Native English speakers certainly know what the idiom ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’ means, but the fact is that few of them actually use it in daily speech. You probably won’t want to waste your time learning idioms that are rarely used nowadays. The two big questions, then, are ‘Which idioms should I spend valuable time learning?’ and ‘How will I know which idioms are worth making the effort to learn?’
Tip 1: Learn idioms in topic groups that are useful to you!
There are so many idioms in the English language, you can’t possibly learn them all so focus on idioms that relate to the topics that you want to talk about. Perhaps, like a lot of people, you’d like to talk about food with your friends, (‘He eats like a horse!’, ‘I’ve got a terrible sweet tooth.’). Maybe you’d find a range of money idioms useful to know, (‘They’re rolling in it!’, ‘I bet that cost an arm and a leg!’). So follow your interests and when you hear or read a new idiom that you know you’ll want to use, be sure to write it down.
Tip 2: Have fun with idioms!
Idioms are a very personal thing. Some will just sound right to you. Perhaps an idiom expresses perfectly an idea that you agree with. Maybe it creates a very vivid picture in your head or perhaps, for some reason, it makes you laugh. When one of these things happens, it’s more likely that you’ll remember the idiom and be able to use it appropriately, so focus on the ones that you love.
Tip 3: Labels
All good, up-to-date dictionaries warn you if idioms are old-fashioned by putting the labels old-fashioned or old use before them. Use an up-to-date dictionary and be sure to notice labels like these so that you don’t waste your time learning idioms that few people use nowadays.
Tip 4: Listen up!
We generally use idioms more in conversation than in writing so the more spoken English you can listen to, the more likely it is that you’ll hear a range of useful idioms.
For more information on idioms, see our post Everything you need to know about idioms.
0 Comments