In this English lesson,
I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, of late.
Now, this is just another way in English of saying lately.
It's another way to talk about something
that's been happening in the recent past.
I could say something like this,
I've really been enjoying teaching of late.
That simply means that in the last few weeks,
I've really enjoyed teaching.
I could say something like this,
I haven't been feeling well of late.
So that simply means
that I've been feeling a little bit sick
for the last few days or the last few weeks.
By the way, I'm not feeling sick.
I actually feel really, really good.
So when you say of late,
it's just simply another way of saying lately
or something that's been happening recently.
The geese have been back of late, by the way.
I can't show them to you because it's too windy
to record over there.
But the geese of late have been back
and they're getting really loud again.
Anyways, the second phrase I wanted
to teach you today is a sad phrase.
And it's the phrase my late uncle
or my late father or my late brother.
It's a way to talk about someone who has died.
When you use the word late in English
and then you mention a person,
you're talking about someone who's passed away.
You're talking about someone who's died.
So you might hear people say things like this.
My late father used to really enjoy Christmas,
or my late uncle was really, really funny
when we would sit around the campfire in the summer.
So when you use the word late and you talk about a person,
you're referring to someone who has passed away.
You're referring to someone who has died.
So to review, when you say of late,
you simply mean recently.
Like it's been really windy
of late here. (Robert chuckling)
I'll show you that in a minute.
And when you use the word late to talk about a person,
you're talking about someone
who is no longer with us on this planet.
So kind of a sad way to use the word late.
But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video.
This comment is from Julia.
Hi, dear teacher.
Didn't you ever think of installing a portable generator
to keep your home running when the power goes out?
It probably couldn't keep the whole house,
but at least the most important items
like fridge and light
so your lifestyle won't be disrupted that much.
And my response was this,
we usually only think about that when the power is out,
then the power comes back on
and we go for a year or two with no power outages
and forget.
So, yes, Julia,
I think that's kind of a funny thing
about buying a generator.
They're not incredibly expensive.
I only think about buying one when the power goes out
and then when the power comes back on,
I just kind of forget, and I don't actually go buy one.
So anyways, if you're wondering
why I'm just walking along my shed here,
it's because it's incredibly windy out today.
It has been really windy of late.
I'm not sure why.
It's supposed to be winter
like I've mentioned in my other videos.
But lately, we've been having these wind storms.
You can even see, I have to fix this door on the shed.
It's kind of pushed out a little bit.
The wind is pushing it out.
So I'm just kind of walking along my shed and talking today.
I wanted to talk about something else
that's been happening of late.
Things are getting a little strange
with this pandemic here in Canada
and I'm sure in your countries as well.
We are still in school,
but schools are starting to shut down.
The school that a relative of mine goes to was shut down.
My son is coming home from university a week early.
My school is still open,
but I'm a little bit worried that we are going to go home
for Christmas break in a few days, next week,
actually in a week
and that we might not return
for in-person learning after the break.
I'm afraid that schools in Canada might actually be closed
for the month of January.
We'll have to see.
I hope not, but you never know.
Anyways, I'll see you in a couple of days
with another short English lesson.
Have a great weekend, bye.