Phraseologisms in reader' letters and their use in teaching German as a foreign language

The scope of present studies of idiomatic expressions involves both the classical ones selected on the basis of language criteria and other pragmatic expressions. Idioms par excellence, peripheries, situational expressions and collocations make up the core of the phraseology. Idiomatic expressions constitute the basic language tools that shape texts. Depending on the text types, they may function in various ways and perform different roles. The aim of the article is to present typical letter idiomatic expressions which are commonly found in readers’ letters. The letters come from the following German magazines Der Spiegel and Die Zeit. The author of the article also mentions the usefulness of readers’ letters in teaching German at various levels. In the last part of the article, some methods of using idiomatic expressions in lessons have been mentioned as well as exercises and some guidelines for teacher