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New Happy Valley TV videos and learning tips!
We are delighted to announce our newest videos, now uploaded to our YouTube channel - Happy Valley TV. 1 - The Hello Song. 2 - The Goodbye Song. 3 - The Phonics Song. Classroom Tip The Hello Song, Goodbye Song and Phonics song are ones we use in class each day. If you...
Trivia of the Week: Practice Makes Perfect
"Practice makes perfect" is an old saying that encourages people to practice a lot in order to improve. It takes a lot of practice in order to become perfect! "Practice makes perfect" is by far the most common version, but a few other versions exist. Short phrases...
Idiom of the Week: Shanghaied
"Wait a second. You said we were going to visit Grandma, but this isn't the way to her house. We're going to the doctor, aren't we? I've been shanghaied!" "Shanghai" as a verb means "kidnap". It came into use meaning to kidnap someone and force them to serve as a...
Word of the Week: Maybe
"Did you eat the cake?" "Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't." "Maybe" means it's possible something is true or not true. It can be used when the thing is unlikely: "Maybe I'll win the lottery." It can be used when the thing is very likely: "Maybe I'll stop at the store...
Picture of the Week: Cherries
You've probably seen cherries in the store or on top of a dessert. Here they are growing on a tree. You might be surprised the first time you see a pineapple or a bunch of bananas as they grow, but cherries look just about how you would imagine....
Phrase of the Week: Knock Out
"The explosion knocked him out, but he was not seriously injured." When someone loses consciousness, usually due to being hit by something, such as a punch, we say they are "knocked out". In an organized fight, such as a boxing match, it can be abbreviated to KO....
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
"Unfortunately, when we copied the document, the error was duplicitous." Find the mistake. A. Unfortunately B. copied C. document D. duplicitous 「残念ながら、ドキュメントをコピーした際に間違いも複写されてしまった。」 「複写された」の意味の「duplicated」が正しいのですが、騙したりウソついたりする人のことを表す形容詞の「duplicitous」になってしまいました。答えはDです。...
Trivia of the Week: Canine Teeth
"Canine" means "of a dog", so canine teeth are dog teeth. Actually, humans have canine teeth—the pointed teeth to either side of the incisors (front teeth). They're pointy, a little bit like a dog's fangs. In Japanese, they are called kenshi., Canine は「犬の」という意味ですので...
Idiom of the Week: Wear and Tear
"I've been taking it everywhere with me for almost two years and it's starting to show some wear and tear." "Wear" is signs of age and use. If you use something until it can't be used anymore, it gets "worn out". "Tear" actually means ripping or pulling apart, but in...
Word of the Week: Slurp
"In Japan, you have to slurp your noodles to show that you're enjoying them." Foreigners visiting Japan are often told that they must slurp their noodles, or suck them in noisily. This would be considered rude back home, but it makes sense when eating noodles in a hot...
