More idioms than you can shake a stick at !

27th October 2021

Premium Photo | Beautiful portrait young asian woman smiling sitting study and learning writing notebook — Image from freepik.com

Idioms are used frequently in conversational English, not to mention formal and informal writing, and in song lyrics. Additionally I have heard British politicians, speaking in Received Pronunciation, employ an idiom in two in their remarks.

Generally students like having a few idioms under their belt, as it makes them feel that they are closer to everyday English, and can hold their own in a conversation.

Therefore, here is a one-stop shop for various idioms I’ve introduced over the years. Now, put your nose to the grindstone and get cracking.

Idioms

it’s raining cats and dogs

it costs an arm and a leg

piece of cake

I’m burning the candle at both ends

once in a blue moon

pass with flying colours

turn over a new leaf

Another string to (your) bow – a new skill or learning experience

bear with me – please wait a very short time (usually spoken as opposed to written)

bit of a sore point – something that makes you sad or angry

down in the dumps – depressed, unhappy, feeling gloomy

hit the ground running – to start something immediately and with all your energy

like a madhouse – a place or area that is crazy, too noisy, too busy etc

run of the mill – ordinary, typical, normal, usual, boring

up in arms – to be very angry about something, to protest strongly

you take your life in your hands – doing something that is extremely dangerous

tickled pink = very happy – I’m tickled pink

fit as a fiddle = very healthy

Keep an eye on = watch something carefully

under the table = to give money to someone unofficially

kick the bucket = to die (informal) Did you hear ? Old Tom kicked the bucket.

A spanner in the works = a serious problem

In the right ball park (US) = not correct but close

On the right track (UK) not correct but close

Confident african businessman 991151 Stock Photo at Vecteezy — veckteezy.com

Learning the ropes = learning what the job involves

Snowed under = very busy

number-cruncher = a slang term for an accountant

cooking the books = writing false information in accountants – a serious crime

Let’s call it a day = We can finish work now

Can you run that by me again ? = Please repeat.

Food Idioms Bulletin Board Kit by Apples to Zippers | TpT

tea / cherries / nutshell / cucumber / carrot

Growing up is hard, life isn’t always a bowl of _________ .

He walked in, as cool as a _________ , and told the boss he wanted a pay rise.

We’re going to try using a _________ and stick approach

I’m not a fan of karaoke, it’s not my cup of _________ at all.

To put it in a _________ , philosophy is very difficult.

Fostering Student Learning through the Use of Debates — Image from facultyfocus.com

Speaking Practice can be accessed on this blog: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/06/06/cat-got-your-tongue-time-to-talk-idioms/

what have you been getting up to ? // raining cats and dogs

chockablock // hold your horses // under the weather // chop chop // vicious circle

// can you follow me ? // a screw loose // not my cup of tea // kick the bucket

cut and dry // turn over a new leaf // pull your socks up //

as much use as a chocolate teapot // let’s call it a day

You may not know some of the above, so just ask your teacher, or do an online search

Extra idioms lessons may be found on these pages:

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/06/01/idioms-a-piece-of-cake/

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/06/02/idioms-part-2-are-you-pulling-my-leg/

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/06/04/idioms-part-3-all-above-board-nothing-under-the-table/

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

IELTS: Focus on Japan

18th October 2021

Listening practice:

Life in Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwg5-YY4pdg

Activity one

Listen to one or two facts, then paraphrase them. Add your opinions, and how Japanese culture differs from your life.

New vocabulary, expressions, listening to accents.

Listen out for:

‘you guys’ (US), ‘omg’ (oh my god), ‘screwed up’, ‘really cool cafes’, ‘despite’, ‘strict’.

Check her grammar – any mistakes ?

Image result for amazing things in Japan

Activity Two

Listening for information

This clip ‘7 Cool things to do in Tokyo’ has a lot of practical information.

Write down as much as you can. At first, try without subtitles.

Include prices, opening times, locations etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3enIWRJtHQ

Activity Three

Project:

You have three days in Tokyo; what would you choose to do ? Read the cntraveler and plan your city-break.

Remember to use IELTS language, explain your choices and maybe add an anecdote.

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-things-to-do-in-tokyo

Image result for amazing things in tokyo

This is an edited version of an earlier blog:

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/01/25/adult-speaking-class-level-2-part-6-2/

IELTS: Focus on India

18th October 2021

Firstly, a big hello to all my readers and followers in India. I want you all to know how much I appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog. Thank you so much.

Exercise one: Find out some basic information about India from the internet, such as capital and major cities, population, food, religion, imports and exports.

I give you four minutes to do an Internet search, then present to class. DO NOT simply read from Wikipedia.

Exercise two:

Adjectives: look at the photos and describe what you see.

Try these adjectives:

exotic / mysterious / exquisite / captivating / enchanting

How Narendra Modi inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple | Condé Nast Traveller India

Exercise two: compare and contrast

Does this look like YOUR city ? What is similar, what is noticeably different ?

School, Colleges to Reopen From Next Month? What we Know so Far

Vocabulary building and listening

In the real world, most students will not be communicating with English-language teachers, but probably with other non-native speakers, so learning to appreciate and understand English spoken with a ‘new’ accent is an extremely useful skill. Here’s a great video which features a charming young Indian lady teaching new vocabulary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKUxuD0m5A8

New Vocabulary:

Instead of using ‘very’ + adjective (I am very tired), use a single word:

Try to use ‘sagacious’, ‘exquisite’, ‘colossal’ and ‘spacious’

The classrooms in Block D are ……….. (big)

The furnishings are perfect, they are ……….

Building an underground train network is a ………… undertaking

The old man was ………. People came to him for advise.

This is also a listening skills exercise.

Do you have any problems understanding her ? Why ?

What to do in India

The American foodie and blogger Mark Wiens travelled to Kolkata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvNdOJMDMyQ

Listen for at least five words you didn’t previously know. In small groups ask each other:

What impressed you ? What disturbed you ? Would you like to go there ? If so, why, if not, why not ?

Here is a chance to practice adjectives, linking words and using the word ‘because’ – giving reasons, supporting your comments.

Famous Indians

In small groups, you have to make a short presentation about one of these famous Indians:

Image result for famous indian siddharta buddha — *Siddhartha – the Buddha*

The class have five to ten minutes to research information, speed read and extract relevant facts with which to enlighten the class. Follow up, tell me about some Indian artists or sports stars.

And now, goodbye from this mysterious, exotic land. Hope to meet you very soon …

This is an edited blog that first appeared on 24th January 2020: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/01/24/ielts-hello-india/

Young Learners, Level 6: sensational sentences – great games

15th October 2021

Glad diverse students taking notes while working on project — Free Images from pexels.com

Outline:

To promote the natural use of adjectives in order for students to speak in longer, more detailed sentences.

To increase vocabulary by introducing new words and replacing basic adjectives with synonyms.

Increase general knowledge.

Inspire students to aim higher, to produce more elaborate answers without prompting.

So, let’s have some games.

First, a warm up. Describe these pictures in one or two sentences. I want three adjectives for each photo.

Cheerful man with coffee laughing together with woman — Free Images from pexels.com

EXAMPLE: The man is drinking coffee and he is friendly and happy. His mustache is unusual.

NOW … YOUR TURN

Young beautiful hispanic sad woman serious and concerned in worried depressed facial expression — negative, ethnicity - Stock Photo | #141206126 — lightfieldstudios.net

6,667 Angry Japanese Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from Dreamstime — Dreamstime.com

How did the Russian kids made the world angry? - Luxury Topics luxury portal — luxurytopics.com

What’s the story ?

Write a short story about the two photos

Set 1

9 benefits of football, it makes you healthy! — newsbreezer.com

Set 2

Crazy Cajun Crabs, seafood restaurant from Fat Boyz Barbecue owners, opens in Pompano Beach - South Florida Sun Sentinel - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Set 3

Set 4

Zambia Geography - Where is Zambia, What's in Zambia? — victoriafalls-guide.net

Zambia – A Vietnamese missionary among the street children of Africa — infoans.org

Our valuable and useful collection of adjectives

amazing, angry, Asian / beautiful, big, bored, boring /clean, clever, cute / dangerous, disappointed /easy, electric, English, exciting / fantastic, fast, fat, funny / greedy, great, Greek / happy, hard-working, healthy, high, huge / important, intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / old, outgoing / polite, popular / quick / rude, Russian / sad, selfish, shy, sleepy, small / talkative, tiny, tired / ugly, unusual / valuable / wealthy / xenophobic / year-long, young / Zambian

Bye Bye from the beautiful young Asian lady

Young Learners, Level 4: Tell me a story

12th October 2021

10 Must-Read Novels & Short Story Collections By Asian American Authors | restitchstance — Image from restitchstance.

Top Cats – I’ve shown you a lot of adjectives. Learn them, practice them, use them.

Look at these pictures. Tell me a story. Use adjectives to tell me what you see and what you think.

Here is our list of adjectives, and remember, colours are also adjectives.

amazing, angry / beautiful, big, boring /clean, clever, cute / dangerous /easy, electric, exciting / fantastic, fast, funny / greedy, great, Greek / happy, hard-working, healthy, high, huge / important, intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / old, outgoing /popular / quick / rude / sad, selfish, shy, sleepy, small / talkative, tiny, tired / ugly, unusual / valuable / wealthy / xenophobic / year-long, young / Zambian

We have a young lady and a man.

Let’s go to work ! What can you see in the first two pictures ?

Tell me about the lady. Who is the man ? How does he feel and why ? What does the lady do ? How does she look ?

Then the lady … ?

Finally the lady … ?

OK, Top Cats, give me your answers.

Points for using adjectives, correct grammar, and pronunciation.

Fact Check: Who's this man disrespecting the Indian national flag? - Fact Check News — Image from India Today

EXAMPLE:

A young lady with long straight dark hair is at school. She is very tired and sleepy. She has a lot of boring homework.

Her daddy is very angry. He wants the lady to be intelligent not lazy.

The lady is nervous because she is so shy. She reads many big books. She is unhappy. However, she is hard-working.

Sometimes the books are exciting and she thinks it is important to learn.

She has a high score and her family are very happy.

The beautiful clever young lady has a great job. She is wealthy and has many valuable things. However, she is not selfish. She buys her family amazing presents.

NOW … Your turn

Tell me a story

Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer Abroad in Zambia | GoAbroad.com

Zambian-boy-studies-using-a-solar-lantern_Patrick-Bentley-Solar-Aid | Lighting Global

Despite Hunger, Poverty, Zambian Boys Enjoy Fun of Sports - en.chinagate.cn

Hakainde Hichilema: the Zambian “cattle boy” who became president

Tips: Tell me what the boy looks like. Tell me how he feels. Tell me what he does. Finally, what happens to the boy when he grows up ?

How about this story ?

447 Baby Dolphins Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

Notes and links

The ‘Young Lady’ story was originally used in an IELTS blog: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2019/01/06/ielts-4-5-speaking-class/

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images and are used for educational purposes. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Young Learners 4: Let’s build some sentences. Part 2

6th October 2021

Let’s start to use some verbs. We’ll start with:

I have // you have // he has // she has // we have

I have a sister. She is funny and talkative.

two girl molding a snowman during daytime — Royalty-free image from Google

Now … Your Turn.

I have a brother. He is …

amazing, angry / beautiful, big /clean, clever, cute / dangerous /easy, electric / fantastic, funny / greedy, great, Greek / happy, healthy, huge / important, intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / old, outgoing /popular / quick / rude / sad, selfish, shy, small / talkative, tiny / ugly, unusual / valuable / wealthy / xenophobic / year-long, young / Zambian

Tell me about your mother, father or cousin.

Let’s move on

I have + adjective + noun. Pronouns + is + adjectives

EXAMPLE: I have a Japanese friend. She is clever and shy.

The sentence has 3 adjectives. Tell me about your friend:

I have a … friend. He or She is … and …

Tell me about these people:

This man is Greek. I have a Greek friend. He is …

This lady is English. I have an ….

This man is Japanese. I have a …

Now, let’s talk about pets.

I have a cute puppy. He is small, quick and happy.

Tell me about your pet.

Tell me about these animals:

Bye bye from the friendly bear.

Young Learners 4: Let’s build some sentences. Part 1

5th October 2021

26,846 BEST Asian Construction Woman IMAGES, STOCK PHOTOS & VECTORS | Adobe Stock — Photo found on Google Images

Some activities to help young students and beginners build longer sentences, and to identify the word types such as verbs, nouns and adjectives.

Are you ready ?

Iron Man, are you ready ?

8 Actors Considered for Iron Man Before Robert Downey Jr. - E! Online — Yes, Thay Paul, I’m ready !

Wonder Woman, are you ready ?

Born Ready || Diana (wonder woman) - YouTube

Muddy Waters, are you ready ?

Muddy Waters – I'm Ready (1994, CD) - Discogs

Let’s go ! First – what is this ?

A lot of students will just shout out, ‘Kangaroo,’ but we need to answer in a sentence – ‘It’s a kangaroo.’

However, let’s use some adjectives. Look and tell me what you see.

The Kangaroo is brown and grey // big // strong // beautiful or ugly // happy or angry //

It’s a big brown and grey kangaroo.

Now … Your Turn. What is this ?

For younger classes, just ask for ‘It’s a / an …’ For higher levels, aim for adjectives.

African elephant calf is born in Mexico during pandemic, they call it 'Zoom' | Web24 News

Remember, elephant begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) so we have to use ‘an‘ – It’s an elephant.

With adjectives ‘It’s an amazing elephant’, or ‘It’s a cute elephant.’

Moving on … who knows an adjective beginning with … ‘a’ ? With ‘b’ ?

3 Times as a Man When Thinking Small Is Good - Michael Holland

Let’s have a collection of adjectives:

Make sentences using 2 or 3 of the adjectives.

Indian princess by VeraVoyna.deviantart.com on @DeviantArt | Indian princess, Indian disney princess, Disney princess movies

5 ways to live like Crazy Rich Asians in Singapore | Travel - Hindustan Times

Check out the pretty selfies from T-ara's Qri | T-ara World — Singer from Korean band T-ara

Bye to favour as Zambia brace for COSAFA Cup Draw - 2021 COSAFA Cup — Football team from Zambia

Next time, using verbs. See you soon.

Venice Film Festival: Jimmy Page Attends Led Zeppelin Doc Premiere | Billboard — Bye bye from Mr Jimmy Page

Love and Chaos. Part 9(I) Richard 2

30th September 2021

Part Nine. Berlin. Sylvester 1995

Richard smiled at a group of children who were setting off firecrackers on the street. He was walking back from the phone box, ineffectively-gloved hands as deep as possible in jacket pocket, shoulders hunched together, wooly hat covering as much face as possible, said face facing down, avoiding the skin-scraping sandpaper hail.

Lot’s wife would have had no problem; turning back against the blizzard would be impossible. Lot’s wife survives, Lot’s daughters wouldn’t have got Lot Czar-bared, and maybe the world would have been a better place. Yes, Richard had found a King James version of the Bible, and had decided that Genesis was populated by some seriously demented people. Chris would love it.

Apropos of Chris, Richard made a detour along Wichertstrasse to get some food in. The street, parallel to Rodenberg, was more commercial, having several stores. A small German-language school, admonishing Richard every time he walked past, a small Spar market, a Waschcentre and shops to be filed under ‘miscellaneous’. Into Spar, grabbing a wire basket and loading up with the new staple food; a frozen fish pie that was reasonable and actually delicious. The Spar home-brand pizza was a sorry item, but 99 Pfennings, you couldn’t go (far) wrong. 99 Pfennings German Camembert (Camembert-style), brown bread, some tomatoes for colour, certainly not for taste, giant sausage, beer, Sekt and Ritter’s chocolate bars. The packing was great, the variety of flavours were great, they tasted fucking great. In the spirit of Christmas, you could forgive the Germans so much, for producing such heavenly chocolate, and the beer wasn’t bad either. The women … some of the women … were breathtaking.

Gabi. Why didn’t he make a play for Gabi ? She was so far out of his league, there would have been nothing to lose. This time last year, he was together with her, alone, in a locked bathroom. But that was last year. This year is ending with more Teutonic screaming from an unknown male on Johanna’s number. So that is that. Johanna can go to hell with the rest of 1995. Two dates, a building up of critical mass and then … and then.

Chris was flying back today. He should have some Physics books. Maybe something on String Theory. At least Stephen Hawking’s ‘Brief History of Time,’ that was thin enough. Pimms, maybe, Stilton, unlikely, gossip unquestionably. Chocolate, well, that’s covered.

Several hours later, the flat remarkably toasty from continual offerings to the Öfen, a thumping on the door. Laden with cases, nose and ears red from imminent frostbite, smiling ear to frozen ear stood Chris;

“Recalled to life, recalled to active duty, the beer goes on, the beat goes on, Berlin goes on !”

Education is everything

23rd September 2021

The fictional Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe

Written by Aaron Sorkin, creator of ‘The West Wing’.

Teaching is exhausting; it requires Herculean feats of strength, mental and physical, and the compassion of the Buddha.

Teaching can be soul-destroying; it requires the wisdom of Solomon and the tolerance of Job.

Teachers can be disrespected, ignored and insulted.

Teacher reviews may be gauged on how popular they are, how many games they play, not on how much they teach or how many students actually pass.

But teachers can also change lives.

That is what makes it worthwhile.

We need to change more lives.

“We need gigantic monumental changes.”

IELTS Oral Test: A refresher

17th September 2021

IELTS reading, paraphrasing, skimming, scanning in IELTS reading. IELTS academic and general exam.

Tomorrow I have a class taking their IELTS speaking test. Thus, I present a reminder about what you need to say in order to:

ace the test

pass with flying colours

hit that baby right out of the ballpark

I will be listening for the following:

Fluency – use of discourse markers. WITHOUT A WIDE RANGE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS YOU WILL NOT GET HIGHER THAN A ‘5’.
Lexical resources – Low-frequency words (big words). Know synonyms and multi-syllable words to impress the examiner. Not to mention, a sprinkling of idioms, phrases, phrasal verbs. Paraphrasing is very important
Grammar – it’s OK to make a few mistakes, grammatically, but what we want to hear are complex structures – basically, altering the structure of a sentence or including several pieces of information in one sentence by using relative pronouns.
Stress and intonation – listen to native speakers and COPY how we speak, when we stress words, when we ‘swallow’ letters, our body language.

To elucidate:

Fluency – Ability to speak at length without noticeable effort. A good range of discourse markers and connectives. Answer is coherent and pertinent. Self-correction is totally acceptable.

Lexical Resources – A wide vocabulary to cover a variety of topics. Low-frequency words. Ability to form collocations. Use of everyday as well as less common idioms and expressions. Paraphrasing, by which I mean rephrase the question you have been asked – don’t just repeat the exact wording.

Grammatical Range – A combination of simple and complex sentences. Generally error-free. Verb tenses must be correct, and subject must agree with verb form.

Pronunciation – Must be clear and easily understood. Effective use of stress, intonation and rhythm. If you are telling a happy story, sound happy.

I have a whole range of blogs to assist, and you can find the index for IELTS here: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/12/04/subject-index-ielts-themes-language-exercises-2/

Some specific blogs that may be of some help:

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/07/26/ielts-how-to-pass-with-flying-colours/

https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/10/12/ielts-8-1-2-chasing-8-1-2/

For specific help with Part III of the Oral Test: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/09/15/ielts-speaking-test-part-3-how-to-nail-it/

To help with L-FWs & expressions: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2021/01/27/ielts-vocabulary-boosting-fixed-expression-theres-nothing-i-like-more/

Sterling Ielts School Student Png Images - Ielts Students Images Png Transparent PNG - 378x456 - Free Download on NicePNG — Good luck – Best of British !