The focus of this chapter is on issues arising for the understanding of metaphors in a second language learning context. Elly Ifantidou presents an empirical study in which native Greek-speaking learners of English were presented with a selection of metaphors from British newspapers. The results of this comprehension task suggest that even when second language learners are confronted with a metaphor whose intended propositional content they cannot fully grasp, the literal content of the metaphor may still trigger images, sensorimotor processes and emotional attitudes which provide them with a partial interpretation.