Zoom英会話クラス(火)

Lesson Notes January 6, 2026 (TUESDAY ZOOM)

Words & Phrases

• I’ve been a little sick. I started coughing a few days ago, but I’m better today.

• I stayed home for three days. I had a cough.

• What did you do for New Year’s? (We don’t say ‘new year’s days’)

• These examples are more common

• I cooked a lot of food for the New Year’s holidays.

• Over the New Year’s break I watched a lot of TV.

• We were worried about the weather, so we left at 7:40 in the morning. (NOT “we started”. “Start” usually means beginning an activity or process, not physically going away. In everyday English, “leave” is the natural verb for departing a place.)

• I didn’t know horses could find their way back home.

• Tea leaves spilt from the back of a truck and caused a multi-vehicle collision in Japan.

• I saw someone on TV say that hōjicha was easy to roast at home. I tried it once, but it didn’t turn out very good.

• Pour boiling water over the tea bag, and let it steep for about 3 to 4 minutes.

• Steep (verb) = to soak something in liquid for a period of time so that flavour, colour, or properties are released.

• She steeped the herbs in hot water to make a simple remedy.

• If you steep it too long, the flavour can become bitter.

• The chestnuts were imported from Korea, but the (paste / puree) was made in Japan.

• He strained the egg whites and yolks separately to make the textures smoother.

• Do you like non-alcohol beer? (This is an adjective)

• This beer has no alcohol in it. (This is a noun)

• Have you ever been blackout drunk?

Appropriate Language

• “No alcohol (beer / wine / etc)” is understandable, but it sounds unnatural and is not standard English.

• In everyday use, people say:

• ‘non-alcoholic' beer

• ‘non-alcohol’ beer in casual speech

• You may also hear ‘alcohol-free’ beer