Name: Why Idioms Aren't NEARLY As Important As You Think They Are
Uploaded: 2018-03-29T08:03:31.000Z
Duration: 5 min 48 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hey, guys. What's up. Stefanie the English coach here from Englishfulltime.com.

And, in this video we are going to talk about why idioms aren't nearly as

important as you think they are. Okay. So first, I just want to say that one of the

most frequently asked questions that people ask me is, Stefanie, how can I

learn more idioms, how can I improve my vocabulary by learning more idioms, or

I'm struggling to remember all the different idioms that there are in English.

It's so hard. And, I'm over here kind of like why are you guys freaking

out about idioms. And so, I decided, you know, I just need to make a video for

once and for all to kind of just put this whole thing to rest. So, you guys no

longer have to stress out about idioms. Okay. But, first I just want to say that

several years ago, when I was teaching English online I had this one student

who I think was obsessed with learning idioms. And, every day she would come to

class with literally like 20 new idioms in her vocabulary. And so, when she would

speak. It just sounded so unnatural, she would just be like today I feel like a

sack of potatoes because I woke up at the crack of dawn. But, that's because the

apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And, I would just be like holy cow what what

are you saying, why don't you just use normal words to say what you're trying

to say. And, I think that the reason why people are so obsessed with this idea of

using idioms is because they know that native speakers use idioms and they want

to sound like a native speaker. But, I already made a video on how to sound

like a native speaker. And, that was not one of the tips that I gave. Okay. So,

first of all stop focusing so much on idioms because there's about like a

hundred or, you know, maybe two hundred I don't know that are very common. Those

are the idioms that you want to know. The rest of the idioms are regional. Okay.

Regional idioms that they use in specific places, specific areas, and

unless you're in those areas, you honestly don't need to use to use those

idioms. There are idioms that they use in Australia and an Ireland

in the UK that I don't even know exist. And, I don't care about those idioms. I

feel like you know the space and my brain is precious. And, I do not want to

occupy unnecessary or space. I do not want to occupy space with unnecessary

information that really really doesn't matter. So, learn the most common idioms

and then stop worrying about it. Okay. And then, if you go travel to a place, pick up

some idioms while you're there. Sure. Okay. But, be careful when you use idioms.

Because if you're using an idiom, that's extremely regional and specific to a

certain location. You know. The people you're speaking to

might not understand what you're saying. And, the goal of speaking English should

be to have clear communication. Okay. So, just a quick example though or another

quick example of why idioms aren't as important as you think they are. Um, one

of my good friends. I don't know where she learned her vocabulary because we're

from the same town. But, or the same you know region. But, she uses all kinds of

idioms that either I have never heard before or I just don't use. And, I

sometimes when she talks I'm just kind of like I laugh in my head because I'm

like I can't believe she said that. It's not bad. That's just how she talks. That's

natural to her, but I'm not gonna start using all the idioms she uses just

because she uses them. Okay. So, just because you hear a native speaker use a

certain idiom doesn't mean that you have to use that idiom. Okay. You want to make

sure that people understand you when you speak. So, don't go stringing a whole

bunch of idioms together in one sentence. Nobody will understand you. You won't

sound like a native speaker. And, you'll just sound ridiculous. Okay. And, let me

think if there's anything else I can tell you guys about idioms. Okay. One last

thing just don't whatever you do just don't waste your time studying these

things. Okay. There are. There's a lot more important stuff you could be studying.

And, I have seen students write long lists of vocabulary, long lists of idioms.

And, I'm just like who is teaching these antiquated methods of learning, like stop

stop with the list, stop with all of that. Okay. Pick up things as you go.

Pick up words. Pick up phrases. Pick up vocabulary. Pick up idioms as you learn them.

So, if you see an idiom in a TV show, and you don't know what it means. Go look

it up in the dictionary. If you really like it then incorporate it into your

vocabulary or and practice it. But, what I tend to do when I learn Spanish or when

I learn the new phrase in Spanish is I don't incorporate it right away into my

vocabulary. I wait till I've heard something about 20 times in context.

Sometimes I wait till I've heard something a hundred times in context

before I actually start using it. Because then you learn how to use it as native

speakers use it. Okay. Because if not you just might throw in idioms where they

don't belong and that it's not gonna make you sound more like a native

speaker. It's actually gonna make you sound like you don't know what you're

talking about. Okay. So, I hope you guys find this video

helpful. Feel free to let me know in the comments what you think about this idea.

I hope you guys don't waste all your time, you know, studying idioms. When

there's a lot of other important things you could be studying in English. Okay.

Take care and we'll talk soon. Bye. Hey guys, thanks so much for watching

this video if you liked it, go ahead and give it a thumbs up. Make sure to

subscribe too if you're new here, so you get more videos from me. And also, go

ahead and check out the description because I often include extra tips there

or resources or links to other things that I think you might find helpful. So,

go ahead and check that out. So, for more English stuff from me you can also go

ahead and follow me on Facebook. And, check me out at my website

englishfulltime.com. All the links are in the description.

Thanks again and I'll see you guys in another video. Bye!

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Why Idioms Aren't NEARLY As Important As You Think They Are

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