The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Language is the best means of communication in human life. Language is the
expression of human communication through which knowledge, belief, and behavior can
be experienced, explained, and shared. Every language has idioms, and they are
challenging for foreign students to learn. However, the learners will save much time and
strength when using idioms in writing or speaking. Moreover, using idioms will bring
about the ornate sentences they can make the pleasant for other people. Therefore, in
order to understand as well as translate idioms from a language to another language, the
knowledge of linguistic and cultural reality has to be completely involved.
Nowadays, English is the most popular and effective means in communication and
international integration. As a foreign student learning English, comparison idioms are
really a big problem for us as well as other learners. There are over 3000 idioms in the
dictionary, so understanding and memorizing all of them are a hard issue. Some students,
even though, live in America or England for such a long time, they are still unable to
understand what the native people are saying. In a circle of students, native English
speakers speak to other native speakers differently from the foreign students. And the
foreign students here is unable to follow what they are saying to each other. More than
that, comparison idioms are one of major aspects that can easily discourage a person in
conversation with each other if he/she does not know what to imply. If somebody asks us:
Is it necessary to study an idiom like rain like cats and dogs? We will answer Yes
because idioms are part of daily speech. It makes our utterances smoothly and transmits
the information to listeners in a smart way. Idioms are not only a language unit or kind of
set expression, they are inevitable representatives of a certain culture and make a crucial
part of a language, so they are worth researching and approaching from different points of
view. The comparison or looking for equivalent idioms in English and Vietnamese would
be based on the similarity in meaning rather than on their syntactic features. As a result,

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

on the basis of the results of the previous studies, we would like to deal with the research
title: The comparative study of idioms in English and Vietnamese.
From these reasons above, we decide to study about this topic in the hope of helping
Vietnamese learners to achieve the correct comprehension and exact usage as well as to
avoid negative interferences in translating idioms. In addition, the research will
contribute a small field for next studies.
1.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study will find the answers to the questions:
1. What are the syntactic of idioms in English and Vietnamese?
2. What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms in
terms of semantic, syntactic and cutural features?
1.3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.3.1. Aims of the study
The study will focus on:
- examining linguistic features of English and Vietnamese idioms.
- involving Vietnamese learners of English in learning the idioms in all skills.
1.3.2. Objectives of the study
In order to achieve these aims, the objectives will attempt to:
- describe syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese
idioms.
- find out the similarities and differences of idioms in English versus Vietnamese.
- give some suggestions for understanding and memorizing English idioms.

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In this research, we wish to discover, analyze and contrast the syntactic and semantic
features of English and Vietnamese idioms. We will work with approximately 255
English and Vietnamese idioms.
1.5. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
To complete this study, we apply some of the following methods:
- Reading materials on the Internet and reference books.
- Basing on the observation, knowledge and experiences of ourself in daily
learning process.
- Helping and guiding of the teachers.
- Studying from related books, documents and websites to collect to get
background knowledge.
- Using data collection and data analysis methods

1.5.1. Data collection methods

In general, to fulfil the scope of the study, we collected dictionaries, books, and the
websites on the internet of idioms with clear examples in which they are used. After
that, we read and pick out all idioms literally and figuratively.
1.5.2. Data analysis methods
In this paper, after being selected the material, the samples of English idioms were
examined, classified, described, analyzed and compared. The data are analyzed on the
basis of semantic and syntactical perspectives and are categozied into main aspects:
syntax and semantics.
Firstly, syntatic features of English and Vietnamese idioms were described with
different structural categories. They are classified with tables. From which, we find out
the similarities and differences in idioms.
Secondly, the data will be also analyzed into semantic field. It is classified on the
basic of some characteristics of idioms.
Then, idioms will be treated and present objective demonstrations to find out the
cultural charcteristics of the expresssion.

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

1.6. OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

This study is divided into four chapters
- Chapter 1: Introduction presents the background to the study, research questions
of the study, aims and objectives of the study, scope of the study, methodology of
the study, overview of the study.
- Chapter 2: Literature review.
- Chapter 3: Discussion and findings.
- Chapter 4: Recommendations and conclusion.

*Reference section

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

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2.1. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES

Idioms have attracted many language researchers all over the world. They are an
important factor in native like discourse by English as well as a foreign language
speaker. The study of idioms or comparative idioms is not a new topic in foreign
countries as well as Vietnam today.

For foreign writers, a lot of books and dictionaries have brought us with great benefit.
For examples:
- In Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms by Cowie, Mackin & McCaig, idioms are
carefully collected and categorized into alphabetical arrangement. Moreover, their
meanings and examples of usage in English are also mentioned and explained.
- The collections of idioms will not stop there because there are still a great number of
books related to idioms such as Idioms for Everyday Use by Broukal and Milida,
Idioms and Idomaticity by Makkai, Idioms Organization by Wright, The American
Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Ammer.
- English Idioms and How to Use Them by Jennifer Seidl can be considered a basic
book when establishing concepts and understanding of idioms in the English language.
- English idioms in Use by Michael McCarthy, Felicity ODell, Cambridge University
Press cares idiom as an aspect very interesting and fun vocabulary. It helps the reader
understand the meaning of the English Idioms, as understood by native speakers. The
book is set to be at a certain level of issues related to idioms.

For Vietnamese writer, there are many authors has studied about idioms such as
Thnh Ng v Tc Ng Vit Nam Chc Lc by Tran Quang Man, T in Thnh
Ng Anh Vit by La Thanh, T in Thnh Ng Ting Anh by Vinh Ba, Hoang Van
Hanh with Thnh Ng hc Ting Vit.
- The first researchers having important contributions to this field we must mention are
Nguyen Luc, Nguyen Van Dang. They have published Thnh Ng Ting Vit which
consists of a lot of idioms.

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

- Dictionaries written by Viet Chuong, Bui Phung, Vu Dung, Vu Thuy Anh, Vu Quang
Hao, Nguyen Lan, La Thanh, contain a great number of idioms which are not only literal
but also figuratively illustrated with understandable examples.
- Nguyen Thien Giap has paid a lot of attention to the explanation of the concept and
borderline between idioms and other units in language. In terms of syntax and semantics,
Ho Le and Nguyen Thien Giap have deeply explained the concept and borderline
between idioms and other units in language.
- The researches on Vietnamese comparative idioms by Hoang Van Hoanh (K chuyn
thnh ng tc ng Vit Nam, Thnh ng hc ting Vit) are the studies of enthusiasm,
are conducted in a long time. In Chapter 4 of the book, the author describes the focus of
language structure to compare Vietnamese and semantic characteristics elaborately and
meticulously. Most of the aspects on the comparative idioms were mentioned with in-
depth analysis and highly advanced system.
- With the same name as T in thnh ng v tc ng Vit Nam, the three author
groups 1) Vu Dung, Vu Quang Hao, Vu Thuy Anh, Cultural Publishers, 1995, 2) Bui
Hanh Can, Bich Hang, Viet Anh, Publishers of Cultural Information, 2000 and 3) Nguyen
Lan, Literature Publisher, have provided a full list of Vietnamese comparative idioms.
- Master thesis of Bui Thu Hoa, University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, 2004 with the name Gp phn tm hiu
thnh ng c thnh t ch tn gi ng vt trong ting Anh has solved a small part when
referring to comparative idioms in English which has animal elements. Describing the
most common traits in the comparative structure in English, Bui Thu Hoa has shown
some similarities and differences in language thinking - culture in Vietnamese and
English people.
- An article c im cu trc hnh thi ca thnh ng so snh ting Anh by
Hoang Quoc, is published in Information Magazine of An Giang University, No.17, 2004.
This article mainly solves the problems of the structure of English comparative idioms.
This can be seen as a quite complete complement for the master thesis of Nguyen Cong
Duc, it discusses about the aspect of morphological structure - semantics of the

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Vietnamese idioms. The thesis has solved the structural problems in Vietnamese idioms
basically on two ways are composition and semantics.

2.2. DEFINITION OF IDIOM

Idioms have become very popular with the linguistic learner; however, not everyone
can find the complete definition for this term. Each professor has his or her own
assumption and we, the learners, have to consider much when we want to apply those
idioms into study.
- From Simple English Wikipedia, an idiom is defined as a word or phrase which
means something different from what it says.
- According to Oxford Dictionary, idiom is defined as a group of words in a fixed
order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each
word understood by its own.
- The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Lingustics, idioms were
defined as an expression which function as a single unit and whose meaning can not
be worked out from its separate parts.
- The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the writer defines idioms differently: a
phrase or a sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual
words and which must be learnt as a whole unit.
- Broukai considers that idioms are any polylexonic lexeme made up of more than one
minimal free form of word. Accordingly, idioms are units realized by at least two
words. In addition, the meaning of an idiom is not predictable from its component
parts, which are empty of their usual senses.
- The definition of idiom can be approached by Cruse as idiom is an expression
whose meaning can not be inferred from the meanings of its parts.
- Jenniffer Seidl & W McMordie (1987), English Idioms and How to Use Them,
Oxford University Press, defined An idiom is a number of words which, taken
together, mean something different from the individial words of the idiom when they
stand alone.
Because of different perspectives, the Vietnamese researchers also have the
different understanding about the concept of idioms. Here are some of the following
typical authors:

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

- Accoding to Nguyen Nhu Y, an idiom is a pharse or a fixed syntatic group has a

monolithic semantics.
- Nguyen Lan defined that idioms are fixed phrase to express a concept.
- Ho Le stated that an idiom is a word combination which has a stable structure and
a firgurative meaning, and it is used to describe an image, a phenomenon, a
characteristic or a state.
- Nguyen Thien Giap was of the opinion that idioms are set expressions have both the
complete in meaning and valuable description. Idioms express conceptions are
usually based on specific images and symbols.
- T in ting Vit by Hoang Phe, Da Nang Publisher, 2006, defined that an idiom
is a familiar fixed set which usually can not be explained simply by the meaning of
the word making it
- The author group of the project Nhp mn ngn ng hc considered that a idiom
is a characteristic unit of fixed language about the stability in the structure and the
symbolic value in meaning.
- An author group of the book C s ngn ng hc v ting Vit also defined idiom
through definition of the fixed phrase: An idiom is a fixed phrase which completes
in structure and meaning. Its meanings are iconic and/or sexy.
- Hoang Van Hanh comments idiom is a kind of fixed set, stability in form -
structure, completion, ornateness in meaning, is widely used in daily communication,
especially in the oral.
In general, basically, the way to understand of the authors is not the same. If so,
that's the differences in a few extra points. These differences do not greatly affect
much to the view on idiom of author. They do not have much conflict, all of those
share the basic idea: they are words, phrases or expressions that can not be taken
literally; when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the
basic one you would find in a dictionary

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CHAPTER 3
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
3.1. SURVEY
To carry out this study, we conduct on surveyring about 300 of English and
Vietnamese idioms for each kind of languge in order to find out the similarites and
differences of English and Vietnamese idioms.
3.2. SYNTATIC FIELDS OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IDIOMS
In this part, idioms will be focused on the syntatic features in both languages. There are
various ways of identifying based on different standard because the exploration is quite
hard and unfeasible. Here are just two main ways that have been considered most:
Identification based on component words or phrases
Identification based on grammatical structure

3.2.1. By word and phrase

With this aspect, idioms of comparison can be divided into three groups:

3.2.1.1. Comparison with adjectives

This kind of comparison can be constructed as the following structure:

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As + adjective + as + (a/an/the) Noun

It is used to describe the similarities between people, things or places. However, in

this structure, the similarities are exposed in a clear way, explicitly rather than other
structure.The meaning as well as the characteristics of the adjectives are conveyed
symbolically through some related things in our lives so that people can easily think
of when they come across those adjectives. When it comes to Vietnamese, we also
have this case, instead of using as..as we usually make use of nh.

For examples:
As dead as a doornail Cht ng nh tng
As dry as a bone Tr nh xng
As fresh as a daisy Ti nh hoa
As good as gold Qu nh vng

3.2.1.2. Comparison with verbs

Unlike adjectives, comparison with verbs has a different structure:

Verbs + like + a/an/the + Noun

This kind of comparison is said to be implicit, yet its not hard to interpret the
meaning of the whole comparative idioms. It is used with some certain verbs that have
simple meanings, but when taking part in forming an idiom, it can make the action
mentined clearer and more explicable, emphasize the behaviours of the goals in each
utterance, and give the reader a deep understanding, easier to comprehend thanks to its
simplicity.
For examples:
To stick like glue Dnh nh keo

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To cry like a baby Khc nh a tr

To spend money like water Tiu tin nh nc
3.2.1.3. Miscellaneous comparison
Although many idioms follow a certain rule as being mentioned above with
adjectives and verbs as well, some kinds of comparison do not follow any regular
patterns. Some structures that we may come across:

(Verb) + like/as + a clause

(Verb) + like/as + a verb phrase
(Verb) + like/as + a noun phrase
Like + noun + like + noun

Examples of this are not as abundant as those of the other kinds; however, they are
employed very often in reality, such as: to be like a bull in a china shop, to have a
memory like an elephant, to go as a snails pace, tin vo nh kh nh gi vo nh
trng, nh hn gp ma ro.
3.2.2. By grammatical structure
Despite lots of idioms of comparison based on grammatical feature, it can be
divided into three main popular kinds that have a comparative meaning with
Vietnamese one. Here are three main cases:

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English idioms Vietnamese idioms

As A as B A nh B
As dumb as a statue Cm nh hn
As gentle as a lamb Hin nh cc bt
As fat as butter Mp nh ln
Like/as B Nh B
Like two peas in a pod Nh hai git nc
A like/as B A nh B
To follow like a shadow Theo nh hnh vi bng

3.3. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF COMPARATIVE IDIOMS IN

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMMESE
3.3.1. Similarities
Although the culture of two nations is different, ways of thinking and looking at the
world of English and Vietnamese is somehow similar. Hence, both Vietnamese and
English express ideas and concepts in the same way. In fact, a large number of
Vietnamese idioms of comparison are similar with English idioms of comparison in
terms of both concept and image to express.

English idioms Vietnamese idioms

As black as crow en nh qu
As black as ink en nh mc
As black as midnight Ti nh m
As bright as day Sng nh ban ngy
As big as an elephant To nh voi
As blind as a bat M nh di
As busy as a bee Chm ch nh ong
As bold as brass Mt dy my dn
As brave as a lion Can m nh s t

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As clean as a whistle Sch nh chi

As clear as day Sng nh ban ngy
As cunning as a fox Gian nh co
As cold as ice Lnh nh bng
As dead as a doornail Cht ng nh tng
As dry as a bone Tr nh xng
As fresh as a daisy Ti nh hoa
As good as gold Qy nh vng
As hard as nails Rn nh anh
As light as a feather Nh nh lng
As light as air Nh nh khng kh
As pure as snow Trong trng nh tuyt
As quick as lightning Nhanh nh chp
As sharp as a razor Bn nh dao co
As silent as the dead Im nh cht
As slow as a tortoise Chm nh ra
As slow as a snail Chm nh sn
As solid as a rock Cng nh
As strong as an ox Khe nh tru
As slippery as an eel Trn nh ln
As stink as a polecat Hi nh chn
As fat as a big Bo nh ln
As fierce as a lion D nh cp
As thick as ants ng nh kin
As timid as a rabbit Nht nh th
As white as snow Trng nh tuyt
As wet as a drowned rat t nh chut lt
Like father like son Cha no con ny
To fight like cat and dog Cn nhau nh ch vi mo
To stick like a leech Dai nh a
To stick like glue Dnh nh keo
To cry like a baby Khc nh a tr
To swim like fish Bi nh c
To follow like a shadow Theo nh hnh vi bng

3.3.2. Differences
Culture always has a huge amount of influence on language. Differences in culture
indubitably entail differences in language, including idioms of comparison.

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3.3.2.1. The same content but different images to express

We can find lots of English and Vietnamese idioms of comparison which have
similar meanings but utilize different comparative images. Difference in culture is the
major explanation.
Its been clarified that Vietnamese people have an age-old tradition of wet-rice
cultivation. Since idioms as well as idioms of comparison are generally product of
labouring people through the process of working, discovering and creating, they also
carry with them the traces of wet-rice agriculture. In everyday life, Vietnamese people
usually have to do with different tools and animals that effectively serve their farming.
Consequently and easy to understand, when making and using comparative idioms,
they often take those familiar things into comparison.
For instant, the image of buffaloes was especially familiar to Vietnamese in the
past. That's why Vietnamese idioms of comparison consist of images related to
buffaloes. Buffaloes pull ploughs, work very hard everyday to help farmers in their
farming. As a result, wanting to mention strength, people often refer to buffaloes. In
fact, to talk about someone very strong, the Vietnamese have the idiom "khe nh
tru". Besides that, we also have cc nh tru, en nh tru,The image of
buffaloes or tru can also be found is many folksongs, sayings and proverbs, such as
Con tru l u c nghip; Tru khe chng lo cy tra; Tru i ta bo tru ny,
tru n no c tru cy vi ta,
On the other hand, when talking about strength, English people, with nomadic
culture, usually say as strong as a horse. Its because that horse is much more
familiar, intimate to them. In English culture, horses are such versatile and special
animals. Being very strong, loyal and vigorous, they are used in wars, fighting, in
transportation and entertainment and even in farming work. If a person is really sturdy
and energetic, he should be likened to a horse.
In spite of that, it doesn't mean that English people don't consider buffaloes as
strong animals or Vietnamese people don't regard horses as strong animals. That
results just from the difference in culture.

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Also, dragons are a kind of animal which is very close in fertile imagination of
Vietnamese people. Because of that, the image as a dragon appear in the Vietnamese
idiom of comparison "n nh rng cun" to talk about someone who eats very fast
and devours a large amount of food. In contrast, for English people, when talking
about big appetite, they would like to mention the horse, as in to eat like a horse.
Similarly, take as gentle as a lamb and hin nh c khoai into consideration. As
a matter of fact, lamb is far more familiar to English people than its to Vietnamese
people. Conversely, khoai (sweet potatoes) which are cultivated and used as a kind
of food, is one common product of every Vietnamese family.
One more example is that:

As tough as leather/ old boots Dai nh a

In England, they often move from one place to another in cold weather. As a result
of that, leather and boots are very necessary for them to protect them the getting cold.
Furthermore, those things must be made as thick as possible so as to bring the best.
However, in a tropical country like Vietnam, we rarely use boots or leather but simple
shoes or thin clothes. Vietnamese people are mostly farmers, so working in the field is
unavoidable, especially wet rice production needs farmers to work in water during to
many hours the environment has a lot of kinds of animal like a. The feature of
this animal is that it sticks absolutely strongly.
Besides, the differences in the ways of thinking and observing the world make
differences in the images of idiomatic comparisons. Take some following examples to
illustrate that:

English idioms Vietnamese idioms

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As easy as ABC D nh tr bn tay

As easy as pie D nh tr bn tay

As easy as anything D nh tr bn tay

As smooth as butter Mt nh nhung

As pale as a ghost Xanh nh tu l

As lazy as a lizard Li nh hi

As soft as wax Mm nh bn

As merry as a cricket Vui nh tt

As cheerful as the birds Vui nh tt

As glad as a fly Vui nh tt

As happy as a child Vui nh tt

As happy as a clam Vui nh tt

As dark as midnight Ti nh m ba mi

As black as midnight Ti nh m ba mi

As close as herrings Cht nh nm

As soundly as a log Say nh cht (ng)

As cold as marble Lnh nh tin

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As cold as ice Lnh nh tin

Lnh nh tin
Kh nh ngi
As dry as a biscuit
nh gc
As red as lipstick
Gy nh xng kh
As thin as finger
Yu nh sn
As weak as a kitten
Yu nh sn
As weak as a baby
en nh ct nh chy
As black as a stack of black cats
Trn nh qu bng
As round as a barrel
Xa nh tri t
As old as the hills
Cay nh t
As hot as mustard
t nh tm ti
Like hot cake
Im nh t
As silent as the dead
Im nh t
As silent as the grave

Those dissimilarities are the inevitable result of different cultures, living condition
as well as ways of thinking, observing and interpreting the world. As we can see, some

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concepts are obviously distinct in a certain region or culture, which makes it easier to
explain the unlikeness in language and particularly, in idioms.
3.3.2.2. The same components but the dissimilar content
People of different culture can have different points of view. Some objects, animals
or phenomena sometimes can be found in both nations, both cultures, but they can be
associated with positive meanings in one culture and negative meanings in the other.
That easily explains why there are many idioms of comparison which have the same
comparative images but express different meanings in English and Vietnamese.
Indeed, using the idiom r nh ban ngy, the Vietnamese want to indicate an
event which has nothing fishy. Meanwhile English people use the idiom as bright as
day to describe a light room. Besides, when the weather is fine and sunny with good
natural light, English people say: Its as bright as day.
Another excellent example is as good as gold. In English, this comparative idiom
is usually used to indicate a child or an adult who is well-behaved, decorous and
disciplined. Differently, Vietnamese people often say Tt nh vng to mention a
thing or object which has very good quality. In fact, nobody would use tt nh vng
to talk about a person.
In addition, chc nh inh ng ct is a very commonly used Vietnamese
comparative idiom which depicts something unchangeable, steadfast. Interestingly, in
English, as hard as nail often indicates a very strict person.
Besides, wanting to compliment someone on his or her beauty of eyes, Vietnamese
people say: Mt c sc nh dao co. Still, English people use the idiom as sharp as
a razor to refer to ones brainpower.
3.3.2.3. Differences with human components
Last but not least, lets have look at the last component in idioms of comparison
human component. It is not just borrowed from the animals or things in daily life but
also in the human image. One interesting and noteworthy point is that people often
liken certain human characteristics, qualities (Whether good or bad) or apperances to
those of well- know persons that used to exist in Literature or History of their country.

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Distinctly, each culture, each nation has its own characters. For example, Vietnamese
people are all familiar with Cui, Hon Th, Bt, Cha Chm just as English
people with Othello, Croesus, Larry, Adam, Lazarus, Trojan... Because of
that fact, each place has very typical and unique phrases as well as comparative
idioms.
In Vietnamese, as describing a person who is very jealous, we often see the image
of a woman named Hon Th- a character in Thuy Kieu story who had extreme and
terrible jealousy, somtimes cruel. So in Vietnamese idioms we have Ghen nh Hon
Th. On the other hand, to English, jealousy is compared with Othello a character
in Shakespeares play: As jealous as Othello. Certainly, the image of comparison is
different but we have the same indication and meaning. Moreover, for depicting the
state of happiness and great fortune, Vietnamese people usually use Sng nh tin
while it would be As happy as a king in English languge. Actually, tin (fairy) is
not real, she is just a product of imagination in some fairy tales which is used to teach
children and to bring happiness to everyone with her magic, people also trust that a
fairy can help them, evade the poverty. In contrast, when talking about happiness,
English people use a concrete, real image king who is a person having the highest
status and power in society. In this comparison, English people are quite more concrete
than Vietnamese ones.
In Vietnamese, when talking about someone who lies to others deftly and very
often, we have Ni di nh Cui since according to a famous anecdote, Cui is an
expert at pretending and telling lies. Another example is N nh Cha Chm, which
is utilized to indicate somebody who is over head and ear in debt. According to classic
reference, Cha Chm is a person who was deeply in debt before he became a King.
Then, he didnt know to whom he owed money and how to pay them all, so he had to
exempt everyone from tax for one year. There are many other examples: Vng nh
cha b anh (deserted, unvisited, empty); Hin nh Bt (very gentle, benign,
willing to help); a nghi nh To Tho Similarly, in English, we can see many
examples. One typical example is As rich as Croesus. Croesus was an extremely

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weathy king. He was so rich and generous that his guests were all given the permission
to take as much gold as they could on their leaving. Besides that, we have As old as
Adam; As poor as Lazarus; As happy as Larry; To work like Trojan
Furthermore, it is true that the main religion in Vietnam is Buddhism. As a matter
of fact, some idioms of comparison are affected by some image heritage in Buddhism.
For examples: As fat as Di Lac (Bo nh ng Di Lc), as untidy as La Han (By nh
ng La Hn), as gentle as Buddha (Hin nh Bt)
In short, comparison using human components is easier to express or describe
something or somebody. The listeners will easily catch the ideas from the speakers in
an effective way. However, for every culture has its unique images, it is strange and
difficult for foreigners or language learners to fully and correctly interpret and
understand them.
To sum up, it is because of differences in culture and viewpoints that cause a lot of
intersting dissimilarities in language in general and in idioms of comparison in
particular. Obviously, by examining, pondering and comparing the images of
comparison in idioms of different languages, we can know a lot of things. It is true that
the images of comparison often take along with them the national or regional identities
which can not be totally confounded.

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CHAPTER 4
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
4.1. PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
4.1.1. In understanding
Problems
- Various grammatical structures: As we know, idioms of comparison have many kinds
so to understand all of them is quite a challenge. Learners should remember that
there are a lot of different structures for that. We might have regular structure,
irregular or imgrammatical structure.
- Distinctive cultural features: Cultural gap is always the big obstacle for most
foreign learners. If we do not get the tradition or the cultural value of the other
country, we surely find it a big problem to catch the meaning conveyed through some
idioms. Or else, if we can understand the meaning from that idiom, we are still
confused when looking for an equivalent in our mother tongue.
Solutions
- We should learn idioms in a specific situation, a real context in real life rather than
learn them by heart.
- We try to guess the meaning of idioms to have an overview before looking them up
in the dictionary.
- We should know about the cultural values that consist of customs, belief, concepts,
behaviors in order to communicate with foreigners naturally.

4.1.2. In memorizing
Problems
- A large quantity of English idioms: Each country has their large number of idioms
which often make the foreigners scared to study all, and so does English. The number

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is about to increase days by days. Therefore, such large number is one of the causes
that stop the people from learning them.
- Infrequent use: Because we rarely apply idioms in our daily lives as well as the lack
of environment practicing them, many people can not use idioms effectively.
Solutions
- We should not worry about the number of idioms, we just need to memorize some
useful ones that is common in daily communication
- We should devide idioms into some parts to make connection easily: comparison
with nouns, verbs, adjectives
- We should create conversations using idioms.

4.2. PEDAGOGICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH IDIOMS

4.2.1 Which idioms to teach
This is a primary consideration since teachers always wish their learners tolearn those
idioms that will allow them to participate more fully in interactionswith native speakers.
Since there are thousands of idioms in any language, peoplemay want to devote attention
to the most useful ones. Generally, most usefuloverlaps with most frequent.
Fortunately, recent research has greatly contributedto knowledge in this area; English
teachers may consult the work by Liu (2003) onthe most frequent used spoken idioms
in American English. In short, frequency is asignificant criterion when choosing idioms
for teaching purpose.
4.2.2. Separated lessons or integrated ones
If teachers decide to devote attention to idioms in their class, they may
considercreating separated lessons so as to teach useful idioms. However, this is
notnecessarily the most effective way. The reason is that a lesson on idioms is likelyto be
limited in two ways, the time spent on them and the naturalness of languageused to
contextualized the idioms. For these reasons, many people have argued infavor of an
integrated lesson which involves incorporating idioms into regular onethat focus on any of
the four skills.
Specifically, the first step would be to raise learners awareness of idioms sothat they
should develop a habit of noticing them in everyday situations, includingreading and

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listening. Learners can be asked to keep an idiom notebook; they canlater share
their examples in class and ask questions about the usage. Teachers candraw attention to
new idioms by taking them into vocabulary-improving or readingactivities. Teachers
should also take advantages of authentic materials like on TV,in newspapers, magazines
and modify them for classroom purposes based on thelearners level.Another way is to
instruct and familiarize learners with the way of learningidioms by connecting the new
information with something they already know andby making a picture in their mind.
Imagination could do much to help remembernew idioms.
4.2.3. Specific classroom activities
Most researchers suggest using a wide range of techniques. Firstly, it isassumed that
most vocabulary teaching strategies will be applicable to idioms aswell. An important
first step is exposing learners to idioms in context forcontextual clues are useful to
learners in comprehending unknown idioms.Learners should be encouraged to infer the
meaning of the idiom by usingcontextual clues, background knowledge or first language
equivalents. Teachersmay help learners during this process, especially if the idiom is not
easily workedout. There are several techniques to make learners aware of the link
between theidioms literal and figurative meanings. For instance, learners can draw
pictures topresent the literal meaning; this can be particularly effective for lower
proficiency learners for idioms which are image evoking (e.g., let the hair down, keep
an eye on someone, twist ones arm) Alternatively, the teacher can providean image
associated with the idiom. It might be noteworthy to mention that imagesor pictures are
more than mere entertainment for learners. Researchers suggest thatforming a mental
image of an idiom is a powerful tool for learning.After presenting idioms in context and
helping learners to infer their meaning,teachers should revise the idioms that have been
studied. This can be done innumerous ways, including typical vocabulary exercises like
matching idioms totheir meanings, filling in blanks with the appropriate idiom, replacing
underlined expressions with an idiom, etc.
Finally, to promote output and creative language use, learners can writedialogues
using the idioms or tell stories based on pictures.

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Rome was not built in a day. To master idiomatic expressions, teachers andlearners
should bear in mind that idiom learning is a lifelong process.
Another significant point is that by teaching idioms in class using some of
theaforementioned techniques, teachers are also providing learners with strategies
fordealing with figurative language in general. Through a greater awareness of idioms,
their literal meaning and underlying conceptual metaphors, learners will bebetter
equipped with figurative language and make sense of it without teachersguidance.
4.3. THE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In this study, we only concentrate on syntatic, semantic and cutural features to find out
the similarities and differences of comparative idioms between English and Vietnamese.
However, during researching progress, we can not study all related matters perfectly
because of limited level and knowledge. Having some mistakes in our study is
unvoidable. Besides, we still have some difficulties in research deeply to some special
structures as well as specific fields. Therefore, we hope that our study will be more
perfect if readers already contribute experiences and valuable ideas.
4.4. CONCLUSION
Idioms are present in all languages, so it is very necessary to study them. The study
involves the contrastive study of the syntactic and semantic in order to find out the
similarities and difference of English and Vietnamese.
After investigating this, we come to the following conclusions:
Syntactically, analyzed idioms are in word and phrase and in grammatical structures.
Semantically, the meaning of all idioms is expressed through cultural features.
In the last chapter of the study, we have attemed to give some problems and
suggestions in understanding and memorizing idioms for English learners in general and
Vietnamese people in particular with the hope that they can master their meanings and
use them better and more effectively in translating, teaching and in learning language.
Moreover, through this essay, we wish they can get a good overview of all kinds of
comparison idioms in English so that they can be used smartly and flexibly.

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

4.5. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Through this study, we have some suggestions for the further research:
- How to translate and use idioms in both English and Vietnames effectively.
- How to avoid misunderstanding when using idioms in communication.

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The study of comparative idioms in English and Vietnamese

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https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/idioms-of-comparison-in-
vietnamese-and-english-english-language-essay

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