Blog
Word of the Week: Broke (文無し)
Maurine: Oh no, I forgot my wallet. Could you lend me three dollars for some coffee? Catherine: I would, but I’m completely broke! Sorry! When you are broke, you have no money at all. If you knock a vase off of a table and it breaks, it is not broke; it is broken....
Picture of the Week: Persimmons
What is orange and round and sweet, and eaten in the fall? Persimmons are well-known in Japan, but actually they can be grown in many other places as well, such as the U.S., Europe, and Brazil. America also has its own species of persimmon, and there are other...
Phrase of the Week: Rags to Riches
Newscaster A: In a Dickensian twist, the orphan child turned out to be a long lost princess and is now living in the lap of luxury. Newscaster B: She’s really gone from rags to riches. A “rags to riches” story tells about someone who starts out very poor and ends up...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
We were forced to cancel the contract with them because their work did not meet our expectant. Find the mistake: A. were forced to B. contract with them C. did not meet D. our expectant “Expectant” is an adjective describing a person who expects something. (For...
Trivia of the Week: Japanese English: Mansion
In Japanese, a mansion is a nice apartment. It may be big for an apartment, but it is only one apartment in a building full of other apartments that belong to other people. In English, a mansion is a big, expensive house that belongs to one wealthy person. It may have...
Idiom of the Week: Go overboard
Bill: So, for Helen’s birthday party, I want to hire a clown, a magician, a pony ride… Karen: Hang on, Bill, let’s not go overboard. She’s only three. I think that might be too much excitement. To go overboard is to get carried away and do too much. Literally, if you...
Word of the Week: Handful (一握り)
Tour Guide: Only a handful of people have ever seen the view from this mountaintop. Wasn’t it worth the hike? A handful is literally the amount that you can pick up in your hand. At Halloween, children may be invited to grab a handful of candy out of a bowl. But it is...
Picture of the Week: Autumn in England
In autumn, the weather gets cooler, and the leaves turn brown, orange, yellow, or red before falling from the trees. In the northern hemisphere (including England, shown here), this starts in September, but in the southern hemisphere it begins in March. The word...
Phrase of the Week: Water under the Bridge
Ian: Can I borrow your car, man? Phillip: No, dude. Last time I let you drive it, you crashed into a tree. Ian: Come on, man. That was five years ago. It’s water under the bridge. Phillip: No. “Water under the bridge” is a problem between people that happened in the...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
I bought a convertible ___ I like to feel the wind in my hair when I drive. Fill in the blank: A. because B. however C. when D. although A convertible is a car that is open to the air. Enjoying the feeling of wind in one’s hair is a good reason to buy a convertible,...
