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Perhaps, one of the most memorable Olympic quotes for Japanese is this: We can't let him go home empty-handed. This was first said in London by an Olympic swimmer when his teammate failed to capture an individual medal. If you say you can't go home empty-handed as an Olympic athlete, it means you're determined to win a medal, whatever the color. Eventually the team came home with a silver medal.

The line was twice quoted in Rio de Janeiro, first by the men's swimming team again and secondly by the women's table tennis team. We can't let him or let the team go home empty-handed. They both won bronze medals.

I'll give you more example sentences using the phrase "empty-handed" on Thursday. So, make sure to come visit our website. In the meantime, be well and see you next time.

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Are you familiar with the expression "to split the bill"? When two or more people are splitting the bill, what are they doing? What does the word "split" mean, to begin with?

Well, to split means to divide something into two or more parts. Just for reference, when you have dry hair, you may find split ends in your hair. In winter, I tend to suffer from split nails. And when you have dinner with your friends at a restaurant and split the bill, you and your friends share the cost or divide the bill into equal amounts.

Now, when you decide to split the bill, you've got to be careful. While some people have no problems paying a little more or a little less than they owe, others may be upset about it. After having great food and great conversation, you don't want to spoil the evening by arguing over the bill.

Now let me give you a quiz here to make sure you get the phrase right. You'll be given three options. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

When you and your friends split the bill for dinner,

1. everyone pays for their own food.

2. you and your friends are not happy with the dinner.

3. you and your friends share the cost equally.

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Let's say, the phone rings. You answer the phone but actually you can't talk to the person right now because you're busy doing something. What would you say? Actually, this happened to me a couple days ago. My niece called me when I was cooking caponata for dinner.

Now, there is a good phrase you can use in the situation like this, which is "in the middle of something". You can say, "Hey I'm in the middle of something. Let me call you back later, all right?"

The beauty of this phrase is that you don't have to say what you're doing if you don't want to. If you do want to specify what you're in the middle of, you can. For example, I'm in the middle of cooking dinner. I'm in the middle of a meeting. I'm in the middle of a gym battle, and so forth.

Now let me give you a quiz to make sure you get the phrase right. You'll be given three options. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

If you are in the middle of something,

1. you are free.

2. you are exhausted.

3. you are busy.

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Today you're going to learn how to use the word "worth".

Worth is an adjective which is used for saying that there is a good enough reason for doing something, because it's important, enjoyable, useful, etcetera.

Let's say, for instance, there's your favorite restaurant. They serve great food at reasonable prices. It's a little far from your home, though. You need to drive 30-40 miles to get there. But it's worth the trip. The restaurant is so popular and always busy. Oftentimes you have to wait over an hour to get in. But again, it's worth the wait.

Now, if you're a museumgoer and you have a vacation in New York City, my first recommendation is Guggenheim in the Upper East Side. It's definitely worth a visit.

By the way, when you cook bean sprouts, do you remove roots? Kaori says it's worth the trouble.

Now, would you like to practice together? Please repeat after me:

The restaurant is worth the trip.

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As we promised last week, we're going to divide an hour into quarters today and learn how to use the word "quarter" to express time.

First of all, a quarter means "one fourth" of something. Remember? So, a quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes.

Now, let's imagine the face of a clock. It's "five fifteen". You can also say it's "fifteen after five". If you want to use the word "quarter", then it's "quarter past five." Likewise, instead of saying it's "three fifteen", you can say it's "quarter past three".

Then what about "five forty-five"? It's "fifteen before six". If you want to use the word "quarter", you can say it's "quarter to six". Likewise, instead of saying it's "ten forty-five", you can say it's "quarter to eleven".

Now, would you like to try a quiz? You'll be given three options. So choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

If it's twelve forty-five, then

1. it's quarter past twelve.

2. it's quarter to twelve.

3. it's quarter to one.

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Today we're going to look at the word "quarter". It's important to be able to use "quarter" in daily conversation in English, as effortlessly as you would use the word "percent".

A quarter is one of four equal parts of something. If you cut a pizza, for example, into quarters, you'll have four equal pieces.

In the world of business, a year is divided into quarters. Companies report their financial results four times a year or once every three months.

People in the US and Canada use quarter coins. One quarter of a dollar is one fourth of a dollar. A quarter coin is, therefore, worth 25 cents.

Next week we'll divide an hour into quarters and learn how to use the word "quarter" to express time. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, let's make sure you understand what "quarter" is. You'll be given three options. So choose the one that is NOT true. Ready?

1. Cutting a pizza into quarters means cutting it into four slices.

2. There are four months in a quarter of a year.

3. If you have two quarter coins, you have 50 cents.

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Are you familiar with the expression "for here or to go"? If you want to say it in a complete sentence, you can say "Is that for here or to go?"

This is a question you're almost always asked in a fast-food restaurant when you order your meal. An employee at the counter wants to know whether you're eating your meal in the restaurant or taking it somewhere else. Your answer may be "It's for here." Then the employee will put your meal on a tray and give it to you. If you want to take it home or somewhere else, then your answer will be "To go, please." Then she will put your meal in a bag for you.

For here or to go? You definitely want to remember this question, especially if you're travelling in the US.

So let's practice answering this question together.

If you want to eat your meal in the restaurant, you'll say: It's for here.

If you want to take it home or somewhere else, then you'll say: To go, please.

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Last week I talked about "cheap" and "inexpensive". You learned how they're different and how to use them differently.

Today I'm going to give you another cost-related word or adjective which is "reasonable". When you say the price is "reasonable", you mean it's fair and not too high. It's an acceptable price.

For example, you bought a laptop for business use. You paid 100,000 yen for it. You could have gotten a pretty good laptop for 60,000 or 70,000 yen. But when you took into account the CPU, hard drive capacity, screen resolution, different applications, plus call center assistance coming with the product, you were convinced 100,000 yen was a fair deal. The price was reasonable.

Now, let me give you a quiz here. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

When a price is "reasonable", it is:

1. fair

2. minimal

3. outrageous

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Today I'm going to talk about two words that are similar in meaning but not quite the same. They are "cheap" and "inexpensive".

Let's say, you want to buy something. If you have to pay a lot of money to buy that product, you can say it's "expensive". Contrarily, if you can get the product by paying just a small amount of money, then it's NOT expensive or "inexpensive".

Now, you can also use the word "cheap" to describe something that doesn't cost much money. But you want to be careful because, generally speaking, cheap things are cheaply made. In other words, "cheap" can also mean "of poor quality" whereas the word "inexpensive" simply means not high in price.

Now, let me give you a quiz here. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is NOT true. Ready?

1. Cheap things are inexpensive.

2. Inexpensive doesn't always mean cheap.

3. Cheap and inexpensive are equal in meaning.

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During the wet season, some events and activities are cancelled or postponed due to rain, like baseball games, barbecues and picnics, open-air concerts. I'm sure everyone is all too familiar with the disappointment.

When events and activities are not rained out, they are "rain-or-shine" events. Let's say, you are planning to participate in an outdoor yoga class. The brochure says "All ages and levels are welcomed. Rain or shine." It means anyone can join the event and it'll be held whether it rains or the sun shines.

The phrase is also used figuratively for "regardless of circumstances." For example, when you say to your friend, "I'll see you on Thursday, rain or shine," it means you'll see that friend on Thursday no matter what happens.

Now, I'll give you a quiz today. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

If an event is held, rain or shine;

1. it will be called off when it rains.

2. it will happen whatever the weather.

3. it's subject to weather conditions.