Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Websites to help you learn a few idioms

Hello Students,

Our next writing exercise worksheet will focus on learning and using idioms.

I'm asking you to gather ten idioms from your reading and from the internet, and here are a couple sites to visit to help you understand.  This is going to be harder for the NNW students in the class, so native speakers and writers please assist where needed.  You can work together on the internet idioms.

 Remember, an idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own.  We use them in English all the time, but they can be difficult to understand.  By studying some of the popular ones, and using them correctly ourselves, we can master them.

Try these sites to find some idioms that you may have heard before, but did not understand.  Pick ones to learn that are interesting to you.

http://www.englishdaily626.com/idioms.php
http://www.eslmania.com/students/idioms/Everyday_idioms.htm
http://www.myhappyplanet.com/view_lesson.php?lesson_id=526

For the others, mark them in your active reading, as five of the idioms must come from your readings and you will mark the page and author with the entry on your worksheet.

Example:

"Pulling my leg" means to trick, fool, or kid someone.  If you ask someone: "Are you pulling my leg?" this means that you think they are not telling you the truth or are joking with you.  You may use this expression if you are not sure if someone is serious or not.  For example, "Hey.  Are you pulling my leg or are you telling me the truth?"

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.