THE IDIOM BOOK

The two–page format of each lesson has four sections. Section A has a short lively conversation sprinkled with ten idioms. The topics include a variety of situations and people: college roommates, business associates, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, factory workers, family members, office workers. The language is colloquial and authentic. The tones of the conversations include neighborly chats, gossip, irreverence, complaints, friendly and not so friendly advice. The conversations are available on two audio CDs.

In Section B, the same ten idioms are repeated in the context of emails, journal entries, memos, letters, and notes. The idiom is gapped. Section C includes a matching exercise in which the idioms are matched with a brief definition. The contexts of the preceding two sections help establish the meaning for the learner. In Section D the learners are now asked to use the idioms by rewriting sentences, and replacing words and phrases with the appropriate idiom.