Blog
Trivia of the Week: Cicadas
Cicadas can be found almost everywhere in the world. In some places, people eat cicadas. In China, their shells are used in medicine. The English word “cicada” comes from Latin for “tree cricket”. Cicadas spend most of their lives underground, and then come out and...
Idiom of the Week: On Top of the World
Sally: How are you, Betty? Betty: Oh, I’m on top of the world. I just got a great new job, my son got engaged, and my daughter won an award. Feeling “on top of the world” means being very, very happy. In idioms, “high” usually means “good”, so being above the rest of...
Word of the Week: Neighbor
“My dog got out, so I’ll ask the neighbors if they have seen him.” The word “neighbor” usually refers to a person who lives in a house near yours. It can also be used to mean a person whose desk is near yours in your office or classroom, a person who is near you in...
Phrase of the Week: Allow Me
Clerk: That will be $5.00. Clara: I’ll get it. Emmett: No, allow me. “Allow me,” is something people say to be polite when they do a small favor for someone, such as pulling out a chair or opening a door. It could be rephrased as “Let me do that for you.” In a longer...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
Thanks to the achieving of the marketing team, the new product is flying off the shelves. Find the mistake: A. achieving B. marketing team C. new product D. flying off マーケティング部の成果のおかげで新商品の売れ行きが好調です。 「Flying off the...
Trivia of the Week: Butterscotch
Butterscotch is a sweet flavor. Real butterscotch is made of brown sugar and butter, like toffee but not boiled as long. Butterscotch-flavored sweets don’t always contain real butterscotch, though. It is common as an ice cream topping or a flavor for hard candies or...
Idiom of the Week: Rock the Boat
Ted: You all want green peppers on your pizza right? We’ll have two large pizzas with green peppers. Steve: I hate green peppers! Fred: Don’t rock the boat, Steve! Everyone else loves them. Rocking the boat means making trouble for the group. If one person in a boat...
Word of the Week: Splurge
“I splurged on this Blu-ray box set of my favorite TV show.” To splurge is to spend a lot of money on something extravagant. Sometimes we want to buy something nice even though it is pretty expensive. It’s okay to treat ourselves to something now and then....
Phrase of the Week: Make Someone Smile
“I love to make my friends smile.” Often we use the word “make” to mean “to force someone or something to do something”, but this is not always what it means. It’s good to make someone smile, but you shouldn’t force them! “Make” means that the smile would not have...
Flyering
I love doing flyers. It was hot and I was up early today - I slept on the sofa at school. Then I met the team and we handed out over 1,500 flyers. Good job! The reason I love it is because we can make it fun. If we smile at people and they react, smile back and say...
