How to Use This Website | That Other English

This website is about Canada and Canadian English for ELLs (English Language Learners) as an alternative to American or British English. English is the native language and first language of the vast majority of Canadians and is one of two official languages in Canada, the other being French. Canada is a safe country to visit for vacation or homestay. Most people worldwide think Canadian spoken English is easy to understand without the extreme pronunciation of some English-speaking countries.

Although this website concentrates mainly on reading comprehension and listening comprehension of the English language, there will also be posts on grammar, vocabulary, and any other aspects of the English language to aid you, the English Language Learners, in your studies.

Below is the suggested strategy for studying the posts on this website to improve your reading and listening comprehension in English. Note that these guidelines are only suggestions. Feel free to modify this process to make it easier or more understandable. However, follow this process step by step for maximum efficiency and maximum use of your time.

Title

In this section, concentrate on the title of the essay only!
Do you understand the meaning of the title?
Are you familiar with this topic in your native language?
Think about what you already know about this topic.
Are you interested in this topic?
Do you have an opinion on this topic?
Could you talk about this for 5 minutes in your native language?
Would you like to know more about this topic, or is this just for study purposes?
Are you already familiar with some of the vocabulary?
What can you tell about the tone or feeling of this essay from the title?
Is it a “for information only” article, or is it for entertainment
Is it serious, or is it humorous?
Does it express an opinion?

Subtitles

Do you understand the meaning of the subtitles?
Can you start to see the direction of the essay?
Can you imagine the writer’s feelings or opinions about the topic?

Photos, Tables, Etc. (Anything Other Than Text)

Are they relevant to the essay or only filler content?
Do they add to the article or distract from it?
If you close your eyes, can you see the story begin to develop in

The Text

Skim the essay from beginning to end once. You should now be very familiar with what the article is about.
Now read the essay slowly, thinking about any words or phrases you don’t completely understand. Try to think of what the words might mean from the context. If you are still unsure of the vocabulary, skip it and continue reading.
Now try to read the essay out loud at native-speaker speed as you would in your native language. If you stumble, that’s fine. You will get better. Reading out loud helps you get a feel for the phrasing of the language.

The Audio

Listen to the audio once through without looking at the text. Listen only! Think about what you heard. Did it seem too fast? Could you understand most of it?
Listen to the audio again, following along silently, looking at the text. Could you understand all of it?
Listen to the audio again and read the text out loud with the audio. Could you keep up reading along with the text out loud?

Questions and Answers

Remember that these questions are to see if you understood the text, but they are only for fun.

Look at the questions and try to answer them from memory.
If you don’t remember, look at the text to find the answer.
Once you have attempted to answer all the questions, click on “Answer” to see the answers.

Vocabulary

Any word highlighted in blue in the text is in the vocabulary list.

All definitions are directly from the Canadian Oxford Dictionary – Second Edition.

At the end of each word definition, the blue is my attempt to simplify the meaning in the context of this essay.

Summary

Again, this website is for English Language Learners. The above is a suggestion of how to study these posts. Please follow this order. However, you can repeat any of the steps as needed. Don’t think you must repeat the whole process in one sitting. Do this at your own pace and consider what feels comfortable for you.