Problem
I was teaching Intermediate English in Singapore to pupils wanting to pass the English exam which would enable them to attend English speaking schools or colleges in Singapore.
After the lesson I and one of the pupils looked out of the window, waiting for the rain to stop before we set off for our homes.
I said, "It's raining cats and dogs."
He replied, puzzled, "I see cats - but I don't see any dogs."
I said, "It's an English expression. It means raining hard."
I looked up the translation on the internet.
You can find translations of many idioms into a page of different languages. It's interesting to see how many use similar expressions.
The Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese use the expression:
basin-bending big rain.
That's a translation into a Chinese idiom, with the words translated back more or less exactly.
For more idioms, go to:
omniglot.com
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.
I was teaching Intermediate English in Singapore to pupils wanting to pass the English exam which would enable them to attend English speaking schools or colleges in Singapore.
After the lesson I and one of the pupils looked out of the window, waiting for the rain to stop before we set off for our homes.
I said, "It's raining cats and dogs."
He replied, puzzled, "I see cats - but I don't see any dogs."
I said, "It's an English expression. It means raining hard."
I looked up the translation on the internet.
You can find translations of many idioms into a page of different languages. It's interesting to see how many use similar expressions.
The Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese use the expression:
basin-bending big rain.
That's a translation into a Chinese idiom, with the words translated back more or less exactly.
For more idioms, go to:
omniglot.com
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.
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