English
English is a ridiculous language
June 19, 2023By: Daniel Salcedo Rubio, Features Editor English is an absurd language. There, I said it. For me, it was relatively easy to reach a conversational level, but English has some random pronunciation rules which . . . don’t make sense? A week ago, in one of The Peak’s pitch meetings, I had an ESL (English as a second language) moment. All my life I’ve been pronouncing “minestrone soup” as mine-strown, you know, like how you would pronounce “Minecraft” (mine-kraft). Apparently, it’s pronounced mi-nuh-strow-nee — how on earth is my Latino ass supposed to know that? I know, don’t even begin,…
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Being an Asian immigrant in Canada
June 7, 2021by Nancy La, Staff Writer One of the few memories l have from first immigrating to Canada was my sister teaching me the English alphabet. We had just landed in YVR less than 12 hours before and we were both jet-lagged,…
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The haunting of all the books I have bought but never read: a memoir
January 23, 2021By: Kyla Dowling, Staff Writer I can feel them watching me. The clown on the cover of It by Stephen King, the main character of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina . . . Their eyes follow me as I enter my…
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SFU students and alumni create program to aid ESL learning
September 10, 2020Written by: Karissa Ketter, News Writer SFU students and alumni teamed up to create CommuniCreate, a program that supports immigrant and refugee youth aged 10–17 learn English, become involved in the community, and exercise life skills in a safe space…
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Shakespeare is more torment than tranquility in an introductory class
November 9, 2019By: Michelle Young, SFU Student Whether or not Shakespeare should be taught in schools is often widely debated. Many maintain that Shakespearean sonnets and plays are indispensable pieces of English literature, as their themes remain timeless. Others argue that Shakespeare’s works…
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SFU Senators discuss admission cut-offs, finances
September 20, 2018Written by: Srijani Datta, Assistant News Editor On September 10, SFU Senate met for the first session of the fall semester this year. As the academic governance of SFU rests with its senate, the session focussed on issues that…
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Seven-Minute Majors: Find out what SFU students like about their majors (part one)
September 17, 2018By: Tessa Earnshaw, Michelle Gomez (Staff Writer), Amneet Mann (News Editor), Gabrielle McLaren (Features Editor) and Nathaniel Tok Engineering This major is going to help you become the nerd you always knew you could be. If you’re anything like me, you…
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SFU researchers investigate how technology can be used in healthcare
May 24, 2018By: Nathaniel Tok, Peak Associate SFU computer science professor uses data mining to improve healthcare SFU Computer Science professor Martin Ester is using data to help prevent adverse drug reactions (ADRs), such as death and disabilities, in patients undergoing…
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POINT / COUNTERPOINT: Should SFU’s English department focus less on white male authors?
June 13, 2016Yes, English requirements should shift to focus on more diverse literature. By Emily Seitz, SFU Student On June 1, Alison Flood published an article in The Guardian exploring a petition put forth by undergraduate students at Yale University. The petition…
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TA successfully bluffs way through seminar without doing any of the readings
January 26, 2015Proving yet again that just because something’s a “required reading” doesn’t mean you actually have to read it, a teaching assistant in SFU’s English department coasted through last Monday’s 8:30 a.m. seminar to a somewhat satisfying degree. “It’s really not…
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