時計

Sometimes a clock is wrong; it displays the wrong time.

If a clock shows an earlier time, we say it is slow.

• The clock says 1:30pm
• The real time is 1:35pm

We say "The clock is 5 minutes slow."

If the clock shows a later time, we say it is fast.

• The clock says 2:15pm
• The real time is 2:05pm

We say "The clock is 10 minutes fast."

工事中

Tonight there is construction work at London Bridge English. There is an exciting renovation project in progress. Please visit soon and see the fresh new style!

Of course, we are closed tonight during the building work.

Tomorrow will be open as usual and the interior will be have changed.

秋分の日

Today is closed. Have a nice day!

今日はお休みです。良い一日を！

Today is a national holiday in Japan; it is Autumn Equinox Day. I hope you all enjoy your holiday.

現在完了

The present perfect simple tense

Form:

• subject + have/has + past participle (+ object)

Examples:

• I've eaten lunch.
• He's walked to the station.
• She's been to England.
• We've seen that film.
• They've arrived.

So how do we use the present perfect simple?

It depends on your purpose.

The present perfect simple tense has several functions.

Example 1

• I've lived in Spain.
• She's studied economics.

These sentences are past and finished. There are not any time contexts. They are information about life experiences.

Example 2

• I've lived in Japan for 5 years.
• He's worked at Sony since 1998.

These sentences are past and present. There are time contexts. They have not finished. There are two important phrases:

• for + duration
• since + date

Example 3

• She's (just) drunk some wine.
• They've (just) been to the supermarket.

These sentences are recent past and just finished. There are no time contexts but the speakers understand the time is recent. We can add the word "just" to emphasize very recent actions.

Example 4

• We've been to New Zealand five times.
• He's failed his driving test 3 times.

These sentences are about life experience, from birth to now. We say how many times we have done the action, such as:

• never
• once
• twice
• three times
• a few times
• several times
• lots of times

I recommend studying irregular past participles.

アメリカの英語

English is the most widely spoken language in the world. However, there are lots of accents and dialects. Generally, native English speakers can understand each other but sometimes we can't because of differences in our language.

Here are a few differences between British English and American English:

• (British English → American English)
• autumn →  fall
• car park → parking lot
• shop → store
• shopping centre → shopping mall
• aubergine → egg plant
• courgette → zucchini
• playschool → kindergarten
• sweet → candy
• crisps → chips
• ladybird → ladybug
• railway → railroad
• tram → streetcar
• film → movie
• rubbish → trash/garbage
• fizzy drink/pop → soda
• aeroplane → airplane
• trainers → sneakers

Of course, there is a very long list which would not fit here.

Also, there are some differences in spelling between British English and American English:

• (British English → American English)
• colour → color
• centre → center
• metre → meter
• programme → program
• tyre → tire
• labour → labor
• licence → license
• defence → defense

Again, the list is very long and would not fit here.

There are also lots of differences in pronunciation such as:

• tomato
• cicada
• lever
• herb

Please ask a native speaker of English to compare pronunciations.

There are other English-speaking countries with variations of vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation, including:

• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand