About Shaune Peebles

Shaune Peebles is a Canadian English teacher (and world traveller), with over 10 years' experience across Asia and Europe. Shaune discovered his teaching vocation in Guangzhou, where he worked for more than two years at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) and at the Wall Street Institute (among others), before moving to Italy with his wife in 2009. A long-time language trainer in Milan, he completed a certification in Curriculum Development Instructional Design from Mt. Royal University in 2016, and is currently working as a Customer Success Manager for Docebo.
Dic 18th, 2018

How to Write an Out of Office Reply

Shaune Peebles

Let’s cut to the chase, the last thing on your mind before vacation is putting up an auto-responder email. More often than not, your out of office message is likely an “Oh no!” moment after you’ve already left the office.

How to Write an Out of Office ReplyShaune Peebles
Dic 11th, 2018

English Onomatopoeias

Shaune Peebles

When we were younger, our parents and teachers used to tell us about the different sounds that various objects and animals produce. This is as simple as a game played with babies and toddlers that follows the sequence of “What sound does a blank make?” or “What does a blank say?”.

English OnomatopoeiasShaune Peebles
Nov 27th, 2018

Translations of Movie (and TV) Titles from English

Shaune Peebles

There’s a big difference between TV shows and movies; personally I’m much more of a TV guy. Movies are around 90min to 2hrs each, while TV shows are typically between 25 and 50min.

Translations of Movie (and TV) Titles from EnglishShaune Peebles
Nov 20th, 2018

Common Business English Idioms and Phrases

Shaune Peebles

We spend the week working 9 to 5 (though it feels like 24/7) burning the midnight oil and busting our butts for the man.

Common Business English Idioms and PhrasesShaune Peebles
Nov 13th, 2018

Overused words and what to say instead

Shaune Peebles

A few weeks back, we shared a post about “formal vs. informal emails”, and we can think of this as a bit of an extension on that, as the terms we’ll cover can be used in written just as easily as they can in spoken English.

Overused words and what to say insteadShaune Peebles
Ott 31st, 2018

What’s the deal with Halloween?

Shaune Peebles

From Witches to Draculas, to Princesses to Supermans, and even the odd Professional Athlete, the idea is pretty simple; dress up as something you like, take a bag of some kind (pillow cases worked well), and walk around to houses in the neighborhood and ask for candy.

What’s the deal with Halloween?Shaune Peebles
Ott 26th, 2018

Public Speaking in English – overcoming the fear

Shaune Peebles

For some people, speaking in public is the most terrifying thing they’ll need to do. There’s a legitimate medical term for this fear – glossophobia – and it can lead to symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, trembling, dizziness, sweating, nausea or vomiting, and just the general urge to get away.

Public Speaking in English – overcoming the fearShaune Peebles
Ott 8th, 2018

Slang of the Digital Natives

Shaune Peebles

I was 16 years old. It final year of senior school in 1994 and our science teacher took us all to the library and showed us “the internet”. There was one computer, and it took more than 3 minutes to connect to a boring page with some text on it.

Slang of the Digital NativesShaune Peebles
Lug 17th, 2018

Tongue Twisters

Shaune Peebles

Tongue twisters are silly poems that use very similar sounds. They’re especially popular with children, though it’s probably safe to say that there are a fair number of adults who enjoy them as well. They’re fun, they teach vocabulary, you can sound silly and nobody minds, and they illustrate the idea of alliteration.

Tongue TwistersShaune Peebles
Giu 14th, 2018

Best TV to learn UK/US English

Shaune Peebles

Once upon a time… there was a Canadian boy living in China. While he was there, he met the love of his life; a beautiful and smart and caring Italian girl who later became his wife. During the first months together, there were countless evenings watching cheap DVDs that they’d pick up from some street vendor for next to nothing.

Best TV to learn UK/US EnglishShaune Peebles