Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

I got email from a friend of mine, saying “Have you had a chance to take a look at my presentation?" Actually, this is a good expression to learn. Have you had a chance to do something?

Let's say, you have asked someone to do something, and you want to check if that person has done it. And you want to do it politely. For example, you sent your presentation to your friend for advice. That was a couple of days ago, but you haven't got a reply yet. So, you want to check. “Have you had a chance to take a look at my presentation?" “Have you had a chance to look into it?"

It's much more polite and less direct than saying “Did you take a look at it?" So, you can use this phrase in business situations, or when speaking to someone senior to you.

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

Have you had a chance to look into it?

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

I went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned. I do so twice a year, or once every six months.

I brush my teeth several times a day, in the morning, after each meal and before going to bed.

Now. Let's look at the difference between cleaning your teeth and having your teeth cleaned. When you clean your teeth, you clean them yourself, using a toothbrush, toothpaste, maybe dental floss, too.

On the other hand, when you have your teeth cleaned, you go to the dentist and a hygienist will clean your teeth, scaling and polishing to remove tartar.

Likewise, when you fix something, you fix it yourself. When you have it fixed, someone else fixes it for you. When you cut your hair, you need a pair of scissors. When you have your hair cut, you go to the hair salon.

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

I had my teeth cleaned.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Are you familiar with the expression “off the top of your head"?

If you say something off the top of your head, you say it immediately, without thinking carefully about it or checking the facts. Actually, you hear this expression a lot in business meetings. For example, “How many customers do you have?" “Just off the top of my head, I'd say 200."

That said, it's not exactly business English. You can use it in a conversation with a friend. Also, it's often used in negative statements. For example. “I'm looking for a babysitter for this weekend. Can you think of anyone right for the job?" “Sorry, I can't. Not off the top of my head. But I can ask around" Another example? “What's the capital of Bhutan?" “I don't know off the top of my head, but I could look it up."

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

Not off the top of my head.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

I spent the whole week working with a group of business people from the US. I was their interpreter. They were on an extremely tight schedule, visiting half a dozen customers or prospects each day. We hardly found the time to even have lunch. Then, one of the gentlemen said, "That's okay, we'll just grab a sandwich".

I liked that expression, "grab a sandwich". Are you familiar with the expression?

If you grab food, you get some food quickly because you are busy. Let me give you some more example sentences. Let's grab a bite to eat. Do we have time to grab some breakfast? Let me grab a cup of coffee.

You can grab sleep, too. If you grab sleep instead of food, you sleep for a shot time. For example, a working student may grab a nap between classes.

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

Let's just grab a sandwich.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Are you familiar with the expression "the other way around"? I thought of this when I got a new iPad with an Apple Pencil. Unlike the new iPad, my old one uses the 30-pin dock connector instead of Lightning, and you've got to make sure it's inserted with the right side facing up. If it doesn't fit, you've got to turn it over and try the other way around. It can be a real pain in the neck, especially when you're in a hurry.

So, you can probably guess what it means from the sound of it. The other way around means "in the opposite way" or "with the order reversed".

Squares are rectangles, but not always the other way around.

When you do something, you think first, then act. Not the other way around.

"Hey, John, I heard you left Mary." "No, no, it's the other way around. She left me!"

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

Try the other way around.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Here's another way that can help you improve your English. You can practice describing people, things or places in English. Pick something simple like a 'table'. Can you describe a table in English? Can you explain what a table is to someone who doesn't know what a table is.

Having trouble? Well, an English-English dictionary can help you. For example, my Merriam-Webster Dictionary says a table is 'a piece of furniture that has a flat top and one or more legs'. Does this make sense to you?

If example sentences are given along with the definition, make sure to read them so that you know exactly what the word means and how it's used in what context.

Try this practice every day. Pick one word a day. Remember? Practice makes perfect.

In the meantime, I'll give you a quiz. I'll read three sentences. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

In this lesson:

1. I'm discussing how to choose a good dictionary.

2. I'm trying to describe a piece of furniture that has a flat top and one or more legs.

3. I'm suggesting one way that can help you improve your English.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

People keep asking me how they can improve their English. The good news is (that) there are many things that you can do to improve your English. One of the first things I would recommend is to use a good dictionary. My personal preference is a monolingual, or English-English, dictionary.

A monolingual dictionary may not be for beginners. But if you are upper-intermediate or above, you can certainly take advantage of learner's dictionaries which are designed specifically for those who are learning English as a second language.

You can find excellent learner's dictionaries online such as Merriam-Webster, Cambridge and Oxford. And if you're ready to embrace digital innovation, smartphone apps are also available, some even for free. They're definitely worth exploring.

Now, here's a little quiz for you. I'll give you three sentences. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

1. A Japanese-English dictionary is a monolingual dictionary.

2. A monolingual dictionary is recommended for English learners at all levels.

3. Some dictionary apps are available for free.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Last week, we talked about a silent B in plumber, bomber, climber. Remember?

There are many more words in English with silent letters. For instance, The words knock, knife and knee all begin with the letter K although you don't hear it. Autumn, column and condemn all end with the letter N but again you don't hear it. There's no G sound in the words daughter, right, height and weight. But when you spell these words, you'll see the letter G in them. Listen and fasten have a silent T while hour and honest a silent H.

Now, I gave you a quiz last week. What five-letter word has a silent CH? Have you found the answer? It's YACHT, Y-A-CH-T. A yacht is a large expensive boat used for pleasure or sport. As far as I know, yacht is the only word in the English language that has a silent CH.

Now, why don't you try another quiz here? You'll be given three options. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

1. Sunday has a silent letter.

2. Wednesday has a silent letter.

3. Friday has a silent letter.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

This past weekend, I had a dripping faucet and I had to call a plumber to have it fixed. A plumber is a person whose job is to fit and repair water pipes. If your kitchen faucet is leaking or your toilet is clogged, a plumber is the person to call.

Now, that aside, here's a quiz for you. What do the words plumber, bomber, climber, debt, doubt, subtle have in common? The answer is that they all have a silent b in them.

Silent letters are letters that you can't hear when you say the word, but that are there when you write the word. For example, a plumber. Do you know how to spell it? It's P-L-U-M-B-E-R, you see the letter B in it. But when you say the word "plumber", there's no B sound in it. The letter B just sits between M and E silently.

Now, here's another quiz for you. What five-letter word has a silent CH? I'll give you the answer next week. So please make sure to come back. See you there!

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

April marks the start of the academic and business calendar in Japan. Even the government's fiscal year runs from April to March. Naturally, in April, you meet a lot of new people.

So, how would you greet someone when you meet that person for the first time? You can say It's nice to meet you, or just Nice to meet you. If someone says to you Nice to meet you, just repeat the phrase and add “too". Nice to meet you, too.

Now, you want to be careful. Nice to meet you and Nice meeting you are different. You say Nice meeting you when you meet someone for the first time, but say it at the end of the meeting. Nice meeting you means Good-bye.

Nice to meet you and Nice to see you are different, too. You say Nice to see you to someone you've already met and seen before. Nice to see you means Hello, again.

Now. Would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.