An introduction to the British series of picture books about Winnie the Witch.
Winnie the Witch
British English – Floors
One very important difference between British and American English that Japanese people need to learn is how we number the floors of a building. Like in Japan, in America the ground level floor (地面と同じレベルの階) of a building is called the
Learning Vocabulary: -ed / -ing adjectives
There are many pairs of adjectives (形容詞) that describe emotions (感情を表す) in English, with one word ending in “-ed” and the other ending in “-ing”. They are very useful words but students are often confused (混乱する) about how to use
Frequency Phrases Part II
In my last post I introduced adverbs of frequency (頻度を表す副詞) and this time I would like to introduce a few extra phrases to help you talk about how often you do something. Last time I introduced fairly vague (曖昧な) words
Adverbs of Frequency
In this post I would like to introduce a very useful set of words; namely adverbs of frequency (頻度を表す副詞). Here is a list of the most common adverbs of frequency in English: 100% Always (いつも)↓ Usually (普段)↓ Often (よくする)↓ Sometimes
Learning Vocabulary – Parts of Speech
In my last post about building vocabulary I talked about learning groups of words. Another good way to build vocabulary is to learn different parts of speech (品詞) based on a key word. For example if we start with the
Abbreviations
In Japanese, English (katakana) words are regularly abbreviated (短縮・省略される), but often in different ways to native English so you need to be careful. One example is “air-con” (エアコン), which in English would be shortened to AC or A/C. We often
Kodomo no Hi
Kodomo no Hi is usually translated in English as “Children’s Day”, thoughas most of the traditions are connected with boys I think you couldalso call it “Boys’ Day”. Like Hinamatsuri, it is celebrated each year by families to prayfor the
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