Defining the core of foreign language learning and linguistics

If I am ever asked to give an opinion about what I believe to be the core concept that needs to be taken into account when it comes to learning a foreign language, I would give the following, shall we say, “diagnosis” of how language actually works.

As a linguist, I often get a lot of questions about my field from people who are seriously perplexed by how one goes about learning a foreign language; there are certain people who do not have “language brains”, who look at me sometimes with admiration for my accomplishments in this particular field of knowledge. For starters, I would like to say that my language abilities are just the particular skill which I ended up being gifted with; I myself have, for instance, extreme admiration for all kinds of people who are talented at things such as music, mechanical knowledge, mathematics and chemistry, and visual tasks such as design and art—all of which I have absolutely no talent for. I do believe, however, that people who are linguistically talented—that is to say, people who just have a knack for picking up foreign languages—are often the most mysterious, and the least-analyzed, when it comes to the normal “spectrum” of talents and crafts that are considered in the public mind. Maybe linguists are a bit like writers, but in a way they are also artists and craftsmen in their own right. Though in a certain way one could say that foreign languages are my life (since I am always working with them), I am sometimes surprised by how obscure and mysterious my trade seems to the general public outside of an academic environment. I would like to conclude this paragraph by saying that there is nothing really that mysterious about linguistics; it is merely a certain type of knowledge. To be good at learning a foreign language, a person simply has to have good instincts, a good general memory, and a strong desire to be a, shall we say, “code cracker.” There is no “magical ear machinery” which endows a person with a high degree of language-learning ability. It seems, however, that in our society, we linguists end up getting snatched up by the federal government and the military; we must inherently be a mysterious lot that does not interact much with the general public, our skills only to be used in top-secret heists and government operations. I find this reality to be somewhat sad, because people with good foreign language skills have so much potential to be catalysts in bringing different groups of people together—through our innate need to communicate effectively, we linguists crack the codes that lead to misunderstanding before they can ever escalate to violence and war.

But I have let myself get off-topic from my original blog topic. What is really the core essence of linguistics? I will now give the following definition, which I believe encapsulates the central “theme” of the field quite well: Linguistic study, which includes general foreign language acquisition, is the process by which a language is scrutinized for grammatical as well as phonological patterns, as well as memorized for its general content and fixed expressions. In essence, it is a synthesis of the grueling memorization of thousands of exceptions, together with the intrinsic need of the human mind to find patterns and thus bring order to the chaos of all the irregularities. There is a chance that what you have just read makes absolutely no sense at all; maybe you already recognize that a language consists of both regular patterns as well as a unique word for everything, and lots of idioms that, when analyzed carefully, do not make much logical sense.

If you are able to read this essay, then chances are that you are already fluent in English, and I applaud you for this capability, because English is a very messy language. But I am trying to show that the reason that we as speakers of a given language (such as English) can say that a language is messy in the first place, is that knowing a language consists largely of being able to instantly recognize patterns and make sense of them. Let me give an example: The past tense of talk is talked, right? The past tense of brew is brewed. So if the past tense is formed by adding an ed to the end of a verb, then clearly the past tense of see is seed, right? At this point, you, as a speaker of English, instantly recognize that the past tense of see is actually saw. I am not going to ask why, because when it comes to the way any language is spoken, things are just the way they are. Yet, there is also a pattern at work here. At the same time as we know that, although most of our verbs are placed in the past tense by adding an ed onto the end of them, there are nevertheless several verbs that are irregular—verbs such as went, had, saw, thought, bought, among many others. You recognize that adding an s to the end of a word makes that word plural. Yet if someone were to say mouses to you, you would probably laugh because you just know that the plural form of mouse is actually mice. Or maybe you didn’t even know what is meant by the term “plural form” and you just knew that in English, saying “many mouses” is just wrong.

By giving the previous two examples of patterns and irregularities, I am trying to demonstrate how these two concepts form the core of studying a language. It is not too much of an intellectual leap to say that learning a language is essentially akin to bringing order to a chaotic situation. A person is told to memorize a bunch of words that are foreign to him/her; that is terrifying. How in the world is one going to memorize thousands and thousands of new words, and then randomly produce them in a conversation? How is one ever going to sound like an authentic speaker of another language? Perhaps you learned English, but you were a child then, and you think about that language in an entirely different way than you would ever think about some “mysterious” foreign tongue. Yet what I am trying to show is that every language on Earth involves on the part of the speaker/learner a combination of being introduced to an enormous inventory of random sounds, and then being asked to make sense out of it all by seeking out patterns. The whole process is, quite frankly, terrifying and extremely messy. But we linguists just love this kind of challenge.

The reason why learning a foreign language generally takes so long should be fairly obvious: the length of time it takes to memorize thousands of words is just long. Yet after some time, people just seem to “get the hang of things.” When starting off with a language, the new learner may hardly recognize a single word. But as study with the respective language continues, the learner becomes more confident and just more familiar with the language. The reason for this is not, however, just because said learner memorized a bunch of random words. The reason is that the learner simultaneously memorized a bunch of random words, as well as learned how to start recognizing patterns and making discernments based on the accumulation of experiences with the language. I believe that the above highlighted statement is something that is really necessary for all foreign-language learners to truly understand; after all, it is often very difficult to undertake a major project if you do not know what the end result will look like.

“While I am learning this new language, when will I become fluent in? Will I just wake up one day to find all the information already in my head? What can I expect?” Such is the so often unasaked query of the neophite foreign-language learner, that he or she may never even be able to ask in the first place. Placing a 14 year-old high school student into a foreign language class and then asking him or her to “start learning the language” is, in my opinion, somewhat akin to taking someone of the same age, dropping him/her off in the middle of a wilderness area without any tools or provisions, and expecting him/her to “figure out how to live off the land”. You might get a small percentage of people who can achieve a lot in either the foreign language wilderness or the literal wilderness, but the majority of people will simply not achieve what they were supposed to. It is my opinion that America’s foreign-language learning approach for high school students is deeply flawed precisely because the process of what to expect during the language-learning process is not adequately explained (though I don’t mean to unfairly judge those school systems that do happen to have good foreign-language learning programs, however I believe they are clearly in the minority here). Furthermore, students should be given at least 6 years of foreign language instruction during their formative years; unless there is a natural linguist in any given class, I don’t believe that 4 years is anywhere near enough time for 95% of students. And if 95% of the students in American schools who attempt learning a foreign language fail to develop their skills enough to ever have a meaningful conversation in said language, then I would say that the entire system can be called a colossal failure (I know that this is harsh, but I have not seen any evidence that would suggest that this is not the case).

But I have digressed enough from the original topic of the core principles of linguistics. However, for the task that the language academy that I have personally founded tries to do for people, it is important to address and look honestly at the failures that have run rampant in the American foreign language education system. Nevertheless, misunderstanding about the field of linguistics and foreign language learning in general still runs rampant in American society, and I believe that this degree of misunderstanding is hazardous and damaging to our society; the damage is just subtle. Not being fluent in a foreign language is not only a career disadvantage, but it is also a cultural disadvantage. Negative stereotypes about irresponsible, uncaring world citizens who inhabit the North American continent will only get worse if nothing is done to improve our foreign language learning efforts; the problem is just that most schools see foreign language learning as something that is inherently less important than other disciplines (along with art, philosophy and certain athletic programs). We need to seriously improve our standards for foreign language education for young students, and adult education and/or software programs and self-help manuals are just not sufficient to fix the problem on a large scale. I hope that I have been able to offer some insight for people who are genuinely seeking to get better at their foreign language skills, and I guarantee that if a person independently seeks to have excellent language skills, the rewards can be immeasurable for that person.  

Review of Benjamin K. Bergen's "Louder than Words".

Benjamin K. Bergen’s book “Louder than Words” has gained a lot of attention as a work of popular linguistic theory, combined with neuroscience. I enjoyed reading the book a lot, and I felt that it was a very insightful work for the “linguistic layperson”, as well as perhaps for the neuroscience “layperson”, and it could easily help said people to get an introduction to some very fascinating research dealing with the use of language in both a quantifiable and objective format. Or, put in other words, this newly-published book deals with what science can objectively say about how human beings understand language. Most people, especially those people who have little to no knowledge of studying either their own language or a foreign language, probably are not very curious about how people use their brains to understand language; indeed, language is such a ubiquitous part of our everyday experience as people, that most of us tend not to even give it a second thought. We talk, we write, we read, we listen to what other people have to say to us, and we focus on the subjects of the incoming words that we process. However, have you ever stopped for a minute to consider how you process all this incoming information? Furthermore, have you ever even classified the words that you hear and see, or form in your own head, as “information?” According to the way that a neuroscientist thinks, living beings (and this includes every living creature) react to stimuli (or perhaps one could just call it external stimulation). Creatures with complex nervous systems react to the things that they perceive by sight, sound, smell, and sensation. Though as humans, we do not like to deconstruct our senses and call what we perceive around us “stimuli”, for the sake of science, we are forced to do so if we wish to remain objective. Thus, we have learned to not merely react to things that we see around us, but human intelligence, with the help of language, has enabled us to think of the things that we see and hear around us as “stimuli”, and also to have a constant internal dialogue within ourselves to which we also react. These concepts of stimulation and reaction essentially form the core research of neuroscience. This research is then used in order to map the brain, and determine which areas of the brain are used for specific functions. This process of mapping the brain is undertaken by scientists with the help of brain scans, and a machine that measures neural oscillations—otherwise known as brain waves. Up to this point, the thing that had hitherto not been attempted, however, was to determine whether or not talking and hearing about specific mechanical actions would actually fire certain parts of the brain that are responsible for the actual execution of various mechanical functions of the body. For example, Bergen and his researchers wanted to know whether or not the thought of pounding a nail into a board would actually fire the specific neurons in the brain that activate the muscles in the wrist used for pounding. What they discovered was that, yes, merely thinking thoughts about actions undertaken by the limbic system was enough to activate the same brain regions which control the actual physical actions themselves.

            The thing that Bergen’s new book relentlessly goads his readers into considering is that, before completing an action such as pounding a nail into a piece of wood, or imagining the color of a polar bear’s nose, as people, we are required to use language and grammar in order to accomplish the task of imagining something. However, it is not spoken language, but rather, something that he labels as “mentalese”, or the sentences in one’s head that one must think, which is transferred to an action which is to be carried out either immediately, or at an indefinite time in the future by the specific human who is to perform the specific action. It is true that other mammals such as dogs and chimpanzees can successfully memorize hundreds, and in some cases, thousands, of new words, but the way that humans use language, we can imagine entire scenarios in our minds, and plan out what we will do before we do them, as well as engage in complex discussions with other people about innumerable topics. A parrot can, for instance, learn to recognize a toy and say what the object is to its owner; the same parrot can probably also figure out how to open a cage on its own, as well communicate some bit of parrot information to another parrot. However, a parrot cannot use language to figure out how to get out of its cage, and then explain to its owner what it did in order to escape. The fact that human beings can use language to plan, and also communicate complex ideas, is one of the key traits that separate us cognitively from other animals—even other animals that are exceedingly intelligent and perceptive. Indeed, our collective ability to listen to instructions, follow them, and also to create our own plans and execute them within our own minds, is one of the things that seems to indicate that we actually do have free will to do what we want, as opposed to being confronted with a stimulus, such as a predator, and merely reacting to it by running away, or fighting back against it. This is, of course, not to suggest that other animals don’t have the capacity to reason; however, it should be an indication that humans are the only animals that seem to have a complex inner-life of emotions and plans reverberating within the confines of their skulls. The reason that we do have such complex thoughts, and that on a given day we can make a “to-do list”, is precisely that we can use language in the way that we do (animal language is a very fascinating topic, but I am a linguist, and not an animal behaviorist, so I will not be able to offer any insight whatsoever on said topic). The specifically human pattern in which we use language—which more or less is to gather information about one or multiple topics and either keep track of them, or act on them, is accomplished with the help of 2 things, without which we could not create any thoughts: grammar, and syntax. Within the field of linguistics, grammar is defined as something that exists in all human language, which ends up being the sum total of everything within a given language—from how words are formed, how actions are spoken of in the present tense, all the way to how objects are taken from being distinguished between a singular and a plural form. Syntax, on the other hand, can generally be defined as the proper word order of a given sentence within a language.

            Back to the subject of Bergen’s book, the research that he and his fellow University of California-San Diego researchers performed consisted mainly of testing how both grammar and syntax have an effect on test subjects’ response to reading and hearing sentences about performing actions, as well as imagining various scenarios and objects in their minds. In a nutshell, Bergen’s hypothesis about language and its relation to the motor system is that humans, essentially, have to perform what he defines in his book as an embodied simulation about everything that they hear or read via a visual process in their minds, and that individual words are merely verbal cues that activate simulations related to limbic and other motor systems in the brain. He further hypothesizes, essentially, that the cerebral cortex is co-wired with particular words to activate particular actions, in different brain regions. This would mean, for instance, that there is a set “what” and “where” pathway for neurons on which to run, and that by a more or less “Pavlovian” association of verbal or written cues, which we associate with our direct interactions in and our experiences of the physical world which we have already experienced. What is linguistically new about his hypothesis is that he and his researchers believe that the “mentalese” that we all speak to ourselves within our own minds is very much dependent on our own motor systems, as opposed to the traditional view that grammar and syntax are more or less independent entities that can be used freely by the human mind to think of any thought that one’s heart desires on a whim. Throughout the book, Bergen makes it fairly clear that he is placing a lot of hope into his hypothesis, as he believes that a “stimulus/reaction” scenario is much more in-line with what is already known about evolution as opposed to a theory of a sort of grammar that is independent of visual and other sense-associations, and that by looking at our current brain-language machinery, we can easily make some leaps and fill in some of the gaps in the theories as to why humans’ highly advanced intelligence with regard to articulated abstract thoughts and sense of freedom of action does not seem to make sense within the framework of what I will call for the sake of this essay “the stimulus-reaction paradigm”, the paradigm which is more or less the basis of modern neuroscience and neural evolutionary theory. In short, he is postulating that our ongoing internal dialogue within ourselves must be, by the framework imposed by what we know about evolution, more or less an illusion, and that even our capacity to think abstractly is based on things such as spatial relationships and deductions based on complex yet entirely subjective associations with individual words that the observer makes.

            Another important and extremely challenging point that Bergen makes with his work is that individual words, and thus not syntax and grammar, must directly trigger the same physical response as does actually physically completing the same action that said words represent—when a test subject is having his/her brain either scanned or his/her brain waves measured. And not only does Bergen predict that syntax and grammar are themselves not responsible for firing specific neurons related to specific motor actions within the cerebral cortex, but furthermore, that other parts of speech within a sentence (besides nouns and verbs), such as tense markers, conjunctions, adverbs and the pronoun markers that denote the idea of “person” (the difference between I, her, and y’all), are all based on subjective impressions of spatial relationships that the respective interpreter of a sentence is making between physical objects, and also abstract concepts. Or, in other words, individual words must trigger associations that a person makes about his/her physical body with both physical objects and abstract concepts, and that the language of thought within our heads must therefore be an illusion—something that is physical at its core, and not detached from the stimulus/response paradigm at all. For instance, an experiment within Bergen’s research indicated that test subjects having their brains monitored for activity pressed buttons in such a way that indicated that they perceived events described as having occurred in the past tense in the same way that they perceived an object that had been described as being far away from them, and that they had also pressed a button in such a way that indicated that they had perceived events described as having occurred in the present progressive tense in the same way that they had perceived an object that had been described as being physically close to them. Bergen writes about his own research:

                        “The experimenters found that participants responded to completed-state

                        pictures faster than ongoing-state pictures following perfect [past tense]

                        sentences. This suggests that the participants were not representing the

                        internal structure of events described with the perfect, so much as their

                        resulting endstates.”

                                                (Louder than Words, pg. 116)

What this seems to imply, therefore, is that the grammatical structure representing tense is not so much evidence of human beings’ using language to grasp abstract concepts, as it is to imply that a structure such as tense is a word that triggers a sort of “Pavlovian” association that regulates spatial relationships in the mind of the respective speaker, and that the grammatical structure itself is more or less an illusion.

            The results of Bergen’s research are, however, inconclusive, as much as he and his researchers appeared to be in favor of its being true throughout the book. However, Bergen readily admits that there is not enough evidence to come to any one conclusion or another about it. The conclusion from his research that can be conclusively made, however, is that the new “neurolinguistic” concept of embodied simulation is indeed a real phenomenon, and that it does play a significant role in a person’s mental process of understanding all kinds of situations, learning how to do new tasks, and performing a specific physical action. And it is indeed quite fascinating to contemplate the fact that human beings interact with the world, and form associations about it, based very much so on a sort of “personalized experience”—which is to say that we as human beings are in a certain way “Pavlov-ian”. What I believe to be true about such a “personalized experience” view of human language is that we do partly use our physical bodies while we are speaking language, and that our mental associations are probably a large piece of the puzzle when it comes to our ability to acquire language in the first place. But to jump to the conclusion that the way that we understand language must be entirely “Pavlov-ian” is a bit of a leap too far, and in my opinion, it does not do human language its due justice. The logical conclusion that could be reached by the embodied simulation hypothesis, when taken 100% literally, is that we do not, as people, really experience grammar at all; rather, we associate certain words with outside actions in a completely visceral way. Therefore, we must come to the logical conclusion that language is nothing more than another (albeit a currently inexplicably complex one) stimulus/response feedback loop that we use in order to deal with our existence in the world. But stop for a minute and think about what this actually means for language, then: that there really isn’t anything to it besides random associations. What to do with grammar, if there is nothing but random words? Well, we can also think of the word order that we use as nothing but a set of familiar patterns. Of course, I don’t believe that Bergen actually consciously comes to such a conclusion about language—namely, that language, grammar and syntax are essentially meaningless add-ons, and that other “more primitive” mental processes are actually what fill in the gaps between words that are more difficult to associate together—giving us only the illusion that grammar and syntax exist in the first place. For instance, the association between mouth and water, based on a spatial relation/stimulus-response pattern, is very easy to make. However, it is much more difficult for a person to make the spatial connection between a wagon pulled by oxen and a cliff, and the important detail that the wagon and all the oxen ran over the cliff, for the reason that the driver of said wagon had fallen asleep. Bergen may be unintentionally wrapping language up into a box of deconstructionist scrap for the sake of making the entire concept of language consistent with what is already known about how animal brains work. However, I don’t believe that Bergen’s research ultimately has the intent of totally deconstructing anything poetic about language itself. In fact, it is actually quite refreshing for me, as a traditional linguist, to see objective scientific research done showing just how utilitarian language actually is; most people don’t understand that language is actually a human being’s most important tool (I’ll come back to this topic in a bit).

            Don’t get me wrong, I strongly feel that this new linguistic concept of embodied simulation plays an extremely important role in the way that we as people use language in our everyday lives. Bergen points out relatively early on in his book an example of athletes who, instead of training harder in their sports by performing sports-specific tasks, actually made enormous improvements in their respective sports by merely imagining that they were performing, and acting out various athletic tasks in their heads (which efficiency was of course objectively measured with the help of brain scans and brain wave measurements). What this implies about language is, essentially, that it functions as a general “body command system” in the same way that actually performing various actions does. Furthermore, in this paradigm, there must be complete continuity between imagined action and the actual physical completion of an action. What Bergen has essentially tried to do is add language into this paradigm, and make no distinction between imagining an action, and actually constructing a coherent grammatical thought about performing the same action. Are these two actions the same thing? Can one imagine performing an action without also constructing a sentence? I don’t believe that Bergen ever asked this specific question in his book, but I believe that it is fairly obvious that visualizing and/or simulating something in one’s mind does not require the mental construction of a grammatical sentence. It is only when one is trying to make sense of the objects that one visualizes that one is required to use language, and it is my contention that  It may indeed be necessary to mentally construct a grammatical sentence in one’s head if one is to perform, or even understand, a specific action, but for the process of imagining any random object or a place, it should be fairly obvious that senses such as vision and hearing are perfectly adequate at helping to accomplish such tasks.

            What Bergen does not bring up in his book, which, in my opinion, really needed to be brought up, was the actual role that language plays in our lives. I believe that we can, without providing any statistics, experiments or empirical evidence, say with confidence that language regulates every and any human activity that can be undertaken—from complex discussions about abstract topics to taxing physical actions. It is the “master controller” of all of our activities. Think about the vast array of activities that it controls, and you will then realize that you would not be able to do anything without it. For a person to perform any sort of complex task, he or she must use language in order to understand the components of the task. Let’s take the example of brewing a sort of primitive alcoholic drink, or building basic tools for survival. Let us presume that there is a group of early humans who are looking to have a party; in the typical anthropological understanding that most people have of early humans, there is a lot of grunting, and not a lot of thinking—so how do they undertake the brewing process? What most people don’t realize is that early humans were every bit as communicative as we are today; the stereotypical “Tarzan” speech that lacks grammar is not sufficient for the needs of our survival in “the wild”. Early humans needed to be able to use grammatical language in order to explain the complex and often confusing set of circumstances that life as a hunter-gatherer would naturally demand in those days. And if you really think about it carefully, how could basic survival skills ever be accomplished if not for the ability to make grammatical sentences in one’s mind? For the sake of this “simulation” about life as a primitive human, let us imagine ourselves trying to accomplish any sort of task that requires planning without the ability to form sentences. This doesn’t mean just the lack of ability to utter sentences aloud, but to form mental sentences in our heads as well. Imagine your mind just seeing images of objects and living things, but not being able to tell yourself what you are going to do next in relation to them. Without grammatical commands in your head, you are totally unable to figure out what you are going to do next. So not only are we as human beings absolutely dependent on grammatical language in order to accomplish and achieve what we need to in our daily lives, but our brains themselves seem also to be exclusively dependent our ability to use grammar—that is to say, without grammar, we absolutely cannot function; or rather, if we are “planning animals”, then our brains are hard-wired to give us the ability to make those plans and not be bound to a set of “animal instincts”. If it is indeed the ability to make tools and plan complex scenarios that make us uniquely human as creatures, then the logical conclusion should therefore be that it is language itself that makes us human. Language is the most important tool that we as people have; language is the foundational tool. It is not just the babbling of primitive words that primitive humans used in order to name and list objects that gave rise to human language; rather, human language needs to have been fully grammatically functional since the time of its inception. Human language is not merely a set of Pavlov-ian cues that give rise to muscular responses; rather, it is the means by which human beings have the free will to set out to accomplish any and every thing that they could ever hope to achieve in the world.

            Of course, making such a statement about language on my part, since I am not a researcher with access to brain scanning equipment (and frankly, I have no real desire to do physical brain research), extremely subjective. I am relying entirely on my own intuition in order to make such assertions about human intelligence. And the reason I am able to do so is simply because the concept of “meaning” does not, and cannot, be broken down into anything smaller than it already is. Ultimately, understanding, or meaning, is the essence of our humanity—take that away from us through means of “objective research”, and we as beings don’t make a bit of sense in the context of the natural world. Cheetahs run quickly across the plains, frogs hop through swamps from lily pad to lily pad, and we humans reason in order to solve problems. There really is nothing more to say about any of it. What Professor Bergen seems to be implying with his book is that there is a great new scientific theory that is likely to arise out of scanning brains; that somehow, every neuron can be mapped in order to figure out exactly how we as people undertake our daily existence; there will turn out to be a typing neuron and a coffee neuron, etc..., and some day, we will have everything figured out in advance so that we don’t actually have to live our lives with any amount of uncertainty. But what scanning brains and deconstructing language to a set of neuron cues and pathways fails to do is take the concept of “free will” into account. It is such a simpler conclusion to arrive at—that the human experience is extremely subjective, and that we have freedom to choose our own actions. Early humans most assuredly never questioned their own existence, and consequently never labeled themselves as “primitive” or in need of a more advanced or objective consciousness; they were probably too frightened by their surroundings and were just trying to survive. For that reason, they most assuredly cherished their tribal languages and told vivid, poetic stories and sang songs in them from generation to generation. The final conclusion that any person dedicated to understanding human language must make is that language is goal-oriented; the goal of language is to produce meaning and understanding. I find the entire notion of deconstructing meaning to be, quite frankly, appalling, and though I do find it extremely interesting that we can scan our brains and realize that our entire bodies are involved in the actual understanding and producing of language, I nevertheless think that the quest to find specific “language neurons” to be completely absurd. As a traditional linguist, I refuse to deconstruct language simply because I do not want to deconstruct my own humanity.

Over 1,000 of the most common fixed expressions and idioms in the English language

This list has been compiled of the most fixed expressions and idioms in the English language--with 1,157 items. The reason that we have posted this list is to get our current and potential students to start thinking like a linguist, so that they can have an easier time translating things, and more productive study time when they sit down to complete their assignments. This list has been compiled for the sake of students who are enrolled through Level 3 of a Broad Sky Alternative Language Academy program. Though this list in no way should be thought of as a complete list of idioms and fixed expressions, it should however be thought of as a reference tool for a student trying to classify his/her native language, and as an aid to help said student break down said language into the most basic parts of usage. What we mean by basic parts of usage is essentially, all the different situations that a speaker of any language will generally find him/herself in when speaking whatever language on a daily basis. Though this list has been written in English, it needs to be clarified that it has been compiled as a template for all languages. Though for some English (in this list, American) idioms, there may not be an exact equivalent item that can be translated perfectly, there is almost always something that is close enough. 

To our readers: When you sit down to take a look at this list, you ought to do so carefully, and consider how we as speakers of American English both think, as well as talk, about the every day situations that happen around us. You will notice that for most of these phrases, 1. there are multiple ways of saying the same thing, and 2. it is a constant puzzle to match the phrase with the right preposition. Not sure what a preposition is? Well, to give a quick clarification, a preposition can be looked at as 1. a word that connects two nouns, as well as 2. a word that indicates the position of a particular noun in relation to another noun. While you yourself are probably already a master of "just knowing" when to use a particular preposition, you will find that when you sit down and think about many of the fixed expressions that appear on this list, the particular preposition used in the expression is often arbitrary, or just random. Yet you will notice that the phrase by itself is just a very common phrase that you already had memorized. Yet, when you are forced to look at an expression such as "on foot", you will perhaps puzzle over why it is considered an acceptable part of speech, but it is not grammatical. Shouldn't it be "on feet" as opposed to "on foot"? The reality is that such expressions are "just that way", and there is no real way to translate them literally. They are called "fixed expressions" for a reason. 

So, without further ado, we ask you to use this list to start thinking about how you will translate your everyday life from English, into whatever other language you are learning. We guarantee that if you even learn as much as a third of the fixed expressions on this list by the time you are in Level 3, you will be well on your way to having a great and deep understanding of your respective foreign language of study. Embrace, cherish, and add on to this list! 

during the day

at night

in the meantime

in the next few…+NOUN

for the time being

a remote chance

It’s not likely that…

to quit a job…

to remember to+INF

to forget to+INF

for the most part

many years ago

It’s been a long time since…

In my opinion…

Under/given the circumstances…

I’m taken aback that…

To get the bill

At full speed

To take one’s time + gerund

To take responsibility for…

To get/be accustomed/used to…

For the sake of…

In order to…

To hurry up and…

To speed up

To slow down

To have money saved up

To be bored out of one’s mind

Out in the open

In secret

To be sure/certain of…

Wide open

Shut tight

The fact that…

To say the least

Watch out (for)!

To be in trouble (with sbdy.)

Sorry to bother/trouble you, but…

Would you mind if…?

To go wrong

Go away!

Let’s get going

To be short/missing a…

Something is missing (from)

In the middle of the night

To be mistaken about…

Let’s check it out

To make sure that…

To be taken by surprise

To strongly disagree

To decide between (2 choices)

To make up one’s mind (about)

To have plans (for)

It isn’t worth it!

It’s not worth the trouble (of/to+gerund)

To take part in smthg.

To have trouble+gerund

On the way to…

To have time for smthg.

For free

To my amazement…

To keep in mind that…

To relate to/with sbdy.

To keep smthg.+adj.

To have a hunch that…

I can’t help (doing it)

To keep sthg up to date

To have feelings for

To keep sbdy. Informed (of smthg.)

To keep under control

To keep track of…

For just a+time word

To show up for…

To show up early/late

To have a knack for…

To be partial to…

To do away with…

For example

To go over smtg (fig)

To manage to…

To take note of…

To take notice of…

To make up for smthg.

To put stock in…

To save up (for)

At the time, I…

(that was)back when…

Back then,…

For the record,…

For as long as I can remember,…

To lose sleep over…

Oh, come on!

I’m just kidding!

For what it’s worth,…

To be right/wrong about

Tit for tat/an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

To have a strong need for…

To be nervous about…

To be jealous of…

To be in doubt of…

If I were you, I…

If I were in your shoes, I…

It bothers me that…

To no end

To get involved with…

To meddle in sbdy’s business/affairs

Something else

Somewhere else

Someone else

Something more

To be a good deal ($)

A good deal of...(part.)

To be a good idea

To be disgusted with/by…

To be interested in…

Enough+noun

Enough of+(part.)

Adj+enough

To worry about smthg.

To be concerned with…

To take smthg into consideration

To withhold information

To reach an understanding (of)

To reach/come to an agreement

To come to the conclusion that…

To strike a compromise

To make friends with…

To stand for…

To stand up against…

Once in a while

To start to+gerund

To stop quit+gerund

To be good for+gerund

To be qualified to...

To go well with…

To snack on smthg.

To get ready for…

With all one’s might

To be afraid of…

Out of+emotion

To lose track of…

To have a taste for…

Lack of…+NOUN

Tendency for/towards/to

To sort out…

Behind sbdy’s back

Without warning

For fun

To look up to sbdy.

To look down on sbdy.

To frown upon smthg.

To turn on

To turn off

To get away with smthg.

In all honesty,…

To tell the truth

To tell a lie

To brag about…

To talk trash about sbdy.

To help out with smthg.

To give comfort to

To mistake smg/sby for

Concrete details

To be uncomfortable with smthg.

To hint at smthg.

To be annoyed by smg.

To save the best for last

First of all…

In the future

In the past

Right now

The past few+time word

To change one’s mind

To switch+NOUN+with sbdy.

To advise against smthg.

To give good/bad advice

A detailed explanation

I bet that…

The kind of thing that…

As an example of…

An (un)biased opinion about…

A beautiful view (of)

To turn/hand in...

Current events

It all happened so suddenly…

To bring about…

To catch up with…

To ask for help

To make a sound

To be located in/at/etc

A change of+NOUN

To find out about…

To leave for+NOUN

In memory of…

Before long

To get ripped off (by)

To go for a ride

To go for a walk

Why don’t we…

To get ahead (fig)

To get ahead of one’s self (fig)

To be running ahead/behind (at)

I used to…+INF

To fall apart

To fall off

In denial

To get a second chance

One more time/once more

To beg for

It goes without saying that…

To hold one’s breath

Out of breath

You’re gonna make it

Rest assured that…

To get hold of smg.

To do one’s duty

In pain

To lead astray

To have a head/stomach ache

Spare change

Pocket money

To take a break/rest

Time to kill

To look like+NOUN

In mint condition

In good/bad condition

In power

To rise to power

To get a raise ($)

The sun comes up/goes down

To have/get a flat tire

To break up with sbdy.

To take off (clothing)

To put on

Down on one’s luck

To wake up

To fall asleep

To have no idea about

To talk sbdy out of smg.

It makes (no) sense

To say goodbye

The right/wrong way

It’s for the best that…

Some day

To be enough/not enough

Here’s to…(toast)

To leave behind

You had better

To pack one’s bags

To take forever (at)

It seems like…

To take notes

To come for a visit

To take pictures

To make music

First things first…

To run into smthg.

To give in (to)

To have a hangover

Under one’s breath

To smell like+NOUN

To scream/yell at sbdy.

Every minute/moment

Every day/week/month

Once/twice per+TIME

Right before one’s eyes

To act as if…

To be happy/pleased with/about…

Otherwise,…

Off-road

To get/turn off (of)

To be related to…

To have a good memory

A sense of…

Hard/easy to find

In jail/in prison

To make progress (with)

To work on

To find one’s way

To get lost

No more/anymore

To slip and fall (on)

On the weekend

To have/take a sick day

No time for…

In/out of touch with…

To lose control of…

Out of reach

Within reach

To spend the+TIME(+doing smg.)

To be in luck

A table for#

To take it easy

To feel wronged

To come/stop by (at)

To pass through (smwr.)

A friend of mine/his/etc

One of my…

A little

A lot

In pieces

On the mend

To return the favor

To do a favor for

Within range

Out of the area

Small town

Big city

To run up (a bill/tab)

To get over+NOUN

Few and far between

To look into smg. (fig)

To feel sorry for…

To pretend to+INF

To let go of smg. (lit/fig)

To feel sorry for…

To have fun+gerund

To have a good/bad time

Good night!

To wish someone well

To set free

Let go!

Call me+adj. (e.g. crazy)

Scared to death

To go crazy

To have a problem with…

To take turns (at)or(+gerund)

The rest of…

To go for a hike

All night long

To try to+INF

To be confused about

There’s a chance that…

This is between (you and me)/(him and her)

How come…

To make a fuss over…

To know about

To know how to…

By any means necessary

In debt/indebted to

A pile of…

To make good money

All over/around town

Out of town

To take smg. Seriously

At face value

By law

According to…

To put up with smg.

To deal with

To make clear

In bed

At the table

To trust in sbdy.

Topic of conversation

To have faith in…

To take effect

To sign up for…

In connection with

To come across as…

To get a point across

To be ignorant of…

In the aftermath of…

For no reason

To crash into…

To get into an accident

In an emergency

To have/get the feeling that…

To have the courage to…

A wide variety of…

To go on a date (with)

To be married engaged to

It’s common sense

To keep a secret

To be in conflict with…

Compared to/with…

To stop for…

On the side of the road

To feel threatened (by)

To score a goal (sports)

To apply for a job

Really?

Out for lunch/dinner

To fall in love with…

In alphabetical order

To fail at+gerund

It sounds good/bad

A turn for the worse

To make a difference(in)

To finish+gerund

To succeed at…

To be kicked out of…

To be good/bad at…

To be based on…

To refrain from…

In the way of…

To be ashamed of…

To be embarrassed by…

In/out of fashion/style

To take over+NOUN

In that case,…

In the event that…

A long way to go

To sing to sbdy.

To think about

Not quite as+adj.+as…

In silence

In compliance with…

To take care of…

To be impressed with/by

To take advantage of…

On a diet

To be homesick

Frozen/fresh food

On ice

On tap

To hope for…

To give credit to…

To disobey orders

As usual

To allow sbdy. To

To put/place emphasis on…

For dinner/for breakfast

The cause for

A strange turn of events

To make known that…

To work as a team

To insist on+gerund

Plenty of…

At midnight

At noon

To be close/nearby

To offer a solution

To travel the world

To check for…

That’s what I thought

To be cut off (from)

To be prejudiced toward

In favor of…

More or less

Too much+NOUN

With care

I guess/suppose that…

Up to…#amount(time, $, etc)

It’s up to you

When it comes to,…

To show weakness/strength

To give credit to…

To take credit for…

To be aware of…

To drive sbdy crazy

Under stress

It doesn’t matter that…

To take offense (at)

To have the courage to…

To come to the rescue of sbdy.

On purpose

To do the right/wrong thing

To make a decision

To see what happens

To talk at great length about

To raise/lower taxes/prices/etc.

To pay attention to…

For the benefit of…

In the short/long term

In harm’s way

As a matter of fact

In demand

A shortage of…

To take the blame for…

To suffer the consequences for…

To be attracted to…

The whole story/picture

To be drawn toward/to

To give someone the benefit of the doubt

To be of assistance (to)

With the exception of…

To take place

To take sides (with)

For profit

To give smg a try

You don’t get it…

To go blind

To turn a blind eye to…

To the best of my knowledge,…

To a certain degree/extent

To go bankrupt

Without a doubt

To believe in smg.

To focus on smg.

To be crazy about smg.

To handle smthg well/badly (emotional)

In a bind

To put into question

To get dressed

To put on

To take off

Paralyzed with fear

For the good of…

For the greater good

It will do you some good (to)

To be in a rage

To get worked up (about)

To confused smthg with smthg else

To trip over smthg.

In/out of line (with)

Sense of decency

Right to privacy

Under attack

To take inventory (of)

To make a list (of)

To be charged with

To be (found) guilty (of)

To put in jail/prison

To be in charge (of)

To take charge (of)

To sentence sbdy to…

Life in prison

The death penalty

To be acquitted (of)

To face facts

To be ignorant of...

The reality (of the situation) is…

What about…?

Who is to blame (for)?

At fault (for)

At risk (of)

To look out over…

To dream of/about…

To sympathize with…

To take a liking to…

To have a (firm) grasp of…

Never again

To take it easy

To take it slow

Once again,…

For lack of better words,…

To play along with…

To show one’s true colors…

…,at best,…

(to put) on the air (radio)

to settle a/the matter

once and for all

to decline an invitation

to accept an invitation

to refuse to+gerund

to live up to smthg.

To make smg better/worse

To leave smg alone

Drop it! (lit&fig)

The damage is done

To be in/out of luck

Fame and fortune

To have high/low expectations (for)

Regarding X matter,…
to put a dent in smthg.

to barely/hardly be able to do smthg.

To nearly/almost do something

To carry smthg out

To put into action

In effect

To draw attention to…

To admit defeat

To save/lose face

To keep in touch with sbdy.

To be out of touch with reality

Qualities in+NOUN

(To use an) approach to…

To fill in the blank(s)

To fill up the tank

To run on empty

Because of+NOUN

To have an eye/ear for smthg.

To take a shot at smthg.

Without regard for…

Difference of opinion

Conflict of interests

To be attentive to details

For sale

For rent

In/out of use

To feel inferior to…

At the moment,…

Living situation

At war with

What to…+INF

In/out of focus

In need of…

The ability to…

To move on (from)

It’s a matter of+NOUN

In/out of shape

To stay in shape

To be accepted to/at

To resist temptation

Sometimes I wonder,…

To live in fear of…

There’s no reason that…

To assert authority

To have authority over…

It’s not a big deal if…

Full-time job

Part-time job

To interview for a job

To be represented by

To be a symbol of…

To compare smthg with

To agree on an issue

To go on a trip

To see the best in…

To give in to (pressure)

Under pressure

For the rest of the+TIME

To go abroad

A change of plans

In the military

In a good/bad mood

To work for+NOUN

To get inspiration from…

To make a recording (of)

To end up+gerund

To wish/hope for…

To push for smthg.

To face adversity

Hearing loss

To make smg official

Proportionate to…

To escape unharmed

To get away from…

Over my dead body!

To have good standing (in)

To get a loan (from)

By the time…

To keep a secret

To test one’s luck

To be available for

On guard for…

At least

At the spur of the moment

On the spot

Disregard for…

Take-out food

To work through a problem

Up for grabs

On a (adj.) basis

Only on the condition that…

To put effort into smthg.

a+NOUN+like that

Not only,…but also…

On its own merit

Out with the old, in with the new

To be compensated for

To spend the night (at)

To stay with sbdy.

To be such a...

To make smg a priority

To give a speech (about)

To have an impact (on)

To render sbdy. speechless

A shining example of...

To meet in the middle (fig.)

Set in one’s ways

To right a wrong

To get even with sbdy.

One thing left to do

Out of+NOUN (lack)

To refresh one’s memory

To turn up/down the volume

A wide variety of…

You don’t belong here!

To bring back to life

At a high/low point

On one’s own

For personal gain

To come to the surface

For life

For good (final)

Banned+NOUN

To starve to death

Dying of thirst

To take an exam

To pass a/the test

To stay in school

Per hour

Per day

By the week

By the month

To vanish without a trace

To be prone to…

Too ADJ+for one’s own good

To see the point in…

The point of smthg.

A firm believer in…

To set a good example

To set smthg in stone

A change of heart

To get a foot one’s foot in the door (fig.)

To feel dizzy

To feel drowsy

At sea

On land

To get sea-sick

Up in the air

To have second thoughts about smthg.

To breathe a sigh of relief (about)

To gasp for air

To take the lead (in)

To lead sbdy on

To not know any better

Right now

Just a minute ago

…as hard as one can…

to enjoy+GERUND

On vacation

To be busy doing smg.

It’s up to you…

To drive over/under the speed limit

To get pulled over by the police

To get arrested (by)

To not have a penny to one’s name

To stay awake

To stay up late

To get up early

On time

To hold the door (for)

In anticipation of…

What do you make of this?

One of life’s lessons

One step at a time

All at once

Little by little

At a glance

At first glance

To make excuses (for)

To show respect (for)

In the mail

To put to the side

On the side

To have good/bad manners

To mind one’s own business (about)

A preconceived notion (about)

…before it’s too late…

to see/recognize a pattern/trend

to be in chaos

to bring order to…

to trouble sbdy. for smg.

To agree to do smthg.

To go back on one’s word (about)

To turn someone in (THE LAW)

Law and order

To keep the peace

To become obvious that…

To wish smg. on sbdy.

To have legal troubles

To be held responsible (for)

To be a big fan (of)

To convince sbdy of…

In the streets

Out in the cold

In the sun

In the shade

In the snow

What is going on?

In traffic/in a traffic jam

To get a ride to…(work)

Who knows?

To get on/off (pub trans)

To take time off (work)

Leave of absence

On call

To tie one’s shoes

All the way to…

The whole time...

To be missing

An attempt at+gerund

Figure of speech

To take pride in…

To be proud of…

To manage to do smthg.

A good night’s sleep

A night of drinking

To be up all night

A hard day’s work

To find out for one’s self (about)

To find out that…

To be far along (with)

A bundle of…

To sympathize with

To go shopping (for)

To go hunting (for)

To go fishing (for)

to need a break (from)

I can’t tell if/whether…

To be obsessed with…

The idea/notion that…

To show one’s appreciation (for)

To be skilled at/in…

To be trained for/at…

To be thankful for…

To be obedient to (authority)

To be confused about…

To be out of breath

To condemn sbdy for…

To say harsh words to…

To bite the bullet and…

A snide remark

To increase productivity

An unlikely scenario

To have free time

To surrender to smthg.

In memory of…

To be getting late

To be getting cold

To warm up

To cool down/off

To be freezing

To have hard feelings about smthg.

To breed contempt

To have contempt for…

All things considered

To be better off+gerund

To commit a crime

To swear an oath (to)

To keep/break a promise

A means to do smthg.

To come up with the money (for)

to feel like doing smthg.

A misguided effort (to)

To keep a clean house

To be brutally honest

To hurt sbdy’s feelings

Apology accepted!

To drag one’s feet (fig)

Out and about

Never mind!

To complain about smg.

At odds with sbdy.

To beat the odds

On the coast

To go through customs

To make drama (about)

A healthy environment

To protect the environment

To calm down (about)

To consider every possibility

To calm one’s nerves

To be satisfied with…

To conduct an interview

To take smg for granted

To be amused by smthg.

…to no end…

Back and forth

To no end

To let smthg happen

To get over smthg.

To stand in the way of progress

Work in progress

In the process of…

In the middle of…

To remind sbdy of smthg.

A particular place and time

To come to the aid/assistance of

To come to the rescue

To refresh one’s memory

A lack of common sense

Due to…

To make a good/bad impression on sbdy.

Compared to/in comparison with…

To have an advantage over sbdy.

A first impression of…

To have power over…

In public

To get in the way (of)

To take shots (alcohol)

To be certain of smthg.

To admit fault

To have a fight (with)

To hold smthg against sbdy.

To treat sbdy/smg like…

To be different from…

Thanks to…

Because of…

To take a nap…

On top of…

to wait in line (for)

over and over (again)

It’s a tie!

To have the right of way

On the fence (fig)

In search/pursuit of…

In the past

In the present day and age

To prove a point

To prove one’s worth

It’s a case of…

The right amount

It is beyond all understanding why…

Full of…

Just in time for…

To pick sbdy up (from)

To hand in (home)work

To hand smthg out

To do chores

To shoot at sbdy/smthg.

To be in a hurry

To yell/scream at sbdy.

Out loud

To let out a noise (sigh/laugh/scream/etc)

To knock on a door

To keep smthg/sbdy in mind

A waste of time

To know how to+INF

To spy on sbdy.

To shed light on smthg. (fig.)

How often…?

To demand restitution

In court

On trial

To lower one’s standards

A sip of…

A bite of…

To repair damage

A giant+NOUN

To be critical of…

To go to bed

To get up in the morning

The answer to (a question)

To promise to+INF

On display

The meaning of smthg.

To be mean to sbdy.

To treat sbdy with kindness/cruelty

To give an explanation (of)

To owe sbdy a favor

To lock one’s self out (of)

For the love of

To go in the direction of

It’s your turn!

To get rid of smthg.

To deprive sbdy of smg.

To beg for forgiveness

To keep quiet

To be upset about smg.

To play in a band

The/an opportunity to…

To interact with…

To inform sbdy about…

To be allowed to+INF

To be eager to+INF

To eagerly await smthg.

To do nothing but…

To have good/bad social skills

To be knowledgeable about…

To be skilled at…

To take sbdy hostage

A day off work

To sign up for smthg.

To make fun of smthg.

To run out of time

Time is running out

To be available for…

To make comments about

In/out of context

To make up for lost time

It’s nice to….for a change…

A change of scenery

To lose one’s train of thought

The majority of…

To make up for lost time

To have good/bad intentions

To culminate in+NOUN

To have (no) patience for

To suffer from

To kick/punch sbdy in the…(body part)

To drop sbdy off at…

In the wild

Instead of+gerund

To apologize for…

For the duration of…

To talk on the phone (with sbdy.)

To be angry with sbdy.

In good/bad taste

To have good taste (in)

To say smthg without thinking

…without giving a thought to…

To think smthg through

To react to smthg/sbdy.

On one’s knees

On foot

In good/bad health

To go barefoot

A sense of decency

It is a sign that…

To be opposed to…

Back then,…

In a nutshell,…

To lay down one’s life (for)

To be plagued by guilt

To be a metaphor for…

To climb trees

To climb up a (specific) tree

Land/sea/forest-dwelling animal

To jump off a building/bridge

To go to a meeting

In a war zone

The height of smg.

The width of smg.

The length of smg.

X+measurement+high/

wide/long

At the height of+NOUN (an empire/an age/etc)

What color is…?

As punishment

To spend money on…

To have the potential to/for…

To wreak havoc on…

To come up with/devise a plan

To lift weights

To share smg with sbdy.

At all/not at all

To suffer the consequences (for)

Of X heritage (e.g. Scottish)

To be honest with one’s self

To step outside for some fresh air

To follow one’s instincts

To devote one’s self to…

To step aside

To dampen sbdy’s spirits

To make a/the prediction that…

To spend one’s life doing smthg.

On the verge of+gerund

The thing is,…

It depends on…

To look forward to…

At the thought of…

To pride one’s self in/on…

To lose consciousness

To knock sbdy unconscious

To lead a (ADJ) life

To flip a coin (for)

To roll the dice (for)

To proceed with caution

A stack/pile of…

A deck of cards

To play cards

At will

At random

On command

At a loss

In a state of…

In crisis

To perform surgery

To perform a play

A work of art

To go on a rampage

To throw a party

To throw a temper tantrum

I welcome the opportunity to…

To accept a/the challenge

A set of…

To play pool

To play chess

To play darts

To play X-ball

To swim laps (in pool)

A jack of all trades

By profession

To lend one’s support to

To plan on+gerund

To smell like…

From now on,…

To get straight to the point (of)

To lose focus (of)

The main idea (of)

To recommend smg to sbdy.

To keep on schedule

To gain/lose weight

To have a preference for

I would rather….

To dress up as…

To win a prize

To get exercise

To make a connection between

To mix 2 things together

Of special interest (to)

To bring smg to a boil

To have an air of+QUALITY

A wad/clump of…

Resulting in+EFFECT

To set sail (on)

The high seas

To force sbdy to+INF

To be suspected of+gerund

To catch sbdy off guard (at/while)

In hindsight

Well-disciplined

To have no discipline

In slow motion

To be kicked out of/expelled from…

To get fired (from)

To be open/closed-minded

To be disappointed by…

To take smthg at face value

From what I can tell,…

To be caught in a vicious circle

To pollute the environment

To contribute to smthg.

What kind of…is X?

In/out of tune

To sing off key

To apply for a job

A positive/negative environment

To be considerate/act considerately toward…

To care about smthg.

The way of the world

To play an instrument

To strum on…

To have talent (for)

To be mindful of…

To make a transition to…

To invite sbdy to…

To get a flat tire

To have a spare/extra+NOUN

To step on the accelerator/gas

To step on the brakes

To fall victim to…

To watch a movie

To look after (children)

To mow the lawn/grass

To set smg apart from smg else

To stand in for sbdy.

To find a replacement for…

To have down-time

To pass out while/in the middle of…

To stay awake for smthg

In advance (of)

Over time,…

To have unintended consequences

In/with regards to smg.

To reduce smg to smg.

To turn smg into smg (else)

To hold on to…

To receive preferential treatment (for)

That’s (not) my first choice

Lend me your ear!

It will only take a moment/minute/second

In the scheme of things,…

To scheme/plot to do smthg.

To keep smg as a pet

To prevent fires

To put out a fire

To keep/prevent smthg from happening (to)

To happen to sbdy.

The moral of the story is…

To make/lose a bet

To declare war

To go to church

To go to war