TOP 10 Idioms Chinese Students Should Use in English 101 Essays
Posted on October 3, 2018
English 101 is an entry-level English class that most American college students take at their first semester in college. All the international students who’re studying in American universities are required to pass this course. However, to most of them, it is not an easy task.
The major difficulty of Chinese students is to make their essay look like it’s written by a native speaker. The reason hides behind the lack of idioms and set phrases that are naturally entangled into their essay writing.
Below are 10 idioms that a Chinese student could use in their English 101 essays. Together with explanations and usage samples, they should form a solid basis for excellent writing score.
- Head over heels
This phrase means you’re totally attracted by someone or something, e.g: I’m head over heels about this book.
- Break a leg
This idiom means “Good luck to you”, e.g: Break a leg at the performance tonight!
- Cat got your tongue
This idiom means totally speechless, e.g: Why aren’t you answering me? Cat got your tongue?
- Beat around the bush
This idiom means to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information, e.g: He beat around the bush for a half hour without coming to the point.
- Cut to the chase
This idiom means to say what is important without delay or just leave out all the unnecessary details and get right to the point, e.g: Stop with all the details and cut to the chase.
- Cost an arm and a leg
This idiom means the price is very high, e.g: This new computer cost me an arm and a leg.
- Silver lining
This phrase means a consoling aspect of a difficult situation, e.g: As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. We have drawn lessons from the decisions taken.
- Feel under the weather
This phrase means someone is sick, e.g: When you catch cold, you feel under the weather.
- Call it a day
This phrase means to end a period of activity, especially resting content that enough has been done. e.g: We were prepared to do another long march before calling it a day.
- Give it a shot
This phrase means to have a try, e.g: I’ll give it a shot.
Hopefully this article is useful to you. To excel in one language, diligence is important, but there’s something more important, and this is confidence. Trust yourself undoubtedly and move on continuously, finally you’ll climb to the peak and see the beautiful scenery surrounding the mountain!
