One of the most difficult aspects of learning any foreign language is being able to understand and use a wide range of idioms. The English language has over 15，000 idioms and native speakers use them very frequently，often without realising it themselves. This can make communication with native speakers confusing.
在任何語言學習中最困難的一個方面就是，要能理解並運用大量成語。英語有15000多個成語，而且本族語使用者常常在不自覺的情況下頻繁使用它們。這就造成了與本族語使用者的溝通不暢。
What is an idiom？An idiom is a group of words which，when used together，has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example：
什麼是成語呢？一個成語就是一組詞，當結合在一起使用時，其意與單個詞語所表達的'意思均不相同。例如：
-How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated
你怎麼知道席德和南希分手了？
-I heard it on the grapevine.
我是從小道消息聽到的。
Of course，the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine！ He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network，similar to a grapevine.
