Have you ever missed doing something as if it’s the first time? Okay, I’m not insinuating to talk naughty here. :P What I meant is the idea of performing an activity in its simplest, basic form particularly in learning a language such as English.
This blog has reminded me about our idiom for today. Yes, you’re right! It’s ‘back to basics’! What does this idiom mean? According to Freedictionary.com, ‘back to basics’ means to return to basic instruction; or start the learning process over again.
Example:
- Setareh will get back to basics in teaching her pupils since it’s the opening of the new school year.
Another definition of this expression is to return to the main principles of something.
- It’s back to basics for singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera as she recorded an album that sounded simple, but with classic upbeat melodies thus showcasing her majestic voice.
Since I’ve accomplished a lot of challenging activities, achieved some of my goals, and met plenty of blue-sky thinkers here on MyEC for the last eight years, I believe it would be an interesting idea to try myself to get back to basics in my learning adventures.
I hope you’d understand what I’m trying to explain here considering we were once newbies too. Could you remember the times when we posted our first blog or discussion that we addressed it without any complication? We would write about simple and basic topics until we got too overwhelmed with so many grammar rules and lessons that we’d thought of giving up. Or sometimes we felt as if our English level isn’t improving anymore because we already managed to achieve minor successes.
Maybe we should take things slowly and enjoy the grateful moments one at a time! But let’s be mindful that even though we would aim for simplicity in something, we shouldn’t be complacent and forgetful why we are learning here in the first place because at the end of the day, getting back to basics doesn’t mean sacrificing perfection in anything we do.
How about you? Have you thought of going back to basics in terms of your learning strategies? Share your thoughts on the comment box below, or better yet use our idiom for the day in your example sentence.
Thanks in advance!
Comments
Hello, Shoba!
Those are great examples, too! You've used the expression correctly. I'm truly glad that you found my blogs useful. It's always exciting to share something that you think would be beneficial to others in terms of learning English.
Many, many thanks for leaving your comment!
See you around,
Robbie :)
Hi, Luci!
I agree with you! Whenever I reread my first few blogs, I cringed or blushed a bit to see my grammar mistakes; however, I'd like to keep them as they were to serve as reminders that I should keep continue learning and improving. They were like scars that're so stubborn to get rid off.
Thank you for commenting! Have a great weekend!
Robbie :)
Hello, Risty!
Please bear with my late reply, I was a bit distracted by our writing challenge. It's so nice of you to share your own example sentences and you've used it very well. I think this idiom is rarely used in writing or even in conversation. I'm glad, Christina would always remind me of this expression whenever I play her music CD hi hi.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about this!
Cheers!
Robbie :)
I would like to get back to basics and live without phones and laptops for sometime.
The teacher went back to basics when the students couldn't understand the new lesson.
The director went back to basics on his latest film and it was a great hit.
Great post as usual, dear Robbie. I always pick up some new words and phrases from your posts. :)
Robbie, you are so brilliant! I met this idiom long way back, but not using it in any of my normal conversation, even on my blog. Anyway, I will never miss the chance to put my own usage of this idioms now, as I appreciate your great effort informing us, so we better get back to basics now and please see below examples,
I need to get back to basics: be old-fashion, be covered, be myself.
But please don’t blame me as I hate to get back to basics, I want to elevate learning but reminiscing old memories still tickle my thoughts
The contracting companies should get back to basics to know the roots of all these miscalculations regarding inflation cost of construction materials.
Good employees will always willing to get back to basics phase and analyze in-depth solution to one’s problem in performance towards work.
Thanks for sharing! Loving the idioms every day.