Hi all, so in this post I will try to share some of the most useful and easy to apply idioms for new learners. As we know we have a lot of idioms (“perumpamaan” in Bahasa) and it can be difficult to choose which one to use. It will be pointless if you memorize too much, but they cannot be applied, or it is not too flexible. Here I try to summarize the flexible idioms you can use mostly in your speaking tests. I suggest you to memorize just 3-5 idioms, try to put these during your practice sessions so that you can be more confident during the test day.
- Blessing in disguise – a good thing that feels bad at the beginning
I think this is quite common, it means that something happened and you actually felt bad at first, but eventually it brings something nice to you. You can easily use this to tell your past experience about something.
Example: “Losing my job turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gave me the opportunity to pursue my passion for entrepreneurship.””
– - Get out of hand – something getting out of control
Also one idiom that you can use quite flexibly, mostly when you are describing a situation that you think is getting worse / more than you can handle.
Example: “The party started as a small gathering, but it got out of hand when more people showed up than we expected.”
– - Once in a blue moon – very rarely
This is one of the most popular idioms for test takers, sometimes I feel that people overuse this idiom, so I don’t know if I should put it here, but it is indeed very easy to use. It means something that happens rarely, you can use this to complain or tell past stories.
Example: “I don’t usually go to concerts, but once in a blue moon, I’ll treat myself to a live performance.”
– - Miss the boat – it is too late for something
This idiom relates to a missed opportunity or lateness in something. You can use this in many scenarios, but mostly for past experiences.
Example: “I forgot to buy tickets for the concert, and now it’s sold out. Looks like I missed the boat on that one.”
– - Good things come to those who wait – it is good to be patient
Can we use an idiom just by itself as a sentence? Yes! So this is one example. You can use this idiom to close your answer by giving out this statement, indicating that you have already done everything that you can, now you just need to be patient.
Example: “I’ve been waiting for months to hear back from the job interview, but I remind myself that good things come to those who wait.”
– - It’s a piece of cake – it’s very easy
Another easy idiom that you can use to describe about the difficulty of doing something. You can use this to ‘show off’ or just tell the examiner that this experience was easy / you don’t find something tough.
Example: “I wouldn’t worry about mathematics, because I like this subject very much. For me, it’s a piece of cake.”
– - You can’t judge a book by its cover – someone/something who/which might look bad on the outside but actually nice.
What’s an idiom list without this? So yeah, this is one of the most popular idioms even this is usually translated to other languages as well. You can use this to describe someone / something, whom / which you initially think badly, but it seems that your judgement was wrong and he/she is actually nice.
Example: “I thought the movie would be boring because of its old-fashioned poster, but after watching it, I realized you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Another example to describe a person:
“Sarah seemed shy at first, but she’s actually really funny and outgoing. It just goes to show, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
For new learners, I suggest that you don’t focus on memorizing random idioms too much, just focus on these few and use it appropriately. At least if you use these just once / twice during your whole speaking exam, it will be just enough, because they will take notes that this candidate has the ability to implement idioms in their sentence, and that already adds some score. If you use it too often, you can seem unnatural instead of native-like. Good luck with your learning!
