Review by Nhitra -- Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living ...

[Nhitra]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living (French Edition)" by Peter Liptak.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Idioms are a group of words whose meanings are not deductible from the individual word. This makes idioms particularly hard for non-native speakers to understand and apply in casual usage. Idiom attack by Peter N. Liptak and translated by Marie-Odile Kippen is a book that was written to help English-language learners to achieve just that.

Idiom attack is divided into several scenarios that one might make use of an idiom like in school, while shopping, etc. In each section, the author introduces various idioms and how to use it in an English sentence and the equivalent French sentence. At the end of each chapter, readers can practice with a fill in the blank exercise and read stories that implement idioms that readers have learned in the chapter.

I love how the author had formatted the book. I like that he had separated the idioms into scenarios so that readers can easily visualize in their head how the idioms can be used. The orders of how different parts of a chapter also makes sense. You get introduced to an idiom, you see how it’s used in a sentence then you get to practice using the idioms you just learn and finish with a fun story. The author had created a logical, cohesive and rational flow that every educational book needed. With the logical order of this book, the brain can compartmentalize so learners will commit what they learn to memory easier. Learning idioms is tricky but I’m sure with this book, readers can learn in no time.

This is a great book for language learners to learn idioms and I didn’t catch any mistakes in the book. However, the book can be improved or more precisely, updated. The book contains many old-fashion words like “raining cat and dog” and “rain bucket". The goal of this book is to teach language-learners common idiom and these idioms are not common at all so for learners to be able to go out in the world and used what they learn, the author needs to revise the book and get rid of idioms that native-speaker no longer used and included more up-to-date idioms. The book also used unclear words to explained the idioms like “muggy". Again, this is a book written for English learners so it is likely that they are not fluent in the language and might not understand what the word means.

I rate this book a 2 out of 4. The book has many great things but it needs to be revised to become a more up-to-date version. This is a great book for English learners, the book requires no specific orders to start and have a large vocabulary which will make a get introduction for French looking to learn English idioms. I think this will make great teaching material for English as a second language teacher. It can be used without a lot of editing and lesson-planning. Learning idioms is tricky but once you’ve got it, idioms are one of the most beautiful aspects of English and I wish with this book, people will see what I see.

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Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living (French Edition)
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[Sou Hi]

Thanks for reviewing. I have seen a few versions of this book before, being Japanese and Chinese. It seems to be a good way to learn how to use English idioms.