Japan has a new word for the weather – level 1
14-05-2026 07:00
Japan has a new word for the weather: kokushobi. It means a cruelly hot day. The Japanese use the word when it is hotter than 40 °C.
Japan usually has many beautiful words for rain and flowers. But this new word is a warning. It shows that the world is getting much hotter. Last summer is the hottest ever in Japan. Scientists are worried. Very high heat can make people sick or even cause death. It is very dangerous for old people. Big cities with many buildings stay hot for a long time.
Officials want people to use this new word. They must understand that the heat is dangerous. They want everyone to take care of their bodies when the hot days come.
Difficult words: cruelly (in a bad or unkind way), warning (something what tells you about a danger or problem), death (the end of life).
You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.
Why do officials want people to start using the word kokushobi?
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.
How to improve your English with News in Levels:
Test
- Do the test at Test Languages.
- Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.
Reading
- Read two news articles every day.
- Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.
Listening
- Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
- Listen to the news from today without reading the text.
Writing
- Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.
Speaking
- Choose one person from our Conversation section.
- Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.
Stock images by Depositphotos
