Words April 2026 Week 2

She made udon noodles from scratch. (“From scratch” means from the beginning, not using anything that was premade.)

Washington state's minimum wage is $17.13 (¥ 2,733) per hour for workers aged 16 and older.

In a few cities it is about $21.57. (¥ 3,442)

For 14–15-year-olds the minimum wage is $14.56 (¥ 2,323) per hour. (Japan’s minimum wages are between 1,112 – 1,228 yen per hour.)

The students sat in alphabetical order. (My name starts with the letter “Y”, so I always sat in the back of the class.)

What is your maiden name. (What was your family name before you got married?)

They picked us up and drove us to Gotemba. (Her son drove them to Gotemba.)

The room felt spacious after everyone left. (Her children and grandchildren visited them during the spring break.)

He gave me a bear hug. (He strongly hugged her.)

They danced with enthusiasm. (They were excitedly dancing.)

There are many peach orchards in that area. (Fruit tree farms are called orchards.)

Pleurisy, or pleuritis, is an inflammation of the lining of the lungs and chest. (This is a painful disease.)

There is an age limit of 13 years old to play on the playground equipment. (Her granddaughter is 13 so she was happy to play there one more time.)

I had to take off my shoes at the airport. (She had newspaper in her boots to keep them dry, and the security staff wanted to make sure she was not a terrorist.)

I was tossing and turning all night. (I didn’t sleep well.)

I walk at a snail’s pace. (I walk very slowly.)

We strolled around the hotel. (We had a leisurely walk around that area.)

We had a good view of Mt. Fuji. (There were no clouds.)

I saw something from the corner of my eye. (She noticed something and turned her head to see it clearly.)

The movie “Wicked” is a prequel to the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” (A prequel is a story of what happened before the original movie.)

She moved back to Japan for good. (She moved back permanently.)

Our neighbor’s dog barks when people walk by. (Dogs communicate by barking.)

All’s well, that ends well. (This describes something that started out bad but ended up good.)

"When I lived in Italy, I would eat gelato every day after dinner." (Implies a habitual, nostalgic, or routine action in the past).

"During my week-long vacation in Italy, I ate gelato every day." (Simply states the fact that it occurred daily without the habitual, nostalgic nuance).

The movie “Catch Me if You Can” was released in 2002. (This is a true story of a 16-year-old conman.)

Esperanto is considered the primary "international language" and was created in 1887. (The top 3 hardest languages for native English speakers to learn are Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese.)

He hopes to win back-to-back Augusta Masters Championships. (He desires to win the tournament two years in a row.)

There is a very large weeping cherry blossom tree there. (They are called “weeping” because it looks like a person weeping.)