A really good thing to do with your class, specially with the higher levels, is to show them some idioms, their translation to your own language and a brief explanation of why those idioms have that meaning. In my opinion, that helps to fade out the idea that languages admit direct translation out of context. The people from unadocenade.com have made a nice compilation of them in the following link.
Some hilarious examples of the opposite, such as the expression "from lost to the river" (and many others that you can find in the homonym book series), might be helpful (if used right) to create awareness on the uselessness of out-of-context-direct-translations.
I'll publish soon a few good examples. For now you can have thought on this translation that I found in a restaurant menu (I swear I'm not making it up): Pulpo/polbo a feira = Octopus on a party.
Would you actually know what are you ordering if you were an English speaker?
Would you order it at all if you don't know what is it?
The purpose of this blog is to host a compilation of different texts and activities which can be used for an EFL class, as well as general resources. During the following weeks I'll post regularly different resources learnt at uni as well as other things I’ve seen as a student or within less formal environments, and hopefully I’ll do it both in Spanish and in English. In addition there will be useful links to other blogs and compilations.
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