Idioms_Challenge_tch.pdf

Inside Out

e-lesson

Week starting: 27 th July 2009

1. Idioms challenge!

This week’s lesson introduces a selection of popular idiomatic expressions.

Level

Upper intermediate and above (equivalent to CEF level B2 and above)

How to use the lesson

1. Make sure the students understand what idioms are (a simple definition would be: a

group of words with a meaning that is different from the meanings of each individual

word understood on its own). Give some examples, before asking students if they can

provide some additional examples. Are there any idioms in English that the students

find particularly strange or amusing?

2. Divide the students into pairs and hand out Worksheet A. Explain that in Exercise 1

they have to work together to try to find the idiom that matches the definition given.

For each definition there is a real English idiom accompanied by two invented ones.

In some cases the students will probably have to guess.

3. Check answers in open class.

Answers : 1. c 2. b 3. a 4. b 5. a 6. c 7. b

4. Keeping the students in their pairs, hand out Worksheet B and ask them to do

Exercise 2 in which they have to work together to try to decide on the meanings of

some idioms. Again, in some cases they will probably have to guess.

5. Check answers in open class.

Answers : 1. a 2. b 3. a 4. c 5. c 6. b 7. a

6. Hand out Worksheet C and ask the students to fill in the gaps using the appropriate

idioms from Worksheets A and B. Point out that each idiom appears only once and

that it may be necessary to change the verb forms.

7. Check answers in open class.

Answers:

1. sold (my) soul; rat race; Actions speak louder than words

2. days are numbered; hold (your) breath

3. In a nutshell

4. watching paint dry; hat-trick

5. missed the boat; set in stone; keep (you) posted

6. No smoke without fire

7. passing the buck; the guts

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net .

Inside Out

8. As an additional activity you could play a game that is essentially the oral

equivalent of Exercises 1 and 2. First you will have to supply a list of idioms and their

definitions – preferably ones that none or only very few of the students are familiar

with.

Divide the students into two teams and give each team half of the idioms. For the

equivalent of Exercise 1, for each definition the two teams would invent two idioms

in addition to the real one. For the equivalent of Exercise 2, for each idiom the two

teams would create two false definitions in addition to the correct one.

The teams then take it in turns to read out their definitions/idioms to the other team,

followed by the three idioms/definitions. The idea is to make it difficult for the other

team to identify the true idiom/definition, so in each case the false ones should be

made to sound just as convincing as the correct one. The teams score points for

identifying the correct idioms/definitions and the team with more points at the end is

the winner.

(This activity follows the format of the British television game show Call My Bluff ,

which is based on obscure words rather than idioms.)

2. Related Websites

Send your students to these websites, or just take a look yourself.

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/

A large collection of idioms listed alphabetically, with brief definitions.

http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html

A selection of ‘self-study idiom quizzes’ with answers.

http://www.idiomsite.com/

A website explaining the meaning of dozens of popular idioms.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net .

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