Happy Learning!

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I quite frequently sign off with the catch phrase “Happy Learning!” It’s my belief that happy, motivated learners make the best language learners.

Noted linguist Stephen Krashen put it this way: “Language acquisition proceeds best when the acquirer is ‘open’ to the input, not ‘on the defensive’; not anxious about performance.” In essence, happy learners are receptive learners.

Our friends at Kaplan International put together some illustrations on their site about different idioms that you can use to describe happiness. These idioms give you the ability to say how happy you are in several different ways. Once you take a look at the illustrations, be sure to check out the sentences below the infographic to see how those idioms are used in context.

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How might we use these happiness idioms in real-life situations?

Example 1:

Mom: How was last night’s New Year’s Eve party at Jessie’s house?

Dana: We had a whale of a time ringing in the new year!

Example 2:

I am absolutely on cloud nine, because I just found out I passed the TOEFL!

Example 3:

We are tickled pink! An ultrasound just confirmed that we are expecting a baby in 7 months!

Example 4:

The St. Louis Cardinals were on top of the world when they won the World Series in 2011.

Example 5:

I’m happy as a clam swinging in this hammock on the beach.

Example 6:

The stadium was buzzing when Justin Bieber took the stage.

Example 7:

Stephanie: Congratulations on your engagement!

Eileen: Thanks so much! We’re over the moon about it.

Example 8:

I’m in seventh heaven now that I finally got accepted to Stanford University!

I hope you find these creative ways to say you are happy helpful. You can see this and other illustrations on Kaplan International’s website by clicking here.

Happy Learning!

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