I have a challenge for you, dear reader. As you go about your day, I want you to try to keep a mental note of how many idioms you use in everyday speech.
You know idioms. Those crazy little phrases we use to describe things that, when taken literally, make absolutely no sense. Things like bend over backwards or make ends meet or let the cat out of the bag or money talks or get off my back or jump the gun or it's raining cats and dogs. If you haven't noticed, Americans use a lot of idioms. A LOT OF IDIOMS! I had no idea until I started teaching English just how many idioms we use. And when I try to explain the meaning of an idiom to my students, I end up just using more idioms!
The more I teach, the more I realize how difficult the English language is to learn. Each day, I gain so much respect for my students and their teachers for learning what they know. Just the pronunciation is enough to make anyone pull their hair out! Think about all the different sounds we have from letter combinations. The silent "k" at the beginning of words, or the "ight" or "aught" combinations. Or our failure to pronounce the "ed" at the end of many words. And then we have all those grammar rules which I can't explain to anyone for the life of me! This week the big question circulating my classes is the difference between "when" and "while." Have you ever tried to explain the subtle difference between using these words? Well I have. And I failed.
I keep having to remind the teachers that I. Cannot. Teach. Grammar. End of story. I can speak correctly. I have excellent grammar. But I don't know how to explain sentence structure or parts of speech. When someone asks me, "What is the subjunctive of the past present participle of the transitive form of determiners", I can only respond with a blank stare. And I'm pretty sure that the sentence I just made up is nonsense - I don't think all those grammar things go together. See! I can't even speak intelligently about not knowing how to speak intelligently about grammar! Yikes!
Hannah I feel your pain!!! I find myslef going through the same thing when I'm teaching all the time. It's like you know in your head why but just can't figure out how to explain it. Stick with it...I know you're making a great impact on your students lives.
ReplyDeleteCourtney :)