Is your English idiomatic or 20 idioms for improving IT English

Do you know what idiomatic English is? How can programmers learn English? What is worth paying attention to? The answers to these and other questions in our article.

Considering how much time we all spend online, IT professions are simply necessary for us. And since more than 75% of the total number of orders in this area require knowledge of English, they simply need to know English. How can this language be useful in their work? What is the best way for programmers to learn a foreign language? And what idioms can significantly improve your English if you already know it at a good level?

A question of benefit

Imagine that you are an IT specialist looking for a job. How and where will you need English? For example:

• When you write a resume, portfolio and cover letter when responding to a job.
• During the interview, to answer HR questions. It will also be important not to get nervous to the point of speechlessness, so you not only need to know how to answer in English – you need to be confident in it.
• During work for constant communication with clients, most of which will be in English. In addition to the language itself, it is important to take into account the percentage of formality and clarity of understanding of the tasks. You may also need to keep records, travel on business trips, represent your business on forums, give presentations, and take additional training in English-language programs.

It all comes down to the fact that it is important not only to know specific terms and phrases, but also to have good communication skills. What should be paid attention to speed up the process?

Process question

In any process, it is important to know and be able to use its advantages, as well as take into account weaknesses. What should a programmer pay attention to?

• Most likely, logic works well for you, which means that with systematic studies you will not have a problem with grammar rules.
• If you have a good base of general colloquial vocabulary, it will not be particularly difficult for you to narrow it down, especially since very often some specific words or phrases have another, more general meaning.
• The list of cons may include a lack of experience with grammatical constructions, but regular practice can save you here.
• Other disadvantages include the language barrier, conversational and auditory. Since the reason here is the lack of experience, how do you think how to overcome this problem? That’s right, talk and listen more.

If you need to improve your English, you can do it yourself. There are enough interesting materials on the Internet to draw up a personal program. But if you feel that you need help, it is best to contact a specialist right away. He will not only give you a general program of classes and help with materials, but will also monitor your progress, mixing in more complex things as soon as you are ready for it. Speaking of more complex stuff…

Leveling question: 20 idioms

If you already know English at level B2 (the minimum level required by most large companies), in addition to working to progress to higher levels, you can also learn and use a few idioms. They almost always should not be translated literally, and they are also an indicator of a high level of English. So, 20 idioms useful for representatives of the IT industry:

1. To pass with flying colors – pass or do something “excellent”.
2. Big cheese is a very important person, someone from the company’s management, the boss.
3. Cream of the crop is the best of the best.
4. To hit the books – diligently study, study a topic.
5. Look like a million dollars – look attractive, expensive, rich, presentable.
6. It’s not rocket science – not very difficult.
7. Don’t cry over spilt milk – do not be discouraged because of what has already happened and cannot be fixed.
8. One smart cookie is a very smart person.
9. To pull your socks up – improve your work.
10. By hook or by crook – at any cost.
11. Cut corners – to do something in the simplest or fastest way possible.
12. Get/keep the ball rolling – start/keep the process going.
13. Go the extra mile – make an extra effort.
14. Behind the scenes – do something behind the scenes.
15. In a nutshell – in a nutshell, in a nutshell.
16. Long shot is a risky bet, unlikely.
17. Hot potato is a sensitive subject, a sensitive issue.
18. Fill in for someone – replace, replace someone.
19. Be / go broke – go bankrupt, go bankrupt.
20. Blue sky thinking – out-of-the-box thinking.

These idioms are universal and can be useful not only during the direct discussion of the working draft, but also in other life situations. We hope they will be of great use to you.

Did you like the material? Read more cool articles here.

Good luck in learning English!

Vladyslava Rykova

Expert in legal marketing. Head of marketing agency MAVR.

Business degree “Master of Business Administration” (MBA).