Conclusion
Clearly, English is a confusing language to learn. It cannot be done alone so you need to
get a tutor or ask friends to help. Do not hesitate in speaking; you are a learner, not a
person committing a crime! Also, be confident. You could think of learning a language
as a personality development exercise. This causes you to go out as much as you can,
making you use the language as well as being confident. After all, what is the use of
learning a language when you do not plan on using it? However, remember not to flaunt
your brand new skills. Chances are you will make a fool ofyourself. Keep it simple!
Now, there are a few words in this eBook that you might not have understood
completely. I trust that you have a notebook at the ready. Add these words to your
notebook and learn their meanings and use them in sentences.
I hope this eBook help in one way or the other. I wish you all the very best in your
endeavors. Hopefully, if you stick to your goals, you will be speaking English like any
other English speaker in about three months. Remember not to translate every word you
have a difficult time with!
BONUS:
Idioms
As I mentioned earlier, an idiom is a group of words that have a figurative meaning.
Figurative means something that is metaphorical or nonliteral. The phrase used if taken
literally, will not make much sense in the context it was used.
Without the knowledge of English idioms, you are pretty much where you were when
you first started learning. Nowhere! In today’s time and age, English is driven by
idioms, and I do not mean in a car!
Idioms exist in every language! You just have to use your imagination to figure them out.
There are said to be about twenty five thousand idioms in the English language. I shall
introduce you to some ofthem.
Hit the sack
If you open a dictionary and look for the meaning of ‘sack’, you would find about ten
different meaning. Here, ‘sack’ means bed. You are not literally hitting the bed, the
phrase means ‘to go to sleep’. It generally refers to being extremely tired.
“I am going to go home and hit the sack” means “I am going to go home and sleep”…
probably for the next ten hours!
Pulling someone’s leg
Pulling someone’s leg means to trying fooling them by making them believe in something
untrue. I get my leg pulled a lot by my elder sisters! It is all fun and game.
Piece of cake
“The examination was a piece of cake” means that it was an easy exam, just like eating
a piece ofcake is easy to do.
Hit below the belt
A low blow, an unfair blow, a cruel blow! In olden times, in a duel it was against the
law to strike a person below the waist. In the same way, saying something mean or
acting in an unfair way would be considered to be a low blow!
To stab someone in the back
This does not mean literally stabbing someone in the back with a knife. That would send
you to jail for murder! The phrase means secretly betraying someone’s trust.
‘Spilled the beans’ or ‘let the cat out ofthe bag’
This is an extremely common phrase. It means to let out a secret. People accidently let
the ‘cat out ofthe bag’ all the time.
Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs
This one is pretty self-explanatory. It means to be extremely nervous, verging on
neurotic.
Butterflies in ones stomach
The feeling in your stomach right before an important job interview or before a date
with a special someone; those are butterflies in your stomach. Not literally of course! It
means beings anxious.
Face the music
Facing the music does not literally mean turning around to face the source of the music;
it means to deal with the harsh reality. If you crossed the curfew set my your parents,
you are probably going to go home and face the music.
Cut to the chase
If you are telling your very American friend a incident or story, and you are taking a
long time in explaining the unimportant part, your friend might say ‘cut to the chase’. It
means ‘hurry up and get to the main part of the story’. It means ignoring the smaller
details and explaining the important part.
These are just a few examples of idioms. You would come across many more on your
journey towards learning English.
Colloquialism
Colloquialisms, like idioms, are important elements in understanding the English
language. They are used in informal speech. However, colloquialism is not the same as
slang. According to Wikipedia, Slang refers to words used only by specific social
groups, such as teenagers or soldiers. Examples of colloquialisms are ‘gonna’, ‘ain’t’,
‘what’s up?’ etc.
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