Idioms for Everyday Use - Student Book

Idioms for Everyday Use - Student Book
Milada Broukal | 2001-02-09 00:00:00 | English as a Second Language | 112 | Education
Over 230 commonly used idioms are introduced in reading selections, dialogues, and activities. Their presentation helps learners incorporate common expressions into their everyday speech. Appealing illustrations keep students engaged as they explore idioms related to topics such as colors, geography, food, and time.
Reviews
I tutor English as a Second Language, especially Accent Reduction in Dallas, TX, [...]



I have been using this book for 3 years. I usually use this book for students to practice speaking English and put into action what they have learned for speaking English more clearly and being understood in English.



The book has 20 units. Each unit covers a group of idioms all loosely related to a particular theme. For example, one unit covers some idioms that are related to colors, parts of the body, or weather, etc. The unit starts with a short story. The story includes several idioms in context. The context helps the student understand the meaning of the idiom.



After the short story, there is another section that lists each idiom with an example sentence, again giving context to help explain the basic meaning of the idiom. Then there are several exercises to help the student learn the meaning and usage of the idiom.



The only drawback is minor. A few of the exercises where the student is supposed to find an error in the way the idiom is presented are actually correct. This only happens in 2 or 3 places.



All in all, I like the book. It helps understanding of idioms as well as help facilitate conversations with students.




Reviews
I've been teaching English as a Second language and as a Foreign language for several years now and have looked over hundreds of textbooks.



For what this books aims to do, it accomplishes perfectly. Each unit introduces the set of idioms to be learned in a kind of story, which creates a context for the idioms. The students then are to guess the meaning of some of the idioms by talking together. This makes for a great warm-up.



Next the idioms are presented with their definitions. This is the time for the teacher to go over the meanings and check any unfamiliar vocabulary.



After that section, the same idioms are presented in a concept-check section. For example, "Nora has a big test tomorrow and hasn't studied. Is she on pins and needles? Why or why not?" This discussion section is invaluable in solidifying the students' understanding of the idioms.



After that section, the students are to fill in the blanks with the best word. Since idioms must be used word-for-word in order to sound natural, this is great practice. For example, "She's so smart. She's ___ sharp as ___ tack."

or They worked hard so they finished the project ___ no time flat."



Next, the students are presented with a selection of idioms used in sample conversations. I have them go over the conversations and try to work on their pronunciation as they do so. After that (and this is my favorite part) the students are to work in pairs and create their own conversation, using three idioms from the unit.



Finally, once the students have performed their dialogs for the class and have been given feedback, there is a set of discussion questions as a cool-down.



Each lesson can easily fill a 90-minute class. If you only have an hour then you can skip the story at the beginning and the discussion questions at the end.



I can't recommend this book enough, as I have never had a class fall flat while using it. One caveat, though. Some of the units are harder than others: some are suitable for intermediate + while others are more for upper-intermediate +. I tried teaching lower-intermediate students a lesson once and, while it was interesting, it took too long to get through the material and in the end I regretted aiming too high. Lessons could be adapted for lower levels if you were to teach half of the idioms presented one class and the other half the next class.
Reviews
I tutor privately and have been teaching ESL for more than 10 years. I've tried other idiom books but have given up on them because their definitions, examples, and exercises are off the mark and/or more confusing than the idioms themselves. Ms. Broukal has done an outstanding job of presenting idioms in easily understood terms with simple but clear example paragraphs and sentences. The supporting exercises are excellent. I use the book with all of my students, and I've given it as a gift to several of my non-native-English-speaking friends. I highly recommend this book.



Ms. Broukal, if you read this, how about writing volume 2?
Reviews
I have spent years and years trying to find ways to have my son who is learning disabled to learn with out thinking he is and to strengthen the absoluted gifted younger sister who has strong language arts. My son is so literal when I said to him at a younger age, it is raining cats and dogs he went to the window to look. In our area, the kids are taught way above grade level and the method of writing employed is called the 6 plus traits of writing. The strongest emaphaisis is placed on writing a strory or paper that a person can touch, feel and experience. It is not to be a paper of my summer was fun. I took classes in art. I went to a fun day camp and we sailed. I took swim lessons and did a back flip. We went to Tahoe and went to the beach and we took a raft ride down the truckee. My summer was great. Boring! So the book we reviewed a little at a time and this is what my daugter wrote" with some more help of a little at a time studying idioms to understand others in conversation and to help to describe and to understand the idioms that if taken literaly are scary and make no sense. So they say pick on part of summer. Hers. After waiting for so long, for what seemed to be the as long as it takes a beauetiful Oak Tree to grow, the Trukee River was so perfect for Rafting it brouht tears of joy to my mom's eyes. Rafting on the truckee is like calling a cat a Lion. The River is so smooth, like the fur of a plush cat but with claws of the branches on the side and a few rocks to bounce off of and have fun like a ball in a pin ball machine,

It was important to my mom for us to go on the river after years of disppointment of the droughts and her illness preventing her from taking us and my dad not interested. We fought over the oars, and my mom wanted to float and bounce off the rocks, reminding us of our favorite river raft ride at California Adventure. Then, when just floating, and my brother, his friend and I were fiighting like cats and dogs oer the oars, although my mom says alot of cats and dogs don't fight, we got stuck in the branches and the rocks on the side. My mom laughed and thought of the fun of bouncing and wanted to stop to swim. We did and although we were not so willing at first my brothers friend was having so much fun we got in. My mom was right. We had a blast and she knew, she told us later that we could swim and laugh or row hard and finish the finish line. Swimming and laughing was her decision and she came and joined us. We splashed and then splashed the complaining Malia, the person to help my mom, and now she even laughed, It was so fun.

My mom called us back to the boat and now we did not like this and yet then again we wanted to cross the finish line in record time. My mom wanted to enjoy the stillness but our nanny with us took an oar determined to get to the end, so again the push, and the next thing we knew she was falling off the boat her legs in the air and moving back and forth like a happy dogs tail wagging. Not so happy.

My mom, stopped wanting to be stuck and yet she said to stay calm, and do what she said. She was like a nice sergeant in the army but her fatiques were a wet bathing suit and her troops were three complaining kids, two of which were very silly boys. We knew she meant what she said and she only yelled at Malia who was in shock and although a small cut she said, my mom ordered her, with strength of voice and calmining to get to the edge, put up her leg and to do what she said. Later the men said this was good as she was in shock. I am not sure what shock means but my mom never toild her due to the shock she had to have 20 stitches in the inside of the wound and eight on the surface. My mom got the boat ashore and told us to not move and to listen. We goofed offf.

The bloood scared us, we were to get out of the boat and pull it aground and not to move and then the men came. They bandaged Malia, we were to wave down the bus with the oar to get to our car and my mom was crying as she did not want to leave Malia. I fought her for the oar and stood in the area where the bus was to pull over. She said all would be Ok, and yet when she yelled at us to move back so not to be hit by the resucue bus, I was glad for my mom to swicth like night to day, so fast as if like a camera flash going off, to the manager of safety. I never turned over anything so fast. At the hospital, Malia was in first, then us, my mom in her bathing suit as were we, My mom is ill, and it shows when she is in a bathing suit so they wanted my mom to change. No way for my mom, my brother started shaking bad, like a scared animal with chattering teeth and his eyes as big as an owls. His wet bathing suit in the cold hospital turned like ice. Bradley started to shake and between joking to keep a smile on Malia and scrambling for warm blankets and the doctors coming she changed us and had my brother and his friend in the car with down blankets and the heat on, she left me in the waiting room with two police officers who volunterered, the medical staff and she ran to drive my brother around with the car heat to get him warm. I asked my mom how to spell it, hypothermia. The beds of heat did not work. I asked for sweets and the police man said he has some at the station. I began to realize that this was not about me. I was being selfish.

My mom came back for me, worried to leave me and then when a baby with the flu came in she checked on a baby she did not know but worried about and when the baby was said to have the flu she kept us from the hospital so we did not spend another vacation sick. She is never to be in a hospital due to germs and did not care. She ran back and forth to check on Malia and then us. I left the car, not suppose to, and heard the doctor tell her to change and to leave the hospital. The police offficer said I was lucky to have a mom who wanted the best for me and to know my orders were the best and handed my mom a card and said to call he if she needed help with the kids. He gave me the look.

I still complained,I wanted chips and { got the look from my mom. . You know the look. The look of love and concern, she wanted to me to have my forbidden fruit and at the same time she looked like she never cared if I ate again. Moms can give you the most strange looks, always of love, always of care, and the eyes who say everything, spoke loud and I heard. The balance of four people, she still in her bathing suit, running back and forth and then when we were waiting to get Malia, she said lets have some fun. We went in front of the hospital and each one of us got to design our own "Fred Estaire' Dance and we laughed and had fun as we danced to each others cration. My brother is the sillist but his dances are fun. My mom led. This is my mom, still willing to dance and entertain her kids, now dry and warm and hungry but we were not patient. I learned that night that my mom has us do the Fred Estaire Dance to laugh and have fun but if she doen't do it she will as she jokes from the Madagadgar song lose it, lose it, lose it. and she never does.

Driving thru the crowds on the 3rd for the fireworks and begging for us to be quiet. Why? For our safety, as people walking out in front of the car. Arguing with an in shock woman we were not staying and she challenged us to a contest. Not one word for ten mininutes. She begged, then to a contest and was joking as we crossed the state border we would never make it not to say as we always scream out, like clock work, "we just crossed the border" We made the ten minutes and then I called out we just crossed the border. My mom laughed so hard.

My mom is night and day. From Rock and Roll and fun to the manager of health and safety. After driving us home, Malia to bed, racing to the restaurant for food to go and instead of getting mad we were dancing the YMCA dance to the music from the bar she joined us insisting to stay out of the way and out of the bar. Finally cuddled in bed, I complained we never got to the end of the river. She told me what is my summer, that is some cases the end is important to reach, in others if that is the only focus you have, to win and to finish, you will never experience the joy of floating, of just being, of taking in the moment, of giving thanks for iit instead of rushing through the experience or beauty of just being. I learned the winners of life don't always finish first, but enjoy how ever much they do. I learned that if the plan is to do this and then something else appears that it is great to switch sometimes as long as you do not hurt anouthers feelings. We celebrated the Fourth of July the next day, Independence Day and I learned to cherish my freedom respecting the rights of others. I jumped up to leave the beach she has struggled to find a place for us to see and she just wanted to sit and listen to the lake lap ashore and later leaarned that to rush in crowds and to sit and enjoy is better than fighting crowds. My summer was learning to be grateful for the moment, to think of others, to listen, to care, and when the situation calls for it you calmly take care of the others first and then yourself and that to complain, to find all that is wrong not only ruins your time but the time of others and is selfish. I learned how I lost so much of my summer by making it a race to do so much. The things I rushed, I often put myself in danger and other times I wasted my time by being stuck and not wanting to try something new or bt y caring what others thought.

I love to dance and yet I was a fish out of water dancing with my mom to a band to a song I love. Why. We were the only ones. Later that night a man came up to my mom and said how much he enjoyed her and I, her grand-daugter dancing to rock and roll. He was about 70 and said how sad it was parents never danced with their kids, He said the biggest joy was to see the grandparents still teaching the enjoyment of life. My mom thanked him, never saying she is my mom. I aksed her why she did not correct him and she said "for what" to make him feel bad that I look older than I am and had my kids later than some, It was a great compliment.

I had forgotten that it was the first fourth of July for my mom without my Dad in 19 years, I so angry, I don't miss him and she does. So when we got back I went to my day camp. I did not go last year as I has to many complaints from the year before. I listened for safety, was happy we we late as I got more time in the pool and sat in the waiting line and counted the different types of trees. What I did this summer is not important but what i learned is and what we did that night says it all We played a new game, and again i focused on the score and Malia did not like the rules and Matthew left the game when he thought he was losing and in the end, when it was time to add up the score, my mom tore up the score cards and said "that was fun" . Go to bed, you have camp tomorrow. Years from now I will not remember the art I did or the movie I saw but I will never foget my mom tearing up the score sheet. We are going to play a game tomorrow and we are going to paint the driveway. We pick a song eacch night to dance to and although it is hard right now I can make my summer beter or worse. I choose better. I am not in a hurry. School doesnt start until August sometime.

My mom says we are all allowed to be sad, to have feelings and to talk about them but to give another the power to stop us in our tracks is not acceptable. She bought a plate, a hula pie plate from a restaurant. We went there. It was the first place my dad took her 19 years ago when they dated in Tahoe, was the restaurant they discussed and decided to have start having babies 6 months after marrying and she and my dad went to all their other restaurants in Hawaii on their honeymoon and she never thought she could walk in the door. IT was the only place to feed her kids, She had fun, We went back another time. She was sad, and the lesson, make new memories, never loose the old. and enjoy today. This was my summer. The summer my mom taught me the lessons of liffe. She said it was Ok to forget some. I won't. They are chisled in me like a knife into a tree. What did I do this summer. Does it matter. No.
Reviews
Research shows that vocabulary and idioms are better learned when they differ. Noticing is higher. Similar idioms in this book are clumped together making it difficult for language learners to separate the meaning and uses.

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