Speaker 1: It's the end of August, and you know what that means, right,
It's back to school season here in the US. The
school schedule and education in general is handled by each state,
but basically the school year starts around the beginning of September. Today,
let's check out some back to school idioms.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven forty five,
Back to School. For today's podcast English Lesson, We're going
to have a look at some common idioms that relate
to school and learning. Let's start off with this short
conversation between Laura and Susan, two moms getting their kids
ready to go back to school.
Speaker 3: Hey, Susan, can you believe school starts next week? Emma's
so excited, but I'm a little nervous for her. Hi, Laura, Yes,
it's coming up fast. I'm excited too, but also a
bit anxious. Jake's been hitting the books hard this summer
to get ready for his new classes. That's great, Emma's
always been BookSmart, but I hope she can handle the
new challenges this year. I heard the teacher's pet from
her class last year is now in her new class too.
Oh really, it sounds like Emma's going to have to
adjust to that. Jake's been trying to learn the ropes
of his advanced classes, so I hope he'll pass with
flying colors. I'm sure he will. And I'm hoping Emma
doesn't cut class to hang out with her friends. It's
such a temptation at that age. Absolutely, I've reminded Jake
to stay focused and not get distracted. He needs to
hit the ground running if he wants to keep up
with the curriculum. I'm sure they will do well.
Speaker 1: Fingers crossed, I'm sure those kids will do well too.
And now let's have a look at the idioms from
this conversation. In a number of idioms in English, the
verb hit can be used to mean start doing that thing.
When you hit the books, you start studying seriously and
with your effort. Here are some examples. I need to
hit the books if I want to do well on
the next TOIC exam before the big history test, and
hit the books and reviewed all her notes. Adam decided
to hit the books over the weekend to prepare for school.
When you hit the ground running, you start working hard
with your full attention and energy. For example, Betty hit
the ground running on her first day at the new
job by completing several tasks. My work team needs to
hit the ground running to meet the tight deadline. Benny
said he's ready to hit the ground running with his
new coffee shop business. Next, we have book smart. A
person who is BookSmart has a lot of knowledge from
studying and reading, but they don't have knowledge or experience
in real world situations. In other words, someone who is
BookSmart may not have a lot of common sense. Let's
look at some examples. Chris is BookSmart, but he sometimes
needs help with everyday problems. Kathy is very BookSmart, but
she doesn't even know how to do laundry. Being books
smart art is important, but practical experience is also valuable.
The next one is the teacher's pet. Now, when I
say the teacher's pet, I'm not talking about cats or
dogs in school. The teacher's pet is a student in
a class who is favored by their teacher and quite
often treated in a special way or even better than
other students. For example, everyone knew John was the teacher's
pet because he always got special attention. The teacher's pet
always had the first choice for group projects. Eddie was
the teacher's pet, but that didn't help him make friends
among the other students. When someone is the teacher's pet,
they probably don't cut class cut class. When someone cuts class,
they are ill legally absent from school, in other words,
absent without permission. Here are some examples. Frank and his
friends often cut class to hang out in the park.
Gras and Karen decided to cut class and go to
the movies instead. Cutting class frequently can lead to falling
behind in your studies. On a ship, especially a sailing ship,
there are a lot of ropes which are used to
control the ship. New sailors need to learn how to
use these ropes before learning anything else. This is the
basic operation of the ship, and in a similar way
on the land. When you learn the ropes, you learn
the basics of how something is done. Let's look at
some examples. It took Greg a while to learn the
ropes of the new software system. The training session is
designed to help new employees learn the ropes. Once you
learn the ropes, you'll find the job much easier to handle.
The last idiom for today is to pass with flying colors.
When you have an exam or an interview and you
pass with flying colors, you get a high score or
great success. For example, Melissa passed her final exams with
flying colors. Mark was thrilled to pass his driving test
with flying colors. I passed my job interview last week
with flying colors. Keep in mind, the best way to
remember this and any other word or phrase in English
is to take that word or phrase, write it in
a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. Hey, did you know that
you can get the chance to practice this kind of
English with me directly? You can get more practice using
your English when you join my podcast Learner's Study Group.
There you can make new friends, join us for live
group lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
Plus you get access to the PDF transcript and audio
download for every Happy English podcast in the past and
in the future. And on top of that, each episode
has exercises where you can practice this English point with
speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just
visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven
forty five. Remember, learning another language is not easy, but
it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you on
your journey.
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Happy English.