" by Barbara Raifsnider : A comprehensive self-study guide focusing on idiomatic expressions and natural pronunciation to help you stop sounding like a textbook. English Fluency Handbook

Treat the PDF like a script for improv theater.

Phrasal verbs are perhaps the most notorious hurdle for English learners. While a textbook might teach a student to "extinguish" a fire or "postpone" a meeting, a native speaker will almost always say to "put out" a fire or "put off" a meeting. These combinations of verbs and prepositions are everywhere. Similarly, idioms and colloquialisms add color and cultural context to daily speech. Telling someone to "break a leg" before a presentation or describing an expensive item as costing "an arm and a leg" has nothing to do with anatomy, yet these phrases are used instinctively by native speakers.