Learn English with Bob the Canadian

Bob the Canadian

If you want to learn English you've come to the right place. I'm Bob the Canadian and I make videos on Youtube (Just search for "Bob the Canadian" on Youtube!) as well as podcasts right here to help you learn English. Each week I teach a lesson and I host a question and answer session about the English language. During these sessions I will my best to answer as many questions as I can that you have about the English language!

  1. 4d ago

    Learn the English Phrases "there's something to be said for" and "that having been said"

    Read along to learn the English phrases THERE'S SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR and THAT HAVING BEEN SAID / THAT BEING SAID In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "There's something to be said for," and then after that phrase, you mention something. There's something to be said for exercise. It really makes you feel good. So when you use this phrase, you're about to say something positive about something. There's something to be said for free education. It creates better citizens in your country. There's something to be said for sunshine and a nice warm day. It makes people happy. So when you say there's something to be said for, you're going to say something positive about something. The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase "that having been said." This is where you introduce kind of like a contrasting opinion. So even though there's something to be said for exercise, it's really really good. That having been said, sometimes you can injure yourself. So you see how I talked about the positive part of exercise. And then I use this phrase to introduce something that's a little bit negative about it. The sunshine is amazing. That being said, though, if I stand out here too long, I'll probably get a sunburn. So to review, when you say there's something to be said for, you're about to say something positive about the thing that you mentioned right after that phrase. And then when you say that having been said, you're about to introduce something that is in contrast or the opposite of what you've just said or even something negative. But hey. Let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Konstantin. Nice to see you alive and kicking as always. Never say never, eh? As for the preference for used vehicles over new ones, it makes sense nowadays with mass production soaring and quality plummeting. I'm longing for old quality standards. Nice to see you alive and kicking as always, and thanks a lot for your efforts. And my response, I agree. There is definitely something to be said for the durability of old vehicles. In the 70s, we had a Mercury Marquee and it was built like a tank. So, I used the phrase there in my response. Did you see that? And then you learned a new phrase there: built like a tank. When you say something is built like a tank, it means that it's built really, really well. And I could also use the other phrase. I could say, that being said, about older vehicles, they were gas guzzlers. There's another phrase for you, which I think most of you know. They definitely used a lot of gas. So, anyways, thanks, Konstantin, for that comment. You might be wondering where I am. Well, I am outside my gym. You can see it in the background behind me. I don't want to go too close because people want their privacy, and you're not actually allowed to film in the gym, which makes sense. I actually like the fact that you can't film in the gym. I... I would... I prefer going to gyms where people aren't making videos, although I do think I took a little selfie there. So I said this was my gym. That's not exactly true. I am a member of what's called the YMCA, and I usually go to one in the town of Welland. But today I had to bring one of my other kids to work because our car is in the garage, and so I am in the town of... Well, I would say Grimsby, but we're kind of right on the border between Grimsby and Beamsville, and so I went to this Y. And the cool thing is, my membership works at any Y, I think in the world probably. Okay, don't quote me on that. I'm pretty sure my membership works at any Y in Ontario, Canada, and quite possibly any YMCA in the entire world. By the way, we refer to the YMCA by just saying the Y. It's kind of a short and easy way to mention it. So I'm a little further away now. There was a man looking at me outside the window. I'm not sure he was too happy. What does the Y have? It has a walking track. It has a pool. It has machines...

    Learn the English Phrases "there's something to be said for" and "that having been said"
  2. Aug 12

    Learn the English Phrases "almost never" and "hardly ever"

    In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase almost never. When you say that you do something almost never, it means you do do it. I just used the word do two times in a row. That's kind of a funny thing with the English language, isn't it? You do do that thing, but just not very often. I'm in a town today called Beamsville. And I almost never come to this town. None of my kids work in this town. No one that I am related to lives in this town. I don't have any friends in this town. And so I almost never come here. So that doesn't mean I never come here. I do come here every once... come here every once in a while. I'm here today because a family member had an appointment and they asked if I could drive them to it. So I brought them to their appointment, and now I have to wait an hour before they are done. But I almost never come to this town. The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is hardly ever, which means exactly the same thing. I hardly ever come to this town. That doesn't mean that I don't come here once or twice a year, but I hardly ever come to this town. I'm sure there's things in life where you could use both of these phrases. So let's review. When you almost never do something, it means you do it rarely. And when you hardly ever do something, it means that you rarely do it. Right now, I hardly ever eat sugar. Added sugar. I almost never eat added sugar, which it sounds like that's like this amazing thing I'm doing. But I've only done it for like two weeks. It's not that impressive yet. But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Rosario. Hi, Bob. I am happy you notice our skills are improving. I want to highlight your lessons are rather short, efficient, and relaxing. That is why most of us improved a lot over the time. And my response. I'm happy to hear that you appreciate the length and the tone. I try to teach, but also show. I think that helps. So thank you, Rosario, for that comment. Yeah, I try to teach and I try to show. I have to admit, I haven't been getting out as much as I would like to for these little English lessons. Today it is nice to be out and about. Right now, I'm walking in front of what we would call a car dealership. It is a GM Dealership, and I think it sells mostly used cars and trucks. You can See, here they have some nice shiny cars lined up ready for people to buy. I have to say, though, in my family, we hardly ever buy new vehicles. Like me and my siblings or my siblings and I. Sorry. Sorry about that. My siblings and I hardly ever buy brand new vehicles. We almost always buy used vehicles. So, yeah, we almost never buy new. I do know that my sister, I think bought a new vehicle once. But, yeah, we hardly ever buy brand new vehicles. But someday maybe I'll do that. I don't know. Maybe someday I'll buy a brand new vehicle. But we'll just have to wait and see how well the current vehicles keep running. I'm sure you probably want a bit of a bigger view. So here's the car dealership. In the distance, there's just... I think there's some farms across the road. There is a subdivision. In English, we would call that a subdivision. A grouping of houses kind of all in one spot, where people enjoy their lives. But it looks a little crowded to me. Being from the country, whenever I see a subdivision, I feel like it looks a little bit crowded, but it probably isn't. Anyways, thanks for watching this short English lesson. I hope you were able to learn a couple new little English phrases that you can use in your next conversation. And I'll leave you with a view of all of these cars ready to be purchased and driven all over Ontario, Canada. Anyways, Bye. See you next week.

    Learn the English Phrases "almost never" and "hardly ever"
  3. Aug 5

    Learn the English Phrases "to hit the ground running" and "to throw your hat in the ring"

    Read along to learn the English phrases TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING and TO THROW YOUR HAT IN THE RING In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to hit the ground running. When you're about to do something, if you are completely prepared and you have lots of energy and you're ready to do it, we say that you are ready to hit the ground running. We always want students to be ready to hit the ground running on the first day of school. When they come to class, we want to make sure they have pens and pencils and a binder and paper to write on. And then we give them their textbook so that their school year can go really, really well. If they come prepared, we would say they're ready to hit the ground running. The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase to throw your hat in the ring. A few towns away from here, not the town where I sometimes shoot videos, the one where Jen has market, right now, people are running for mayor. If I lived in that town, I might decide to throw my hat in the ring. You could decide to throw your hat in the ring if you are interested in being part of the election process and hopefully people will vote for you and then you will become mayor. So when you throw your hat in the ring, it doesn't always have to be a political thing, but it means to volunteer or allow your name to be, included in something like a vote for a new mayor. So to review, to hit the ground running means to be completely prepared and ready to do something. If you're going to sit down and learn English tonight, in order to hit the ground running, then make sure your phone is charged or your laptop is charged. Make sure you have a pen and a piece of paper to take notes on. You'll be ready to hit the ground running. And maybe in your local town, they need a new mayor or maybe you want to, be the leader of your country. In that case, you should throw your hat in the ring so that people know you are interested in doing that. But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. The comment might relate to the phrases I just taught. This is from Unsal. Thank you for another wonderful video and for all the great phrases you teach us since you often tell us you're awesome, which has become my favorite go to phrase as well. I immediately thought of you when I heard Bryan Adams new song, you're awesome from his Toughtown album. While listening to it, I noticed two phrases that I wasn't quite sure about. To hit the ground running and to put your hat in the ring. Whenever you have a moment, I'd be so Grateful if you could share a quick explanation or an example for them. No problem. Thanks as always for your great energy and have a wonderful day. You're awesome. Bye. And my response, those are great phrases to learn. I will definitely keep them in mind for a future video. So it's kind of like time travel now. If you're like, what are those phrases? Well, if you rewind and go to the beginning of the video, you can see me teach them. Once again. Thanks, Unsal, for that comment. That's very awesome. Bit of a long comment, but I do like how many of you are improving your English writing over time. I actually do notice for some of the regular people commenting that over the last four or five years on this channel, your writing has become better and better. So good job, Unsal. Hey, guess what happened after the live stream last week. Actually, the day after the live stream, it rained quite a bit. And so the river is actually a little bit bigger than it normally is. So normally the river is quite a bit smaller way in the distance. It's probably hard to see. I do have some soybeans underwater. About an acre of soybeans is underwater. And if you look across, you can kind of see some grass sticking out on the neighbor's field.

    Learn the English Phrases "to hit the ground running" and "to throw your hat in the ring"
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About

If you want to learn English you've come to the right place. I'm Bob the Canadian and I make videos on Youtube (Just search for "Bob the Canadian" on Youtube!) as well as podcasts right here to help you learn English. Each week I teach a lesson and I host a question and answer session about the English language. During these sessions I will my best to answer as many questions as I can that you have about the English language!

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