One of the great things about teaching English to university students in Japan is the abundance of learning opportunities that crop up. One morning, a favorite student of mine, came to class 15 minutes late.

“Sorry. Last night. Drinking. My head-“ and here he made the universal hangover signal for “my head feels like it’s about to explode – holy crap why did I get out of bed.”

“Oh, you have a hangover,” I exclaimed, probably a little too happily for his tastes.

“Let’s put that on the board. Now, there are two ways we can say this. One is, ‘I have a hangover.’ The other is, ‘I am hungover’. Note the difference in vowels and verbs.”

We then recited this chorally as a class, as is the Japanese way, and the students paired up to role-play a situation where this sentence might occur.

Later, during the semester when a student had their head in their lap, I’d ask them what was wrong.

“Last night. Drinking. Hungover,” they’d manage to croak before slumping back over.

I’d look at them with pride in my eyes and say, “good use of your vocabulary.”