Not really, but you had an interest in and imagined some things about what you might read, didn't you? That's because you know what playing hardball means, besides baseball.
Last week, while working with one of my students, who has very good vocabulary within a limited scope (primarily his vocation) but not so much when it comes to real life conversations, I used a book in the Slangman series: Slangman Guide to Street Speak 3, by Slangman David Burke. I chose this particular book because there are 2 chapters on slang derived from sports, and my student, who is male, is completely unfamiliar with sports as well as the slang we use that are sports allusions.
I went with my gut for my lesson plan. I knew the topic was necessary and would be useful, but I wasn't sure if my very serious student would realize that although we would be dealing with slang, that slang is a part of most conversations, whether the boardroom or the coffee shop. My student studied a lot of British English in school in his native country. Very British English.
You can't imagine my delight, after convincing him that the slang is part of everyday life (not gutter talk), when he lit up with enthusiasm for hearing, reading and then understanding what occurrence in what sport inspired each expression we learned. The cherry on top (we will have to use food slang in the future!) was when he said to his wife, who is also a student of mine, "This is why I can't understand what anybody is saying when they speak English!" He was eager to learn and understand how to use the terms we covered.
Although the learning of slang expressions came out of left field, he liked it right off the bat. I'm sure he's going to tackle this new aspect of English and be much more comfortable with the English speakers around which he finds himself. (I think my gut knocked it out of the park.)
Check out the Slangman series.
