Wishing you a Happy Easter from Hankins English. Easter (復活祭) is a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus Christ returning from the dead. It is the most important Christian festival and many people who are not Christians also celebrate it as a
Easter
Learning Vocabulary – Opposites
Students often ask me what is a good way to learn English vocabulary and it is a difficult question to answer. One suggestion I often make is to learn words in sets. For example for adjectives (形容詞) you can often
Hinamatsuri
Hinamatsuri is usually called Girls’ Day or the Doll Festival in English. It is celebrated each year by families to pray for the health (健康) and happiness (幸福) of young girls. Hina-ningyo can be translated as ornamental dolls. They represent
Dates in English
Dates in English can be a little complicated (複雑). We write and say dates in different ways and there are also differences between British and American English. In the UK we usually say the day first and then the month.
Explaining Your Culture
At the end of my last post I mentioned some phrases that you can use to introduce Japanese things when you don’t know the right word or can’t find a perfect translation in English. I always tell my students that
Ogres, Demons and Devils
In my last post I said that oni is often translated in English as an ogre, demon or devil. Personally I think that the closest translation is an ogre. An ogre is a monster that appears in Western legends (伝説)
Setsubun
Setsubun can be explained in English as the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan or as a kind of New’s Year’s Eve for the old Lunar New Year (旧正月). It is also sometimes described in English as the
Hopes and Goals
In my last blog post I talked about New Year’s resolutions (新年の抱負).Recently I have been teaching my students some useful phrases for talking about future hopes and goals (希望と目標）: (weaker) ↓ I hope to…/I would like to… ↓ I want
Happy New Year from Hankins English
I would like to wish everyone a belated (遅ればせながら) Happy New Year from Hankins English and welcome you to my new blog. New Year in the UK New Year’s Eve is not a public holiday (祝日) in the UK but