I'm interested in knowing how often English idioms are used in everyday conversation, and if you can classify them into commonly used and less common. Then of course, how important is it to teach these common idioms to our students? Do other people teach them?
This question is from Alejandro, Mexico
Comments
joe
Mohammad Daud Vasiq, Afghanistan
Idioms are commonly used in everyday conversation, not in formal writing. So, students need to learn more idioms if they want to talk more naturally and to understand the ideas of whom they are talking to because, in everyday conversation native speakers often use them.
Ann Micallef, Malta
Personally I enjoy teaching idioms because I find them fascinating. A good way of teaching idioms I find is that of grouping them according to topic, e.g, idioms that have to do with parts of the body, idioms about colour, etc. I also find it very interesting to contrast and compare idioms in English with the students' or my own native language (Maltese). This is because one can discuss the origin of the idiom and how different languages may express the same idea in similar ways. Another way of teaching idioms is finding them in a context. For instance, I recently took a local popular English language newspaper to my class and we read some of the letters to the editor which contained some idioms - (e.g being kept on tenterhooks, playing Russian roulette). I would add that although the English language (and any other language in fact) is rich with a numerous amount of idioms, in practice only some of them are commonly used.
Albert Wong, Brazil
I've taught many idioms to my students and they pretty much enjoy them. But, it is important to note that using an idiom should not be the main aim of your classes. I believe it's alright for students to understand them, but to actually use them in spoken language may seem a little embarassing, not to mention "fake". It's easy to understand this when you see a non-native of your language trying to use idiomatic expressions. It may sound funny but not appropriate for a formal conversation.
Marcela, Mexico
If you don't teach idioms to your students, you are depriving them of the some of the cultural richness of the English language. Just imagine your speech without all the popular sayings that are indeed a very relevqnt part of our culture and the "lingo" that helps all speakers of a certian age or social group to have a special identity or even a certian "private language." If you want to start slowly, I recommend you a book called Essential Idioms in English by Robert J. Dixon. It will certainly guide you and your students smoothly into the discovery of both the language and the underlaying culture hidden behind certain idiomatic expressions.
Hope you find this useful.
Mangalaprathaban Muralidharan, India
Erlinda Towler, USAI teach idioms along with the other simple word lists. I believe, the English Teacher has to help the learners get to know how to use the Dictionary very effectively. There comes a challenging task of teaching pronunciation, functional category, distinct layers of meaning,usage and model sentences along with idioms and phrasal verbs. I will distinguish general collocations from common idioms in everday use as a part of vocabulary building.
Maybe you can make sure that students can really take up some native idioms and compare them with the L2 Idioms. I suggest you involve your students in describing and narrating their experiences/activities by using idioms every day.
Being a speaker of American English, I find British idioms especially interesting since most of them are not used in the US and therefore unknown. My relatives in Mexico are more likely to be familar with British idioms though because they are taught "The Queen's English" and not American English. I would recommend that those who teach idioms point out that one country's "English" is remarkably different from another's.