Blog
Picture of the Week: Christmas Lights
Many homes and businesses are decorated with elaborate lights and ornaments for the Christmas season. Have you seen any Christmas light displays this year? ...
Phrase of the Week: Stop at the store
“I’ll stop at the store for milk on the way home.” “Can you stop at school on the way to work and get my homework for today?” “The train bound for Osaka stops at Kyoto.” This is a useful phrase when you go somewhere for a short time on the way to somewhere else....
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“I couldn’t have improved so much without guidance from my mentored.” Find the mistake. A. couldn’t have B. improved C. without D. mentored 「メントルの導きがなければここまで進歩しませんでした。」...
Trivia of the Week: RIP
“Rip” means to tear or pull apart. So why do gravestones say “RIP”? This “RIP” stands for “rest in peace”. “Rest” or sleep is often compared to death—death is like a permanent sleep. We wish peace for the person who has died. We also want the dead to...
Idiom of the Week: No Skin Off My Nose
“You’re going to play video games all night even though the test is tomorrow? Oh well, it’s no skin off my nose.” If someone is doing something that might cause harm to them, but won’t affect us, we say it’s “no skin off our nose”. The speaker won’t be hurt—the skin...
Word of the Week: Feast
“Wow, what a feast! You must have been cooking all day!” A feast is a big, luxurious meal that includes many dishes. In the U.S. many people have a big, elaborate meal on Thanksgiving at the end of November. But Christmas dinner is also an important holiday meal!...
Picture of the Week: Horse-drawn Sleigh
Do you know the song “Jingle Bells”? The bells are on the harness of a horse pulling a sleigh like this. This sleigh is pulled by two horses, but the sleigh in the song is a “one-horse open sleigh”. ...
Phrase of the Week: Rub It In
“Rub the sunscreen into your skin.” “Rub it in” means to rub a liquid onto a surface until it is absorbed. But we often use this phrase to mean drawing attention to someone’s failure. “You failed the math test?” “Yes.” “After you studied all night? Your...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“Can you help me _____ for the school play?” Fill in the blank. A. rehearse B. review C. memorize D. remember 俳優は劇の台詞を暗記して練習します。もちろん台詞を「見直す」「復習する」こともあるのでBは使えそうですが、それなら目的語に「the script」や「my lines」が必要です。Cの「暗記する」も目的語の「my...
Let’s go to the beach! Fun words for an outing. 海に行こう！お出かけの時の楽しい言葉
Classroom Tip This chant from Happy Valley Student Book 2, Unit 5, isolates the beach vocabulary for practice. First, say the chant with the video. Then do it again with gestures. After, using Student Flashcards, recycle the question from Unit 4 What do you want? so...
Trivia of the Week: Chocolate Santa
Like chocolate bunnies at Easter, chocolate Santas are often given to children at Christmastime. These Santas are made of molded chocolate, but the foil wrapper provides most of the details so that you can recognize them as Santa Claus. ...
Idiom of the Week: Tugs at your heartstrings
“This story really tugged at my heartstrings.” We say this about sad things that cause an emotional response. Something that evokes sympathy is said to tug, or pull, at your heartstrings. It can also be used with cute things or beloved children that cause feelings of...
Word of the Week: Remember
“I remember the time I first met your father.” “I don’t remember my password on this website.” “Do you remember what happened yesterday?” To remember can be to think back on something that happened, or it can be to have information stored in your brain where you can...
Picture of the Week: Elf
Santa doesn’t make all the toys he gives to children himself! Elves help him to make them all. This elf looks very young, though. ...
Phrase of the Week: Fend for yourself
“After the baby alligators hatch, they must fend for themselves.” Mother alligators watch over their eggs until they hatch, but don’t take care of the baby alligators after that. The babies must fend for themselves. This means to take care of oneself without...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“I regret to inform you that show is sold in and there are no more tickets available.” Find the mistake. A. regret B. inform C. sold in D. available 「残念ですがそのショーのチケットは売り切れていて、もうチケットはありません。」...
Trivia of the Week: Hyena
Hyenas look similar to dogs, but they are more closely related to cats! They live in Africa. Some kinds are hunters and others are scavengers. Hyenas are active at night. The spotted hyena is also called the “laughing hyena” because of its bark. ...
Idiom of the Week: Bite the Bullet
“Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and give someone bad news.” “I wanted to go to the concert but I couldn’t risk failing the test the next day, so I bit the bullet and spend the evening studying.” To “bite the bullet” is to deal with a painful or unpleasant...
Word of the Week: Indeed
“Did you get my letter?” “I did indeed.” “My friend had told me his dog was big, and I saw that he is indeed a very big dog.” “Did you draw that? It’s very beautiful indeed.” “Indeed” can be used as emphasis or to confirm something as true. 「手紙は届きましたか？」 「届いたとも。」...
Picture of the Week: Camellia
The camellia is a flower from Asia. You shouldn’t give camellias to people recovering in the hospital. It’s easy for the whole flower to fall off, which isn’t a good image for recovery. ...
