What does karaoke mean?
Word: Karaoke
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Karaoke means a kind of entertainment in which people take turns to sing popular songs along to recorded music.
Word origin: From Japanese: kara joined to a shortened form of the Japanese word for orchestra.
How do you spell karaoke?
Syllables: ka - ra - o - ke
Tricky part: The second a is said like the i in sit, so many pupils write karioke.
Watch out for: karioke, karraoke
Memory tip: Hold on to the a's: the word begins with the same vowel twice, one on each side of the r.
Karaoke in a sentence
Example 1: Hiro's cousins brought a karaoke machine to the family picnic.
Example 2: Our class held a karaoke afternoon to raise money for new library books.
Example 3: Two friends picked an old pop song for karaoke and laughed through every line.
Fun Fact
Karaoke machines became popular in Japan in the 1970s and soon spread to homes, parties and clubs around the world.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
The sports club ran a caraoke night, and Hiro sang his favourite song without missing a single note.
a) only caraoke
b) only favourite
c) caraoke and favourite
d) missing and single
Show answer
a) only caraoke. Favourite is the correct British spelling; the singing word should open with a k.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option to complete the sentence:
Karaoke comes from Japanese, where kara means ___.
a) happy
b) voice
c) song
d) empty
Show answer
d) empty. Kara means empty: the backing music plays with an empty space where the singer's voice should be.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
karao____
a) ky
b) ki
c) ke
d) kee
Show answer
c) ke. The ending sounds like key, but it is written with a plain e after the k.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with their meanings:
1. karaoke 2. origami 3. haiku a. the art of folding paper into shapes b. an evening of taking turns at the microphone over backing tracks c. a very short poem of three lines
a) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c. Origami is paper folding and a haiku is a tiny poem, which leaves the microphone evening for karaoke.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. At a karaoke evening, what usually appears on the screen?
a) the times of the next trains
b) the words of the song
c) the latest football scores
d) the menu for dinner
Show answer
b) the words of the song
2. Which word best describes the mood at most karaoke parties?
a) gloomy
b) playful
c) tense
d) solemn
Show answer
b) playful
