Lesson Notes November 6, 2026 (Yamayuri)
Words & Phrases
A couple of races are still too close to call. They’ll be counting ballots for a few more days.
I just happened to be walking by, so I stopped in to see if the English class was running.
You just retired, so what do you do to fill your time?
What are you keeping yourself busy with?
I returned from China the Monday before last. (= two Mondays ago)
Shanghai is one hour behind Tokyo.
Sydney is two hours ahead of Tokyo.
A lot of Canadians do not like the time changes that happen in spring and fall.
Some provinces have adopted permanent daylight savings time.
To enter the country you need a landing permission. These days most people have a QR code on their phone.
This picture is painted on the wall of a cave.
It’s been restored and researchers filled in the missing parts.
One dish we had was wheat noodles topped with lamb and vegetables.
Most of that country is wide open spaces, and you can find some oases. (= fertile green spots, often with water, in a desert)
There was a possibility of altitude sickness, so our guide told us to breathe normally and slowly.
Pronunciation
Desert (noun) ˈdɛzərt / DEZ-ert
Camels can survive for weeks without water in the harsh desert environment.
Desert (verb) dɪˈzɜːrt / dih-ZURT
The old mountain road was completely deserted after midnight.
Dessert (noun) dɪˈzɜːrt / dih-ZURT
After dinner, we ordered chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Appropriate Language
Spicy can mean having heat of chillies, or flavoured with spices
Spiced means having cumin, cinnamon, cloves etc
When food has both we often say “hot and spicy” (hot = heat of chillies, spicy = flavoured with spices)
