Speak English Naturally With TalkTrain
American English revolves around the use of the colloquial form. Most workplace conversations in America start with small talk – that is, the casual discussion of the weather, one’s weekend activities, or anything on which the two conversationalists have common ground. Most often, these incidences of small talk are filled with idioms and colloqualisms, which make up the backbone of a person’s ability to speak English naturally. These are groups of words, sayings or expressions whose meaning cannot be understood simply by breaking down each word in the phrase. That means that an expert English student, with perfect understanding of grammar, pronunciation, and diction, still might not understand the phrase “in the air.” You might never know from looking at it that “in the air” actually means “able to be felt or noticed,” as in “Spring is in the air.” Even further, adding “up” will make it “up in the air,” which has a totally different meaning.
At first glance, it’s all very confusing. English already has tons of silent letters and weird contextual spellings, and now you have to learn about phrases that don’t really mean what their words mean? Luckily, TalkTrain is designed to help students speak English naturally by learning the most commonly used colloquialisms and idioms. Originally developed by a language school in Asia to help foreign speakers learn to speak English naturally, TalkTrain focuses on 750 of the most popular, useful American idioms and colloquialisms in use today.
The beauty of TalkTrain is that you learn to speak English naturally on your own time, at your own pace. That means that you can spend a half hour a day learning a single idiom, or three hours a day trying to cram for that job interview you have coming up. It’s all up to you. If you take the leisurely route, that allows you to fully absorb each phrase and even try it out in the real world. If you go the faster route, you’ll be fully immersed in the world of American idioms and colloquialisms. Whichever way you learn best, TalkTrain will work for you.
Additional Resources
Wikipedia: IdiomsAmerican English
Yahoo Answers: Colloquialisms