如何在書面表達中巧學善用英語成語

One of the most difficult aspects of learning any foreign language is being able to understand and use a wide range of idioms. The English language has over 15,000 idioms and native speakers use them very frequently, often without realising it themselves. This can make communication with native speakers confusing.

在任何語言學習中最困難的一個方面就是，要能理解並運用大量成語，如何巧學善用“英語成語”。英語有15000多個成語，而且本族語使用者常常在不自覺的情況下頻繁使用它們。這就造成了與本族語使用者的`溝通不暢。

What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example:

什麼是成語呢？一個成語就是一組詞，當結合在一起使用時，其意與單個詞語所表達的意思均不相同。例如：

-How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated

你怎麼知道席德和南希分手了？

-I heard it on the grapevine.

我是從小道消息聽到的，口語技巧《如何巧學善用“英語成語”》。

Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine.

當然，第二個談話者並不是說，他把耳朵貼在葡萄藤上才聽到這個關於約翰的消息的！他只是在形象地表達一種意味，即這個消息透過一個類似葡萄藤的巨大網絡傳播開來。

We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.

我們使用成語是要表達其它詞語無法如此清晰或如此巧妙表達的東西。我們經常會運用比喻和象徵以便儘可能清晰地描述事物，因而可以儘可能有效地闡述我們的觀點。比如，“in a nutshell”表明的意思是，用很少幾個詞來涵蓋所要表達的全部意思。成語往往是非正式的，最好用於口語，而不要用在非書面表達中。

One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in t