Learn English with Bob the Canadian

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase a shot in the arm. Now, when you say something is a shot in the arm, this is a good thing. When something is a shot in the arm, it means something happened that gave you a lot of energy and excitement to do something.
The best example I can think of is this. If you are watching a soccer game or a football game, and if the team is down by two and if they score one, that can be a real shot in the arm, they are now excited and ready to try and get one more goal.
So a shot in the arm is something that helps. If you have a business and suddenly someone buys a whole bunch of things from you that can be a real shot in the arm because it's going to help you improve your business. The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is a shot in the dark.
When you say something is a shot in the dark, it is a guess. So if you said to me, what's 8,000 divided by 4,000? And if I didn't know math, I might say, I don't know, like shot in the dark, like 2000. So a shot in the dark is simply a guess, and hopefully you are right.
So to review a shot in the arm, I think it comes from, like, getting a needle of medicine or something like that. That's probably the image that comes to mind, but it actually means something that gives you excitement and energy to do something. And a shot in the dark is when you make a guess at something, you just say, okay, how many people live in this town?
I don't know. I would say just a shot in the dark. Maybe 9,000. It's probably way more than that. But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Carolina, or Carolina, I'm not sure how to pronounce it. What a beautiful day.
And my response, it certainly was. We've been having quite a few nice days like this. You'll see that in today's video as well. So thanks, thanks, Carolina or Carolina for that comment. We have been having amazing weather, like, amazing weather.
I don't know how else to describe it. It has been about 20 degrees every day. It has been about 10 degrees at night. And it has been sunny for days on end. Like for a week, over a week now. It has been sunny and we really need that.
Farmers here are struggling a bit to get their crops planted. It has been too cold and definitely far too wet. And so that's been a problem. And so even for myself.
It's June 2nd as I record this video. This year I'm planning to grow soybeans. And normally they would be planted in the ground already. My neighbor usually comes and plants them, but so far nothing. So anyways, yes, beautiful weather.
I hope it stays this way. So I think someone had a little bit of an accident here. You can see they have the orange, like, really big pylon here. And you can see the guard rail is quite damaged. One of the support posts is bent over and it looks like someone really hit this hard.
It's even dented a little bit further down there. So I'm not sure exactly what happened here. But, since I'm in this area, I usually try to explain, what I'm seeing and use a couple new words and phrases for you. So that is a guardrail.
It's wrecked. It's totally destroyed almost. They'll have to fix that later. And then I'd also... I also wanted to show you this. This sign is getting a little dated. It's getting a little old because it says you can buy a townhouse for $300,000.
And obviously it does say sold out, so you can't buy them anymore. But you can't buy a house in this part of Ontario, Canada, for that much money. It's, usually four or five hundred thousand dollars now. Anyways, thanks for watching this short English lesson. I'll see you next week with another one.

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In this English lesson you'll learn common everyday English phrases that native English speakers use all the time! In this free English class, you'll learn practical expressions for everyday situations and places around town, including the grocery store, coffee shop, gas station, bank, post office, pharmacy, convenience store, park, gym, library, and more.
I'll help you learn natural English phrases such as "to pick up a few things," "to grab a coffee," "to fill up your car," "to make a deposit," "to pick up a prescription," "to find a parking spot," "to work out," "to borrow a book," and many others. These are the kinds of expressions you'll hear in daily conversations with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors.
I hope you enjoy this English lesson and that these everyday English phrases help you feel more confident in your next English conversation!

In this English lesson, I'll help you learn how the prefix un- changes the meaning of many English words by creating their opposites. You'll learn useful vocabulary pairs such as happy and unhappy, safe and unsafe, locked and unlocked, finished and unfinished, and many more.
In this free English class, we'll explore how the prefix un- is used in everyday English. Through clear explanations, real-life examples, and lots of pictures, you'll learn how these opposite word pairs are used in conversations and how they can help expand your English vocabulary.
In this lesson, you'll learn words such as: happy, unhappy, safe, unsafe, locked, unlocked, cooked, uncooked, wrapped, unwrapped, tied, untied, folded, unfolded, plugged in, unplugged, healthy, unhealthy, lucky, unlucky, comfortable, uncomfortable, balanced, unbalanced, clear, unclear, equal, unequal, acceptable, unacceptable, able, unable, certain, uncertain, common, uncommon, known, unknown, popular, unpopular, true, untrue, wise, unwise, selfish, unselfish, hurt, and unhurt.
I hope you enjoy this English lesson about opposites and the prefix un-!

In this English lesson I’ll help you learn how we use the phrase “before and after” when talking about change over time. We often use it when comparing an older photo with a newer one to show how a person, place, or thing has transformed. In this free English class you’ll learn vocabulary and phrases connected to change, improvement, progress, and transformation.
In this English lesson we’ll talk about things like dandelions, home renovations, getting in shape, losing weight, restoring cars, cleaning and decluttering, empty spaces being transformed, personal growth, raising children, and many other everyday topics.
I hope you enjoy this English lesson about Before and After!

Read along to learn the English phrases TO BE IN FREE FALL and FREE AS A BIRD