In the world today, there are 5,000 to 6,000 living languages, of which English is by far the most widely used. Approximately 350 million people speak English as their first language. About the same number use it as a second language. It is the English language that is used as the language of aviation, international sport and pop music. 75% of the world’s mail is in English, 60% of the world’s radio stations broadcast in English and more than half of the world’s periodicals are printed in English. It is also the English language that is used as an official language in 44 countries, and as the language of business, commerce and technology in many others. English is now an effective medium of international communication.
In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent. It can’t be denied that all foreign learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations. One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms.
Each nation’s language lies in itself similar and different concepts on many fields of life such as humane values, ways of thinking, behavior standards, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social conventions, etc. Words and expressions including idioms have formed the vocabulary system of a language. Idioms are considered as special factors of a language’s vocabulary system because they reflect cultural specific characteristics of each nation, including material and spiritual values. Therefore, a lot of researchers have long shown their concerns for idioms.