Lesson Archive

    1. Conversational English (General Interaction)
    2. Conversational English (Everyday situations
    3. Vocabulary
    4. Collocations
    5. Word families
    6. Idioms
    7. What's the difference?
    8. The Chunks of English
    9. How well do you know the word, ____?
    10. Grammar Points
    11. Spelling and Pronunciation
    12. Miscellaneous


      CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH (GENERAL INTERACTION)
    1. It's hot today, isn't it?
    2. I bet that must have been scary
    3. That sounds boring, you must have been bored
    4. I bet you did (A useful phrase in conversation)
    5. That was a great movie, wasn't it? / And wasn't the acting good?
    6. That was a great movie, wasn't it? / Hmm... I wasn't so impressed, myself.
    7. ..., isn't it? ..., can you? ..., don't you? / Question tags and Information tags
    8. Everybody does, don't they? / More about tags
    9. Talking about favours
    10. Have you ___ yet? (Questions you can ask in November)
    11. Have you ___ yet? / Have you ___ already? / Haven't you___ yet?
    12. You're not supposed to do that. (How do you use supposed to?) - Part One
    13. This is supposed to be... (How do you use supposed to?) - Part Two
    14. What did you... / Did you...? In conversation, questions often come in pairs
    15. Gambatte kudasai, have a good walk and have a nice weekend
    16. Don't you like cherry blossoms? - responding to negative questions
    17. I don't remember X, but I do remember Y. (Stressing the auxiliary do)
    18. It was a bit too long, though. (Using "____,though" in casual conversation)
    19. I hope you don't mind my asking, but... (How to ask and respond to personal questions)

          CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH (EVERYDAY SITUATIONS)
    1. Saying "no" to invitations - the gentle way.
    2. Inviting on the telephone
    3. More about invitations: (An example from British television)
    4. Do you mind if.../ Is it all right if...?
    5. Could you tell me when...? / Do you happen to know if...? (How to ask questions to strangers) Part One
    6. Could you tell me when...? / Do you happen to know if...? (How to ask questions to strangers) Part Two
    7. How to refuse permission politely (I'd rather you didn't)
    8. Conversation in a restaurant (Customer to customer)


      VOCABULARY

    1. I got very wet, absolutely drenched
    2. Words to be careful with: popular and play
    3. More words to be careful with: I'll send you to the station (and others)
    4. Birth, marriage, divorce and death.
    5. Man-to-man, virgin road: English made in Japan
    6. How do you use almost?
    7. Malaysian, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi: adjectives of nationality for Asian countries.
    8. Italian, French, Norwegian, Dutch: adjectives of nationality for European countries.
    9. A carton of milk, a loaf of bread (Some containers and partitives)
    10. News from North Korea and two special words.
    11. Tall, high, height / Heavy, weigh, weight.
    12. The same height as me / More on height, weight and age.
    13. What's the word? (A dictionary quiz)
    14. Draw, run, drive, throw, collect, pay (One word - many meanings)
    15. Bikkuri shita, benkyo ni narimashita, uso! (How do you say these phrases in English?)
    16. Four gairaigo words to be careful with (Department, apartment, document, note)
    17. What does the 'V' stand for? (Two special uses of stand)


      COLLOCATIONS
    1. Words that go together
    2. Bed and breakfast, fish and chips
    3. Heavy smoker, heavy schedule, heavy losses...Common collocations with heavy
    4. I broke my toys and tore my shirt
    5. Severe, terrible, cruel... how do you say hidoi?
    6. Take a break / take an exam (Take and toru are not always the same)
    7. It's expensive to ___ a car these days (Collocations with car)
    8. Jog my memory, lose your memory (Collocations with memory)
    9. How do you say kakeru in English? (A translation exercise)
    10. What's the mystery word? (1)
    11. What's the mystery word? (2)
    12. What's the mystery word? (3)

      WORD FAMILIES
    1. Silence, silent, silently (and other _____ence / ____ent) words
    2. She chose it / It's your choice
    3. I'm not a safety driver; I'm a safe driver
    4. I hope I didn't offend you (Phrases with offend, offensive, offence)
    5. Classical Music not Classic Music
    6. Gold Medal, golden retriever
    7. Violent - Violence; Independent - Independence
    8. Buddhism - Buddhist; Communism - Communist (-ism and -ist words)
    9. Stress, stressed, stressful
    10. (Robber - robbery; Shoplifter - shoplifting) Who's the criminal and what's the crime?


      IDIOMS
    1. Once in a blue moon (and other colourful idioms)
    2. Snow and Ice (Vocabulary, phrases and idioms)
    3. A bird in the hand is worth...(Some well-known English proverbs)
    4. A house-warming party, in the doghouse, a big household (Idioms related to house)


      WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
    1. I like chicken / I like chickens
    2. Hardly and hard?
    3. Listen and hear?
    4. A place which.../ A place where...
    5. Win, beat, lose
    6. Go to school / Go to "the" school
    7. Fit/Suit/Match/Go with/Look good
    8. Nobody likes it / Not everyone likes it
    9. Are you coming or are you going? (Come and go)

      THE CHUNKS OF ENGLISH

    1. as long as...
    2. (just) in case...
    3. What's the matter with...?
    4. can't help ....ing
    5. dying for... dying to...
    6. She stands a pretty good chance of winning: useful phrases for the Olympics
    7. He's one of Japan's greatest...


      HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE WORD...?
    1. How well do you know the word, enough? (Part One)
    2. How well do you know the word, enough?
    3. How well do you know the word, good? (Part One)
    4. How well do you know the word, good? (Part Two)
    5. How well do you know the word, age?
    6. How well do you know the word get? (Part One)
    7. How well do you know the word get? (Part Two)
    8. How well do you know the word get? (Part Three)
    9. Go to Nagoya, go skiing, go out for a drink...
    10. Go abroad, go upstairs, go outside (Another look at go)


      GRAMMAR POINTS
    1. How good is your geography?
    2. If I saw Keanu Reeves...
    3. I wish you wouldn't do that
    4. Konishiki is much heavier than Terao
    5. What are you going to do in 2006? (Those New Year Resolutions)
    6. What will you be doing this time tomorrow?
    7. However much..., No matter how much
    8. How to use the word "ever" (Part One) - I don't think I've ever...
    9. How to use the word "ever" (Part Two). The first time I ever...
    10. I was sitting in the classroom when, suddenly... (Ari and the snake - Part One)
    11. What would you have done? (Ari and the snake - part two)
    12. So do I / I don't either / Neither do I
    13. So can I / I haven't either / Neither will I (More about so, either, neither)
    14. My own house, a house of my own
    15. How often do you...?

      SPELLING & PRONUNCIATION
    1. Chocolate, Christmas, chef... How do you pronounce ch?
    2. The magic '-e' for spelling and pronunciation
    3. The Green Leaves of Summer: "ee" words and "ea" words
    4. Shoot-chute; root-route; meet-meat (Words that look different, but sound the same)


      MISCELLANEOUS
    1. How to remember new words and expressions
    2. How to make your conversations more interesting (Three simple tips)
    3. Can you remember your irregular verbs?
    4. Typhoon: observing and collecting useful phrases.
    5. Ideas on how to study English (A mixed bag of ideas)
    6. 2 + 3 = 5 (Simple Arithmetic in English)
    7. Simple recipe: how to make pam tomaquet
    8. What does he /she look like?

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    Bob's Weekly One-Point Lesson is published by REJ English House, Ena City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.