Words February 2026 Week 4

We visited my husband’s parents’ tomb. (This is easier to say than “my parents’-in-law tomb.”)

We cleaned the tombstone. (A stone recording the deceased person's name can be called a gravestone or tombstone.)

A grave is a casket buried underground and a tomb is above ground. (Most Japanese have tombs.)

I started taking guitar lessons. (We “take” lessons.)

I bought a higher quality guitar. (She had a cheap guitar but after becoming more interested in playing, she bought a nicer one.)

Rakuten, Yahoo Auctions and Mercari are Japanese versions of eBay. (This is a convenient way to sell things you don’t use anymore.)

Buyers bid for items on eBay. (Tsukiji Fish Market also has bidding for some fish such as tuna.)

They all caught the flu one after another. (Most of them recovered after a few days, but one daughter had to be hospitalized.)

She felt sluggish. (She had no energy.)

Her house is a stone-throw from my house. (They live very near each other.)

The phrase "so da ne” became immensely popular in Japan during the 2018 Winter Olympics. (The team used a soft-sounding Hokkaido dialect pronounced with a long ending sound, sodaneee.)

He went down on his knees and started crying. (He accidentally dropped his partner in the pair figure skating event.)

When I was in my third year of junior high school (ninth grade) we watched the winter Olympics in the science classroom. (Saying “ninth grade” is much easier.)

There are many indoor facilities here and there in Japan for winter Olympic training year-round. (Many countries do not have wealthy sponsors who can afford to build such facilities.)

It was a hit-and-run accident. (She was hit by a vehicle while in the crosswalk and the person left the scene of the accident.)

I couldn’t eat anything. (Saying, “I could eat nothing” is ok but when using the negative, it is better to say “… couldn’t eat anything.”)

I caught up on my chores. (Chores are small jobs like house cleaning, laundry, shopping etc.)

I started listening to audio books. (You can listen to someone reading the books.)

I made a veggie platter for the party. (A typical veggie platter is a popular, healthy variety of raw, crisp, and colorful vegetables, usually arranged around a bowl of dip.)

The Winter Olympic pictograms focus on the skill and movement of winter athletes. (This year’s designs were reviewed by a group of international athletes.)

There are many foreign caregivers for the elderly in Japan. (In 2025 there were approximately 54,000 foreign caregivers for the elderly. Japan faces a critical shortage, with an estimated 570,000 workers needed by 2040.)

Ome’s population is decreasing. (This is hard to believe since there are so many houses being built.)

Japanese grilled eel dishes are ranked using flower names - Matsu (pine), Take (bamboo), and Ume (plum) to signify the volume of the meal, rather than the taste. (Kiri, or Paulownia wood, containers are used to store high-quality foods such as eel to maintain their texture.) (FYI there is a chain eel restaurant near Hamura Station.)

The topic was about driving from the east coast to the west coast of the US. (Driving takes a long time, but you will see many beautiful and interesting places.)

I fell backwards from the second step. (Her head hit the corner of a carboard box.)

My head was swollen just above my eye. (The swelling started going down on the following day.)

My car doesn’t have snow tires. (Since studded tires are basically not used in Japan, you can say “snow tires” instead of “studless tires.”)

The field was muddy from the melted snow. (The snow didn’t provide enough water, so we still need rain.)

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Here is a funny video of a women quartet comediennes playing music: Women’s humor concert #funny #funnyvideos #womenartists #opera #violi... | TikTok