Learning English

He has a heart of...?
Love is in the air and hearts are everywhere in this episode of Shakespeare Speaks. But hearts aren't only used to talk about love. Next we'll explore some more idioms with heart.

We asked you to complete two heart idioms - here are the answers:

• If someone has a kind and generous character, we say they have a heart of gold.
• And if someone has an unfriendly and unkind character, we say they have a heart of stone.

Now let's take a look at some more heart idioms. 

Do the activity

To do

Look at sentences 1-5 and the list of heart idioms A-E underneath it. In each sentence, the words in bold can be replaced with a heart idiom from the list. Decide which heart phrase goes in which sentence - pay attention to the context!

1) I felt very sad and disappointed when I opened the letter and realised that I had failed my exams.

2) I told her all my secrets and worries and she seemed concerned, but then she went and told everyone!

3) Sam can be so annoying at times, but he only has good intentions.

4) I pretended to be interested when my boss told me about my promotion, but I just don't feel very interested or enthusiastic any more.

5) I know the entire Shakespeare play Othello from memory.

A) by heart

B) his heart is in the right place

C) my heart sank

D) I poured my heart out

E) my heart's not in it

To do 

Now try the quiz to find out if you are right - and to check that you can remember the idioms.

How did you do?
Well done if you worked out the correct meaning of all the phrases. Now you can learn them by heart and use them in conversation! 

Did you enjoy learning about the evil Iago? Make sure you watch The green eyed monster to find out more about Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello - and to learn some great colour idioms!

Over to you

We asked you to tell us: do you wear your heart on your sleeve or do you keep your cards close to your chest - and why? Are there any problems with being too open with your feelings - or being too secretive? Here are some of your stories:

Fauziah

I'm a person that really open about my feelings. I just can't pretend or disguise it. I rarely make a poker face. Especially when it comes to romantic relationship, I wear my heart on my sleeves. And to be honest, sometimes it hurts to be vulnerable. But in the end I have to embrace my character and be happy about it :)

__________________

Ia, Georgia 

I used to believe that I wore my heart on my sleeve ,but  my   lecturer   explained  us  so –‘’Realize! You are like actresses  and  actors  when  you  wear  make- up , because  you  want  to make  your faces look  better ,   drop- dead  gorgeous (very attractive) ,because  you  don’t  want  anyone  to  see  what  you  are.”This is one episode of  art history  and   it reminds  me  the  song ‘’Try”:’’ You don’t have to change a single thing…” It  seems  she  was  right .

 Is  there  any  problem  about  being   too  open  about  my  feelings?  Yes, there  is . Imagine  for example  the   scientist  who  is  searching  for  the subject . She  finds  it  interesting  if  there  are  some wh-questions  which  haven’t  been  answered  yet. If  not , his  heart  isn’t  in  it. Exactly  the  same, no  one  is  going  to  put  all  (his or her ) cards  on  the table .Of  course ,there  are  wishful  thinkers   with  their  pipe   dreams . At  last,  I  think  there  is  no  need  to  be  too  open  about  your  feelings. But  having  a  heart of gold ? How  wonderful !  If  only  all  the  people  around  the  world  had  such  a  heart!  Living  in  peace – this  is  my  dream .

So  is  it possible  to  be  too  open  about  your  feelings?   William   Shakespeare   speaks:

’You  say  that  you  love rain, but  you  open  your  umbrella  when  it  rains. You  say  that  you  love  the  sun, but  you  find a  shadow   spot  when  the  sun  shines. You   say  that  you  love  the wind , but  you  close  your  windows  when  wind  blows. This  is  why  I  am  afraid , you  say  that you  love me too.”

__________________

Svetlana

I am a very open person and I wear my heart on my sleeve that makes me vulnerable. But I can't change myself and I don't think I need to. I believe that only a very brave and spiritually strong people can afford not to hide feelings and be honest and open. And I hope that I can manage to be myself even someone hurts me. I hope I won't lose my belief that most of people are kind and have hearts of gold.

__________________

Xie, China

When I was a child,I tended to wear my heart on my sleeve. I liked to talk,to share my feelings,to express my affections to my parents or the boy who made me flipped. But when I grew older,things changed.Now the friends around me defines me a gentle and quiet girl. Sometimes I also am confused what really I am and what exactly changed me.You know that, every Chinese student must go through Collage Entrance Examination,the the burden of study, I think I was changed. Not only 'cause the study,but some afraid of showing myself more,someone may get advantages from it then I was be lagged behind.

Now I am in college,without high burden,I am still used to keep my cards in my chest.Because not all people like what you feel and not all people care what you feel.Lonely ,frustrated or something else,I learn to digest by myself instead of updating my social network.Maybe only my parents really care your feelings,and some of my  friends may take a relief when I fall on hard time behind their mobile phones.But I still have some true friends actually,and in their presence I can pour my heart out without worries.

So I think it's growth,from naive to mature to be less vulnerable and to prevent us being getted hurt.

__________________

Audryo

I usually wear my heart on my sleeve. But it doesn't go like this all the time. I think that it depends on the person to whom you are exposing yourself. For instance, if you are before a loyal person, you can be an open book. However, if he has a heart of stone, you shouldn't pour your heart out - keeping your cards close to your chest is the safest behaviour in order to get away from being the subject of a gossip! 

__________________

End of session

That’s all for now. But don't worry, we have a heart of gold so we'll be back soon to help you with your English. Return to these pages to find out more about William Shakespeare's life and work - and to learn a useful new English expression. In the meantime, go to our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram pages for more fun with English!