A post featuring 10 English fruit and veg idioms in context and proving that knowledge is power in many ways.
One thing does not work for me. Ever. Resealable chocolate packaging. Take a bite and store the rest for later. The rest, ha! Now, dear chocolate packaging producers, ‘the rest’ of the chocolate bar does not exist. It’s a single go chocolate bar. No matter how big it is, it is eaten in one go. You can save your effort spent on the resealable bit there.
Chocolate devouring fits aside, I actually try to follow the 5-a-day advice.
It’s not always easy I should say. Surprisingly my healthy eating efforts have recently been boosted by… my English study.
Language is just a form in which content comes to you, so you need to cherry pick here making sure that this content aligns with your goals and aspirations. As healthy eating is one of mine and luckily cooking happens to be my hobby, this content for me includes recipes and cookery shows in English. But having come across some new veg there, I decided to brush up my fruit and veg vocabulary.
The result has actually turned out to be more beneficial than I expected. And I don’t mean the pure linguistic one. What used to be obscure okras and kales acquired shape and meaning thanks to the pictures in the vocBlock. They are not some veg thingies anymore but are now a part of my known and recognised world. I greet them in the supermarket like old friends and put them in my trolley to take them home.
Language tip: put together a shopping list in the language you are learning to use these newly learnt words in real life.
Or you can go bananas and let your imagination run wild Miranda way by sticking some googly eyes on your veg and speaking to Herr Kürbis in German, Mademoiselle Carotte in French or Señor Tomate in Spanish. Or you can even have a conversation with Картошка in Russian. Please remove the googly eyes before cooking and let your family know that you have not gone mad and a dinner can also be a language partner. Well, at least before your vegetable companion is mashed.
But obviously life is not all peaches and cream and sometimes you are so tired after a busy day at work that you don’t give a fig about healthy food as it does take longer to cook from scratch. It’s okay to turn into a couch potato now and then and give yourself a break. And even have a chocolate feast (don't tell your dentist!) It will most certainly not upset the apple cart. Especially if you are on a look out for some easy recipes that will help you save time and energy so that you not only consume your 5-a-day every day but study your target language every day too!
We would like to hear about your experience in the comments below. Spill the beans and let us know your secrets of learning your target language. What has actually borne fruit and what has gone pear shaped for you.
And remember that sure as God made little green apples, knowledge is power in many ways. Happy learning!
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Ornitophobia or How I Killed Two Birds with One Stone (birds idioms)
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How to Stop Being a Wimp Nerd Style (parts of body idioms)
Fruit and Veg Idioms Defined
cherry pick - to select carefully
go bananas - to go crazy
peaches and cream - going easily or well
not to give a fig - not to be worried or interested
a couch potato - a person who watches a lot of TV and does not have an active life
upset the apple cart - to ruin a plan
spill the beans - to give away a secret
bear fruit - to produce positive results
go pear shaped - to go wrong, to fail
sure as God made little green apples - absolutely certain
*The list of idioms is based on this great resource: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/50-idioms-about-fruits-and-vegetables/
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