Blog
Phrase of the Week: Speaking Of
“Speaking of Joe, did you know his daughter graduated high school?” “Speaking of cats, my friend is looking to adopt a kitten.” We use “speaking of” to introduce a new topic that is related to something that has been mentioned. If the conversation turns to...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“The train was ____ by a minor accident.” Fill in the blank. A. delayed B. late C. derail D. diluted 「電車がちょっとした事故のために遅れました。」 「The train was...
I’m hungry! Let’s order some food in English! おなかすいた～！英語で食べ物を注文しよう！
Classroom Tip This chant from Happy Valley Student Book 2, Unit 4, introduces more foods (in Happy Valley 1 we learned some fruit and snack food vocabulary). Do the chant and then repeat it doing the gestures. After, make a menu like in the Storytime page! On the...
Trivia of the Week: Aspirin
People had known for a long time that willow tree bark had an ability to relieve pain. Modern aspirin was developed in the 19th century. The word “aspirin” started as a brand name of the company Bayer, but became a generic name for the drug. Aspirin is less popular...
Idiom of the Week: Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
“Are you sure this information is reliable?” “I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.” The best information comes from people who are directly involved. In horse racing, who is more directly involved than the actual horse? This saying means the information comes...
Word of the Week: Mistake, cont.
Last week we looked at “mistake” as a noun. We can also use it as a verb. “Did you mistake me for someone else?” “I mistook the gas pedal for the brake.” When you see (or hear or feel) someone or something, but think it is something or someone else, you have mistaken...
Phrase of the Week: It Won’t Happen Again
“You ate the pudding I left in the fridge, didn’t you? I even wrote my name on it!” “I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.” We say something won’t happen again when we have done something wrong and have to apologize. The other person can be sure that we won’t do it again,...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
"Be sure to pick up a copy of my book when it releases next month!" Find the mistake. A. Be sure B. pick up C. when it D. releases 「来月本が出版されたら間違いなく買ってね！」 Aの「Be...
Trivia of the Week: Odd and Even
Even numbers are divisible by two. They can be divided by two without anything left over, or divided “evenly”. Odd numbers are not strange, but can’t be divided evenly by two. Zero also counts as even! Non-integers like 1/3 or 0.5 are neither odd nor even. ...
Idiom of the Week: A Close Call
“That was a close call! I almost hit that cyclist.” “A close call” is an accident, injury, or other bad thing that almost happens but is just barely avoided. It could be very serious: you almost died, but survived through luck. It could be a small thing: you...
