August 2012

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

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Hello again. Welcome, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 52 recorded for August 2012.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos hablando sobre la rutina diaria - Our daily routine

And in the intermediate section, some gerunds and infinitives, and opposites.

In the advanced section, some more idioms and more words which have multiple meanings.

As usual there's a business English exercise and many more ways to improve your English and take it to the next level. 

En los podcasts mensuales hablamos de los temas, vocabulario y ejercicios que salen en nuestro cuaderno mensual. Así podáis practicar la pronunciación y repasar el material del cuaderno. Si quieres recibir gratis el cuaderno cada mes, ver la trascripción de este podcast o leer los anteriores, vete a mansioningles.com y sigue los enlaces en la página principal.

So come on! - ¡Vamos alla! - let's get started con el nivel básico y la rutina diaria - Daily Routine. Voy a decir algunas expresiones relacionado con la rutina diaria y tu tienes que decir la traducción en inglés antes que la digo yo. Luego, repitela para practicar la pronunciación. Are you ready? ¿Estas listo?

despertarse  - to wake up   Repite: to wake up  

levantarse - to get up Repite: to get up

desayunar - to have breakfast Repite: to have breakfast

ducharse - to have a shower Repite: to have a shower        

vestirse - to get dressed Repite: to get dressed

ir al trabajo - to go to work Repite: to go to work

llegar al trabajo - to get to work Repite: to get to work

empezar el trabajo - to start work Repite: to start work

tomar un café - to have a coffee Repite: to have a coffee

Repite: I wake up at 6.30. - I get up at 6.35!

I get up late on Sundays.

I have coffee and toast for breakfast.

I have a shower before breakfast.      

I get dressed quickly (rápido) - I get dressed quickly.

I go to work by bus.

I get to work at 7.45.

I start work at 8 o'clock.

I have a coffee at 10.30.

Very good!  - ¡Muy bien!

 

In the intermediate section this month, we looked at some gerunds and infinitives.

After the verb surprise is it a gerund or an infinitive? - It's an infinitive. I was surprised to see or I was surprised to discover or I was surprised to hear etc.

What about the adjective busy? Is busy followed by a gerund or infinitive? I was busy....doing the report (gerund) - Repeat: I was busy doing the report  - She was busy answering her emails - They were busy getting ready for the party.

What about 'Thank you for....' - It's the preposition 'for' you should focus on because you always put a gerund after any preposition. Thank you for helping me. Repeat: Thank you for helping me. - Thanks for giving me a lift. I can't thank you enough for letting me stay for the weekend.

After the expression 'to be worth' (vale la pena) - What do you think, gerund or infinitive? It's worth.....+gerund - It's worth visiting the Louvre if you're in Paris. It might be worth trying different software - Are you sure it's worth going by car?

After 'be used to' which has the meaning of estar acostumbrado/a a is it gerund or infinitive? - 'be used to' - It's gerund - I'm not used to driving on the right. Repeat: I'm not used to driving on the right. - Are you used to eating so late? ¡OJO! -  It's the used to that means soler, tener el hábito de that takes the infinitive - For example, I used to live in London. I used to drive on the left. I used to have dinner at 6 o'clock.

What about after the expression to be happy? - I'm happy......to see you. - Repeat: I'm happy to see you - - I'm happy to see you again - I was happy to learn that you're coming to visit.

And after finish? - put a gerund. I've finished washing the car. I'll help you when I finish doing my homework.

Listen and repeat some examples:

He was surprised to discover the truth.

She’s busy doing the housework.

Thank you for giving me a hand.

It might be worth taking it back to the shop.

She’s not used to working late.

I’ll be happy to help you.

Have you finished doing the dishes?

Don’t forget to send us a message on Facebook.

We also looked at some opposites in the intermediate section. Listen and try to say the opposites before I do.

The opposite of sharp is.......blunt. This knife isn't sharp, it's blunt.

The opposite of tender meat is........ tough meat. Tender is soft and tough is hard. Be careful of the spelling of tough, it's really strange.T-O-U-G-H repeat. tough. - tough meat - this steak's really tough - How's the meat? It's a bit tough. - It's a bit tough.

The opposite of to take off for a plane is to........land. Repeat: We take off at 7 and we land around 9.30. - What time does the flight take off?

The opposite of agree is .........refuse. Well, it can also be to disagree. You agree with someone or you disagree with someone. But you can agree to do something or you can refuse to do something. Repeat: I agreed to take her to the station. She refused to lend me any money.

The opposite of catch a train is........to.... miss a train, or a bus or a plane. In Spanish you say to lose (perder). That always makes me smile when my students make that mistake. "I'm sorry I'm late, I lost the bus." You lost the bus? Where did you put it? It must be here somewhere. It was in my pocket five minutes ago, then it disappeared! - What's the past of catch? - Caught. Repeat: caught. We caught the last train. We nearly missed it.

The opposite of useful is.......useless. Repeat: useful - this new application is really useful. - useless - It's totally useless!

Speaking about the weather, the opposite of severe weather is mild weather. Repeat: severe - Canada has some severe weather. - Valencia has mild winters.

And finally, the opposite of to admit is......to deny (admitir y negar - admit and deny Repeat: He admitted stealing the money. - I denied eating the chocolate.

If you like these podcasts, and if you are learning more English with these podcasts, you can buy full lessons for only 1 euro and 40 centimos from our online shop - nuestra tienda online. Estas lecciones están diseñados como una continuación del curso de audio Mansión Auto 2, y están basados en nuestro curso básico interactivo que ha ayudado a más de 25 millones de personas a aprender inglés. Las lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1) y estamos poniendo nuevas lecciones constantemente en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com (that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala - punto.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora 15 minutos y cada leccion está en formato mp3 y lleva su trascripcion en formato PDF.

There were more idioms this month in the advanced section. Let's see if you can remember the idioms if I say the Spanish equivalent.

For example, what's the English idiom for Sobre gustos no hay nada

escrito? gusto is taste and the idiom is - "There's no accounting for taste."

What about No se oia ni (el vuelo de) una mosca? - "There wasn't a sound to be heard."

The next one is Mas puede la pluma que la espada. This is a direct translation to English - “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

What about, Hierba mala nunca muere. or is it, Mala hierba nunca muere?

Think of good people for this translation not bad grass or bad weeds - “Only the good die young.” -

Next: Nada mejor que un ladron para atrapar a otro ladron.  translates to - “Set a thief to catch a thief.”

And finally, En una hora ne se gano Zamora  has the word Rome in it -         "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Now listen and repeat the idioms:

 “There's no accounting for taste.”

“There wasn't a sound to be heard.”

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

“Only the good die young.”

“Set a thief to catch a thief.”

"Rome wasn't built in a day."   

Also in the advanced section of this month's newsletter we looked at some more words with multiple meanings. For example, you probably know that drill means taladro you drill holes in the wall. The dentist uses a drill on your teeth - erghhhh! I hate that. And also we can have a fire drill at work. A practice, in case of a fire. A drill bit es una broca and in the army, un unstructor militar is a drill instructor.

Bust was the next word. To go bust means ir(se) a la bancarrota, quebrar - during this recession many companies are going bust. And bust is also a ladies bosom or chest. What bust size are you? You may be asked ladies when you go to buy a bra in Marks and Spencers. In colloquial English to bust something means to break it. Who busted the remote control? Don't play with that, you'll bust it!

The word file is carpeta - a paper file or a digital file - and it's also a tool (una lima) - you file your nails with a file - a nailfile and you may need a file in carpentry or metalwork. You can also file a news report (presentar un reportaje), and you can file a law suit which means presentar or entablar una demanda - You can file for a divorce, although lets hope you never have to! As a verb it can mean to walk in line - to file past something. So, how would you translate " la multitud desfiló ante la tumba."? - the crowd filed past the tomb.

Iron is hierro and we can say that something is as hard as iron. The ground is as hard as iron. It's also una plancha. And I try to see and use my iron as infrequently as possible. I hate ironing, God I hate ironing! the verb is to iron and there's a phrasal verb to iron out which means to resolve, (poner en orden, limar diferencias). We need to iron out a few minor differences before we begin. In English, to "strike while the iron is hot" means to take advantage of something while the moment is most appropriate. We shouldn't wait, we should strike while the iron is hot. Take action now!

Bound as a verb means saltar - El perro iba dando saltos detrás de la bicicleta - The dog bounded along behind the bicycle. If you are bound (the adjective) you are tied up - literally, not figuratively - My hands were bound -  tenía las manos atadas - bounds also means limits - Su generosidad no tiene límites - Her generosity knows no bounds -  

Another popular expression is "Within the bounds of possibility" -  dentro de lo posible - Yes, of course we will do it if it's in the bounds of possibility.

In the Business English section, we looked at some more business English vocabulary.

Don't forget that we do business not make business, and we make money, not do money. So, we do business with people in order to make money. Repeat: do business, make money.

Trendy means moderno - A trendy item of clothing or a trendy hairstyle.

Iba vestida muy moderna or a la última moda.- She was wearing a very trendy outfit.

Este barrio se está poniendo de moda - This part of town is getting very trendy.

Repeat: trendy - a trendy shop - That's a very trendy shirt you're wearing. - It's a really trendy restaurant.

Make often translates as hacer - it can also mean 'manage to attend'. Listen:

I'm afraid I can't make Saturday - Me temo que el sábado no puedo.

We just made the 3 o'clock train - llegamos justo a tiempo para el tren de las tres.

Repeat: I can't make it - I'm sorry, I can't make it - Can you make it tomorrow? - Can you make it on Friday?

If you have a hard time doing something, it's difficult for you to do it. It was a difficult experience - mal trago o mal rato - I had a hard time getting over my divorce. - They gave me a hard time at the interview.

A great deal means a lot. - a great deal of money, a lot of money - Repeat: A great deal - We spent a great deal - We spent a great deal of money on the flat.

The learning curve is la curva de aprendizaje. Repeat: the learning curve - What's the learning curve like on this software? Is it easy to use? Can I learn quickly?

You can learn quickly with La Mansión del Inglés. Go to our website at mansioningles.com and improve your English.

Well, that's just about all we have time for now. Remember you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes. Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

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Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de este mes, y todos los cuadernos anteriores en www.cuadernodeingles.com/

También tenemos dos aplicaciones para el nivel principiante y el nivel básico a la venta en la tienda de iTunes. Para encontrarlas, busca imansionauto. El precio de cada aplicación es de 2,39 euros.

Until next month then, take care, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Bye for now!

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