This week we will start our 4 week series concentrating on idioms. Some people love idioms, while others hate them because they are too difficult. I will write a little anecdote each week with five to ten idioms. Below each week’s anecdote will be an example of the meaning of each idiom. We hope you will enjoy learning the meaning of some interesting idioms. Then we hope you will start to use a few of them in your conversations. Beginners should remember to use the on-line dictionary. Click on the links below to either find out how to use the dictionary or go directly to the dictionary’s site.

　　Many boys dream of adventures and going to foreign countries. Then, we become young men and our interests change, but I am still a boy at heart. I think living in Japan has been a dream come true. I like new experiences. I catch on to things quickly, except for Japanese. I mess up at times with the language, but I try to work out misunderstandings with friends. There is always something new to learn. What a life!

At heart:　実際は、本当は
1.　ジェームズはときどきとても非友好的に見えますが、実際は彼はとてもいい人なのです。

Come true: 現実となる、当たる
1.今日の天気についての予報士の予報は確かに当たった。
2.生活費の増加について経済学者らが予測したことがすべて現実となった。

Catch on: 広まる；（意味・冗談が）わかる
（*「（意味・冗談が）わかる」の語義では、catch on to の形でよく用いる。）
1.　教師があんなふうに早口で話して、君はすらすらわかるかね。
(When the teacher speaks quickly like that, can you catch on easily?)

Mess up: しくじる
1.　今日の試験は本当にしくじったよ,君もへまをしたかい？
2.　カレンはうっかりして自分の当座預金に入金するのを忘れた。

Work out: 次第に出てくる
　1.　 トレ－ニングをする；（計画などを）考えだす
2. 　その問題を解くいい計画を提案することはできなかったが、後日力を合わせて解決していくことで同意した。

　　When you talk to teenagers and young people, do you feel out of touch?  You’re not alone!  Adults’ vocabulary is out of date and we try in vain to communicate, but it seems like we’re wasting our breath.  It goes without saying that each generation has their own words and phrases.  Words that were popular twenty years ago are now not cool.  Try to learn a new word from a teenager, and try to teach them something.  You may be surprised that they want to listen to you.  Communication may be difficult, but by all means, don’t give up!

1. Out of touch: 連絡がとだえて；（～についての）理解がない
1.マージと私は長年連絡がとだえていた、それから先日突然彼女が電話をかけてきた。
2.ラリーはずっと忙しくて世の中の出来事はわかっていないようだ。

2. Out of date: 旧式な；時代遅れの；（本が）絶版の（＊制限用法で後ろの名詞を修飾する場合はout-of-dateの形になる。動詞outdateは派生語｡）
1.多くの人々はもとの車が旧式になると新車を買います。
2.なぜジーンが時代遅れの服装を好むのか私にはわかりません。彼の服があまりに時代遅れなので，ガールフレンドでさえ彼と一緒のところを見られるのを嫌っています。
　　
3. In vain: むだに「で」
1.けがをした女性を救おうとした医師たちのあらゆる努力は水泡に帰した。彼女は病院　に入れられてから3時間後に死を告げられた。
2.昨夜私たちはあなたに連絡をとろうとしたのですが、できませんでした。電話が故障していませんか。

4. Wasting our breath: むだな説得をする（＊人を説得させようと時間を浪費している場合に用いる。
　　save one’s breathはnot to waste one’s breathの意味）
1.もうフランクと議論するな。君の意見に同意させようなんてむだな説得だ。
2.何をするかはもう決心したんだ。僕の心は変えられない、だから、むだな説得はしないでくれ。

5. Goes without saying: 言うまでもない（＊it goes without saying thatの形で用いることが多い。）
1.悪天候のときはスピードを出して運転すべきでないということは言うまでもない。

6. By all means: もちろん、当然；いかなる手段を用いても
1.もしジョンソン一家が私たちを夕食に招いてくれれば、その時は当然私たちもお返しに招待しなければならない。もちろんその家の子供たちは招待する必要はない。
2.確実に生き残るためには、その経営不振の企業は何が何でも現金を入手しなければならない。

7. Give up: あきらめる；やめる；降参する
1.君はきっとこの仕事をやり遂げられるよ。まだあきらめないで

　　Many prefectures in Japan have local demons.  Akita Prefecture’s Namahage are a great example.  I was taken aback by how scary they are, but also very interested to learn more about them.  I went to the Namahage Museum last year with my friend from America.  I explained that their purpose is to make the bad children become good children.  In other words, they scare the children into good behavior and probably give them nightmares.  Nine times out of ten, they succeed in scaring the children. So, do the Namahage really make kids behave better?  I guess that depends on how many times they visit a child!

to (be) take(n) aback: しばしば失望；困惑がともないながら驚きや驚愕（きょうがく）の感情が呼び起こされる
in other words: 同じことを違う言い方で言う；要約する[ that is to sayと同義 ]
nine times out of ten: ほとんど常に
it (or that) depends (on) : もしかすると；たぶん；（私は）まだ決めていないが,
　　　　　　　　　　　　　条件がつくかもしれない；とても不確かだ

Hello everyone,

We finally moved completely into a new school location last week. I am glad the move is done. Both Kristin and I are exhausted, but we are very satisfied with everything. We also want to thank Jinko and Setsuko for the great help! We couldn’t have done it without you two. We are very grateful!

Well, let me tell you about the school’s sudden move. I had been very curious with the old Kasaya Sporting Good Store’s building. The store moved to a new building last year, and for the last three months I have wanted to stop in and talk with the owner. So, three weeks ago I was passing by their new place in my car and I decided to pull into the parking lot.

I told the Mr. Sasaki who is the owner, that I was interested in renting the building from him and was wondering if I could see the inside of it. I also told him that the monthly rent would probably be too much, but none the less I would like to see it.

He said, “Sure, I will take you to the place now”.  So we went to see it and it was huge, at least twice the size of the current place, and in addition it had running water, storage and wonderful lighting.  I discussed the move with my wife and we decided to rent the building from the owner.

We had it cleaned first, and then had someone lay the carpet and put up some wallpaper in a few needed places. After that we started moving everything over from the old place.  We have much to do still, but at least we can teach classes while fixing it up a little more.

　　One of my favorite Japanese festivals is Kanto.  It starts out the same way as many festivals, with lots of dancing, music, and festival clothing.  At first glance, it looks like people holding lanterns with candles inside.  But then, everything stops, and the lanterns go swinging into the night sky.  Some teams have a better safe than sorry attitude, but a few teams go for it and try to get their lanterns as high as possible.  Sometimes, things go wrong and the lanterns fall over, and this is when the festival gets really exciting.  I can’t wait to see Kanto this year!  What is your favorite summer festival?

in the same way: 同様に；同じように；同じ理由から
at first sight: 見たところ初めは；初めて見ると[ at first glanceと同義 ]
Better safe than sorry: 危険をおかすよりは,安全策を取るほうがよい
to go for (it): 通常はある特定のものあるいは目標について、気持ちや行動
　　　において,非常に熱意があって積極的である[口語的]
to go wrong: 誤りをおかす；計算間違いをしたり, 判断まちがいをする;悪い面をあらわにする

　　Kristin's Trip to Hokkaido

For four years, I’ve wanted to go to Hokkaido, but every summer I was too busy.  This summer, I decided to go.  Me and two good friends got on a ferry at 7am and 10 hours later, we arrived in Tomakomai to begin our adventure.  We spent about 5 days visiting Furano, Sapporo, Otaru, and Hakodate.  We had good weather, but it was so hot and humid!  I was a little disappointed that it was not cooler this year.

We were able to do so many things on our trip.  We saw many beautiful flowers, pet some farm animals, ate Genghis Khan, toured the Sapporo beer factory, hugged a bear, got chased by bees, and ate a live squid.  We had a great time, and I really want to go back again someday to see the rest of Hokkaido.