rester/rest. Learn the difference between these words in English and French! 

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Are you learning French and intrigued by all of the differences between English and French? Our French language instructors, Nicole Wirtz and Zoe Moamadi, break down some of the key differences that students of French encounter. Join us, and practice your French listening skills, because this is the first French language episode of Les Bons Mots! 

Our guest hosts this week are Zoé Moamadi and Nicole Wirtz. Zoé has a master’s degree in visual arts from University Mark Bloch in Strasbourg, France, and has taught French to adults and teens. Nicole is from Belgium, and she has master’s degrees in sociology and adult education. She has taught French in private, university, and government contexts. Both Zoé and Nicole are French teachers at ACA. 

This week, Nicole recommends practicing your listening skills by watching short videos like Hélène se promène. Zoé recommends listening to Sympathique by Pink Martini, a fun song to practice your vocabulary and listening to. 

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Is that vegetable a courgette or zucchini? Are you looking for the lav or the restroom? Join Britta and Jeff as they discuss  regional varieties of English and the differences in some essential categories such as greetings, thank yous, washrooms, food and clothing.

This week's guest host is Jeffrey Smale. Jeffrey is a member of the teaching team at ACA, and since obtaining his CELTA teaching certificate has taught in Brazil and Quebec. He has learned some Russian, Bulgarian, German, Chinese, and more Portuguese, and is now learning French.

If you're interested in learning more about regional differences within Canada, here is a fun series of infographics which show some of the variety of Canadian English. 

For our vocabulary of the week, we look at the phrasal verb, “to wash up.” It's used differently in different parts of the English-speaking world!

You can find our blogs, videos and episode transcripts at lesbonsmots.ca Do you have questions or ideas for future episodes? Would you like to know more about language learning at ACA? We’d love to hear from you! You can reach us by email at [email protected].

Join Britta and Jeff as they discuss bilingualism, an important subject in the world of language learning. What does it mean to be bilingual? What are some of the misconceptions about bilingualism? They also discuss the physiological, social and financial benefits of bilingualism! 

Jeffrey Smale is a member of the teaching team at ACA, and since obtaining his CELTA teaching certificate has taught in Brazil and Quebec. He has learned some Russian, Bulgarian, German, Chinese, Portuguese and also French. 

In preparing this episode, we used information from a number of sources:

Bilingualism and Multilingualism by Jean-Marc Dewaele

Statistics Canada Linguistic diversity and multilingualism in Canadian homes:https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016010/98-200-x2016010-eng.cfm

CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/census-wednesday-language-1.4231213

BBC:https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160811-the-amazing-benefits-of-being-bilingual#:~:text=He's%20right.,language%20%E2%80%93%20South%20Africa%20has%2011.

Francois Grosjean: https://www.francoisgrosjean.ch/myths_en.html

Economic Advantages of Bilingualism (Canada): https://www.caslt.org/files/learn-languages/pch-bilingualism-lit-review-final-en.pdf

Psychology Today; https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/hide-and-seek/201807/beyond-words-the-benefits-being-bilingual

This week, Jeff recommends lyricstraining.com for a fun way to practice listening using music. Britta recommends trying a crossword puzzle to practice English vocabulary and general knowledge too! Here are some puzzles for different levels of English learner: 

Beginner and intermediate crossword puzzles for language learners: 

https://www.esolcourses.com/content/exercises/crosswords/crossword.html

http://iteslj.org/cw/

https://games.usatoday.com/games/easy-crossword/

Advanced crossword puzzles: 

https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

Join Britta and Chris to discuss how we can use technology to optimize language learning. Our hosts also provide you with suggestions for many great websites and apps (including ACA’s own online learning platform, Mindi) you can use to build your skills in many different languages. 

This week's guest host is Chris Ashton. Chris is an ESL Teacher at ACA and also a Psychology teacher at an English-speaking college in Quebec City, where he gives lectures on the development of language and first language acquisition. 

In the show, we discussed a lot of resources - here they are! 

ACA's online learning platform, Mindi

For reading, vocabulary and listening practice: Breaking News English,  News in Levels and CBC Learning English

For writing and grammar, take a  look at university websites: Gallaudet University, the Purdue Online Writing Lab and the University of Victoria ELC Study Zone

For pronunciation in many languages: Speechling

For general practice and vocabulary: Duolingo and Memrise

For better translation: Linguee For phrasal verbs, https:Using English

Other reputable sources for language practice: Frantastique (for French) , BBC Learning English (for English) 

For our vocabulary of the week, we look at the expression “to get down to business.” 

You can find our blogs, videos and episode transcripts at lesbonsmots.ca Do you have questions or ideas for future episodes? Would you like to know more about language learning at ACA? We’d love to hear from you! You can reach us by email at [email protected].

Join Britta and Chris as they talk about the stressful parts of language learning. What makes learning a language so stressful? What can we do as language learners (or language teachers) to reduce language-learning anxiety? Our hosts explore these questions in detail, and provide practical advice for ways to make language learning a positive, motivating experience.

This week's guest host is Chris Ashton. Chris is an ESL Teacher at ACA and also a Psychology teacher at an English-speaking college in Quebec City, where he gives lectures on the development of language and first language acquisition. 

In the show, we discussed 

• the sociocultural theory of language learning. Bonny Norton’s article Identity and Language Learning: Back to the Future was a useful resource in preparing for this episode. Alan Firth and Johannes Wagner are often referenced as pioneers of this theory as well, particularly their article On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research
• Life in Pieces, Chris’ recommendation for a comedy featuring short segments which are great for listening practice. 
• Britta has been learning French by watching Le Meilleur Pâtissier and recommends it for other French learners who love cooking! 

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected].