Idiom of the Week: Easy as Pie

“Don’t worry; it’s as easy as pie!”   But baking a pie is hard, isn’t it? It may be easy for an experienced baker, but something that’s “easy as pie” is easy for anybody! “Easy as pie” refers to eating pie, not baking a pie. Eating a pie is usually easy and fun!...

Word of the Week: Mistaken

“You must be mistaken. I’ve never been here before.”   “Mistaken” is the past participle of “mistake” as a verb: “He had mistaken the branch for a snake!” It’s also commonly used this way: “If you think I’ll accept those conditions, you are mistaken.” It...

Picture of the Week: Bat

Bats are one of the scary animals we think of around Halloween. Is this bat scary? Or is it funny? Its tongue is sticking out. Maybe it’s just cute!...

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...