10 English idioms in 10 minutes is a podcast I came across and the title pretty much says it all. The narrator (if that's what you call the voice of a podcast, think about it: the person talking may not necessarily be the author) presents listeners with an English idiom, repeats it, explains it in detail, then provides an example. For instance, he brings up the phrase "To pile on the pounds." He then describes this idiom as: "to put on weight, to become fat quickly." He illustrates this idiom with the sample: "Megan's really piled on the pounds since I last saw her."
The podcast would be very helpful for students learning English because it covers commonly used idioms that students may here amongst their English speaking peers, on television, in songs, all over the native English speaking world. A podcast like this one can provide students with a large sample of English idioms and their meaning while a teacher may be unable. Idioms should be apart of an ESL curriculum, however it is unlikely that a teacher has the time or capacity to touch upon them all. By providing students with a link to this podcast a teacher can ensure that students will have at least a minimal amount of exposure to frequently used English idioms.
This podcast sounds very useful as an activity for outside of class. Of course, it could be incorporated into class activities as well. For example, once a week the teacher could ask the students if they had learned any new idioms that they had found particularly useful and that they wanted to share with the class.
ReplyDeleteDr. Burgos