Hi, everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. First of all, we apologize we haven't been updating the podcast for nearly two months. And we have an announcement: Time for English is moving to a new website. You can find our new URL on our current website, which will be closed sometime in January. So, please come and check. With this renewal, we are shutting down our podcast. We launched our website and podcast for Time for English in December 2005. Since then, we've been...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Are you familiar with the word "pet peeve"? A peeve is something that annoys you. A pet peeve is a minor annoyance that makes you upset or slightly angry whenever that happens. We all have pet peeves. You may get upset whenever you see someone clipping their nails in public, or speaking with their mouth full, driving slow in the fast lane, or saying "basically" in every sentence. They can be pet peeves. Pet peeves tend to...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. When you exercise, you want to make sure to stay well hydrated. And what does that mean? Well, it simply means to drink a lot of water. The verb "hydrate" means to add water or moisture to something. For example, you can hydrate your body by drinking water. Every time I wash my hands, I use lotion or cream to hydrate my skin. The opposite word of "hydrate" is "dehydrate". It means to remove water or moisture from something....

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. If a meteorologist says in the morning "Another hot day is expected today in Tokyo, with highs in the upper 30s", make sure to stay cool and well hydrated. Today, you're going to learn how to use the phrase "another hot day". "Another" means "one more". So, "another hot day" is used when you experience a hot day for two or more consecutive days. Let's say, you had a very hot day yesterday. And today you're having a very hot...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. If you ask me if it pays to be able to speak English, my answer is definitely yes. It pays to be fluent in English. You can enjoy books and movies in English. You can make friends in English. You can help people in English. In my case, it even pays my bills. When people say it pays to do something, it means it's a good idea to do that; it's worth doing that; and doing that will bring a positive result. For example, it pays to...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. During the Olympics, I often get this question: Should the Olympics take a singular verb or a plural verb? Singular means one. Plural means more than one. Actually, you can find a lot of discussions about this topic on the web. They offer different answers and suggestions. What I do is to use a plural verb for the Olympics. I feel safe and comfortable doing so, because even if I were wrong, I could always blame...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Are you familiar with the expression "to have big shoes to fill"? Let's say, your boss is leaving the company, and you're filling his shoes. It means you're taking over his job or position. And you want to remember this expression is used when your predecessor, in this case your boss, did a good job. In fact, your boss's been so great, bringing a lot of success to the company. So the CEO wants him to stay, saying "no one could...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Today, I'm going to talk about the words "vaccine", "vaccinate", and "vaccination". A vaccine is a medicine. It makes you less likely to get a disease or virus. Each vaccine protects you from one illness. For example, the flu vaccine protects you from getting the flu. It doesn't protect you from getting COVID-19. A vaccination is an act of giving you a vaccine, by actually putting a tiny bit of virus or bacteria into your...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Vaccination rates are definitely rising, but so is the number of infected individuals in Tokyo. Under the circumstances, it seems wearing a mask is still a part of our daily routine. Now, when we talk about a "mask" to prevent getting and spreading COVID-19, we're talking about a "face mask" in English. And you want to learn at least four verbs or phrasal verbs to use with the word "mask" so that you can talk about it in...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. If an event is held no matter whether it rains or the sun shines, it's a "rain or shine" event. Some people say it's raining "cats and dogs" when it's raining very heavily. These idiomatic expressions "rain or shine" and "cats and dogs" are often called binomial pairs. They are common English phrases that include a pair of words usually joined by "and" or "or". The order of the words are fixed. They're not reversible. In other...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. I think many of you are familiar with the idiom "When it rains, it pours". First, let's look at the verb "to pour". To pour in this idiom means to rain heavily. If someone says "it's pouring", it means it's raining very heavily. When something bad happens, other bad things tend to happen at the same time, or within a short period of time. Then you can use this expression "When it rains, it pours". For example, you lost your...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Here's another rain idiom for you: Last summer all residents of Japan received 100,000 yen cash handouts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than spending it right away, I guess some people have chosen to save it for a rainy day. If you save something, mostly money, for a rainy day, you save it for a time in the future when it might be needed unexpectedly. A rainy day fund is essentially another word for an emergency...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. If an event is held regardless of the weather, it's a "rain or shine" event, as you learned last week. For example, you're planning a barbeque party this coming weekend. And it'll go, rain or shine. In fact, there're quite many rain idioms in English. Perhaps one of the most famous rain phrases for Japanese learners is "raining cats and dogs". People say it's raining cats and dogs when it's raining very heavily. Likewise, when...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. When it rains, some outdoor events and activities, like baseball games, open-air concerts or barbecues, are cancelled or postponed. They are "rained out". There are other events, however, that won't be cancelled even when it rains. They are "rain or shine" events. For example, you're invited to an outdoor yoga class. The invitation says: All ages and levels are welcomed. Rain or shine. It means anyone can join and it'll be held...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. When you're watching weather news on TV from the US, especially around this time of year, you're likely to see weather people using the phrase "a chance of rain". Are you familiar with the expression? Chance of rain is about how likely it is to rain, for example, today in your location. The word "chance" is sometimes about opportunity, as in not having a chance to say goodbye. But in this case, a chance is a...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Today, I'm going to talk about the word "lift". To lift means to move something from a lower to a higher position. For example, you lift your glass to make a toast. You lift your hand to knock on the door. You lift your shoulders in a shrug. You shouldn't lift the lid to stir the rice while it's cooking. And remember, lift is another word for "elevator". Now, to lift also means to end a rule or law that stopped someone from...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. I was translating a document and came across this idiom: There's an elephant in the room. Are you familiar with the expression? Elephants are big animals. In fact, they're the largest land animals on earth. If there's an elephant in the room, it's impossible not to see it. If you don't see it, then that's because you don't want to see it. So, if someone says there is an elephant in the room, it means there is an obvious...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. When a meteorologist says there's a 70% chance of rain in Tokyo and 60% in Osaka today, it's a little more likely to rain in Tokyo than in Osaka. That said, you'd better take your umbrella with you when you go out, regardless of whether you're in Tokyo or in Osaka, because rain is likely in either way. Now, let's look at the word "likely". If something is likely, it will probably happen. For example, if rain is likely, it will...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Here's a quiz for you: What do the words plumber, bomber and climber have in common? The answer is (that) they all have the silent B in them. In English, some letters are silent. A silent letter is a letter that is not pronounced in a word, such as the B in plumber, bomber and climber. For example, you spell the word plumber P-L-U-M-B-E-R. You see the letter B in it. But when you say the word "plumber", there's no B sound in it....

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Are you familiar with the expression "something holds water"? To hold water literally means to contain water without leaking. But it's also used figuratively as an idiom. Collins Dictionary explains, for example, if an argument or theory does not hold water, it does not seem to be reasonable. In other words, if something doesn't hold water, it's not convincing; it doesn't seem to be true, or it doesn't make sense. Let's...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Last week, I talked about synonyms. Today, we're going to look at antonyms. Antonyms are the opposite of synonyms. If two words are antonyms, they have opposite meaning. For example, the opposite of HOT is COLD. The words "hot" and "cold" are antonyms. Likewise, "happy" and "sad" are antonyms. "Fantasy" and "reality" are antonyms. Now, you can often form antonyms by adding a prefix to a word, such as "un", "in", and "dis"....

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Last time, I talked about WHY and HOW COME. They mean the same thing. In other words, they are synonymous. If two words are synonyms, they have the same meaning or similar meanings. For example, the words "pretty" and "beautiful" have similar meanings. They are synonyms. The words "huge" and "enormous" have similar meanings. They are synonyms. Some synonyms are interchangeable. For example, it's hard to understand and it's...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Some people use "how come" to mean "why". "How come" is another way to say "why". In other words, when you want to know the reason for something, instead of saying "why", you can use "how come". Are there any differences? In terms of meaning they mean the same thing. It's just that "how come" is more informal. So, if you're writing, you may want to use "why". But if you're speaking, you can use both. That said, perhaps, you...

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English. Spring is coming, and so is the pollen. I'm already suffering from hay fever. Do you know what hay fever is? Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen. Pollen is a fine power from trees and grasses. When you have hay fever, you typically have a runny nose or stuffy nose, or red eyes or itchy eyes. Other common symptoms include sneezing, sore throat, headache or fatigue. It can be difficult to tell the difference between a cold...