A while ago, I talked about how my daughter’s class made drawings illustrating the literal meanings of idiomatic expressions.  This is a great way to help children, and people learning English as a second language, to understand these sayings..

One drawing my daughter did was an illustration of the expression "follow your nose". 

"Follow your nose" can mean two different things… one is to do something based on intuition, to trust your feelings.  The other is used when giving directions and means go in a straight line (though I’ve personally never heard it used the 2nd way here in New York).

Here’s my daughter’s illustration of the literal meaning of "follow your nose".  Notice the little nose in the bottom right part of the drawing!

This is a great way to teach idiomatic expressions in any language.  Have your class, or child, draw a picture of a saying and explain its idiomatic meaning.  Have fun with it!

-Mama Lisa