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Some people might argue that slang and idioms are not proper English and or aren't grammatically correct and that they shouldn't be taught or had that much time spent on them. I personally love teaching this part of English and I will tell you why. I have some experience teaching English as a second language to students online, in a one on one setting. I naturally use idioms in my speech, so I would always take the opportunity to teach the students the phrase I was using. They all always enjoyed learning them and would even request the topic of idioms or slang. Oftentimes the phrase sound funny and idioms sort of became an icebreaker for me. I always thought it must be so difficult to speak a foreign language on Skype to a stranger. I know I would have been nervous. It gets the students to loosen up, talking about something they may sound silly or not even translate literally. The connection it helps me build with students is one of the reasons I think teaching idioms are important. In my experience, the more comfortable a student is, they will be more apt to participate, ask questions and get excited about learning. Unless it is a business class, teaching some slang and idioms are helpful. Students are going to come across these things in normal conversation, music, movies, television and sometimes they even vary by region. While idioms and slang may not be formal, I think they are a big part of language. I do think that you should be sure to teach age appropriate words and phrases. For example, some words may be popular with really young age groups or really old. If a student ever asks the meaning, I like to give them an idea of the context the word or phrase is used and if it is used by a certain demographic. That way, I'm not teaching a middle aged person to speak like a teenager. Also, not teaching children words that only adults should use. . Another reason what I thing these to parts of language are important, is personal experience. English is my first language but I've studied Spanish for many years. I never felt like I was gaining fluency unit I started learning the idioms and slang. I could watch Spanish television and get the gist but there were always words and phrases that I didn't know. More often than not, they were idioms or slang. I felt the same when I would listen to regular conversation. I know how much I struggled with this and also how great I felt once I started learning more. I honestly don't think any one part of language is more important than another. I think grammar, spelling are just as important to me as idioms and pronunciation. The beauty of English and all languages really, is that they are so complex. We should learn and teach all aspects, so we can really enjoy the language. My reasons may be personal, but they come from experience as a teacher and a student. That is why I love teaching slang and idioms.
