English idioms and their Russian equiavalents

Exercise:

Using the list of idiomatic expressions given below

a) make up a story;

b) make up dialogs.

Try to use as much idiomatic expressions as possible.

to be in a bind box;

to keep one’s eyes peeled;

to go at it hammer and tongues;

to lose one’s temper;

to take it on the chin;

to turn thumbs down;

to paddle one’s own canoe;

big frog in a small pond;

by word of mouth;

to burn the midnight oil;

bent out of shape;

to bite off more then one can chew;

to jump all over someone;

until you are blue in the face;

to be all ears.

The next task is to render the poem using the idioms under study.

They walked in the lane together,

The sky was covered with stars.

They reached the gate in the silence,

He lifted down the bars.

She neither smiled nor thanked him

Because she knew not how:

For he was just a farmer’s boy

And she the farmers cow.

To broaden the students’ language awareness of idioms we can suggest the following exercises:

I. Insert the missing element; use each idiom in a sentence.

shoot ... one's mouth make ... one's mind

fly ... one's handle   prick ... one's ears

go ... one's head   turn ... one's nose

II. Supply the necessary words.

play ... /действовать наверняка/ keep ... /скрывать/

drop ... /упасть замертво/   go ... /спятить/

take .../застать врасплох/   go ... /умереть/

think ... /хорошенько подумать/ make ... /удостовериться

make ... /быть высокого мнения/

III. Give Russian equivalents for:

back and forth  once and for all

up and down  on and off

to and fro   then and there

through and through one and all

over and above  all and sundry

now and again  first and foremost

IV. Think of fifteen idioms that initiate with the preposition in

V. Insert articles if necessary.

take ... dislike to  produce ... impression on

take ... liking to  keep ... secret from

take ... fancy to  cast ... glance on

make ... fuss about  make ... attempt at

lend ... hand to  pay ... visit to

VI. Analyse the structure of the idioms; compare the three groups from the viewpoint of grammar.

gain ground  take an interest take the trouble

give way  run a risk  get the hang

get wind  take a chance have the cheek

leave effect  win a victory have the guts

take heed  make a stand spill the beans

do good  stretch a point know the ropes

mean harm  lend a hand  take the lead

eat dirt  produce an effect take the starch

take action  keep a secret tell the truth

lose interest  make a crack blow the gab

give consent  lift a finger  save the day

make pretence cast a glance

VII. Define the meaning of each idiom; use thorn in a story.

take pains  take chances

make friends make arrangements

speak volumes take steps

take decisions make plans

VIII. Arrange the following into groups of semantically related idioms.

at best at least at first

at last  at worst at latest

at most at farthest at nearest

IX. Reproduce an episode from the book you are reading; employ the given idioms.

come to a head  take into account

arrive at a decision come into existence

fly into a passion  come into sight

X. Recall some more idioms of a similar structure: Verb + Preposition + Noun.

fall in love  take by surprise

keep in check keep in mind

take in tow  roll in money

XI. Give an idiom for each number.

1. pass away  5. fall for

2. take to  6. see through

3. make out  7. chime in

4. give in  8. pass on

XII. Group the idioms according to their structure.

in any case, in a whisper, in full cry, at all costs, on no account, in bad shape, at any rate, into the bargain, in deep water, at the same time, under the weather, in the long run, in a tight corner, at a moment's notice, in no time, by no means, on excellent terms, in a bad way, in a flash, in good humour, at arm's length, in the end, At close quarters, on a high horse, with breakneck pace.

Puzzle - making

The next task for students is to work out the puzzle by marching the idioms and their definitions. First, put puzzle-pieces on the desk with the word facing up Take one and match the idiom to the definition. Having done that, place the puzzle-piece, word-side-up, in the chosen rectangle. When you have used up all the pieces, turn them over. If they form a picture of a landscape, the choices are correct If not, rearrange the picture and check the idiom-definition correspondences.

The game objectives. To work out the puzzle, students had to match idioms with their definitions. The objective of the game was for each pair to cooperate in completing the activity successfully in order to expand their vocabulary with, in this case, colloquial expressions.

All students were active and enjoyed the activity. Some of their comments were as follows: "Very interesting and motivating" "Learning can be a lot of fun" etc.

Students also had to find the appropriate matches in the shortest time possible to beat other participating groups. The element of competition among the groups made them concentrate and think intensively.

Translation activity. The other group of students had to work out the meanings of the idioms by means of translation. Unlike the previously described group, they did not know the definitions. The expressions were listed on the board, and students tried to guess their proper meanings giving different options. My role was to direct them to those that were appropriate. Students translated the idioms into Russian and endeavoured to find similar or corresponding expressions in their mother tongue. Unlike the game used for the purpose of idiom introduction, this activity did not require the preparation of any aids. Fewer learners participated actively or enthusiastically in this lesson and most did not show great interest in the activity.

Administering the test. In order to find out which group acquired new vocabulary better, I designed a short test, for both groups containing a translation into English and a game. This allowed learners to activate their memory with the type of activity they had been exposed to in the presentation. The test checking the acquisition of newly-introduced reading vocabulary I. Match the definitions of the idioms with the pictures and write which idiom is depicted and described:

to he inexperienced

to listen very attentively

to be terrified

to be dominated by someone

to be attentive

to be insincere, dishonest

The proper answers are the following:

d.,  to be wet behind the ears

a.,  to be all ears

e.,  to have one's hair stand on end

f.,  to be led by the nose

b.,  to be all eyes

с.,  to be two-faced.

II Translate into English (the translated sentences should be the following):

He is soft in the head.

She is two-faced, always criticizes me behind my back.

Mark has a sweet tooth, so he is not too slim.

Will you hold your tongue if I tell you something?

Why are you such a loose mouth?

Don't be nosy! This is none of your business.

Description of vocabulary picture puzzle

To prepare the puzzle. I cut two equal-sized pieces of cardboard paper into rectangles. The selected idioms were written onto the rectangles in the puzzle-pieces board and their definitions on the game board. On the reverse side of the puzzle-pieces board. 1 glued colourful photographs of landscapes and then cut the puzzle-pieces board into individual pieces, each with an idiom on it. The important thing was the distribution of the idioms and their definitions on the boards. The definitions were placed in the same horizontal row opposite to the idioms so that when put together face to face each idiom faced its definition.

Puzzle Pieces Board

The idioms and their definitions were the following³⁰:

to be soft in the head: foolish, not very intelligent;

to have one's hair stand on end: to be terrified;

to be two-faced: to agree with a person to his face but disagree with him behind his back;

to make a face: to make a grimace which may express disgust, anger;

to be all eyes: to be very attentive;

to be an eye-opener: to be a revelation;

to be nosy: to be inquisitive, to ask too many questions;

to be led by the nose: to be completely dominated by, totally influenced by;

long ears: an inquisitive person who is always asking too many questions;

to be all ears: to listen very attentively;

to be wet behind the ears: to be naive, inexperienced;

a loose mouth: an indiscrete person;

one's lips are sealed: to be obliged to keep a secret;

to have a sweet tooth: to have a liking for sweet food, sugar, honey, ice cream, etc.;

to grind one's teeth: to express one's fury;

to hold one's tongue: to say nothing, to be discrete;

Exploring metaphors in the classroom

When our students listen to pop songs in English, browse web sites in English or watch movies in English they frequently meet language rich in its use of metaphors. Yet metaphors are often rather neglected in the classroom. So what kinds of metaphors should we teach, why should we teach them and how can we do so effectively?

Kinds of metaphors

Our students may meet many different kinds of metaphors in English. We usually think of metaphor as being a comparison between two things which are not usually connected with each other, so that the characteristics of the one are carried over to the other. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, for example, Romeo famously compares Juliet to the sun, so that the qualities of the sun (radiance and warmth) are carried over to Juliet. Not only literary English, but everyday English is full of these kinds of metaphors. For example, there are many fixed expressions found in dictionaries which can only be understood metaphorically, such as:

'a step in the right direction' or

to 'sell like hot cakes'

There are also many words which can have both literal and metaphorical meanings:

verbs such as to' hammer' or 'to stream'

adjectives such as 'infectious' or 'lukewarm'

nouns such as 'ingredients' and 'foundation'.

Increasing student vocabulary

Metaphors provide a handy and memorable way of organizing new vocabulary to be learned. Most teachers are familiar with the notion of a lexical set, where vocabulary is grouped according to a topic area, such as 'food' or 'transport'. This idea can be extended to create 'metaphorical sets', where we group together the words and expressions that have a metaphorical, rather than a literal, meaning. Here are some examples:

Body vocabulary

the heart of the city

the foot of the mountain/bed/stairs

to give a hand

to break somebody's heart

Weather vocabulary

a warm welcome

to freeze somebody out

to be snowed under

to storm out

a hail of abuse

Colour vocabulary

to see red

a grey area

a white lie

to give somebody the green light.

Two activities

In the classroom, there are different ways we can incorporate this idea of metaphorical sets.

One way is to ask students in groups to research and design a poster related to a particular topic. Take the body, for example.

Students could be asked to draw an outline of a human body on a large sheet of paper, and to include a heart, feet, hand, eye, nose, etc.

Using English dictionaries, they could then research any metaphorical uses of language connected with the different parts of the body and write them in the appropriate place on the poster.

The same activity can be done for weather vocabulary (using little sketches of different types of weather) or for colours (using sheets of paper of different colours).

Another way is to ask students to brainstorm the words in a particular lexical area, such as plants. They may come up with words such as: roots, branches, seed, to blossom, to bloom, to plant.

Once you have checked that students have understood the literal meaning of all the words involved, ask them to guess what the metaphorical meaning of these words might be.

And once you have established the metaphorical meanings for these words (such as the roots of a problem or to plant an idea in somebody's mind) ask students to write a story using as many of these words as they can.

I find the stories are always very inventive, and reveal the real pleasure that students take in using another language creatively.

Improving knowledge of 'chunks'

Many metaphors occur not as isolated words, but in 'chunks' of language. Some of these 'chunks' are idioms that cannot really be varied. Some examples are:

to be 'down in the dumps'

to 'fight like cats and dogs'

Other 'chunks' can be varied, but generally occur as collocations in fairly limited combinations. Some examples are:

a 'fatal mistake / decision'

to 'waste time / money'

When teaching metaphors we should encourage students to note them down and learn them as 'chunks' - this will help students to remember them better and use them appropriately.

We can revise students' knowledge of these chunks by writing a list of chunks on the board with important words missing, e.g. fatal in fatal decision, or cat in to fight like cat and dog. Working in teams, students should then fill in the missing words and write sentences using the chunks.

Using English creatively

As we have seen, many metaphors in English form part of the ordinary repertoire of the native speaker. We can help students to learn some of these fixed metaphors while simultaneously encouraging them to play creatively with language. One way is to ask students to write short poems with one of the following titles:

Weather metaphors

A sunny smile

An icy look

A stormy relationship

People metaphors

A chip off the old block

A rough diamond

A shoulder to cry on

An ugly duckling

A fairy godmother

Parts of proverbs

A new broom

Early birds

Birds of a feather

Silver linings

A rolling stone

Developing student autonomy

Finally, we can develop students' awareness of metaphors by encouraging students to 'collect' metaphors - by noting them down when they encounter them on the Internet, in pop songs, etc. These metaphors can then be explained and discussed in the classroom. You may even want to keep a record of these on a wall poster….and at the end of the term ask students to vote on the most useful metaphor, the most surprising metaphor, their favorite metaphor, etc.

 

2.2.2 Focus on authentic speech and idiomatic language in classes

Objectives: Developing students’ guessing skills, developing reading and listening skills on the base of idioms.

Target group: 4^th year students

Level: Intermediate

Organization: Class

Time: 80 min.

Step 1. Reading the Text.

Read the text “The Case of the Friendly Prank”

People love Tom Comeuppance because of all of his good traits—and despite his one very bad trait. Tom is never satisfied with anything. He always finds something to complain about and wish for, and he usually complains and wishes about the same thing for a long time. Most of the time, he also ends up getting what he has been wanting, but even then he still finds something to complain about soon after. This kind of behavior sometimes drives his family and friends crazy.

Lately, Tom has been complaining about needing a car even though his family just recently helped him get his own apartment near the school he attends, the Merlin Institute of Technology (MIT). His friends also got together and bought him a ten-speed bicycle for his birthday. This is what Tom has been saying:

"I'm tired of walking and riding around so much. I need a car. I sure wish I owned that 1965 Ford Mustang that's for sale over at Bob Fisher's used-car lot."

His friends at MIT, who are studying mechanical engineering with him, are also tired — they're tired of hearing this from him so much. In fact, they cant stand it any more. They've put up with it long enough. In other words, they are simply fed up. This is the way they let him have it in the cafeteria Friday afternoon.

'"Car, car, car'—that's all we ever hear from you these days. It's really wearing thin."

"Enough already! You sound like a broken record!" 'Yeah, could you change the record, please?"

But these words didn't hurt Tom. They rolled off him like water off a duck's back. He wasn't even bothered when the same kind of thing happened at his family's house, where he went for dinner on Saturday. The members of his family are very different in their jobs and interests—his father is a crane operator, his mother is a science fiction writer, his sister is a body builder, and his brother is a magician—but they are all alike in loving Tom very much. Even so, there is a limit to how much their love can tolerate from him. These were their words:

"Tom, you're starting to get on my nerves with all this car talk."

"You're really rubbing me the wrong way, too."

"I'll be even more honest with you — you're going to drive me to drink!"

"Tom, you know the expression, Every cloud has a silver lining'? For you, the expression should be, 'Every silver lining has a cloud.'"

On Sunday, Tom spent the whole day in the library. When he got back to his apartment Sunday night, he found a very big and very unusual gift waiting for him. You could have knocked him over with a feather when he saw it. There was a note attached to it that read.