White Elephant - English Idioms

The idiom "white elephant" refers to an expensive item that is costly to maintain, for example: Shortly after Tanya inherited her aunt's castle, it turned out to be a white elephant she could not afford. The phrase originates from a long time ago when white elephants where regarded as precious and even holy in Asia, especially in Thailand. When the king was displeased with someone, he would gift them a white elephant as the upkeeping would likely ruin them.

Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next.

Firstly I have learned about the 4 methods of teaching the English Language. When teaching the higher grades I will allow students to help one another to use and learn the language. I definitely learned that the aimed at fluency practice should not be intervened with by the teacher even if mistakes occur. The danger of over-correcting is that students will lose motivation.This unit provided a great variety of teaching tools to use. It also reminded me that a teacher should be aware of the problems that arise when he or she talks too much or provides too much (or too little) correction or provides correction at the wrong time. I am also now more aware of the importance of a correct structure of a lesson and some examples of correct structures.

White Elephant - English Idioms

Check out ITTT's Blog Posts