Dear Listeners,

After 3 enjoyable years of doing the Bob and Rob Show, our podcast will
end this September. Thank you so much for being a part of our community.

Bob has received a new job in southern Japan, and because of the distance
from Tokyo, it will be impossible for us to continue doing the show. (We
did consider trying to use Skype, but decided that it would not be
practical.)

With this in mind, please note the following:

We will do 3 or 4 more shows in September. The September
shows, study guides and quizzes will be free for everyone.  After September, we plan to make our entire archives (shows and Study Guides 1 - 150) available for purchase.

Once again, thank you so much for all of your support!  We really enjoyed
getting to know so many interesting people throughout the world. We hope
that we were able to make your English learning endeavors just a bit more
interesting and enjoyable; it certainly was a great experience for us.

To your success,
Bob and Rob

This week we’re going to look at two words which have some dissimilarities on both sides of the pond (The Atlantic Ocean). Lend and loan are semantically similar as they refer to borrowing something (often loan is used with money), but in America loan can be used as a verb whereas this is not so common in Britain, where loan is usually only used as a noun. However, there are numerous instances where both are now accepted in standard English.
For example,

Could you possibly lend me your umbrella?
Could you possibly loan me your umbrella?

One other difference between these two words is that only lend can be used in a metaphorical way. For example:

Can you lend me a hand?

We can NOT say “Can you loan me a hand?” But if you want to lend or loan me any money, then please feel free to do so

~Rob

Some of you might be interested to know where I got the idea for Ancient Japanese English Study Secret: this funny commercial I used to watch as a child:

For the past two years, we have enjoyed using Bubba Bohack’s jokes in our shows, and we hope you have gotten a few laughs too. If you’d like to learn more about Bubba, visit him here.

Today we look at two identical words except for an apostrophe. It’s and its sound exactly the same but mean very different things. The first one, it’s is the contracted form of “it is”, so the apostrophe is a substitute for the letter “i” in the verb “is”. However, the second word (its) is the possessive form of ‘it’. Take these following sentences as an example:

1) It’s great to be on holiday (it is great to be on holiday)
2) The company was hit hard by the scandal and its reputation was forever damaged (its = the reputation of the company)

So, it’s time for me to sign off now, as my brain needs its rest

~Rob

This week we take a look at two abbreviations that many native English speakers sometimes forget or mix up. The letters i.e., and e.g. are very useful indeed, particularly when you are reading or writing a paper that is formal or academic in nature. Both terms come from the now (more or less) dead language, Latin*.

The abbreviation e.g. stands for exempli gratia in Latin and it means “for example”. So, for example “The Bob n’ Rob Show really has a lot to offer (e.g.: study guides, show transcripts, an informative blog and other great resources, to name but some).

i.e. means “namely”, or “in other words” or “that is” and it stands for the Latin id est. It is often used to clarify or to reiterate or reemphasize a point. For example, Bilingual development has been shown to foster general cognitive advantages i.e., research indicates that monolingual children are less advanced cognitively than their bilingual peers.
Note that with these abbreviations, i.e., is followed by a period AND a comma, whereas e.g.: is usually followed by a period AND a colon (two dots above one another).

So, watch out for these points the next time you read some formal writing.

Rob

* Latin has numerous terms and abbreviations that are still used in academic forms, not to mention that some churches (in Italy and other catholic countries) still use Latin as the language to say Mass in. So, it’s certainly not completely ‘dead’.

A believe in the paranormal seems quite popular. There are even people who claim you can see ghosts in photographs.

Check these ghost pics out and tell us what you think. Do you think they portray real ghosts, or is it simply lighting and atmospheric effects that are tricking our brains into seeing things?

~Bob

Let’s take a look at two words this week that can be very easily confused: many people have problems with flounder and founder.

Flounder is easy to remember by thinking of a similar word, blunder, which suggests one is moving about in a confused state or in a clumsy way. For example, Rob floundered through his first years in Japan without studying the language, but after entering school and making a concerted effort*, he finally became fluent (in Japanese).

The other word, founder, in its foremost meaning refers to the idea of sinking below the surface of water. By a logical enhancement of this meaning, it can also be used to indicate that something has completely failed. So, compare these two examples:

1. The boy was an inexperienced swimmer and he foundered after being taken too far out into the sea on a current.
2. As the business opportunities began to dry up and the clients disappeared, the company gradually foundered.

So, work and study hard, and I’m sure you won’t flounder

~Rob

concerted effort* = This means to focus and concentrate and try very hard.

Forward and foreword; two words that sound similar but have totally different meanings.

Forward can be either an adjective or adverb and it means going toward the front direction. For example, you can only step forward when it’s your turn. This word can also be used as a verb that means to send something on. Moreover, you can see this function on your email software. So, I must forward this email to all of my contacts because I found it so funny. The other word, foreword, has a slightly longer pronunciation in the second part of it. It is a noun and it refers to a preface which is the same as an introductory note that is usually found at the beginning of books. For example, the foreword to Freire’s classic book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” is written by Richard Shaull

So, if someone forwards you a foreword, be sure to read it

~Rob

This post is a week late, but better late than never.

Yet another great thing about the internet is it makes it easy to learn and play poker for free. There are numerous websites that allow you to join online poker games where you compete against other players. Most of these websites have practice games, where you can use play money (not real money). Once you feel comfortable, then perhaps you can join a poker group in your community.

Of course, I don’t recommend gambling for money. In many places it’s illegal, plus there are more prudent ways to entertain yourself. However, if you have a healthy attitude, it can be a fun way to socialize with others - with or without the cigars!