Finding your feet

Helen: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. Rosie and I are doing a salsa class tonight. It's my favourite Latin American dance and I love the music!

Rosie: Yes, and it's not easy… One, two, three! Oh, I'm not very good yet – I'm still finding my feet.

Helen: You're still finding your feet? No wonder you're so bad. How can you dance if you don't know where your feet are?

Rosie: I do know where my feet are, Helen. When you say you're finding your feet in English, it means you're becoming confident(自信) at something.

Helen: So if I say I'm still finding my feet, it means I'm still getting used to a new situation… which might not have anything to do with feet?

Rosie: That's right. And when you say you've found your feet, it means you've become familiar with a situation.

Helen: Let's have a look at some examples then:

• Lauren has only been at her new job for four days, so she's still finding her feet.
• My daughter started secondary school(中學) two weeks ago, but she's already found her feet. She's made loads of new friends and really likes her teachers.
• “I've been living in Egypt for a year but I still can't speak Arabic very well.” “I'm sure you'll find your feet soon.”

Helen: So finding your feet has nothing to do with your actual feet – you can use it when you start a new job or when you're doing something new.

Rosie: That's right… And I feel like I'm getting quite good at salsa now.

Helen: Really? It looks like you're still finding your feet…

Rosie: I might ask someone to dance with me, Helen. That guy over there is pretty good. Hi, would you like to dance?

Man: Oh, OK.

Rosie: Oooooh this is fun. One, two, three… Oops sorry! Did I step on your foot?

Man: Ouch!

Helen: It looks like Rosie's doing more than finding her feet - she's finding other people's feet and stepping on them too!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2012/09/120904_tews_87_finding_your_feet.shtml