British Idioms
The Problem with Idioms
As a native English speaker, I had always used idioms, as most native speakers do, with little thought as to their complexity. It never occurred to me that non-native speakers would have any trouble in using these common figures of speech. It had never occurred to me that the meaning of many idioms is obscure, and cannot easily be gleaned from the words alone. Having been an English teacher for some 15 years now, I have come to see that students need a lot of help with idioms.
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Solving the Problem for Students
Once I realised that idioms were incredibly problematic for my students, I set about gathering as many idioms as I could and making videos about them for my YouTube channels. I also created the website, BritishIdioms.com, as a place that students could visit to learn some of the more common idioms.
As I created my videos, and collated the idioms, I realised that many idioms could be grouped together in videos such as my Egg Idioms, Colour Idioms, Heart Idioms, and so on. I also realised that there were more than enough idioms to write a series of books about them.
An Easier Way to Master Idioms
I am determined to make idioms as accessible for all students as any other part of the English language. Reading and memorising lists of vocabulary is not the most productive, interesting, or useful exercise in English language learning. I wanted to create a series of books that would encourage the reader to not only learn and remember the idioms, but also to have fun with them, as having fun is a great aid to learning and remembering.
Crosswords for Essential Repetition
The books in this series contain crossword puzzles which give you the chance to revisit the idioms and by revisiting them, master them. Repetition is an essential part of learning new vocabulary in any language.
As the Kindle or other devices are not really suited to crossword completion, I also created online versions of each of the crosswords. The crosswords are free to access and use.
If you want to print the crossword grids for your own use or for use in the classroom, you can do so from the online versions.
Most Comprehensive Collections of Idioms
It is important that you know as many idioms as possible as native English speakers use them with alarming regularity. I hope that as you work your way through the series you will make some of the idioms your own and use them regularly like a native. Either way, I hope you enjoy this series of books.
Multiple Formats
These books are available in formats to suit everyone.
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