Wow, when I watch the NCAA basketball games I see that many times the teams who are already winning do not slow down and just continue to score many points. They are adding insult to injury. In other words, the losing team is already losing the game, and they come in piling up more points with no regrets. Listen here.

]]> http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-add-insult-to-injury/feed/ 0 http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty/ http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:52:12 +0000 Dave Jackson http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/?p=285

Generally referring to police officers or firemen or military who lose their lives in the line of duty, their work, this idiom can also refer to you. Listen here.

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Generally referring to police officers or firemen or military who lose their lives in the line of duty, their work, this idiom can also refer to you. Listen here.

]]> http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty/feed/ 0 http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-a-rolling-stone-gathers-no-moss/ http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/idioms/an-idiom-a-day-a-rolling-stone-gathers-no-moss/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:20:39 +0000 Dave Jackson http://www.languagelearningcenter.net/?p=273

Someone who is always moving and always into something new is like a stone that moves. There is an old saying that stones that are moved do not get moss on them. So like the stone a person who is always moving is not considered set in their ways.

Someone who is always moving and always into something new is like a stone that moves. There is an old saying that stones that are moved do not get moss on them. So like the stone a person who is always moving is not considered set in their ways.

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When someone has not done much work we say that have not done a lick of work. That means no work at all. Here is how we use this interesting idiom.

Normally referred to the vice president because if you think about it, he or she really is a heartbeat away from becoming the president. If the president dies, the vice president takes over. He is a heartbeat away.

One of the most rewarding things is hearing from our visitors to the site here.  They normally send us a little Tweet or shoot an email to us, and that’s the fuel that keeps us going here.

We’re just like anyone else, wanting to help people who really want to get listen to English and learn it.  Giving is what it’s all about, no?

And we find ourselves look at the statistics for the site, and the podcast, maybe a little TOO often.  :-)  Yesterday was our biggest day here, with 112 visits and we’re not even a month old!  THANK YOU!!!

And then there’s the podcast which has become a HUGE success.  What started out as a way to promote our classes on eduFire.com turned into a fun project to help others learn the expressions Americans and others use when speaking English.

During a conference with teachers and students, one students said that his most difficult area was idiomatic expressions.  No matter how well he learned written English, or even English from a book, when he heard it spoken, it was very hard to keep up and understand what was going on.

With that, we decided it would be a good tool to record one idiom and give the definition.  And Dave knows his way around a microphone.  With more than 15 years broadcasting experience in radio and television, creating a podcast of the idioms just seemed like the natural thing to do.

We recorded five episodes (the ones in January) and launched them on iTunes.  A little known fact is that each episode comes complete with images that depict the idiom for the day.  So if you watch it on iTunes, or download it to your iPod, you get to see those and it helps explain even better when you can associate the idiom with an image.  iTunes was happy to hear from us and we were added on January 26th.

We didn’t really put much time into promoting it, and if you have any ideas, we’re open to hear them.  Yet in little time, we started growing exponentially.  People started telling their friends and teachers, like Terrence the Teacher, mentioned us on her blog and to her students.  It’s this kind of grass roots movement that is creating a frenzy with the 60 second “Idiom a Day” podcast.  Ms. Crawford states, “The podcast is simple and short and the user’s voice is friendly. The music that they use for the entrance and exit is appropriate as well.”  Thanks SO much!

Here’s a look at where we are on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010, as Google’s Feedburner stats only update overnight.

It’s exciting to see that line shoot straight up and really, it’s not anything we’re doing, but a reflection of how much you guys love the podcast.  In a few months we’ll have a few hundred subscribers.  And don’t worry – we won’t run out of idioms.  There are several thousand in the English language.  If you’ve noticed, as of this post, we’re still in the A’s.

What is intriguing to us is where you are listening from.  Did you know our biggest share of listeners outside the United States is from Korea?  We love it!  It is awesome to know we’re helping others in a land overseas speak English just a little better.

If your country isn’t listed, and you listen to us, know that these are the statistics from subscribers to the podcast.  To subscribe, simply click the iTunes icon at the top right of the page, or down at the bottom of the page toolbar that has the RSS icon.  Either way, you’ll get the daily feed, but on iTunes you’ll see the pictures we’re talking about.  We’re hoping for an updated player soon where we can stream the m4a files which will have all the media right online.

Finally, we’re in the studio again soon to record the next batch of idiomatic expressions, and this time we’re going to do something real special.  We’ve decided to stream the broadcast live as Dave dons his headset and records the podcast on the Mac.  You’ll be able to watch as he goes through each idiom and syncs it with the background music.  Much fun!  We’ll announce the date on our Twitter feed, and we’ll embed the live video right here on the website.

If you’re interested in any other area of English that we could help you in, please do not hesitate to ask.  That’s what we’re here for.  Comment below and let tell Dave what you think of the Idiom a Day podcast and how it helps you!