Proverbs and Idioms Flashcards

What are Proverbs and Idioms?

I won’t beat around the bush and discuss this straight to the point. Proverbs are commonly used expressions or sayings that illustrate a specific point. Idiomatic expressions or idioms, on the other hand, are phrases that have a figurative, sometimes literal meaning.

Many idioms and proverbs originated from cultural sources. Some were formed and made famous through fables, religious beliefs, history, myths, and fairy tales.

Both Proverbs and idioms aid in amplifying messages or sayings in a way that it draws attention to readers or listeners. Proverbs also serve as expressions that contain advice or wisdom about various topics.

Learning Proverbs and Idioms

Although it's fun to use or study proverbs and idioms, their meaning might be incomprehensible to some, unless you are a native speaker of that language of expression. For instance, the idioms “Bookworm" (someone who reads a lot) and “brainstorm” (think about new ideas) may be pretty common, but there are still many samples of idioms in the English language that is not. Therefore, it is likely that their usage may lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

Proverbs and idioms may be learned from the school of hard knocks (practical experience). But, they can also be studied by reading about them and using it in situations like daily dialogues to reinforce the meaning.

If you came across a new proverb or idiom that you don’t know of, you could read them as and when they show up in their context or how they are used in a sentence or scenario. You can also group them by topic and in conjunction with another idiom with related meaning. It is also beneficial to use visuals such as flashcards to remember them easily.

Brainscape is an excellent study tool for this goal.

In addition to that, through the Brainscape Portal app, you can create your own set of flashcards for proverbs and idioms and study them on your phone.

Learn Faster in Brainscape

Brainscape can help you remember effectively and efficiently, with the help of cognitive science. The platform, made available via web and mobile, applies the ideologies of the existing learning theories to help us strengthen our memory and improve the connections between our neurons. We termed this newly accessible pedagogy as “Cognitive Based Repetition” (CBR).

The CBR algorithm utilizes the three learning processes known as Active Recall, Metacognition, and Spaced Repetition. Research has proven the effectiveness of these learning methods before, but nobody has applied these more effectively than Brainscape.

If you want to broaden your horizon in the English language, or you have an exam in Proverbs and Idioms, you can try reviewing through Brainscape! It might be the app that can help you pass with flying colors!