Easy Ways to Learn American English Idioms

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” What does that mean? Taken literally, an apple tree has apples on it and the apples fall close to it. Get it? No. It means something different based on the analogy. Idioms, slang, and sayings in one language do not translate or mean what you heard.

As an English teacher, I have taught many students who are native speakers and others who are not. English is their second language. That’s called ESL.

English as a second language

That year I was told to teach writing to high school students who had just come out of ESL classes. One of my first questions to them was, “Where are you from? What language do you speak?”

I read with interest 3 Steps To Starting Your First Side Hustle As An Online ESL English Teacher by Caryn Leach Smith, and her advice highlights priorities of serving people over motivation to get money. Teaching online is different than teaching in person. Her reminders set the expectations clearly.

Your business depends on your ability to interact positively with students. No one wants to go into a shop where the service is bad. It’s the same for students. People, like people who like them.

There were 24 in the class and 22 who came from 22 different countries. Immigration in the United States of America continues. Schools are challenged to meet their needs. I had not been trained for this.

I needed help, so I asked other parents in the area.

Teaching writing to non-native English speakers

Of course, “Write about it” did not help. Instead, they began by talking about their country as best they could in broken English. As volunteers helped to boost their confidence and motivation to learn, they wrote down what they heard. Then students tried to copy or create their short oral history into written words.

Capturing those bits and pieces of English orally did help. Volunteers continued coming into the classroom to work in groups of 4–5. That made a difference to reach more in an efficient and effective way. Both the students and the volunteers enjoyed the experience.

“This is fun!”

American English idioms

Learning idioms was the hard part. The American English community has collected videos to help others all over the world to learn some of these. Some of the YouTube videos can be translated into multiple languages for greater comprehension.

“We asked our American English community: Why do you love English? We received nearly 100 video submissions from all over the world. This video is a compilation of some of their responses.” Here is one video to illustrate that American English on YouTube.

Are you very different from your parents or very similar? When someone is similar to one or both of his or her parents in appearance or behavior, we can use the idiom. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Here’s an example. My parents are both great cooks. And I’ve always loved to cook and bake too. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Do you think this idiom is true most of the time? Are people usually like their parents?

Whether it’s a formal way to learn in a classroom or a separate video online, learning another language may even be easiest by watching commercials. The product is shown. Then the words are on the screen. You hear the description, again and again. Idioms are fun to learn in English and in other languages.