How to Teach American Idioms

American Idioms are beautiful. They are descriptive, colorful, and if you are learning English - confusing.

This article explains one way to teach American Idioms.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 

   Select 4 or 5 idioms. Too many idioms will be confusing.

2. Many websites list idioms. Enter "American Idioms" in Google or any search engine and you will find many sites full of idioms.

3. Write a paragraph or two using the idioms. Highlight them.

4. Have the students guess their meanings from their context from the paragraphs you wrote.

5. 

   Give them the definitions.

6. Engage the students in conversation. Sometimes a student's first language has similar idioms. Ask them how they express the same thing in their language.

7. 

   Test them on the meanings of the idioms. Don't make it hard, just make it challenging to see if they understand the idioms. I like to use the "fill in the blank" method.

8. I like to complete the class by having them write a paragraph or two using the idioms.