IDIOM ESSAY (due Wed, October 13th: Final Copy + Edited/Revised First Draft + Writing Frame)

According to www.dictionary.com, an idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's head, or from the general grammatical rules of a language, as the table round for the round table, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics. It is also

a language, dialect, or style of speaking peculiar to a people.

One of the reasons ESL learners have trouble in group conversations is that the native English speakers frequently use idioms, aphorisms, phrasal verbs, and colloquialisms. When native English speakers use these, the second language learner is at a loss. English has so many rules that students have learned (and tons more exceptions), but then these rules go out the window when native speakers are talking to one another. 



Why are idioms important? Idioms are important for ESL learners so that they can understand what everyone is saying. (http://www.esl-tutor.com/2007/05/why-are-idioms-important.html).

Here are some idiom sites to research:

http://www.idiomsite.com/

http://www.idiomconnection.com/money.html

The assignment is to write a short story either using ONE idiom as the central theme of the story OR choose 5 or more idioms to use within the story. Idioms need to be underlined or highlighted.