How to handle expressions

[FlagOnce]

Expressions are one of the hardest thing to learn. Basically, you would not know at a first look that it is an expression. For you, it will just a piece of text you wouldn't understand because the meaning itself is meaningless and only the expression is relevant. Okay, some expressions are understandable straight away but that's not common. So, then, you let it through, and you will wonder quickly that, you will hear once again the very same string of word. And this is where you start to think about an expression or a common language formulation.

The best way to handle it, at this point, is to search on the Internet. If often, the translations of expressions are hard to find, you may end up in a explanation page written in your "foreign language" instead, but is understandable because of that.

[lushlala]

The understanding of expressions are something that comes with acquiring better language skills. Basically, the better you become at your chosen language, the better accustomed to them you become. I would probably be more inclined to ask a native speaker for the meaning or clarification, because sometimes internet searches can be misleading. I would only start using the internet once I became confident in a language because then I'd know if something didn't make sense or sounded wrong.

[Trellum]

I remember when  I was trying to learn English, I had just starting and I often misunderstood a lot expressions.  I talked to a lot English speakers and i often asked what this or that meant and so on. That helped me a lot to be honest.  No idea where I'd be if it wasn't for them. Back then  I wasn't afraid to make mistakes and was shameless using my awful English.  I think all that and the fact I was so young helped me loads.

[humanoid]

I am thankful that English is my mother tongue. Our expressions are so strange and as for pronunciation, well that's a minefield all of it's own! A good grasp of expressions can only really come from listening to native speakers though. At school, the French and German we learnt was very formal and it was only through visiting these countries and conversing with people that I really got to know more.

[FlagOnce]

I am thankful that English is my mother tongue. Our expressions are so strange and as for pronunciation, well that's a minefield all of it's own! A good grasp of expressions can only really come from listening to native speakers though. At school, the French and German we learnt was very formal and it was only through visiting these countries and conversing with people that I really got to know more.

I wouldn't say French is a "formal" language. How can you call it formal given there is base rules, but immediately you have many exceptions to the rules, meaning the rule itself is pointless because many of the French rules have only like a 40% hit. It depends of the rule, some will have 80% but a lot of the rules will be more at the 20%.

About expressions, they are a little better in French than in English in my opinion, but I don't know enough about English expressions to be a partial judge. But seriously, when it rains, I don't see cats meowing all around, and cat&dog fights because it rains both (reference to "it rains cats and dogs" expression. By the way, I learnt it but I never saw it used)

[kurdapia]

I could not follow what you mean by expressions. Are these the idiomatic expressions or the expressions of feelings and expletives?

It would be better to observe how these expressions are being used in real life situations. Sometimes, grammar books are giving us more than we can chew and for all we know they are not even practical to use and make us sound so foreign and odd.

[humanoid]

I wouldn't say French is a "formal" language. How can you call it formal given there is base rules, but immediately you have many exceptions to the rules, meaning the rule itself is pointless because many of the French rules have only like a 40% hit. It depends of the rule, some will have 80% but a lot of the rules will be more at the 20%.

When I said "formal", I meant there were no idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms or slang words taught at school. Nothing to do with the actual rules of the language.

[FlagOnce]

I could not follow what you mean by expressions. Are these the idiomatic expressions or the expressions of feelings and expletives?

It would be better to observe how these expressions are being used in real life situations. Sometimes, grammar books are giving us more than we can chew and for all we know they are not even practical to use and make us sound so foreign and odd.

I mean more idiomatic expressions, where a string of words means something, meanwhile the words itself does not mean anything. Example in French: "On ne mets pas la charue avant les boeufs". Itself, you may think they talk about veal and beef, but in reality it just tells that you should do the things in order, and not out of order. And this is certainly not the less understandable example for a translation standpoint.

But getting expressions of feelings is another interesting topic we should probably talk about soon!

When I said "formal", I meant there were no idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms or slang words taught at school. Nothing to do with the actual rules of the language.

I don't much agree with you. If you focus on media, it will look correct, but in the real-usage French, you would see idiomatic expressions as well, people not obeying to rules at all and doing shortcuts that even native speakers of another "county-equivalent" can't understand.

[zurcminister]

A good way to handle expressions of any language would be one of the following. Firstly, is to directly talk to a native speaker and learn from him or her. Second is to research in the internet and to really search hard on the subject. Personally though, I would prefer the first option and learn personally from those people who speak the language naturally.

[Lingua Franca]

There is not really any way around it, you just going to have to sit down and learn them. If you are lucky, you might have someone explain them to you and give a reason why they exist. Even in the same country, people have different expressions from region to region. I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen people from the same country speaking about expressions that they use in their region and are completely unfamiliar to the other person.

[jesolis]

Hello everyone! My name is Jorge Solis. The best way to handle expression in a language you are still mastering, is by learning these expressions by heart, so that they will come out naturally. One great method to do this is to watch movies in the language you are learning. Common phrases will come out in conversations without you even noticing them, and you will register them subconsciously.