Sarah: I see. § I’m afraid I can’t agree. They have life experience.. And, unlike younger students, they’ve typically already achieved a high level of proficiency in their native language. I couldn’t figure out what I had done to make her angry. Dave’s ESL Cafe has a great collection of idioms and their meanings for student reference. Remember, it’s important to provide context around your idioms. If you teach an idiom lesson to beginners or low-intermediate learners, you may well be putting them in the bumbling category mentioned above. Sam: These potato chips are so delicious. Where should you even start? Meaning: a person who is happy and cheerful, Teaching tips: Explain the idiom and practice the sample dialogue. EXPRESSIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND DEBATE 3 Disagreeing Expressing complete disagreement § I don’t think so! What happened?! This is the preparation material for an English conversation lesson about sports. Now, get your idiom ball rolling. Sam: Oh, really? Would love your thoughts, please comment. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Idioms. When a non-native speaker uses an idiom correctly, he or she will sound very fluent. Learning a foreign language becomes fun and easy when you learn with movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talks. Meaning: an unwritten but generally accepted guideline, policy or method of doing something. Learning idioms is appropriate for intermediate to advanced students. What has your country’s president done to raise questions about his policies? I’m still up in the air. Jack: Ah, come on. § Definitely not! Have students explain the meaning to the rest of the class and use the idiom in a short sample dialogue. For example, take the following dialogue featuring the idiom “to be a chicken” when at a local amusement park. By using a common theme to teach idioms, it’s easier for students to grasp the meanings of the phrases, and see how similar words can mean very different things. That doesn’t sound like a good rule of thumb. So yes, I’m a happy camper today. I will not ride that. A sampling of fixed/idiomatic expressions. Then, introduce the “rule of thumb” idiom. It’s easy as pie. Which ones are social norms or generally accepted rules? Teaching tips: Talk with your students about laws of society. What are you going to do when you get out of here? Make a list of each. Ask the students if they’ve ever given someone the cold shoulder. A great way to teach idioms is to use a theme. Explain how both images mean “to be broke.” Then, present the following dialogue and have the students match the correct image to the meaning of the idiom. Ask which students are currently in love (guaranteed to elicit a few giggles from your students!). And for some beautiful images depicting idioms, be sure to check out this site. There are tons of great choices there when you’re looking for songs for in-class activities. Idioms are full of colorful imagery, perfect for a flashcard or photo. 11 Useful Tips to Boost Your Intermediate ESL Students’ Reading Comprehension, 7 ESL Video Activities That Your Students Will Love. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. Using irony to express disagreement It’s got a huge collection of authentic English videos that people in the English-speaking world actually watch on the regular. Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Split the class into two groups, and have each side come up with a different argument to the same issue. great lesson, I coludny agree more, jeje , thank you for the different ways displayed here to go with wether a discussion or debate, Thanks for sharing the details of the lesson its value for helping our to improve English skills, Prefixes and Suffixes in English! I need to ask the teacher a few more questions first. Meaning: to feel awkward or uncomfortable, usually in a new situation. Check out this website for an example of great images to explain the meaning of idioms, 5 Activities Guaranteed to Get Your Students Excited About ESL Writing Practice, 5 ESL Listening Exercises to Sharpen Your Students’ Ears, How to Teach 100 ESL Vocabulary Words in One Lesson, 5 Ways to Find Great ESL Teaching Materials on a Budget, 7 Best ESL Textbooks for Teaching Students Both Young and Old, 10 Creative Ways to Use Popular Movies in Fun ESL Lessons, Teaching English with Music: 4 Effective Ways to Use Music in the ESL Classroom, 7 Irresistibly Fun ESL Video Activities to Teach Listening Comprehension. FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, cartoons, documentaries and more—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons for you and your students. Then, have them come up with their own sample dialogue. Don’t just hand out a long list of idioms. What makes them feel awkward? The project is due next week! Sarah: I know, it’s so hard! What do you do when you are out of money? Want some? (Choose an issue you think might be relevant to your students). Learn the definition, meaning, and …, Collocations in English! Have you ever tried to catch your friend’s eye but realized too late that the person wasn’t your friend?