Read along to practice your English pronunciation of the words REACH and RICH, PEACH and PITCH

In this English lesson, I wanted to talk about the difference in pronunciation between reach and rich. This is actually from a question that's from a viewer that I'm going to read later, but I'm going to answer the question first. At the beginning of the video, when you reach for something, you reach for something with your hand. It's kind of a longer e sound. You reach for something, I can reach towards the camera. Hopefully that didn't scare you too much. So reach. When you have a lot of money, you are rich. So a rich person has worked really hard in their life, or maybe their parents just gave them all their money and they are just really, really rich. So you can reach for something or you can have lots of money and be really, really rich.

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The other two words I wanted to talk about are peach and pitch. And I'm not going to talk about beach and the other word because it's not really a good word. But you can eat a peach. Right now it is peach season here in Ontario, Canada. I have been eating a peach every day. They are really, really yummy. We buy them at market. We leave them on the counter so they ripen. And then I eat one peach every day. If you don't eat your peaches when they're ripe, sometimes they go bad and then you have to pitch them. When you watch a baseball game, the pitcher will throw the ball and we call it pitching. They will pitch the ball. You can also pitch a tent, by the way, so you can eat a peach and you can also pitch it if it's not very good, if it has gone bad.

So to review reach and rich, I'll say them slowly. You can reach for something or if you have lots of money, you're rich. And then you can eat a peach and you can pitch a baseball.

But hey, let's look at that comment from a previous video. I have it right here in my pocket and it is from Ladepla. Hi Bob, can you explain to us the difference in pronunciation of the words reach and rich. In this video you often say reach and it sounds quite short, so I couldn't tell it from rich if not for the context. And my response, I'll make a point of talking about this in the next video, which I already did.

So thanks for that comment, Lidepla. I hope I answered your question. And if you need to, you can go back and listen to those parts of the video over and over again until you get a sense of the right pronunciation and then do some shadowing as well. Shadowing is when you hit pause and you say what I just said. And then you rewind and play it again and listen. And then you say what I just said. It's a great way to practice your English speaking when you don't have an English speaking partner.

Well, hey, I'm just kind of walking down here. We had a fire the other day and there are still some remnants here of the fire. I did want to say, I'm happy to let you know that I did put some new screws in the picnic table. So I think I mentioned this last year a few times. You can't see where I'm pointing, but I actually finally put some new screws in. And so our old picnic table that was kind of falling apart is now usable again, but it's a little bit dirty. I feel like I need to refinish the seats. Let me show you those. The seats are quite mossy. When it's dry, you can sit here and your shorts don't get stained. But when it's wet outside, it's not the nicest place to sit.

So reach, rich, peach, pitch. And then there's also beach. You go to the beach and there's lots of sand. And then there's another b word, which is actually not a very nice word. So I'm not going to say it out lou

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases OUT OF REACH and OUT OF TOUCH

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase out of reach. When something is out of reach, it simply means when you try to grab it, it's a little too far away. Sometimes in the kitchen, there are things on the top shelf and they are out of reach. You can't reach them, but it can also mean that something you want to do is something you'll never be able to do. I will never be prime minister of Canada. That is out of reach for me. I would have had to have started my political career years ago in order to get to that point in my life. So becoming prime minister is out of reach. So something can physically be out of reach, but something you want to do can also be out of reach for you.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase out of touch. When someone is out of touch, it means that. Oh, sorry, this is one of the first times I forgot to teach something. You can also say you're out of reach when someone can't get a hold of you. If I was to go on vacation really far up north, I would be out of reach for a few days because phones don't work that far north. Now, let's move on. The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase out of touch. When someone is out of touch, it means that they don't really know what the current way of doing something is. So you could say that old people are a little bit out of touch. They don't use their phones to watch things on social media. They still watch things on a computer. Maybe instead of, I'm trying to think. Maybe instead of taking an Uber, they still take a taxi because they're out of touch and they don't realize there's a new way to do it.

So to review when something is out of reach, it means it's hard to actually grab. When something is out of reach, it means it's something you won't be able to do. And if you go on vacation, you might be out of reach for a while. And when you're out of touch, it simply means that you don't know what's hip and cool anymore. You've just gotten too old and you don't know. But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Denis. Thanks a lot for the lesson, Bob. As you get older, you get stuck in your ways. Just as you become stiffer physically, you also become stiffer mentally and more narrow minded, unless you make a conscious effort to keep yourself flexible. That's from Viggo Mortensen, a quote from a famous actor. And my response: I'll try to stay flexible on all fronts.

You know, there's some truth to that. Like, you become physically quite stiff as you get older. Like, it's hard to bend and touch your toes and do things like that. And mentally you kind of get stiff as you get older. It's kind of unfortunate. It would be nice if we could stay really open minded and not become as stubborn as we get older. And it would be nice if I go and run 5 km, if I could walk the next day instead of sitting for the whole day waiting to feel better. I did that a couple weeks ago, by the way, with my son, and I was very stiff the next day. I'm not sure it was a good idea. I was able to run the whole race. I got one of my worst times ever, but still I was able to do it.

But yeah, it would be nice if we weren't. But there is always some advantage. I think we need people who want things to change and people who want things to stay the same. And then I think together we actually get a nice balance. We get something in the middle and I think that's a bit of an advantage. We don't want the new idea people to always get thei

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases STUCK IN YOUR WAYS and TO BE STUCK ON SOMETHING

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase stuck in your ways. When you're stuck in your ways, it means you do certain things a certain way, and you will not change the way you do it. You are stuck in your ways. I'm stuck in my ways for some things. Like, for instance, many people have suggested that I stop using a piece of paper, that I should get an iPad or something else that I bring outside. But I'm kind of stuck in my ways. I like bringing the piece of paper outside. I do recycle all of these, but for me, it's just, it's a little simpler to use paper sometimes. So I'm a little stuck in my ways.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is to be stuck on something. So this is when you don't understand something. If you remember when you were in school, or maybe you are in school, and if you're doing math sometimes, you might be stuck on a problem. You don't understand what to do next. As you learn English, there may be times where you're stuck on something. You just don't understand how to create a certain phrase. So when you're stuck on something, it means you don't know or understand what to do next.

So to review, when you're stuck in your ways, by the way, usually older people are stuck in their ways. I say that as if I'm not old. I'm not really old. I'm middle aged. But when you're stuck in your ways, you like doing something a certain way and you don't want to change it. And then when you're stuck on something, it simply means that you don't understand it.

But, hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Ruslan. Teacher Bob is really a jack of all trades. He can teach, he can build, he knows computers, and his most valuable skill is he can do any sound effect in the world. And my response? Well, mostly I'm just good at watching YouTube videos to learn new things. So thanks for the compliment and the comment there, Ruslan.

I'm not, I don't know. I wouldn't consider myself that good at that many things. But I think one of my best skills is that I like to try new things. I like to learn new things. And YouTube is, like, the greatest thing in the world for that. So I would attribute a lot of the things I've done to the fact that if I want to learn how to do something, I just sit down at my computer or pull out my phone, do a little search on YouTube, and I find a whole bunch of videos. And then usually I watch two or three to get a sense of which person actually knows what they're talking about and which person isn't.

So yes, even though I said I'm a little bit stuck in my ways, I do like to learn new things. And whenever I'm stuck, whenever I don't understand something, I find a YouTube video to watch and it explains it to me. So, like laying those pavers by my house or even how to properly prune a tree or any of those kinds of things, I don't know what I would do anymore without YouTube. It's just amazing. So I know I'm a youtuber and there are probably, there are probably other ways to learn new things.

When I was a kid, I did like books. Books, I think were amazing as well. But in this day and age, sometimes it's just easier to watch a quick video than to go to the library and try to find a book. So anytime I do something new, like the other day, I was using a chainsaw.

Oh, actually, I can show you. The other day I was using a chainsaw. And before I started using the chainsaw, I watched a little video to refresh my memory on how to use it. Yeah, I

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases ALL DONE! and BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase all done. Now, you probably know this phrase. It's a pretty common one. It means that you've done a job and the job is finished. You are all done. I love it when I finish something and I can say that I'm all done. I'll give you a better view of that later. But I worked on this for a long time, and now I'm all done. I started the project, I worked on the project, and now I'm at the point where it's completely done. All done.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase been there, done that. So this is kind of a phrase we use in a funny way or a sarcastic way when someone's describing something they've done and we've already done it. So if someone said to me, oh, I went to Toronto and saw a Blue Jays game, if I was like, it's kind of funny, but also a little bit mean, or it can mean that you're not interested in what they're saying, I could say, ah, been there, done that. Basically, I'm saying, I don't really need to hear about your experience because I've already gone to a Blue Jays game and it was very, very exciting. Been there, done that. So kind of funny, but kind of rude at the same time.

So to review, when you do something and when you finish it, you can say all done. Or you can even use a complete sentence and say, I'm all done. And when you say been there, done that, it's kind of a dismissive way to express yourself when someone's talking about something they've done that you've already done and experienced. Been there, done that.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. You're probably anxious to see the work behind me, but this is from Ünsal. Hi, teacher Bob. I can't wait to see the results of your exhausting work. Thank you so much for the amazing lessons. Have a great day. Bye. And my response? I feel like I'm running out of time for my summer jobs. Thanks, Ünsal, for that comment. Yes, I feel like I'm running out of time, but that's okay. There's always more time in the fall.

So I don't know if you remember what this used to look like, but now it looks like this. I was able to take some time to remove a whole bunch of dirt and stone with my tractor and of course with a shovel as well. My son and I spent a great deal of time out here and then I laid what's called interlocking block, or pavers, or simply patio stones. Let me get in the shade here so you can have a better look. This was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed doing this. Underneath, we put down coarse stone and then finer stone that you can spread easily. And then we chose a pattern that was kind of the hard part, actually choosing a pattern so that it looked really, really nice.

But as you can see now, I have room. Oh, yes, we also put lots of new stone down over there. I have room to park both my vehicles. And Jen and I can sit out here in the morning and have a cup of tea if we want. Maybe I'll try to find a link to an older video where you can see what this used to look like.

But I am very, very happy because for a couple of reasons. Number one, we wanted to do all this, or have all this done professionally, but this was cheaper. I did it myself. Secondly, the interlocking block, the pavers that we used were actually used. My son got them from somewhere. He paid very sorry, there's a spot here that's not level. I'm very particular. He paid very little money for them, so they weren't free, but they were very, very cheap.

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO RUN OUT OF STEAM and TO BE STEAMED

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to run out of steam. When you run out of steam, it means you're really tired after working for a long time or maybe hiking all day or doing something that is a bit exhausting. Yesterday I worked really long. I worked till it was really late last night and I ran out of steam. At around 7:30 I thought, you know, I should just go in, have a shower, maybe watch the Blue Jays game, because I was starting to get... I was just exhausted. My muscles hurt. I was laying blocks by the house. I'll show you that job when it's done. But I definitely ran out of steam. So to run out of steam means to be out of energy, but usually because you did something that was physically exhausting.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is to be steamed. When you're steamed, it simply means you're angry. Like you could say, oh, I was late for work five days in a row, my boss was steamed. It just means that your boss was really, really angry. When you say someone is steamed, it means they are not happy and sometimes not happy with you.

So to review, to run out of steam means to be tired or exhausted, to be physically and mentally just done like you have no more energy left. And to be steamed simply means to be angry. Or maybe you eat your vegetables that way. The other day I ate steamed broccoli. The broccoli was steamed. So obviously it has other meanings as well.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Vitor. Hello Bob. When you and Jen are at the market, do you notice what kind of flowers people like the most? I mean, different strokes for different folks. I don't think people will have preferences because all the flowers you produce are beautiful. You know, maybe it is good to know if one kind of flower is selling more than another. Thank you, Bob.

Mohd chirps in: I'm also wondering what their best seller is. Probably peonies and lizzies.

And then my response: It changes as the season progresses. People love to see the bouquets slowly change week to week. Like see different flowers in them. If we had the exact same flowers every week, people would get a bit bored. So sunflowers all season long, but peonies, then zinnias, then dahlias and then lisianthus are how the season progresses and changes.

So thanks Vitor for that comment. And yeah, so we do have flowers that kind of, as the season goes along, become more popular. And people do like variety. People do like to see different flowers. So at this point in time, the Lizzies are starting to bloom. The dahlias are actually starting to bloom at the same time. But the question is, which is the most popular? You know, variety is the most popular. People like to see different flowers from week to week. They don't mind, like zinnias, lizzies dahlias. They don't mind buying the same flower.

I think I just walked through a spider web with the camera.

They don't mind buying the same flower for a few weeks, but not longer than three or four weeks. And then they're, you know, we're humans. We like to see new things. We like to experience new things. So certainly sunflowers, we just use all the time. They're kind of like a mainstay. You would say it's a pretty common flower. But throughout the rest of the season, people do like to see a little bit of variety and a little bit of change, especially towards the fall. They like to see more what we would call fall colors, colors like browns and deep oranges.

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO THIN OUT and TO SPREAD YOURSELF TOO THIN

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to thin out. Now, this has two meanings or two ways that you can use this. One is kind of when you see something thin out and then you can actually thin something out. Let me explain. If you were to go up a mountain, at the bottom of the mountain, there might be trees, but as you go up the mountain, the trees will thin out. There will be less trees as you go up. For every hundred meters you go vertically, there will probably be less trees and they'll get smaller as well. So the trees will start to thin out. Out in the flower field, sometimes we grow flowers and there's too many in one spot. So Jen will take out every other flower. She'll actually snip them with the pruners. She will thin out the flowerbed so that the flowers have a better chance to grow and thrive. Because if there's too many, they kind of compete for nutrients. So when you go up a mountain, trees can thin out, and you can use this for other things as well. But if you have something like flowers, you might thin out the patch so that there are less. So the ones that remain can do well.

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And the second phrase I wanted to teach you today is to spread yourself too thin. So if you are really busy, if you agree to do too many things, we sometimes say that you are going to spread yourself too thin. Sometimes in the fall, I spread myself too thin. I'm back at work. I'm doing YouTube videos. I'm helping Jen on the flower farm. I'm bringing my kids back and forth to work. Oh, but I don't have to do that as much because they have their license now. But I'm too busy. I have spread myself too thin. Just like when you spread butter or peanut butter on bread, sometimes you spread it too thin. You can also spread yourself too thin.

So to review to thin out means to see less and less of something. Maybe when you're walking in a field of plants, there's a spot where they didn't grow well and it will thin out. And then sometimes you will thin something out. Some people, I think people thin out their hair sometimes. When I was a kid, I had lots of hair and the barber would use like a special scissors to thin out my hair. And then to spread yourself too thin means simply to be too busy to agree to do too many things.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Mohd Ags. Oh, yeah, those cargo shorts with more pockets that I care to count and infinite storage space are an essential part of the dad look. That's how someone like me looks. Also, nice illustration of all the growth stages of sunflowers. I'm this close to taking an interest in farming, thanks to you. And my response? It's called succession planting. I'm not sure I mentioned that it's the secret to having sunflowers every week. I knew nothing about this until Jen explained it to me years ago.

So yeah, in the last video. Thanks for the comment Mohd. In the last video, I showed you the sunflowers and how Jen actually plants sunflowers each week. And that way you have sunflowers throughout the growing season. So early on, they're kind of little. They don't grow that well because it's not warm enough. But we start with sunflowers a few weeks ago, and because we've planted them every week, we then have sunflowers to harvest every week. It doesn't always work perfectly. Sometimes there's a little bit of a dip and we don't have lots of sunflowers, but generally it works pretty good.

So anyways, I'm out here just taking a little wa

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO DEAL WITH and A GOOD DEAL

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to deal with. When you need to deal with something, it means you are going to take care of it. You are going to take responsibility for maybe solving something or doing something. Here are two examples. Let's say at school there's some students, a teacher sees some students far away that are misbehaving. I could say, oh, I'll walk over there. I will go deal with it. That means I'm going to go talk to those students and tell them to stop doing whatever they're doing. Let's say at work there's a huge pallet of things that needs to be kind of put in different parts of the store. Sorry, I'm trying to think of an example. You work at a store, there's a big pallet with things that need to go on the shelves. You could say to your boss, oh, I'll deal with that after lunch. So when you deal with something, it means you decide you're going to do it. If I say I'm going to deal with it, it means I'm going to take care of it.

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The second thing I wanted to teach you today is the term a good deal. Now, this has two meanings. I could say this. I bought a car the other day for $500. It was a good deal. That means that I paid less than what the car was worth. I benefited in the transaction. You can also use this to mean a lot. I could say we've had a good deal of rain this year. That means that it's rained probably more than it normally does.

So to review, to deal with something means to take care of something or to do something. And a good deal would be anytime you pay less money than you think you would have to. When you buy a bouquet from Jen, I think it's a good deal. I think she should charge more and we can use it to say a lot. If you buy a bouquet from Jen, you get a good deal of flowers in the bouquet.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. I put it in one of these pockets. I should just get shorts with one pocket, shouldn't that? This one has 1 2 3 4. I should get a one with a few less. This is from Ruslan. Thanks for a great lesson, teacher Bob. The flower fields are beautiful and the whole landscape really looks like the Shire from Lord of the Rings. And my response, no hobbits here, though, at least none that I've seen. And I think I've actually made that comment before. I think Ruslan or someone else has mentioned that this area looks a little bit like the Shire. There was another comment as well, by the way. Thanks, Ruslan, for that comment. There was another comment as well, saying people would like to see more of the flower fields in the next few videos.

So here are the dahlia beds. They're not quite blooming yet. They'll be blooming soon. A lot of our flower beds look like this because when you grow flowers, you harvest the flowers and then you sell them. Over here, you can see the Lisianthus are starting to bloom, though. I'll get you a nice shot of these. I don't know if you're familiar with this flower. I usually show them every year. They look a little bit like a rose. And they are starting to bloom nicely as well. You can see a few pink ones down there. And these front ones here are a little bit more like an antique look. But yes, things have been growing well. We have had a good deal of rain. It's been nice. Here we have some sunflowers.

Let's have a look at these as well. Bit of a garden tour. These are sunflowers that haven't bloomed yet. Although if we go far enough along, you will see one bloom right here. There you go, one bloom. This is more of like a lemo

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English saying TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME and the term TWO-FACED

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English saying, two can play at that game. This is a phrase we use when someone does something, maybe not a nice thing, and you think to yourself, hmm, two can play at that game. And then you do something similar. Let's say you're playing a game of hockey and it's non contact. That's when you're not supposed to check or hit each other. And then someone checks you a little bit, you could think to yourself, hmm, two can play at that game. And then you start to hit or check the other player as well. And this doesn't have to just happen in sports. Maybe at work, someone starts doing something to get their work done quicker. Maybe they're cheating a little bit or something, and you can think, hmm, two can play at that game. And then you start to do a similar thing. So you also have an advantage.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is, well, not a phrase, but term is the term two faced. When someone is two faced, it means sometimes when you talk to them, they're nice, but then sometimes they talk to other people, and maybe you hear them not being nice to you. So when someone's two faced, it's like they're nice to you when you talk to them, but, you know, when they talk to other people, they don't speak kindly of you. So they're kind of two faced, right? They have a nice face when they're talking to you, and then they have a mean face when they're talking to other people. They're two faced.

So to review, two can play at that game is usually not something you say. It's kind of something you think like, hmm, two can play at that game... And then you start to do what the other person was doing to you. And then if someone is two faced, it simply means that they kind of have two personalities. They're nice to you when you're talking to them. And then later you might hear from someone that they were saying really mean things about you because they're two faced.

But, hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This is from June. This is true here in Korea, too, especially during the rainy season, super humid, sticky and muggy. And my response, hot and muggy are two of my least favorite words. So that comment from June. Thank you, June. Is in response to the video last week where I talked about how hot and muggy it was here. It was definitely hot and muggy.

I don't like hot and muggy. I love this. It's just raining a little bit. It's about 23 degrees celsius out here. I probably should go in in a bit before my camera gets too wet. But it's just a beautiful day. I love being able to show you things like these zinnias. I'll give you a spin around view.

We are just experiencing a really nice year on the farm. Things are just growing really well. A lot of it is because, of course, Jen really knows what she's doing. She's a really good farmer. She's a really good grower. But also because it just rains a lot. And plants really like rain, they just grow really well. So the zinnias are just abundant. When you say something is abundant, there's just lots of them. And the leaves are a really nice green color. We can tell from the color of the leaves when a plant is healthy. So we are just experiencing a really, really beautiful, nice year here on the farm. We're very thankful.

Some years it. It doesn't rain as much and I have to irrigate a lot. So I've had more time to do things I want to do because I haven't had to irrigate as much. And then the other thing that has allowed me to

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