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Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun: A Language Lizard Giveaway

December 5, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

{Guest Post from Language Lizard}

Congratulations to Mindy R. from Rachel Kohl Community Library in Glen Mills, PA who won a  set of Language Lizard Idiom Books in English and Simplified Chinese!

These colorful books come with free teaching resources are a great way to teach English idioms in a multicultural context. Use them during Idiom Week (Jan 24-30)!

Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun

 

Language Lizard is kicking off the holiday season with a special December giveaway, just for Multicultural Children’s Book Day readers! Read on to learn about the Language Lizard Idiom Book Series, and how to enter for a chance to win a FREE set of your own.

What is an Idiom?

An idiom is a phrase with an underlying meaning that’s generally agreed upon by a large group of people. The meaning of the phrase can’t be understood by understanding the words alone.

Some common English language idioms in the US are:

  • A breath of fresh air
  • A piece of cake
  • Over the moon
  • When pigs fly

Thanks to familiarity, these phrases are easily understood by a native English speaker in the US. But we can see they are indeed idioms, because their meanings are more than the sum of their words.

Look up idioms from other cultures, and you can see their meanings are not immediately discernible. For example, it wouldn’t be obvious that the Russian phrase “to hang noodles on someone’s ears” means that you are fooling them.

Multicultural Learning With Idioms

Learning idioms is a great way to celebrate diversity and bring multicultural learning to students. It’s also a great way to enhance the school-home connection. Students can ask their parents for strange or funny idioms in their home languages to share with the class. Classmates can try to guess the meanings, or compare idioms from different languages. Some examples:

In English, a sad person may “have the blues,” but in French, that person would “have the cockroach.” Or, in English, a practical person is “down to earth,” and in Spanish, that person would be described as having their “feet on the earth”.

Idioms Are Especially Important For Language Learners

Idioms are an important part of language learning, too. Every language and culture has thousands (maybe even tens of thousands) of them, so there’s a significant amount of casual communication conducted by way of idioms.

Without lessons in local idioms, communicating effectively is going to be more difficult. Plus, learning idioms is one of the most fun parts of learning a new language!

Remember to have students practice how to use each idiom properly since this type of communication can be very nuanced. It’s best to teach idioms verbally, and have students practice by role-playing.

Language Lizard Idiom Books Support Virtual & In-Person Learning

Language Lizard Idiom Books are a great resource for teachers in virtual, in-person, or blended classrooms, as well as homeschooling families. They are available in English and 9 language editions, offering literal translations and meanings in a second language. Illustrations show characters and settings from around the world, providing an opportunity to teach children about other cultures and communities.

Free Multicultural Lesson Plans

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with links to 3 free lesson plans:

  • Understanding Idioms and Figurative Language
  • Learning Color, Nature, Food, and Animal related Idioms
  • Understanding the History and Context of Idioms

The lesson plans include an exploration of idioms in a multicultural context and provide exercises that students can do with their families, even those that speak a language other than English at home.

Idiom Activities & Resources

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with many fun, free activities. Here are just a few of them:

  • Animals in Mexico: fill-in-the-blank short story using animal idioms
  • Hindu Holi Festival: fill-in-the-blank short story using color idioms
  • Hanami “Flower Viewing” in Japan: fill-in-the-blank short story using nature idioms
  • Guess the National Animal Activity
  • Animal Idiom Games Video
  • Multicultural Street Foods Activity
  • Favorite Foods Activity

Each Idiom Book also includes resources and links to learn the in-depth history and background information about all the idioms that are featured in the books.

Perfect for Take-Home Learning Packs

Teachers can create “learning packs” for students to take home that include idiom books in their home language, along with the free included activities. It’s a great way to strengthen school-home connections, and non-English speaking parents will appreciate being included in their child’s learning.

eBook versions of Language Lizard Idioms Books are also available, to make sharing online even easier. They are available through most major eBook platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Overdrive.

Enter to Win a Set of Language Lizard Idiom Books

Enter for a chance to win a FREE set of Language Lizard Idiom Books! Head to our Giveaway Page and include “MCBD” in the comments section. A winner will be selected at the end of December. (As a bonus, you will be included in our other Language Lizard book giveaways, too!)

Free Bonus: Idiom Word Searches

To help jump-start the Idiom learning fun, MCBD readers can access our FREE Idiom Word Searches now!

What are the strangest or most amusing idioms you’ve heard in any language? Share them here, or on social media and tell us why #IdiomsRock!

Filed Under: Giveaway, Guest Posts, Multicultural Booklist Tagged With: Language Lizard, Language Lizard giveaway, Language Lizard Idiom Books, multicultural learning

Learn English Idioms with New Multicultural & Multilingual Book Series!

October 17, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

A new series of idiom books in many languages was released today by Independent publisher (and MCBD PLATINUM SPONSOR) Language Lizard!

Language Lizard Idiom Books explain common English idioms using clever multicultural illustrations and English example sentences. Bilingual versions of the books provide idiom translations and meanings in a second language, making the idioms easier for English language learners to understand. The books come with free multicultural lessons and activities to support culturally responsive teaching.

Language Lizard Idiom Books Series consists of four titles:

Language Lizard Idiom Books Series

  • Fresh as a Daisy – English Nature Idioms by Diane Costa, illustrated by Maria Russ
  • Icing on the Cake – English Food Idioms by Troon Harrison, illustrated by Joyeeta Neogi
  • The Lion’s Share – English Animal Idioms by Troon Harrison, illustrated by Dmitry Fedorov
  • With Flying Colors – English Color Idioms by Anneke Forzani, illustrated by Dmitry Fedorov

Language Lizard Idiom Books are available in English and in bilingual editions with the following languages: Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Spanish, Telugu, and Vietnamese (More languages will be coming soon.)

Language Lizard Idiom Books

There are 4 books, each with a different theme (food, colors, animals, nature), and they will be available in English only as well as in bilingual editions. The bilingual editions will include idiom explanations in different languages. The Language Lizard Team is actively working on Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Telugu, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, and Hmong versions with a few other languages in the pipeline also.

“These books are like no other idiom books available as all the idioms are presented with characters and settings from around the world,” shared Language Lizard CEO, Anneke Forzani. “I truly believe there has never been anything like this before. All my kids have learned about idioms, and all the idiom books they read had stick figures or non-diverse characters.” 

Language Lizard Idiom Books Series Bonus Materials

“Our new books have fun illustrations with multicultural characters and international settings,” Anneke added. “In addition, each book comes with a link to LOTS of amazing teaching resources.”

  • English audio of the book
  • Lesson plans that teach idioms while exposing children to other cultures
  • Fun idiom activities for use in the classroom or home
  • Information about the history of the idioms in the book
  • Additional idioms with their meanings and history

Bonus Materials and Resources Include:

—> Lesson plans that teach about figurative language but include a multicultural component and provide opportunities for home-school connections (e.g. one exercise in the lessons look at similar idioms in different languages/cultures, and has kids explore idioms in their home language with their parents).
—> Fun idiom activities (e.g. idiom fill-in-the-blank stories in which the content of the story teaches them about the Holi festival, the Hanami cherry-blossom-viewing in Japan, or animals in South America).
—> Explanations of the multicultural illustrations.
Advance praise for the Language Lizard Idiom Book Series:

“I highly recommend the Language Lizard Idiom Book Series to teachers, parents, and English-language learners of all ages. From the youngest to the most experienced, readers will have a whale of a time discovering new phrases and expressions while turning pages with laughter and joy. The books are fun to read, easy to understand, and appropriate for any educational setting. Without hesitation, I rate this series 5 out of 5 stars. They would make a great addition to any home or classroom library, and I’m confident you, too, will feel the same.” Tara Brown, ESL, English, and Spanish Teacher, Michigan

“These books are highly recommended to foster and develop common English phrases that cause confusion for multilingual learners in a meaningful, relatable, and relevant format.” Robyn Dailey, Title III Instructional Coach, Georgia

About Language Lizard

Language Lizard, LLC (www.LanguageLizard.com) is a leading supplier of bilingual products in over 50 languages. The company provides award-winning bilingual books and audio resources to schools, libraries, literacy organizations, and bilingual families. Language Lizard offers culturally responsive teaching materials, multilingual posters, and free multicultural lesson plans to support diverse classrooms and homeschooling families.

Language Lizard Idiom Books are available as English and bilingual paperbacks at www.LanguageLizard.com, Ingram, and bookstores worldwide. eBooks are available on major eBook platforms and on Overdrive and are 32 Full Illustrated Color Pages for Grade Level K-5.

Language Lizard, LLC “Inspiring Kids Through Language!”

www.LanguageLizard.com
https://Blog.LanguageLizard.com

Filed Under: 2021 MCBD, Multicultural Booklist, Teacher Tools Tagged With: Books for Teachers, Language Lizard Idiom Books, Multicultural Illustrations, Resources for homeschoolers, teaching English Idioms

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