Idioms of the week:

X marks the spot

You bet (your boots / your life) 

Lessons May 2026 Week 1

Tardigrades, a.k.a. slow steppers or little water bears, are the most indestructible animal.

There are over 900 species of tardigrade, and they grow to between 1 and 1.5 mm in length.

They can be found under the Antarctic ice, sea floor, mountain tops and inside volcanoes.

They have survived in space outside the spacecraft.

They can endure temperatures exceeding 150°C or as low as -200°C.

A pair of tardigrades were frozen in 1983 and revived by Japanese scientists in 2015. 

National Coin Week is from April 21 to 27.

The first coins came to Japan from China around 200 CE, but they were not used as money.

At that time, rice and cloth were used as a means of exchange.

The first coins made in Japan are called the mumonginsen and fuhonsen in the seventh century.

The mumonginsen coins were made of silver and the fuhonsen coins were made of a copper, lead and tin alloy.

Since 1958, the Japanese yen has become one of the major currencies of the world.

“Wires crossed” means “a misunderstanding.”

I thought he said the meeting was next week, but it was this morning. I guess we got our wires crossed.

“Wrong side of the tracks” means “the poor side of town.”

His parents didn’t want him to date her because they said she was from the wrong side of the tracks.