Word of the Week: Tease

“Mom, Billy’s teasing me!” “Don’t tease the dog or he might bite you.” Teasing is speaking or acting in a mean way. It usually isn’t meant to really hurt anyone. However, it can easily go too far—a sibling’s teasing...

Word of the Week: Count

“That doesn’t count!” In tennis, if your opponent doesn’t hit the ball back, you get a point. However, if the ball doesn’t bounce inside the lines, it doesn’t count. We don’t count that point when we calculate your score. We can say something counts or doesn’t count...

Word of the Week: Absolutely

“Are you going to read the next book in this series when it comes out?” “Absolutely!” “There are absolutely no monsters under the bed.” “Absolutely” can be a more enthusiastic way to say “yes”. It can also emphasize that something is 100% true—not mostly true but...

Word of the Week: Gentle

“A gentle breeze was blowing.” “Pet the kitten gently.” To be gentle is to be very soft and not cause any damage, even to something delicate like a young kitten. 「優しい風が吹いていた。」 「子猫を優しくなでてね。」...

Word of the Week: Tiny

“What a tiny dog! I’ve never seen such a small dog.” “I know you said not to eat any candy before dinner, but I just had a tiny bit.” “Look at this dollhouse. It has teeny-tiny pillows on the little beds!” “Tiny” just means “very small”. “Teeny-tiny” is a very cute...

Word of the Week: Paw

“Cats lick their front paws and use them to wash their faces.” “The dog’s paws slipped on the ice.”   Animals like cats and dogs don’t have hands and feet—they have paws instead. The fleshy lumps on the bottoms of their paws are called paw pads. Some animals,...