Proverbs with illustrations give a specific context for language learners to apply and reinforce the vocabulary they already know. I teach proverbs to my advanced student B. with the book Apricots Tomorrow and other Arab sayings with English equivalents. Together we look at the illustration. She guesses the wise saying, and then checks the English equivalent of the Arab saying. Sometimes she discovers that she knows a Turkish equivalent to the proverbs. All languages express wisdom.
As an ongoing learning exercise, I challenge my student to use these proverbs in appropriate scenarios in their daily life. B. calls herself a bull in a china shop because she can be clumsy. She agrees that a loved one's onion is a feast because she prefers the company of her friends rather than her boss. When her American friends stay with her a couple of days, they may eat her out of house and home. She calls her colleague an armchair critic when he comments on her work without making any contribution. She knows Fatih like the back of her hand. Learning proverbs teaches wisdom and English, killing two birds with one stone.
As an ongoing learning exercise, I challenge my student to use these proverbs in appropriate scenarios in their daily life. B. calls herself a bull in a china shop because she can be clumsy. She agrees that a loved one's onion is a feast because she prefers the company of her friends rather than her boss. When her American friends stay with her a couple of days, they may eat her out of house and home. She calls her colleague an armchair critic when he comments on her work without making any contribution. She knows Fatih like the back of her hand. Learning proverbs teaches wisdom and English, killing two birds with one stone.