Considering ESL Courses? Here Are Some Common English Idioms to Know!
An idiom is a sentence, or group of words, also known as an expression. When someone says or writesan idiom, the meaning of the words are not always the same as they are in a dictionary.To understand an idiom, you have to learn the meaning of the whole sentence.
The meaning of an idiom is not literal.In a literal sentence, you can look up each word in a dictionary to understand the meaning. For example, there are no clouds in the sky today. If you know the meaning ofthe words, you understand the whole sentence. When someone uses an idiom, the meaning may come from a cultural idea, a tradition, or history.
In most languages, people use idioms all the time! Keep reading to learn about a few common English idioms.
Hit the Books
In an English program, you might hear an instructor say ‘hit the books’.The literal meaning of this is to bash, slap, or punch your books.Why would you do that?You might look up the word ‘hit’ and find many other synonyms like clobber, smack, or whack. None of them help explain the meaning of the phrase. So what does it mean?
When someone says hit the books, it means study!
Of course, hitting the books may also involve a laptop!
A Piece of Cake
If you study well for a test in your ESL program and you complete the test easily, then you can say it was a piece of cake. People use this phrase to say that doing something was very easy or simple. Maybe it was so easy, you enjoyed it the way you would enjoy a piece of cake. Another idiom with the same meaning is easy as pie, as in ‘learning one idiom is as easy as pie’.
Keep Your Chin Up
As you learn vocabulary and grammar for ESL courses, idioms should be part of the process,too. Why? Idioms will help you become betterat English. Sometimes you might hear a phrase that doesn’t seem to make sense and a feel a little confused. This can be frustrating as you are trying to learn English. Don’t worry! As you practice more you will learn more of these phrases. Keep your chin up!That means, keep trying and don’t lose hope.
Under the Weather
In English, there are a lot of idioms that refer to the weather and nature. This idiom,to be under the weather, describes a state in which someone feels sick or not well in some way. It will likely not refer to a serious illness. Instead, it is meant to be used when you don’t feel your best.
For example, if you did not sleep well, you might be really tired the next day. In the morning, when someone asks how you are, you might answer that you feel a little under the weather.
You might feel under the weather on a cloudy or sunny day
After ESL Courses There’s Nothing but Blue Skies
In general, many native English speakers use weather words to talk about their feelings. In this idiom, as you might guess, blue skies refer to feeling happy or positive. This may help you understand other weather idioms like storm in a teacup, which is used to talk about a small problem.
After you finish an English course and pass your exam, you might say nothing but blue skies ahead of me! This means that you are feeling positive about the future.
Want to know more about how an English program can improve your language skills?
Contact the American Learning Institute today!
Read MoreTips for Learning New Words for English Classes
There are new words being added to the Oxford English Dictionary all the time. Everyone is always learning! In fact, the average native English speaker learns about one new word per day as an adult. In every language, most native speakers know a lot of words, but they don’t use all of them every day, or even every week.
For example, the average English speaker might know 25,000 words, but you only need a small number of words for most conversations, reading the news, going to the store, or other things that happen every day.When you learn a new language, you will be surprised how quickly you can build up your vocabulary with the help of instructors and a few activities.
Keep reading to learn new ways to learn new words!
Write New Words in a Notebook
When you learn English in Dallas, your teachers, classmates, and textbooks will introduce you to new words and help you study them. You will also likely hear or read new words in other places, too. Get a small notebook and write down new words that you see or hear when you are not in class. How will this help?
Writing things down will help you remember them. A vocabulary notebook will also remind you to look up new words in the dictionary or ask someone about their meaning. If you are at the grocery store and see a word or phrase you do not understand on a magazine cover,write it down! You can read your notebook later, look the word up, and try to use it. Your vocabulary notebook will also help you review words you might have forgotten.
Listen to the Radio or Watch TV in English
The good news is that you have already learned many words in your native language! Your brain knows how to build vocabulary. We learn words in school from textbooks and teachers, but we also learn words by listening to them and seeing them all around us. If you listen to the radio or watch TV in English, your vocabulary will grow.
For example, you can watch or listen to the weather report. This will give you an understanding of how weather words are used every day. If you watch a television show or listen to the radio,you will hear the way many common words are used. This is helpful when you have looked up a word in the dictionary, but you are still not sure how to use it in a sentence.
Practice with Friends from English Classes
The best way to learn new words in English classes or at home is to practice using them. This will be part of your class, but you can also practice at other times. Text messages, phone calls, or video chats allow you to connect and practice with other people learning English.
Set up a time for conversation with classmates, and go over words from your vocabulary notebook with them. You can also watch a TV show and then talk about it with each other. Conversations like this will build up your confidence for learning new words and reaching your goals in English. Whether you want to go to University or College in the U.S., or you are working toward career goals, the more you practice, the more you learn.
How can English courses help you achieve your goals?
Contact the American Learning Institute in Dallas today!
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