August 2011

Aprender ingles gratis con La Mansion del Ingles. Un podcast para mejorar la gramatica, el vocabulario y la pronunciacion del inglés. Una leccion del ingles con ejemplos y ejercicios.

Learn English free with podcasts from La Mansion del Ingles. Improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. This English lesson contains examples and exercises.

Hello everyone! Hello again. It’s good to be back with you again, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for August 2011.

En el nivel básico este mes, hemos practicado el vocabulario del hogar. ¿Te acuerdas como se dice salón en ingles? – living room. Repite: living room. ¿Cómo se dice? en inglés es How do you say? Es muy útil esta expressión. Repitela How do you say? How do you say baño in English? – bathroom. Bueno en el sud de inglesterra se dice bathroom, en el norte se dice bathroom. No tiene importancia. Pero si es importante poner el énfasis en la primera silaba y no en el segundo. Se dice bathroom y no XbathroomX. Repite bathroom, bathroom. How do you say cocina? . kitchen Repite: kitchen. How do you say dormitorio in English? Bedroom. El enfasis esta en la primera silaba. Repite, bedroom. How do you say habitación de invitados? – spare room or guest room. Repite: spare room , guest room. And aseo, a very important word – una palabra muy importante. How do you say aseo in English? Toilet. Repite: toilet.

 Ahora voy a decir las palabras en español y tu tienes que decir la tradución en ingles antes que lo digo yo. ¿Listos? Ready?

salon - living-room

baño - bathroom

aseo - toilet

dormitorio - bedroom

habitación de invitados - spare room

cocina - kitchen

 Luego hemos practicado las preguntas con is there (singular) y are there (plural). Escucha y repite:

Is there a computer in your house?  computer = ordenador. Repite: Is there a computer in your house? 

Are there any pictures on the wall? pictures son cuadros y wall = pared - Repeat: Are there any pictures on the wall?

How many bedrooms are there? Repeat: How many bedrooms are there?

Are there any good restaurants? Repeat: Are there any good restaurants?

Is there air-conditioning? air-conditioning significa aire acondicionado Repeat: Is there air-conditioning?

Is there a television? Repeat: Is there a television? Is there a TV?

How many chairs are there? Chairs = sillas - Repeat: How many chairs are there?

Are there any plants? Plants of course are plantas Repeat: Are there any plants?

Is there a microwave? Microwave in Spanish is microondas Repeat: Is there a microwave?

Is there a window? What’s window in Spanish? Yes, it’s una ventana. You know that! ¡Sabías esto! Repeat: Is there a window?

Is there a mirror? A mirror es un espejo Repeat: Is there a mirror?

Is there central heating? central heating = califacción central Repeat: Is there central heating?

Very good! - ¡Muy bien!

Mira nuestro curso de iniciación para más práctica en www.mansioningles.com

In the intermediate section we continued practising the wonderfully exciting gerunds and infinitives. This month we looked at some expressions in English that are followed by gerunds. For example, expressions like There’s no point in… – There’s no point in taking the car. – There’s no point - no tiene sentido repeat: There’s no point in taking the car. You may remember that after prepositions (in, at, on, about, for etc) we put a gerund. Well, in is a preposition, so ….gerund – Repeat: There’s no point in taking the car.

I can’t help… – I can’t help thinking I made a mistake. – I can’t help thinking… - No puedo evitar pensar… – I couldn’t help laughing. – no podia evitar reirme. Repeat: I can’t help thinking I made a mistake. I couldn’t help laughing when he told me.

I can’t stand… – I can’t stand waiting for people. Can’t stand means no soporta or no aguanta it means to dislike strongly. Repeat: I can’t stand queueing. – I can’t stand driving in big cities.

Next was the expression to have a problem or have (some) problems or to have no problem… For example, I’m afraid I’m having problems understanding your accent. Repeat: I’m having problems learning English. She had a problem using the software program. We had no problems finding the hotel.

It’s no use… – It’s no use asking me to give you a lift. It’s no use means it’s pointless, es inútil, - no serve de nada – it’s a waste of time. Repeat: It’s no use - It’s no use flying, the pilots are on strike. It’s no use shouting at him - It's no use crying over spilt milk  - "De nada sirve llorar sobre la leche derramada" - "A lo hecho, pecho" / " Lo hecho, hecho está"  - It's no use crying over spilt milk

It’s a waste of time/money… – It’s a waste of time – es una pérdida de tiempo. It’s a waste of money – Es tirar el dinero – Repeat: It’s a waste of money buying mobile phone applications. It’s a waste of time learning phrasal verbs.

Remember, you can learn more about gerunds and infinitives in our grammar section, and in our intermediate course, both free at mansioningles.com.

In the advanced section this month we revised some verb tenses. I’m going to read the example sentences from the newsletter and I’d like you to tell me which verb tenses you hear. Ready? So, identify the verb tenses.

First were three sentences with the verb to have

1. We were having a fantastic time until the police came and broke up the party. (‘We were having’ - past continuous or past progressive)
2. Please don’t come round between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. We’ll be having a siesta then. ‘We’ll be having (future continuous – we will be having, we’ll be having)
3. Don’t you think it’s time we bought a new bed? We’ve had this one for nearly 15 years. (present perfect simple – we have had – we’ve had - We’ve had this one for nearly 15 years.)                                                                      
4. 
   
5. Next were three sentences with the verb to sell.

1. My wife earns a pretty good living. She sells medical supplies to private hospitals and clinics. (present simple – my wife sells)
2. I really regret not buying that second hand electric guitar on eBay. It’ll have been sold by now. (future perfect simple passive – it will have been sold – it’ll have been sold by now)
3. If no one offers to buy our flat, it’ll be sold by auction at the end of the year. (future simple passive – it will be sold – it’ll be sold)

 Next was the verb to take

1. “I’m really busy today. I don’t think I’ll be able to get a refund on that coat I bought.”

-         “Don’t worry darling, give me the receipt and I’ll take it back for you.”

(future simple with will – I will take it back for you – I’ll take it back.)

2. My daughter’s so selfish lately. Yesterday she came in from work, took something to eat, changed her clothes and went out again without even speaking to me. (Past simple – My daughter took something to eat.)
3. I saw a terrible accident the other day. A young boy fell off his motorbike and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. (‘was taken’ is past simple passive – He was taken to hospital)

 Moving on to the verb to walk:

1. We didn’t use the tent the first night on the Camino de Santiago. We were so tired that we checked in to a hotel for the night. We’d been walking for 12 hours. (past perfect continuous – we had been walking – we’d been walking - We’d been walking for 12 hours.)
2. My granddad’s walking now. He had the hip replacement lat month and came out of hospital last weekend. (present continuous – he is walking now – My granddad’s walking now.)
3. “How did you get from the hotel to the exhibition?”
1. “I walked. It only took about 15 minutes.” (past simple – I walked)

 Finally, the verb to see:

1. If everything goes to plan, I’ll have seen all the countries I want to by the time I’m 55. (future perfect – I will have seen – I’ll have seen all the countries I want to by the time I’m 55.)
2. I’m sorry, I can’t make it for lunch tomorrow. I’m seeing/I’ll be seeing/I’m going to see my therapist at 1 o’clock. (Hmmm, three possibilities here to talk about future plans or arrangements. I’m seeing – present continuous used here to talk about future plans, I’ll be seeing – future continuous – I will be seeing, and the going to future I’m going to see.)
3. Charlie got the sack last week. He was seen taking money out of the cash register. (Past simple passive – He was seen)

 I want to take a minute to tell you about a special offer we have at the moment on our product page at mansioningles.com. The Complete Pack el pack ahorro completo de La Mansión del Inglés. We offer ALL of our cds at a great price. So, that’s our complete web site on Mansion CD, Mansion Business for Business English at intermediate level, Mansion First for the Cambridge FCE exam, Mansion Travel with dialogues and useful conversations and expressions for travelling abroad. There’s Mansion Listen for advanced listenings, Mansion Books for lovers of literature, and Mansion Auto 1 and 2 in MP3 audio for beginners. All 8 CDs plus a free cd of 100 software programs to help you learn English. All this for only 99 Euros. You save 112 Euros, and we pay the postage wherever you are in the world. Now that’s a good deal. Es una oferta muy buena. For more details, just click the cd icon on the right side of the home page at mansioningles.com.

In the vocabulary section at advanced level, there were some phrasal nouns to practise. For example, standby. You can be on standby if you’re waiting for a place to become available at the airport. British Airways have no tickets available on any flight to New York tomorrow, but they’ve put us on standby in case there’s a cancellation. You also have standby modes on many domestic electrical appliances. Standby kind of puts your device to sleep. It’s working, but not running on full power.

You check in at the airport and a hotel when you arrive. Check-in is a verb and a noun. “Excuse me, where’s the check-in?”

The next word, downfall, sort of translates as caída or perdición or ruína. We speak about the downfall of a dictator or a king, for example. Alcohol was his downfall. Drugs were her downfall. That’s what brought her down.

Takeover was the next word. Toma de poder. You can have a military takeover. A company can takeover another company. A strong collocation is a takeover bid – B-I-D - Samsung has made a takeover bid for Nokia.

A comeback is a return a revival – una vuelta, retorno – The fashions of the 1960’s are making a comeback.

If a concert is a sell-out there are no more tickets left. They’ve sold out. It was a sell-out tour.

Lastly, a check-up is revisión in Spanish. You should go to the dentists every six months so that he can check your teeth, or give you a check up (actually, I only go once a year). You can go to the doctor’s for a check-up too, but not for your car. Revisión del coche in English is a service, so you take your car for a service or you have your car serviced or get your car serviced.

And finally, in the Business English section this month we practised some business collocations with the word price. I’ll read the definition and you try to remember the collocations containing the word price. Ready?

When prices go down, decrease, fall, drop, it’s called a price….cut.

When prices go up or rise we say it is a price….increase.

When the government try to limit price increases, we say that they put price……. controls.

When companies fight with each other to get more of the market, and prices fall as a result, we say that there is a price…..war.

Una etiqueta del precio in English is a price….tag.

And finally, when there is a good period for sellers and prices rise quickly we say there is a price….boom.

Well, that’s it for this month. Thanks to all of you for listening. If you want to contact us you can find us on Facebook. Just search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés and join our growing community. Or send an email to [e-mail]. And you can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

You can sign up for our cuaderno mensual and see all the previous newsletters and podcasts by clicking on the link on the Mansión Inglés home page.

Until next month then, take care and keep practising English! Bye!

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Puedes ver todos los cuadernos anteriores aquí 

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The music in this month’s podcast was by Revolution Void, the album was The Politics of Desire and the track was Outer Orbit.