Re: American Idioms

Gonzalo--
   
  Apparently the title of the book you are talking about is "American Idioms," 
correct? Because titles of books are not copyrightable in the US, however, 
there are probably several books that have that title.  To identify it more 
precisely, can you share the following information:  Who is the author?  Who is 
the publisher?  Do you know its ISBN?  That is the publication date?
   
  Bruce (Texas, USA)
  

Gonzalo Felipe Baixauli <sivasalhort@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
          If you already speak some English and now would like to speak
more like a native, you've found the right book. One of the keys
to speaking like a native is the ability to use and understand casual
expressions, or idioms. American English is full of idioms. You
won't learn these expressions in a standard textbook. But you will
hear them all the time in everyday conversations. You'll also meet
them in books, newspapers, magazines, and TV shows. This book
will help you understand and use idioms better. It contains over 300
of today's most common idioms.
Idioms add color to the language. Master idioms and your speech
will be less awkward, less foreign. You'll also understand more of
what you read and hear. Often a student of English tries to translate
idioms word-for-word, or literally. If you do this, you can end up
asking, "What could this possibly mean?" This is why idioms are
difficult: they work as groups of words, not as individual words. If
you translate each word on its own, you'll miss the meaning and
in many cases end up with nonsense.
As an example, let's take one of the idioms presented in this book:
"out of this world." This expression is often used to describe delicious
food. If you have a party and you serve a delicious chicken
dish, your American friend might tell you, "This chicken is out of
this world!" Start translating the expression word-for-word and
you'll have to ask yourself: "What world is it in?" and "Why is she
even commenting on the chicken being in a world, any world?"
Here's another example. Let's say you're on a tennis team. Your
team has won every single game for the past six months. You could
tell your friend this without using an idiom: "Our team is lucky
because we keep winning game after game." You can also express
this with an idiom: "Our team is on a winning streak." Sounds better,
doesn't it?
When using idioms, remember that their word order and structure
are often not flexible. In other words, you will need to get the word
order exactly right. Here's an example of what I mean. Recently,
I helped a student with his English homework. He then told me,
"You've got a golden heart." He was trying to speak idiomatic English,
but the correct expression is: "You've got a heart of gold."
This book includes a CD of all of the dialogues. The CD will help
you with pronunciation and will also help you remember the idioms.
Play it at home, at work, in the car, while traveling.. .before you
know it, you'll be speaking English like an American!
Try to "develop an ear" for idioms on your own. Don't worry, I'm
not suggesting you try to grow a third ear! "Develop an ear" is an
idiom - it means to learn to listen for something. If you don't
know what an expression means, ask a native speaker of English.
Here's what you can say to your helper: Excuse me, I ran across
this expression and I'm not sure what it means. Can you please
help me out?
Add idioms to your speech and writing just as you add vocabulary.
You may find it helpful to write all of the expressions in this book
down on notecards and review them whenever you have a free
moment.
Good luck adding idioms to your everyday speech. It's fun, and
you'll enjoy speaking English much more. Like an American!


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