American English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks :
An Easy Way to Understand English Expressions and Improve Speaking


How can English language learners increase fluency and comprehensibility in their spoken English? The ability to communicate accurately and effectively using English idioms is more important than ever in the globalized economy.

English as a Second Language (ESL) students face difficulties learning English idioms. Non-native speakers often find it very difficult to understand the full meaning of English language conversations because, in many cases, these discussions contain a large number of idioms.

Learning idioms is especially challenging because, compared to standard English vocabulary, understanding these expressions is not found by referring to a dictionary. To assist the 2nd language learner in understanding the meaning of idioms, the American English Idiomatic Expressions in 52 Weeks provides English language learners with a systematic and structured week-by-week method in which to understand and acquire American English idioms.

The classification system created was intended to be intuitive, practical and simple for ESL learners by placing idioms into functional and direct categories.

All Idiom Categories

Importance Category Idioms: Referring to being valuable or significant
as a rule bank on big time
bottom line bring home the importance bring some new facts to light
at face value fat of the land for all the world
for better or worse hats off last but not least
let (something) go like a ton of bricks little frog in a big pond
main drag make a difference make light of
matter mean business measure up
my goodness (my God) never mind no great shakes
nothing if not nothing to sneeze at off the record
on one’s toes play second fiddle to someone small fry
sneezed at (not to be) so help me (so help me God) to be sure
to speak of to the eye two cents