Homework assignment: find EXAMPLES of each phrase.

When I was a high school English teacher in the U.S., I used to teach new vocabulary words each week. I pretty much taught them the way that all English teachers do. I gave the students the word, its definition, and an example. And then their assignment was to write a couple of "their own" new sentences with each word. I remember checking them and reading lots of odd and incorrect sentences. Things like:

superfluous

unnecessary, too much

I put superfluous sugar in my coffee.

The sentences that the students wrote used the word in a way that seemed to be right based on the definition, but they were completely wrong in terms of normal usage.

I recently came across another English learning site (I won't tell which one) that taught a few English phrases in a post. They then asked the readers to write their own examples in the comments. The result was the same - lots of sentences that were incorrect.

So here's my point - when all you've seen is a short explanation and one or two examples of something, of course you're not going to be able to use it naturally! You don't have enough information about the grammar of the word or phrase, and the feeling that it conveys.

If I were teaching the same English class today, I would give the students a very different homework assignment. Instead of making them write their own sentences using the vocabulary words, I would ask them to do a Google search and find and remember 4 or 5 sentences that use the word. I'm sure that more examples would lead to better understanding and greater ability to use the vocabulary.

But wait - why wouldn't I just give the students more examples to begin with? I have a few reasons. First, it would be information overload. It's hard to pay attention to lots of example sentences at the same time. Second, the process of hunting for the examples would also be valuable. The students would have to skim through several pages and make decisions about whether the examples they found were useful or not. This search would give them a stronger idea of the context that each word appears in.

Of course, what's good for high school students can also be good for English learners. So I have a suggestion for all you PhraseMixers. When you read a new phrase on this site,  challenge you to:

1. Search for 1-2 examples of the phrase being used on a web site, in a video, etc.
2. Post your examples in the comments.
3. Read the comments and memorize the best examples

And I'm happy to answer any questions about the meaning and use of the examples that you post.

I look forward to reading them!