Dear Xochitl and Jack | Lost in Idioms
In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack give some advice to a listener who is struggling with idioms.
Transcript:
00:00:00
Jack
Hey A-Z listeners, this is Jack here.
00:00:03
Jack
And if you would like to become a an exclusive subscriber to the show, you can hit the link in the description and that will take you to our Red Circle page, where for $1.99 a month you will get access to an extra two or three episodes each week.
00:00:23
Jack
And be careful, don't hit that donation button if you want to become an exclusive subscriber because the donation button is just a one time donation. However, the exclusive subscriber button will give you access to the extra two or three episodes.
00:00:42
Jack
Each week.
00:00:44
Jack
So make sure you hit that exclusive subscriber button if you want access to the extra episodes.
00:00:52
Jack
Now let's get on with the show.
00:00:55
Jack
Welcome to the ADOC English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social and today we have a dear social and Jack episode and this is where listeners of the program will write in with their ESL problems. Usually it's not like their life problems because.
00:01:16
Jack
You know, goodness. Enormous, yeah.
00:01:18
Xochitl
No different though. Why am I the judge? We we will bring that back. If you guys want it on.
00:01:23
Xochitl
Popular demands, though.
00:01:24
Jack
That's true. Yeah, we will. We might have an I am I the jerk coming down the pipeline here pretty soon, but OK, so dear social and Jack, I have been learning English for a few months now. And while I have made progress, I still struggle with understanding.
00:01:43
Jack
Idiomatic expressions.
00:01:46
Xochitl
Mm-hmm.
00:01:46
Jack
It seems like native speakers use them all the time, and I often find myself feeling lost in conversations.
00:01:55
Jack
How can I improve my understanding of idioms?
00:01:59
Jack
And use them appropriately in my own speech.
00:02:04
Jack
It's frustrating, feeling like I'm missing out on important nuances in communication sincerely lost in idioms.
00:02:17
Xochitl
OK, lost and idioms. I have a I have a couple of suggestions. I think one of them is that there are books like of idioms where they just list them out like a dictionary almost, but it's commonly used idioms with the definition where it breaks it down in plain simple English. And if you don't have the money or don't want to spend the money.
00:02:37
Xochitl
In a book you can also look up a similar thing on Google, and they're usually like 20 or 25 idioms per page, and it'll break them down in really simple English, and that's usually free.
00:02:50
Xochitl
U.
00:02:50
Xochitl
M.
00:02:51
Xochitl
Another thing I can suggest are YouTube videos. You can watch people who explain idioms. We have some podcasts as well here at A-Z where we talk about idioms in depth and we're going to have a we're going to add a listening comprehension panel to our exclusive episodes where we.
00:03:12
Xochitl
Have a conversation using idioms and using plain typical English and then listeners can strengthen their listening skills that way.
00:03:23
Xochitl
And and I guess finally I would say practice makes perfect. Try using some idioms yourself. Try listening to some music, reading literature, watching shows in English, and don't be afraid to pause when you hear them use an idiom and just Google it. We have Google at our fingertips these days that makes things a lot easier.
00:03:45
Xochitl
UM, so don't be afraid to use those tools to your advantage. Yeah. What do you think, Jack?
00:03:51
Jack
Yeah, I think first.
00:03:52
Jack
First and foremost, I want to kind of, UM, separate the meaning of like expression versus idiom. And I think like in expression in English is when it is logically decipherable and what I mean by that is that like.
00:04:12
Jack
If you think about it, you can understand the meaning. So for example, if I said to social I have a speech tomorrow, I have butterflies in my stomach.
00:04:23
Jack
UM, the idea of like butterflies flapping their wings in my stomach. Kind of.
00:04:32
Jack
Evokes a sort of like feeling of nervousness. Right? Like, yeah, so that would be more on the expression side of of things like. Like you can understand what that means just by thinking about it.
00:04:34
Xochitl
Image.
00:04:48
Jack
Other idioms are completely disconnected from any logic or reason you know. If I say kick the bucket social knows, then I mean die. But a non-native speaker would be like what does kicking in a bucket have anything to do with death?
00:05:08
Xochitl
Right, right.
00:05:08
Jack
You know, it's it's totally disconnected and I think what you're talking about, uh writer is.
00:05:16
Jack
The idioms, not the expressions, because the expressions and I what I would do is, I would try to figure them out in context because the only way to learn them is in context. If you try to just memorize a list of of idioms, it might help you, but I would say there's so many.
00:05:36
Jack
You're gonna. It'll take you a year just to get through the.
00:05:37
Xochitl
Yes.
00:05:39
Jack
A's.
00:05:40
Xochitl
Right, right. Yeah.
00:05:41
Jack
And then the next year, you're gonna go through the B's and then the C's, and then you're gonna forget the A's. A better way, maybe, is to try to try to understand them in context.
00:05:50
Jack
Next, and what what I've the people who are successful in learning languages at a high level.
00:05:58
Jack
And uh, who aren't balanced. Bilinguals like social grew up hearing a lot of Mexican, sorry, Spanish idioms. And because she comes from a Mexican family and mixed family.
00:06:11
Jack
And so you also grew up hearing American English expressions. And so you, you're familiar with those since childhood for those who are starting, you have the upper hand there. But if you're just learning, you're learning idioms as an adult. What I would do is I would really have a notebook, and when you.
00:06:16
발표자
Right.
00:06:20
Xochitl
They have an upper hand beard.
00:06:31
Jack
Come across one that you don't know the meaning of. I would ask the person what does that mean? And then I would as soon as I I can. I would get my journal and put it. Put that entry and write it down because there's something about writing something. When you write something down.
00:06:47
Jack
When you remember it, you retain it much more deeply than if you just try to just hold it in your in your memory. Yeah. And so then you'll have your whole little journal of idioms, your idiom journal, the ones that you come across.
00:06:48
Xochitl
Yeah.
00:06:59
Xochitl
Great. Great.
00:07:08
Jack
That's one strategy that I think will works really well. And if you're if you're lazy like me, do it in a voice note like picture record, write it down, you know, say it into your your phone so that you have it recorded and then write it down. Listen and write it down.
00:07:15
발표자
Yeah.
00:07:24
Jack
Here.
00:07:25
Xochitl
That's yeah.
00:07:26
Jack
Yeah. And I think that that is because that's the only way to learn idioms is in context. If you try to learn them isolated away from meanings in regular, like regular conversation, I think it's going to be more difficult, but.
00:07:33
발표자
Mean.
00:07:43
Xochitl
It could be a warning for sure.
00:07:44
Jack
Yeah, but if you listen to our podcast, we always give examples of the idioms you know, in context. And so you can find the context. But I think, you know, if you're talking about daily life, somebody says something and you're like I have. You know, you're like.
00:08:00
Jack
My my horse kicked the bucket last night. And you're like.
00:08:06
Jack
What? What's the big deal? If your horse kicked the bucket? Yeah, that's not a bad thing. And you're like, no, it's a very bad thing. My horse died, you know? Yeah.
00:08:08
Xochitl
But.
00:08:10
발표자
Right.
00:08:15
Xochitl
Right.
00:08:17
Jack
So yeah, that was my long answer. Yeah.
00:08:21
Xochitl
Yeah. No, no, I think it was a great answer because it definitely whenever there's a dilemma about language learning, it requires a lot of thought to think about how you can apply into your life. But I think Jack did a great job. So if you guys want more tips, make sure to follow our podcast. Leave a comment down below at A-Z.
00:08:37
Xochitl
Which code?
00:08:38
Xochitl
Dot com shoot us an e-mail we love to receive listener emails. We really do. I love the dear social and Jack. Whenever you guys ask us ESL questions or any kind of questions, those are what some of the episodes I most look forward to recording. So don't be shy. Shoot us an e-mail at at ozenglishpodcast@gmail.com.
00:08:58
Xochitl
And make sure you join the WeChat and WhatsApp group. Uh to talk to us directly. And if you have any questions, you can also send them in the WeChat or WhatsApp groups and Jack and I will make note of them so we can address them in.
00:09:07
Xochitl
The podcast see you guys. Next time. Bye bye.
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