Some creepy idioms...

To honour this section and this time of the year check the following picture. I hope you can use some of the following idioms in your daily conversations :)

[source of the picture: http://www.accentsavvy.com/blog-accent-reduction/2014/10/31/halloween-idioms]

Vocabulary for rainy days

I find this sort of pictures very helpful, do you agree with me?

[source of the picture: http://www.imgrum.net/user/corkenglishteacher/1525043904/1121645467499562001_1525043904]

Check the webpage! 

It's the third and last term!

The importance of a good dictionary (or not)...

In this post I want to talk about the importance of a good dictionary. 

Whenever my students have to write an essay I tell them to use a good dictionary to look up for the words they don't know in the foreign language.

 Some of them follow my advice, but some other can't resist the temptation annnnnd they end up using some free translation tools on line(always a badddd badddd choice, guys).

Well, today I want to give you to explain my reasoning with an example.

Have you heard of Superbritánico? 

It is a Spanish company (very popular among teachers of English in Spain) which takes advantage of literal translations (commonly a result of the aforementioned tools) and use them to create the cutest designs. 

Let me show you an example:

Obviously, this weird translation does not work well in the target language (that is, English). However, any Spanish speaker would immediately recognise this idiom (and have a laugh). 

But, my students are clever (yep) and they would look up this idiom in the dictionary (right?) and they would find out that:

(source of the picture:http://es.languagebookings.com/cursos-espanol/espana/malaga/comments/stim-spanish-teachers-in-malaga.html)

This morning, when I started my classes in English and you - and I'm now addressing my students- couldn't follow me as usual, made me think...

It seems that they have forgotten everything. Christmas holidays were too long for some of my students.

If they are reading this post, they will be open-mouthed and arguying that they needed to calm down after a long busy academic year. 

But, this morning you didn't understand me. 

You know it. 

I know it too. 

Because it was written all over your faces.

Source of the picture: https://es.pinterest.com/englishclub66/idioms/

A school idiom

Have you ever heard/seen/read the expression "bookworm"?

Whenever I do, my brain immediately pictures something like this:

However, this word refers to a person devoted to reading and/or studying.

New idiom!

I know, I know. Do not look at me (or your screen) like that. It wasn't my intention to leave this section apart. 

The reason why I haven't posted anything in the last weeks months is that I have not presented the concept of IDIOM to my new students. 

" a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words."

Once explained, this section is officially restarted!

Let's start talking about the idiom: let the cat out of the bag.

If we took the words literally, it would seem as if we had tied up the poor animal and kept it in a sack.

But... in reality, this idiom is talking about keeping a secret or surprise. That is, we are not talking here about a real cat. Instead, the old guy in the picture is telling the other to discover the secret.

Teacher's pet

The other day some of my bravest students left some comments on one of my posts. And the reason why I call them brave is not that they look like this:

Apparently, my students are embarrassed  afraid to leave a comment on this blog (sigh). However, there are always some daredevils :)

Last day, I found myself laughing when one student used the Spanish expression for "the teacher's favourite student" when his/her classmate left a comment on the blog. Don't worry, they get along very well and they were just joking.

I guess this student used the Spanish word because he/ she didn't know the English translation. So here I am, trying to solve this problem in my IDIOM OF THE WEEK SECTION:

We've all been students and we've all encountered that boy/girl who always knew the right answer. Right?

Well, you can now learn a new English idiom related to school:

Burned out!

Some of my youngest students have told me that they are "burned out" from studying and taking tests. 

And I get it. We have three weeks left until the end of the academic year. And we all get "burned out" from time to time, whether it's studying, going to school... we all get tired sometimes!

So I thought I could take advantage of this unfortunate situation: you can now put that feeling into words! (English words, I mean)

Good luck!

Tomorrow some of my students are taking the B1 exams. They were quite nervous today, so here I am, wishing them the best of luck.

But, given that this is a learning blog, I couldn't spoil this opportunity to improve your vocabulary (hehehehehe).

I know that you love being imaginative, so why don't you try these other phrases to wish someone luck? 

You only have to pick one from the following list! 

Help yourselves!

Does it ring a bell?

Opppps! 

It's been a while... 

We have to catch up!

This is an idiom that I use very often in class, so I assume hope you won't have any problems guessing its meaning...

Let's start with several examples:

The name of the company rang a bell but I couldn't remember where I had heard it before

No, I'm sorry, that description doesn't ring any bells with me

That rings a bell

And now let's check the meaning!

Excuse my French

Taking advantage of the current location of some of my students of 4ºESO, this week's idiom deals with a neighbour country. 

Ok, so here it goes... I think you all going to like it.

Excuse/ Pardon my French

Let me show you some pictures so you can deduce its meaning.

And another one:

And finally an example with context: 

” If you’ll pardon my French, but I think you’re a %^&*!”

And here's the definition:

In the days when language propriety was more of an issue than it is now, using a word or phrase that was “unfit for mixed company” was likely to lead to   embarrassment. Since French was considered a racy language, people excused      themselves with “pardon my French.”

It's raining cats and dogs...

Well, well...

Today, with us, one of the classics...

As always, do not translate this idiom literally: It wouldn't make any sense!

Today, to guess its meaning, you only have to look out of your window. 

It's the perfect Sunday morning to spend some time studying English, isn't it? (a teacher can wish...)

And here's the correct meaning for my international readers (I'm not familiar with the weather forecast in your home country).

And here's the idiom in a real conversation:

It's raining cats and dogs out there! 

It's a wonder any of the men can see what they're doing!

See you tomorrow in class!

When pigs fly...

Have you ever in your life seen a pig fly? 

No, I'm not crazy. 

Of course you haven't, they don't have wings. 

As a matter of fact, it would be the most unusual, crazy, impossible thing if a pig could fly. 

Right?

And that's exactly what this idiom means:

"When pigs fly" means something that is impossible and will probably never, ever happen!"

TIME IDIOMS

OMG, OMG, OMG! Look what I found!

A compilation of time idioms! 

In a sole picture! 


Annnnd...........Including their respective contexts! 

(and I must confess that I got really excited when I found it, is that even normal?)

(I'm afraid that the picture appears slightly small in your screens. But don't worry, click on it to read the idioms properly)

To cost an arm and a leg

The other day I saw an advert which reminded me of this idiom. Here, let me show you a picture taken from the insurance webpage:

Isn't it cute?

So, I assume you have already guessed its meaning. However, in case you are still not sure enough, let me show you another picture taken from a comic strip:

And now the final picture with the answer (and some extra examples), so you can check your guesses!

Do you find it useful?

In which everyday conversations would you use it? 

When in Rome...

Does it ring a bell?

The complete idiom is: 

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do"

Can you guess its meaning?

No?

(Well, my students in Bachillerato should have guessed it. Ehem. Ehem)

Okay. Here's another clue to help you.

Can you think of an equivalent idiom in your first language?

PS: Btw, do you know these two? I absolutely loooooove them!

Curiosity killed the cat

I'm sure that you've already heard this quote more than once in your life. 

It is an idiom used to warn someone against prying into your affairs. 

Let's analyse an example: 

Jill: Where did you get all that money?

Jane: Curiosity kill the cat.

More examples here: The free dictionary: Curiosity Killed the cat

According to this idiom, being curious can get you into trouble. 

However, I love when my students feel curious. Curious enough to ask smart question (you hear me guys, SMART questions). 

Fortunately, this year I've got a bunch of these students (lucky me, right?). 

Their innate curiosity helps us to create a fantastic atmosphere in class, and we can all learn more about the world. 

You know, I'm an ESL FREAK but that does not mean that I'm only interested in that specific field of knowledge.

So... just so you know, after Easter I'm officially starting a new section in this our blog.

Feeling curious now?

Keep posted!

I HATE SPRING

I know, I know, spring hasn't started yet but... 

Here's my confession: I HATE SPRING. Period.

Do you want to know why?

Well, let me show you...

When springtime is around the corner I can feel it. Honestly, people, my whole body can feel it. Do you want to know the symptoms?

Symptom # 1: ITCHY EYES

That means no contacts for me during this season

Symptom #2: SNEEZING.

Gross.

And last, but not least, Symptom # 3: A RUNNY NOSE

Oh... you don't know how a runny nose looks like?

Let me show you....

Or even better (wicked smile)

All in all, you can picture me like this (without the robe, of course, you all know that I'm more glamourous than that)

See you tomorrow in class.

WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER

New idiom brought to you by popular demand (well, perhaps not soo popular, but you know I exaggerate things).

Well, some of your classmates were racking their brains because they couldn't translate the meaning of this idiom into Spanish... 

Let's start by giving you some context. Just imagine the following conversation:

A. How is Peter?

B. Oh, Sarah has him wrapped around the finger.

(Oh, the girl is Sarah and the tiny little man wrapped around her finger is Peter)

If the meaning is not clear yet, I'll copy the following definition (by courtesy of Urban Dictionary):

1. A term used when a girl has a guy under her command. 

2. Means the guy will pretty much follow their girl's every wish and do whatever she wants.

Well, this is an expression which usually appears in songs. Take the following as an example: