English tutor Alice here with a quiz question for you! ESL students please answer this quiz.

So true...💯

Daily English Expressions! Day 18: To hit the nail on the head Example: “You really hit the nail on the head with that one” What is the meaning of “To hit the nail on the head”? A: To insult someone about their insecurity B: To find the way through a tight spot C: To be exactly right about something D: To make a good guess with no information

Today, I woke up at 10 a.m. After getting ready, I met up with my friends, and we headed to school together. The weather was nice, so I felt good on my way to school. Today, I had a media studies class. In this class, we learned about what is happening around the world today. We talked about different countries, current events, and how people live in different parts of the world. I thought the class was very interesting because I could learn about things that I do not usually think about in my daily life. I realized that there are many problems and changes happening around the world, and they can affect our lives in different ways. I also think it is important to understand what is happening in other countries instead of only focusing on Japan. By learning about global news and society, I can develop my own opinions and understand different points of view. Sometimes, the news can be difficult to understand, but I want to learn more about it. I believe that studying media is useful because we can get information from many sources, such as television, newspapers, and the internet. However, we also need to think carefully about whether the information is correct. Overall, I enjoyed today’s class and learned a lot about the current situation around the world. I want to continue studying media and become more interested in international issues.

Same Kanji, Different Readings: The Fascinating Side of Japanese To everyone working hard to learn kanji! In Japanese, some words are written with the same kanji but have different readings and uses. Let's take 「墓穴」 as an example. When read as "boketsu" (ぼけつ)**, it is often used in the idiom 「墓穴を掘る」 (boketsu wo horu). This expression means "to dig one's own grave" — in other words, to get yourself into trouble through your own words or actions. On the other hand, when read as "haka ana" (はかあな), it literally refers to a hole dug for a grave. In fact, "boketsu" can also literally mean a grave hole, but let's focus on its idiomatic use here. Trying to memorize both readings and their different uses at the same time can sometimes be confusing, even though the kanji are exactly the same. Instead, try learning each reading and its usage separately, with an example sentence. Example 1 「余計なことを言って、自分で墓穴（ぼけつ）を掘ってしまった。」 "I said too much and ended up digging my own grave." Example 2 「墓穴（はかあな）を掘る作業が始まった。」 "The work of digging a grave has begun." Interestingly, English has a very similar idiom: "dig one's own grave." Both Japanese and English use the same image to describe how someone's own actions can lead to trouble. You can often figure out how to read a word and what it means by looking at the surrounding context. Learning individual kanji is important, but connecting words to situations and contexts is also a valuable way to improve your Japanese. The same kanji can create different impressions depending on how they are read and used. And sometimes, we discover that different languages share surprisingly similar expressions. I think these little discoveries are part of what makes learning a language so enjoyable!

join or join in I know “join” is for join a club or a party, and “join” in is for join in an activitiy. But I read a sentence from a book. it says “join a school tour”. I am confused. school tour is an activity, so I guess we should say “join in a school tour”. So am I right?

Hello! English tutor Alice here. Here's some information about me. I'd love to know more about you. I have lived in the US my entire life and I've never been overseas. What country do you live in? Have you ever been over seas? I have been to Canada but not since the mid 1990's. I have been to multiple states here in the US. Here's a few of them that I have visited. Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Indiana and California. Some may wonder... Alice... Why have you not traveled overseas before? Well the answer is simple. Actually I have a few answers for this. First of all... the United States is massive. Depending on where you live in a state, it could take anywhere from a few moments to a few hours to just get to the state next to yours. And traveling across country can for some Americans feel worlds different. Cost of traveling. The cost to travel overseas is quite expensive. And the flights last many hours, much longer than a domestic US flight. Many of those flights are what we call 'Red Eye' flights....where the flight is during our over night hours. Which maybe stressful to some. The fastest flight from my hometown airport in Kentucky to London's Heathrow airport is 7 hours and 40 minutes. The fastest flight from my hometown airport in Kentucky to Los Angeles LAX airport is around 5 hours. Some people, like myself do not like flying. I find it incredibly stressful. I have flown a few times before within the US but it's something I get a lot of anxiety about. Plus also factor in the cost of lodging and food when traveling. Cost of transportation when landing. I think for some international students the massive size of the US and the distance between major cities that one would visit is something that is hard to realize. Did you know...even with living in the US my entire life... I have never been to Seattle, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Dallas or New Orleans. That's just some major cities that I've never been to.

🧠 Everyday English Challenge!

Yesterday, I went out to eat with Taiwanese and Chinese students.🇹🇼🇨🇳Professor Shimada introduced them to me. I am thinking about going to Tamkang University in Taiwan for a language training program during spring vacation. One of the students was from Tamkang University, so we talked a lot about delicious food and school life in Taiwan‼︎ I was surprised to hear that my favorite bubble milk tea costs only about 300 yen in Taiwan.🧋It is much cheaper than in Japan‼︎ I really want to go to Taiwan soon and enjoy many new experiences. I also noticed that the intonation is different between Taiwan and China. I realized that this is similar to Japan, where people speak different intonations depending on the region. I thought this was an interesting similarity between our countries.🫢The Chinese boy was a first-year student at Kanagawa University. He has been going to school in Japan since junior high school. I thought it was amazing that he could speak two languages and switch between them naturally during our conversation‼︎

Smoking cigarettes brings many serious disadvantages to your personal health, your financial budget, and your daily social life. First of all, tobacco products contain thousands of toxic chemicals that damage your lungs and heart, greatly increasing the dangerous risk of deadly illnesses like lung cancer, stroke, and chronic heart failure. Second, smoking is an incredibly expensive habit to maintain; buying packs of cigarettes every week costs a massive amount of money that could otherwise be saved for your future or spent on essential things. Third, it causes unpleasant physical appearance problems, such as turning your teeth yellow, causing bad breath, and making your clothes, skin, and hair smell terrible. Finally, secondhand smoke seriously hurts the innocent people around you, especially your beloved family, children, and friends, by forcing them to breathe in harmful air. In addition, many modern public areas completely ban smoking today. In conclusion, smoking negatively affects every single part of your life, making it a very bad choice for everyone.