CBC Marketplace Looks at Canada’s Worst Customer Service

Long checkout lines, difficult-to-find salespeople, and unfriendly customer service rank among Canadians’ biggest pet peeves when it comes to retail service, according to a poll done for CBC Marketplace. The show, which begins its new season on Jan. 6 with a one-hour special, asked Canadians about their experiences — both positive and negative — with […]

Toronto Hotel Blames Guest for Bad Internet

Last week I was honoured to have a client fly in to Toronto all the way from Paris, France to do a week of intensive communication coaching with me. It was her first time in Toronto and so I was more than happy to recommend some places to see, some restaurants to go and a […]

Buy a Poppy, Wear a Poppy – Remember

wear a poppy over your heart! You will see many people wearing a plastic Poppy (red flower) on their lapel (collar) these days (Nov 1st – 11th), in Canada, the UK and maybe some parts of the U.S.A. November 11th is Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day in the US) and it is time to remember the […]

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Halloween is almost upon us! I would like to take this opportunity to remind all the ESL readers of this blog that even though we focus on speaking English better the blogs’ focus is also on learning and understanding culture.  Why?  Because as I have said many times as an ESL teacher, business […]

Canadian employers want ‘ethnic’ applicants to do more than study

Hello Readers, I’ve been preaching for years the value of interpersonal skills and understanding cultural expectations when immigrants and foreign workers are looking for a job in Canada.  I’ve met people who think that they will get a job solely based on their impressive education and overseas work experience, as it would be in their […]

Do You Prefer the Staff to be Nameless or Individuals?

My wife and I recently went to Summerhill Spa to redeem our freebie (mentioned below), and the first thing I should get out of the way is that the 90-minute hot stone therapy massages were great and we were satisfied.  We tipped well to show our gratitude. The one thing my wife and I both […]