5 Advanced Idioms for IELTS Speaking

- Here we go.

Five advanced idioms for IELTS speaking.

Are you ready?

Let's do it.

(upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

and it's so nice to be with you again.

How are you?

Great.

So in this lesson, I'm going to give you

five advanced idioms for IELTS speaking

and I'll show you how you can use them

in the test and in your everyday spoken English.

I'm also going to answer a few questions

that students have asked me about idioms.

That'll be interesting.

And finally, at the end of the video,

I want to tell you about a new book

and a new online course coming soon

that I have created all about idioms.

So stick around to find out more about that.

Right now, let's get into the first idiom.

Okay, number one, to fall on deaf ears.

And this is where you say something

and it is ignored or no one listens to it.

Okay?

For example, Sarah asked her kids to stop playing

and do their homework,

but her request seemed to fall on deaf ears

as they continued playing on their phones.

"Yeah, sure, mom.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just a minute.

Yeah."

Oh, dear.

Fall on deaf ears.

Now to fall, it's to fall.

Deaf means you cannot hear,

so if somebody cannot hear,

they are deaf and your ears are these, right?

Ear, ear,

ears.

Notice it's to fall on deaf ears, plural, right?

Deaf ears.

Now, we can use this

when you are giving advice or suggestions or warnings

to other people, to your family, to your friends,

to maybe your bosses or your colleagues.

Would you give advice to your boss?

Maybe, yes.

Or the other way around when they give you advice

and suggestions or the government gives advice

and you ignore it.

Okay?

For example, we could say with the boss example, right?

I told my boss about the problems with this new procedure

but my words fell on deaf ears.

Okay?

The way we use this is we have the object

plus the verb fall in different tenses, on deaf ears.

That bit doesn't change, on deaf ears.

Okay?

So typically we can say, my words fell on deaf ears.

Advice, suggestion, warning,

my request fell on deaf ears.

We can change the tense of fall.

And notice, it's always ears, on deaf ears.

What we can't say is, I fell on deaf ears.

No, not I, it's the words or the request fell on deaf ears.

Final example, our teacher told us to study hard,

but her warning fell on deaf ears.

(laughs) All of the students ignored her.

Oh, poor teacher.

Now,

recently a student asked me and he said,

"Keith, are idioms really important?"

It's a good question.

And I said, "Yes, I think they are.

They're really important."

You know, I think we use them quite a lot

in our spoken English.

Not all of the time, but they are very common

in spoken English.

Some of them, we use in writing, but not so much.

If you're preparing for IELTS, then they're important

because if you look at the IELTS band descriptors,

that's what the examiner uses to evaluate you.

It says, for a band seven,

uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary

with some awareness of style,

collocation and appropriate use.

So you do need to be using less common idioms.

You can make some mistakes,

but the more accurate the better and the higher the level,

especially if you want a band seven and above.

Common idioms might be like, I'm over the moon, I'm happy.

Less common like the five I'm showing you today

in this lesson, these will probably be less common.

In addition to that, I think idioms are important

because they are colorful, they make native speakers smile

and they're gonna help you understand a lot of language.

If you're watching films or listening to the news

or reading newspapers,

you'll see a lot of idioms and that will help you.

Finally, of course, they're fun.

They're great fun.

You do need to practice a lot,

but you know, I recommend that you listen to them

more than you use them to build up your understanding

of when to use them, right?

That appropriate use.

On that note, let's dig in to number two.

All right, number two is to twist your arm

or to twist someone's arm.

And this means to persuade someone to do something

that maybe they don't want to do.

Okay?

For example, I didn't want to go to the party,

but my friend John twisted my arm, so in the end I went.

Okay?

To twist is to twist, like a lot of bottles, right?

Have a twist off or a twist on top.

Oh, need to buy some more.

Balsamic vinegar.

And so to twist your arm, yeah,

is to, it's actually this,

it's to twist your arm behind your back

which is very painful.

Do you remember at school, lots of kids, especially boys,

do that a lot.

Oi, twist your arm.

That's literal.

Of course, as an adult, we don't do that.

We're much more civilized and it's idiomatic.

It just means to convince or to persuade someone,

to twist your arm, okay?

So how do we use it?

Well, you can change the tense, to twist,

and you can change the pronoun to your, my, his, her arm.

Arm here is singular.

You remember to fall on deaf ears was plural,

but this is just one arm, right?

So you can say, I twisted your arm.

I convinced you.

She twisted my arm.

She convinced me, right?

She persuaded me to go, right?

You can say she twisted my arm to go.

My advice with idioms though is to keep it simple.

Try and keep the idiom in one clause, right?

I didn't want to go, she twisted my arm.

The simpler you keep it,

the less likely you are to make mistakes.

That's my advice.

A final example here.

I wasn't sure about buying that new jacket,

but my wife twisted my arm, and now I love it.

Great.

Next one.

Oh, here's another question from a student.

A student asked me, "Keith, how should I learn idioms?

I know they're important, but how should I learn them?"

My advice is to learn them by topic, right?

Look at different topics you need to talk about,

especially if you're preparing for IELTS,

and get idioms you can use to talk about that topic.

Here's the problem.

If you go on the internet or look at any book about idioms

and you look for a topic like idioms about food,

you get idioms that use related words,

but they don't help you talk about the topic.

Idioms for foods.

You're gonna get like two peas in a pod.

To go bananas.

It's a piece of cake.

Those don't help you talk about food, right?

Like two peas in a pod means two people are similar.

That's not talking about food.

It's just peas is a kind of food.

So that's interesting,

but it doesn't help you talk about it.

What would be much more useful

is an idiom like to wolf down which means to eat quickly.

In the mornings, I'm always in a rush,

so I have to wolf down my breakfast and then go to work.

That's much more useful.

So the thing is, what you need

is somebody to go through all the idioms,

put them into these topics to talk about the topic,

and then that will really help you.

I've got some good news, I've done it.

I've created a book and an online course,

not with all the idioms

because there are thousands, of course, right?

But I've got a book with 50 idioms for IELTS speaking

and an online course with 150 different idioms

for your IELTS speaking and everyday English,

and they help you talk about the topic, right?

Useful idioms for that topic.

I'll tell you more about that a little bit later.

For now, let's get into idiom number three.

Number three is to put your cards on the table.

Now, this means to be honest with someone,

about your true feelings or about your plans for something.

For example, during the meeting,

the manager asked everyone to put their cards on the table

and share their real opinions about the project.

This comes from the cards.

It comes from playing cards, right?

These kind of playing cards that we have.

These are super small playing cards or poker cards.

And you'll know, right, that if you play poker,

you'll know that when you get your cards,

you don't show your cards, right?

You keep them secret.

If you put your cards on the table, everybody can see,

you're showing your true feelings or plans, right?

Absolutely.

Do you know that trick?

Let's try that trick.

Choose a card, go on.

Pick a card, pick a card, any card, I'm not looking.

Right?

And I'll guess what it is, right?

Should I tell you what it is?

It's the two of hearts.

How?

How did he do that? (laughs)

So put your cards on the table.

You can use this when you're, for example,

if you're preparing or you're talking about preparing

a surprise party, a surprise celebration

or about feelings with people

when you want to reveal your true feelings

or maybe at work, discussing goals, plans, intentions,

all of these are good situations

where you may want to reveal something important

or maybe a secret as well.

For the use of this idiom,

we can change the tense of the verb.

So put, can change tense

and the pronoun, my, your, his, her, right?

I put my cards on the table, yeah?

He will put his cards on the table.

Give him time, okay?

Notice, it's always in the plural, cards.

Always in the plural, and the table.

It's always the table.

So you can't say, I put my cards on my table.

No.

I put my cards on the table.

Right?

There is a similar expression.

You can also say to lay your cards on the table.

It's also used.

Final example.

I didn't know how she felt about me

so I asked her to put her cards on the table

and then she told me that she really liked me.

Great.

That's it.

By the way, there was another question the other day

from a student and they said, "What exactly are idioms

and are they the same as phrasal verbs?"

Again, another very, very good question.

So an idiom is normally a short expression, right?

They're very common in spoken English, more than writing.

And they usually have a literal meaning,

but also an abstract meaning.

So often, the sum of the words

has a different meaning from the individual words.

For example, it's not my cup of tea.

Literally means this cup of tea is somebody else's.

But figuratively or idiomatically,

it means I don't like it, right?

Rock music is not my cup of tea

means I don't like it very much.

So idioms can include phrasal verbs.

Some phrasal verbs are idiomatic, right?

He passed away means he died.

Or he kicked the bucket also means he died.

However, other phrasal verbs are just very literal.

Can you take out the rubbish?

It literally means pick up, take out the rubbish.

I need to throw this bottle away.

It's literally throw away.

It's not idiomatic, so it depends.

How do you know if a idiom is spoken or written?

It's very simple.

If you hear somebody say the idiom, it's spoken.

If you see it written, it's written.

The majority are spoken.

Bear that in mind.

Some can be written, but not that many.

All right, next idiom. (mumbles)

Next idiom coming up.

Right, the next idiom number four is part and parcel.

And I love this idiom.

So when something is part and parcel of another thing,

it means it's a necessary part of that.

It can't be separated.

For example, studying is part and parcel of being a student.

You can't avoid it.

You have to study to get good grades.

Okay?

So it's where something can't be separated,

it's a necessary part of it.

It's great for talking about jobs

or work or study or learning things.

For example, making mistakes is part and parcel

of learning a language.

It's great for talking about relationships or marriage.

You know, for example, getting angry

is part and parcel of being married.

True, right?

So we say the way to use it is A,

is part and parcel of B.

Okay?

A is a necessary part of B.

A is a noun, often a gerund,

is part and parcel of B, which is a noun,

often a gerund, right?

Studying, the noun, is part and parcel

of going to university.

Also the noun in the gerund, okay?

When it comes to pronunciation, this is a binomial.

So part and parcel.

The and becomes 'n.'

Part 'n' parcel.

Part 'n' parcel.

And it's part and parcel of something.

The of becomes of.

So A is part and parcel of B.

Can you say?

Good, get that stress.

A is part and parcel of B.

Great.

The origin of this idiom, apparently it's a legal term

many, many hundreds of years ago.

So part just meaning part.

Parcel meant an essential part of the whole.

So it's a part and an essential part of the whole thing.

Now, it's just used idiomatically

in everyday English, right?

For example, in Manchester.

It rains a lot in Manchester.

It's part and parcel of everyday life there.

Another question I wanted to share is,

students often ask which idioms should I learn?

Especially for IELTS speaking and writing.

The problem is there are thousands of idioms

and you want to learn as many as you can.

I would just be aware there are different kinds of idioms.

So there are what we call proverbs

and these are kind of a part of idioms,

but proverbs often have a message,

things like every cloud has a silver lining.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

A stitch in time saves nine.

And these, I wouldn't really use these in IELTS speaking

because they're kind of moralistic.

They're like giving a message and they're not that common.

And in fact, often when we use them in conversation,

we only say one part.

We often say every cloud.

We don't say every cloud has a silver lining.

You might do, but often we say every cloud

and people understand what you're going to say.

So be careful with those.

Also be careful with old-fashioned idioms

like it's raining cats and dogs.

It's very old-fashioned.

We don't really use that anymore.

If you look at a good online dictionary,

so the Cambridge Online Dictionary

Oxford Learners Dictionary, Collins, all of these are good.

They normally should tell you

if an idiom is old-fashioned or obsolete.

Again, between speaking and writing,

if you hear somebody say an idiom, you know it's spoken.

If you've seen it in writing,

you'd know you can use it in writing.

Also, be careful of regional idioms.

I mean, some idioms are only used in the UK,

some are only used in America.

Just be careful of that.

I don't think it's a big problem nowadays

'cause there's so much cultural interconnection, right?

Through Netflix and pop culture and songs

that most people understand most idioms nowadays

amongst native speakers.

So it's not a big issue, but it's good to be aware

that if a phrase like it's not my cup of tea,

it's a very I think a very British idiom

not used as much in the United States.

Okay, next.

Okay, idiom number five is to be on the same page.

And this means to think in a similar way

or to agree about how to do something.

For example, before starting the project,

the team met to make sure everyone was on the same page

about the goals.

And this, I guess, is quite logical, right?

I mean, if you imagine you've got your project book

and I'm on page six and you're on page 12,

we're not gonna be discussing the same thing.

We're not going to agree,

so you need to be on the same page as me.

That's literal,

but of course we're using it idiomatically

in a general way to agree about something, right?

For the way we use this,

you could say I am on the same page as you,

but normally we use it for plurals,

for more than one person.

So typically, we say we were on the same page.

They were on the same page.

Everybody was on the same page, right?

It's always the page and it's always page, singular.

Remember, fall on deaf ears was plural,

twist my arm, singular,

on the same page, singular.

So that chunk on the same page doesn't change.

Okay?

Only the verb, to be, can change, right?

So for example, it's important for parents

to be on the same page

when setting rules for their children.

Similar expressions are to be on the same wavelength

or to sing from the same song sheet

or to sing from the same hymn sheet.

It's a more religious one,

but it means to be on the same page,

to be agreeing about what you're going to do.

Great.

Fantastic, so you've got five advanced idioms

for your IELTS speaking and your everyday English

to become a confident speaker of English.

My final piece of advice is that in order to be confident

when using idioms, you need to be sure

about how to use it and in the right context.

And you get that from listening and listening and listening

to the idioms being used lots of times

before you use it yourself.

And then to practice and be ready to make mistakes, right?

Making mistakes is part and parcel of learning a language.

It's great.

It's okay.

I think idioms are more difficult than general vocabulary

because the grammar is unpredictable, right?

You know, how do you know it's to be on the same page

or to be on a same page,

on deaf ears or deaf ear?

How do you know?

You must learn each one by heart, right?

By heart.

Memorizing each one

and then just practice listening to how it's used.

And that's why in my upcoming book,

"50 Idioms for IELTS Speaking,"

and after that there's an online course,

"150 Idioms for IELTS Speaking,"

I break down these idioms

that are really useful for your spoken English.

Some can be used for writing,

but I break down how to use it,

what it means, how to pronounce it

and give you different examples

so you can build up your confidence

to use these idioms when talking about a particular topic.

So that's coming in the next month or two.

Keep your eyes open, keep your eyes peeled.

Hmm, nice idiom.

Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Look on the website, in my social media.

I'll be letting you know when it comes, right?

In the meantime, keep practicing, keep going,

enjoy your study and thank you so much for watching.

I hope that my advice today won't fall on deaf ears.

Enjoy your study and I'll see you hopefully,

in the next video.

Take care, my friend.

Bye-bye.

(upbeat music)