Today's word is "shippai (failure; a mistake; be unsuccessful)". It is usually written with a combination of two kanji characters "shitsu" and "pai".

* Keikaku wa shippai shita.　計画は失敗した。 --- The plan fell through.
* Kanojo wa shippai o kasaneta.　彼女は失敗を重ねた。 --- She made repeated mistakes.
* Shippai wa seikou no moto. 　失敗は成功の元。--- Failure is a stepping-stone to success.

Today's word is "tokui (pride; triumph; one's forte)". It is usually written with a combination of two kanji characters "toku" and "i".

* Kare wa suugaku ga tokui da.　彼は数学が得意だ。 --- He is good at mathematics.
* Ano mise wa gaijin o otokui ni shiteiru.　あの店は外人をお得意にしている。 --- The store is doing business with foreigners as regular customers.
* Chotto umaku itta kara to itte, tokui ni nattewa ikenai.　ちょっとうまくいったからといって、得意になってはいけない。 --- Don't become smug over your small successes.

Today's word is "sukkari (all; utterly; quite; entirely; completely; perfectly)". It is usually written in hiragana.

* Machi wa sukkari kawatta.　町はすっかり変わった。　--- The town has completely changed.
* Sukkari kibun ga yoku natta. 　すっかり気分が良くなった。　--- I feel quite well now
* Sukkari gobusata shimashita. 　すっかりごぶさたしました。　--- I'm sorry I haven't written to you for such a long time.

This week's proverb is "Nakitsura ni hachi　(泣き面に蜂)". It literally means, "A wasp over the crying face". Other similar expressions are "Yowarime ni tatarime　(弱り目に祟り目)" and "Fundari kettari　(踏んだりけったり)". It is similar to the English expression, "It never rains but pours; Misfortunes seldom come alone".

Here is some vocabulary from the proverb.

nakitsura　泣き面 --- a crying face
hachi　蜂 --- a bee; a wasp