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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.

Podcast Transcription

Hello! How are you? I’m fine. Thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for February 2011.

En el nivel básico este mes hemos tenido vocabulario en distintos grupos como los adjetivos, los idiomas, los colores etc. Escucha y repite los grupos y las palabras:

adjectives – small; big; cheap; expensive; strong; weak

ordinal numbers (los numeros ordinales)first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth. Su habitación esta en el septimo planta. - Your room is on the 7th floor. Repeat: the 7th floor - on the 7th floor - Your room is on the 7th floor. - Vivo en la segunda planta. - I live on the 2nd floor. Repeat: the 2nd floor – on the 2nd floor - I live on the 2nd floor

Next was the preposition group – las preposiciónes. ¿Te acuerdas de las preposiciones? - Do you remember any prepositions? – on en español “en” “ponlo en la mesa o ponlo sobre la mesa – put it on the table - put it on the table. Repeat: on the table – put it – put it – put it on – los sonidos se juntan. No se dice “put it on” se dice “putiton”. Repeat: put it on – put it on the table.

La preposición in también puede significar “en” for example en Japón – in Japan – Está en una reunión, está reunido – He’s in a meeting. Repeat: a meeting – in a – in a meeting – He’s in a meeting.

Betweenentre, entre 80 y 100 invitados. - Between 80 and 100 guests – Nada podrá separarnos – nothing can come between us.

The preposition atNo me llames a la oficina. - Don’t phone me at the office – me sonrió. - He smiled at me.

Another group (otro grupo) was surnamesapellidos. Tu nombre de pila, in English, is your first name. Repeat: first name. What’s your first name o What’s your name? Your apellido is your family name or surname. Repeat: surname.

The next group was colours. Listen to the colours in Spanish and say the English translation before I do. Escucha a los colores en español y di la traducción en inglés antes que lo digo yo. Ready? ¿Listo?

Rojo – red; rosa – pink: verde – green; marrón – brown, negro – black; amarillo – yellow; blanco – white; azúl – blue; naranja – orange

Los verbos auxiliaresauxiliary verbs. Repite: Do – Where do you live? - Can – can you speak Spanish? – does – Where does your husband work? – Have – Have you been to London?

Los verbos principales – speak – hablar – play – jugar – write – escribir – eat – comer etc.

What are the four seasons in English? - ¿Qué son los cuatro estaciones en ingés? ¿Invierno? – winter, ¿verano? – summer, ¿primavera? – spring, and ¿otoño? – autumno or fall. Se dice autumn A-U-T-U-M-N en el inglés Británico y fall – F-A-L-L en el inglés americano.

Another Group was languages. A person from Spain speaks Spanish. A person from England speaks English. A person from Italy? Speaks Italian. What does a person from Sweden speak? Swedish. Someone from Germany speaks German. A person from France speaks French. Someone from Russia speaks Russian and someone from Holland speaks Dutch. A person from Brazil speaks Portuguese, and so does someone from Portugal.

Another group was public buildingslos edificios publicos. ¿Como se dice la oficina de correos en ingles? How do you say correos en inglés? It’s the post office. Repeat: The post office. Excuse me, where’s the post office?

La comisaría, la estación de policía is the police station. Repeat: The police station. Excuse me, where’s the police station?

Ayuntamiento is the town hall. Repeat: the town hall

La biblioteca – the library Repeat: the library. Excuse me where’s the library?

El hospital - The hospital. Repeat: Hospital. ?Donde esta el hospital? Where’s the hospital? Please take me to the hospital.

Next we studied a bit of grammar – También hemos practicado un poco de gramática. Escucha y repite las frases para practicar la pronunciación y la entonación.

Escucha y repite:

Whose is this iPod?  Whose – de quién - Whose is this iPod?  iPod = iPod, iPad = iPad

It’s mine. – Es mio - It’s mine.

His sister is 23 years old. She’s 23. No se dice X”she has 23”X eso es Spanglish. Ella tiene 23 años – “She’s 23” or “She’s 23 years old.” Repeat: “She’s 23” “She’s 23 years old.” I’m 47. How old are you? - How old are you? Repeat: How old are you?

Who’s that woman?  El “who” y el “is” se juntan – Who’s. !Ojo¡ - de quién whose – W-H-O-S-E y la contraciónd de “Who is” = who’s – W-H-O’-S la pronunciation es la misma. Repeat: Who’s that woman?  - She’s David’s boss.

Have you ever been to Italy? - ¿alguna vez has estado en Italia? – Repeat: Have you ever…Have you ever been…Have you ever been to France? Nota que se dice TO France y no XinX France. Repeat: Have you ever been to Paris? Have you ever been to Rome? Have you ever been to Greece? Have you ever been to Scotland? Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.

Pepito hates going to the beach. Despues de los verbos hate = odiar, love = querer, amar, like = gustar etc, es común poner un gerundio. Repeat: I hate going to the beach; I love cooking at the weekend; I like listening to music.

What did you do last night?   Repeat: Last night – do last night – didyou – didyou – What didyou - What did you do last night?  

I’m a vegetarian. Vegetarian tiene 5 silabas Escucha: ve-ge-TA-ri-an. ¿Qué silaba lleva el stress? Qué se oye lo más fuerte? vegetarian. Es la tercera – the third syllable. Listen and repeat: ve-ge-TA-ri-an -  ve-ge-TA-ri-an Are you a vegetarian? I’m a vegetarian. I don’t want any meat. No quiero carne – Repeat: meat - any meat. - want any meat. - don’t want any meat. - I don’t want any meat. - I don’t want any meat.

What would you like to drink? Repeat:  drink - to drink (no se dice ‘too’, se dice ‘te’. Repite: to drink - like to drink? – would - would you - What would you - What would you like to drink? - What would you like to drink?

I’ll have a beer, please. Repeat: – a beer - I’ll have a beer - I’ll have a beer -I’ll have a beer, please. - I’ll have a Coke, please. - I’ll have a whiskey, please. - I’ll have a glass of wine, please.

In the intermediate section this month, we studied some common collocations. Listen and repeat to practise pronunciation.

To make a cancellation means to cancel (cancelar). I’d like to make a cancellation. Hello, I’m phoning to make a cancellation.

To make certain of something means to check that something is correct – to make sure. – I just wanted to make certain. I’d like to make absolutely certain that it will be ready on Tuesday.

To take a chance means to try something risky (correr un riesgo) I’ll take a chance. I’m not sure he’ll be in his office, but I’ll take a chance. You’re taking a chance flying with Ryan Air you know!

To make a claimreclamar. I’d like to make a claim. If you want to make a claim, please fill in this form.

To make a complaint means quejarse “I’d like to make a complaint. Can I speak to the manager? Excuse me, who should I speak to to make a complaint?

To make a concession (una concesión). I think we should make a concession and meet them halfway.

To make contact with someone means to establish communication with them. They made contact with us by email. Have you made contact with him yet?

To make demands on someone means exigir. In my opinion, they’re making excessive demands. They’re making a lot of demands on us.

To make a discovery is to discover something. She made a wonderful    discovery last week. Scientists have made an important discovery.

To make an enquiry means to ask. Excuse me, I’d like to make an enquiry. Hello, I’m calling to make some enquiries about your new products.

Also in the intermediate section, we looked at ‘ed’ and ‘ing’ adjectives.

Bored and boring can both be adjectives. This podcast is really boring. So how do you feel if the podcast is boring? You feel bored. You’re bored by the podcast. So think of the –ed adjective as passive, and the –ing adjective as active because it does something to you. The film is really interesting. If the film is interesting you are…….interested. If the film is frightening, you are…. frightened, etc.

Listen and repeat:

The film was boring. I was bored.

I felt really relaxed. The massage was relaxing.

We were totally satisfied. The meal was very satisfying.

I was so annoyed. It was very annoying.        

The music was enchanting. We were absolutely enchanted.      

I was disgusted. The kitchen was disgusting.

I was very amused. The film was really amusing.

We felt quite depressed. The news was very depressing.

I was moved by the story. It was so moving.               

I felt terrified. It was a terrifying situation.

I’m really annoyed with my neighbour. He’s very…….annoying.

I was disgusted when he picked his nose during the interview. It was a disgusting thing to do.

I feel completely relaxed after I meditate. Meditation is so relaxing.

I was depressed for months after my grandmother died. Death is so depressing.

Oswaldo asked a pronunciation question on Facebook recently. His question was “Would you please help me with the difference between can and can't, because when I hear ‘can’ and can’t the pronunciation is almost the same for me.”

 

Well, thank you for your question Oswaldo. So, when you want to hear the difference between the positive ‘can’ and the negative ‘can’t’, don't listen for the ‘t’, the /t/ sound, at the end of can’t because it isn't always pronounced clearly. Listen for the vowel sound (el sonido vocal). 'Can' has a short vowel sound (like the /æ/ in 'cat' or the /ə/ sound, the 'er' at the end of 'mother', ‘father’, ‘sister’, ‘teacher’, ‘brother’ etc.). 'Can't' has a long vowel sound (like the /ɑː/ in 'car'). Of course, pronunciation changes with different accents (American, Australian, Scottish etc), but I believe it’s easier to listen for the vowel sound in can and can’t than the final ‘t’ in can’t. Listen to some sentences and say if you hear the positive ‘can’ - puedo or the negative ‘can’t’ – no puedo.

 

1.      I can’t hear you (can’t - negative)

2.      I can see you on Friday. (can – positive)

3.      Pepito can’t speak Russian. (can’t - negative)

4.      My dad can’t use computers very well. (can’t - negative)

5.      He can write emails, though. (can – positive)

6.      We can meet up with you for lunch next Sunday. (can – positive)

We hoped you enjoyed the song by Paul Simon in the advanced section this month.

There was a grammar exercise, too. Listen and repeat the following sentences.

I went to the optician to have my glasses fitted. The causative ‘have’. You don’t fit your glasses yourself, do you? No you have them fitted by an optician. Do you fill your own teeth? No, you have a tooth filled (a filling is un empaste). Some people have their flat cleaned, they have their car washed or serviced (a car service es una revisión del coche), some people have their clothes dry cleaned, they may have their ears pierced, or have their flat painted, their rugs cleaned and most people don’t cut their own hair, they have their hair cut. You can also use get instead of have; I must get my hair cut. I should get my car serviced this month.

Clothes fit you. Fit is size and suit, the verb S-U-I T is when it looks good on you. Maybe the shirt is your size so it fits you. But perhaps the colour or the style is not right for you so it doesn’t suit you.

I’ve always wanted to take up scuba diving. The phrasal verb to take up means to start doing something new, a hobby or a sport. I’m thinking of taking up digital photography. Is there anything new you’d like to take up? Personally, I’ve always wanted to take up skiing. I’ve never been skiing. Scuba diving is buceo in Spanish. SCUBA is an acronym. It stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

It makes no difference to me whether we go out tonight or not. – It makes no difference - da lo mismo, es igual – It makes no difference. It makes no difference to me where we eat. I don’t care - It makes no difference - It makes no difference what you wear.

We saw quite a few wild animals when we went to Kenya. Quite a few – bastantes. It took me quite a few hours. – There were quite a few mistakes. – We went to quite a few different cities.

To wait for someone. - He’s late as usual. I don't think we should wait for

him. If you wait on someone you do things for them, like a waiter or waitress. – server a alguién. - “Make your own bloody sandwich. I’m not gonna wait on you!”

Are you going in for the competition? To go in for a competition means presentarse a un concurso. I’m going in for a dancing competition. Of course if you go in for a competition you take part in a competition. To take part in something = participar

Now, listen and repeat these expressions and sentences from the business English section:

To be made redundant means to lose your job, bit it’s not your fault – no tienes la culpa – it’s not because you’re a bad employee. Many people are losing their jobs at the moment because of the economic crisis. Compamies are cutting back – reducing – their workforce or staff (personal, plantilla) My brother-in-law was made redundant from a company in the UK 12 years ago. He got a lot of redundancy money (indemnización). He took voluntary redundancy (retiro voluntario). If you are a bad worker; always late, sleeping at your desk, taking too many days off sick etc, you are likely to be sacked or fired. You may get the sack. Repeat: He was sacked – He got the sack – He was fired – He lost his job – He was made redundant – He was laid off. 

To be hired means to be given a job. He was hired by a software company. The phrasal verb to take on has a similar meaning. Ford have taken on 300 new employees. To be taken on - contratado – to take on = contratar - Our school has taken on 12 new teachers this year.

To finish a letter or an email in a very formal way, use Yours faithfully if you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to. Use Yours sincerely if you know the person’s name. So Dear Mr. Smith – Yours sincerely. Dear Sir or Madam – Yours faithfully. Dear John Williams – Yours sincerely. The way I remember this is “Never be sincere with a person you don’t know.” You can be faithful, but don’t be sincere if you don’t know their name. Of course, if the letter is informal, you have many possibilities. Best wishes, All the best, Regards, Kind regards, Best regards etc. remember the comma. All of these are neutral. Then, Lots of love, Kisses, Take care, Much love, Hugs (abrazos), are for your closest friends and family.

When you meet someone for the first time in a formal situation like a business meeting or a job interview, say ‘How do you do’ - ‘How do you do’ - . If someone says ‘How do you do” to you, the correct reply is “How do you do.”, The same. It’s just something you say, like “Encantado” in Spanish. “Nice to meet you”, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” and “Pleased to meet you” are also acceptable. “What’s up?”, “How’s it hanging, dude?” and other informal greetings are not suitable in a formal situation.

To pick someone up means recoger or buscar. - I'll pick you up at the airport - Te iré a recoger al aeropuerto. What’s the opposite of to pick someone up in this context? …..to drop someone off – dejar or entregar - I'll drop you off at your house, - Te dejaré en casa – Can you drop off the report at my flat tomorrow? - I’ll drop you off at your hotel. Can you pick me up at the airport and drop me off at my hotel? He dropped me off at the station.

To pick up can also mean ligar con algn. I picked up a great looking girl in a bar last night. She tried to pick me up.

'I'm afraid I have a bad line' means that the telephone connection is bad. If someone asks you to hold the line, they want you to wait - esperar. “Please hold the line, sir.” –“Would you like to hold?”

When you’re making a presentation, use words like Firstly, secondly, after that, finally etc to signpost your presentation. To signpost means indicar, señalizar or maybe destacar. You want to tell your audience where they are in your presentation. You don’t want to lose your audience. Here’s an example:

Firstly, let me remind you that you can buy a Business English cd from our website at mansioningles.com. It costs 34 euros and it’s full of business vocabulary, listening exercises and business expressions.

Secondly, I’d like you to know that we have many other fantastic cds for sale on our product page. Just click the cd icon on the right hand side of our homepage.

Thirdly, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at MansionTwit and also join our growing community of teachers and students on Facebook. Search for La Mansión del Inglés.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for listening and for downloading this podcast, and I hope you all have a great month. So, until next month take care, Bye for now!

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de febrero aquí. 

Puedes ver todos los cuadernos anteriores aquí. 

Puedes recibir gratis nuestro Cuaderno mensual de Inglés aquí. 

The music in this month’s podcast was by Revolution Void, the album was The Politics of Desire and the track was Outer Orbit. Also music by Ben Othman from his album Intellectuel. Creative Commons licence from Jamendo.com

 

 

Direct download: 2011_February_podcast_mix.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:42pm CET

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.

Podcast Transcription

Hello, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for January 2011. Happy New Year to all of you and your families. Wow another year, 2011. Time passes so fast. Time flies – el tiempo pasa volando.

En el nivel básico este mes hemos tenido vocabulario del viaje. Escucha algunas palabras en español y intenta decir la traducción en inglés antes que lo digo yo. Llego repite las palabras para practicar la pronunciación:

Recepción = Reception

habitación individual = A single room. - I’d like a single room. Please.

habitación doble = A double room. - A double room for 3 nights.

planta baja = The ground floor. - It’s on the ground floor.

el ascensor = The lift (lift es en el inglés británico. ¿Sabes como se dice ascensor en el inglés americano? =  elevator . Repeat: – elevator). Excuse me, where’s the elevator? - Excuse me, where’s the lift?

registrarse = To check in – Excuse me, I’d like to check in. Where can I check in, please?

la llave =  The key. Could I have the room key?

bolsas,. Equipaje = bags – These are my bags

servicio de habitaciones = Room service. Do you have room service? Is there room service?

pagar y marcharse = To check out. When do we have to check out? What time do we have to check out?

deletrear = to spell – can you spell your name, please? How do you spell that?

firmar = to sign – please sign here – por favor firma aquí – would you sign here, please?

En el dialogo del hotel, el recepcionista dice “Here’s your key. It’s room 396, on the third floor.” – the third floor = la tercera planta. Third es un número ordinal. Escucha y repite más números ordinales en inglés:

One - first

Two - second

Three - third

Four – fourth

Five – fifth

Six - sixth

Seven – seventh

Eight – eighth

Llego añadas ‘th’ al final de cada número – nine – ninth, ten – tenth etc. Hasta el viente – twenty – twentieth. - twenty-one - twenty-first

twenty-two - twenty-second

twenty-three – twenty-third. Los dificiles son los primeros 3 – first, second, third. Repeat: first, second, third. Los demas terminan en ‘th’

Escucha y repite las frases del ejercicio de gramática. Nota la pronunciación de las contracciones:

Where’s he from? – Where is = where’s – Where’s he from?

What’s that? – What’s = what is - What is that? = What’s that?

It’s a key – It is a key – It’s a key

Holland, Greece and Portugal are European countries - European countries - are European countries - Holland, Greece and Portugal - Holland, Greece and Portugal are European countries

Is she David’s girlfriend? – David’s girlfriend – la ‘s’ en David’s no es una contraction es la ‘s’ possesivo. La novia de David = David’s girlfriend. – Is she? - Is she David’s girlfriend?

What does she do? – do – she do – What does…? - What does she do?

She’s a housewife. – She’s = she is – she’s – She’s a housewife - She’s a housewife

What does she do? - She’s a housewife

I really like listening to rap music. – rap music – listening to – nota la preposición con el verbo  listen – listen TO. – like listening to - I like listening to rap music. - I really like listening to rap music. “really” es para intensificar. I like = me gusta. I really like = me gusta muchisimo. Repeat: I really like listening to rap music.

My girlfriend’s angry – My girlfriend is angry - girlfriend’s angry – My girlfriend’s angry.

I’m always late. – late – always late – I’m – I am – I’m – I’m always late.

I usually go to work on foot – on foot – go to work – go to work on foot – I usually go to work on foot

She can’t speak English very well. – very well – speak English – estas dos palabras se juntan – no se dice “speak English” se dice speakenglish – repeat: speakenglish. – speak English very well – She can’t – she cannot – she can’t - She can’t speak English very well - She can’t speak English very well.

In the intermediate section this month, we studied some prepositions. Prepositions can be difficult in English because sometimes they’re different from the Spanish translation. The good news is if you make a mistake with a preposition, people will probably still understand you. But of course, you want to get it right, so listen and repeat the following prepositions of time:

Use at for the time of day (precise time):

at 7 o´clock – Repeat:   at 7 o´clock        

at noon  (noon=mediodia) at noon

at lunchtime      

at 10.30

at the moment        

at sunset

at midnight   

Use on for days and dates:

on Monday

on Fridays

on New Year's Eve

on my birthday

on 17th January

on Christmas Day

Use in for longer periods (for months/years…etc)

in January – Repeat: in January

in 2007

in the Ice Age

in the summer

in the 19th century

in the past/in the future

Be careful, because we do not use at, in or on. with the words: last, next, every and this. Repeat:

We went to Madrid last March

She’s coming back next Thursday.

We stay with my parents every Christmas.

I'll call you this afternoon.

In the advanced section of this month’s newsletter, we practised the passive. Listen to the following active sentences and try to change them to the passive before you hear them. Ready?

They found him guilty. - He was found guilty.

They gave him a pair of sunglasses. - He was given a pair of sunglasses.

 What will they pay you for making the video? - What will you be paid for making the video?

 Someone should teach that bastard a lesson. - That bastard should be taught a lesson!

They had denied the father access to his son. - The father had been denied access to his son.

The order will be sent to you next week. - You will be sent the order next week.

 They felt the CEO was doing valuable work. - The CEO was felt to be doing valuable work.

They gave the woman artificial respiration. - The woman was given artificial respiration.

Someone has left me an inheritance of 200,000 euros. - I have been left an inheritance of 200,000 euros.

We must give job creation priority over everything else. - Job creation must be given priority over everything else.

I wish they had taught me more English at school. - I wish I had been taught more English at school.

OK, very good! Now, listen and repeat these expressions and sentences from the business English section:

He's worked at BMW for nearly seven years. Use present perfect to connect the past to the present. He started at BMW seven years ago and he’s working there now. So he’s worked or he’s been working there nearly seven years. Repeat: – nearly seven years - He's worked at BMW for nearly seven years.

Three point seven nine  - I think you say ‘coma’ in Spanish, but in English it’s ‘point’. Sales have risen by 6.8 percent this year. Repeat: Sales have risen by 6.8 percent this year.

After “mind”, “don’t mind”, “doesn’t mind” etc, use a gerund: I don’t mind = no me importa/no me molesta - He doesn't mind helping you” no se dice Xto help”. Repeat: I don’t mind helping you. - I don’t mind helping you. - Do you mind meeting at 6? - Do you mind meeting at 6? - Do you mind meeting at 6? -  He doesn’t mind eating Chinese food. - He doesn’t mind eating Chinese food.

He demanded to see the manager. After the verb demand we use an infinitive – I demand to see the manager – I demand to receive a refund – I demand to talk to your supervisor.

I hope to hear from you soon. After the verb ‘to hope’ use an infinitive. With most verbs that refer to the future we use an infinitive after the verb. ‘Intend’, for example – I intend to meet with him as soon as I can. Another verb is ‘to plan’. ‘To plan’ usually speaks about the future, future plans, so infinitive. - I plan to go to New York. Another verb is ‘to expect’. I expect to hear from them soon. - I expect to hear from them soon.

I'll look into this. – the phrasal verb “to look into” means examiner o investigar algo – The police are looking into the death of her husband.” “My boss is looking into my request for a rise in salary.”

To grow – G-R-O-W is a verb. It means crecer. The noun is growth – G-R-O-W-T-H. There’s been steady growth in sales. Repeat: There’s been steady growth. There’s been dramatic growth. There’s been little growth.

I suggest postponing our meeting until next week. After the verb “suggest” use a gerund Repeat: I suggest sending him an email.” “He suggests selling the car.”

 “I didn’t catch that” means I didn't understand or I didn’t hear. Repeat: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. - I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.

An extension is an internal telephone number. When you phone a large company, you may have to give an extension number. “Can I have extension 395, please” Can you put me through to extension 438, please?

You can say “I'm afraid I don't see your point.” to disagree formally and politely with someone. Repeat: I'm afraid I don't see your point.” I'm sorry, I don't see your point.”

Well, that’s it for this month. Thanks for listening. And don’t forget to visit our online shop where you can find our business English cd, our First Certificate cd for the Cambridge FCE exam, our audio cds and special packs to save you money. Just go to the mansioningles.com webpage and click on the cds on the right side of the home page. You can also follow us on Twitter, just search for MansionTwit, and don’t forget to join our growing community of students and teachers on our Facebook fan page. Search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés.

Thanks again and we’ll see you next month. Bye!

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de enero aquí. 

Puedes ver todos los cuadernos anteriores aquí. 

Puedes recibir gratis nuestro Cuaderno mensual de Inglés aquí. 

The music in this month’s podcast was by Revolution Void, the album was The Politics of Desire and the track was Outer Orbit. Also by Azhrak, the track was Below the Arctic Circle. Creative Commons licence from Jamendo.com

 

Direct download: 2011_January_Podcast_Mix.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:52pm CET

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.

Podcast Transcription

Hello, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for December 2010. Merry Christmas to you and your families from all of us here at La Mansión del Inglés.

Yes, Christmas is coming and the turkeys are getting fat. Actually, so am I with all the lovely Spanish food that I’ve been eating and all the Christmas dinners and lunches I’ve been going to. - Estoy poniendo mucho peso – I’m putting on weight. Maybe I’ll start the diet next year, in 2011. – to start a diet or go on a diet – hacer regimen. I’m on a diet – Estoy de regimen.

Let’s begin with some Christmas vocabulary – vamos a empezar con un poco de vocabulario de navidad

Regalos de Navidad are Christmas presents. Repeat: Christmas presents. Another word for present is gift. G-I-F-T gift. I bought my mum a Play Station as a Christmas gift this year. I hope she likes it. If she doesn’t, I’ll have to play with it.

¿Cómo se dice – how do you say – Arbol de Navidad in English? Christmas tree. And ¿muñeco de nieve? – a snowman – repeat: snowman. Reno is reindeer. How many reindeer does Santa have? Santa has 9 reindeer, I think. When Santa brings presents, or gifts, he goes down the chimney – chimenea – repeat: He goes down the chimney. And he puts presents in calcetines de navidad or in English “Christmas stockings”. Repeat: Christmas stockings. I never had a Christmas stocking when I was a child. But my parents used to leave one present at the bottom of my bed for me to open when I woke up on Christmas morning. Later, when I was older, I discovered this was to keep me quiet and occupied while my parents slept late in bed!

We studied irregular verbs this year (hemos estudiado este año los verbos irregulares) and in the newsletter (el cuaderno) this month there was a small test. Listen and repeat the sentences: Escucha y repite las siguientes frases:

Who drank all the beer? – beer – all the – all the beer – Who drank? - Who drank all the beer?

Have you done your homework? Have you done…..¿Has hecho…? Have you done - your homework – tus deberes – Have you done your homework?

Did you do your homework? – Did you do….? ¿Hiciste….? - Did you do your homework? 

What presents did you get for Christmas? For – for – for Christmas – What presents – did you get – did you get - What presents did you get for Christmas?

My grandmother usually gives me money for Christmas. – gives me money –gives me money for Christmas. - My grandmother usually gives me money for Christmas.

Where were… -  Where were you on Christmas day? ¿Es un poco difícil decir no? Where were – where – Where were – Where were you? – My God, where were you? – Where were you? - Where were you on Christmas day? - Where were you last night? Where were you yesterday? – Where were you all day? – Where were you on Christmas Day?

I don’t usually drive at Christmas. (Remember - ¡OJO! Con los adverbios de frecuencia como usually, always, sometimes, never etc. se van justo antes del verbo principal y van mucho con el tiempo presente simple The present simple tense for habits por los habitos – Repeat: I always drink alcohol at Christmas - I always drink alcohol at Christmas - so I never drive. -  so I never drive. - I often take the bus - I often take the bus - and I sometimes go by train. - and I sometimes go by train. - I don’t usually drive at Christmas. - I don’t usually drive at Christmas.

What has Father Christmas brought you this year? - What has Father Christmas brought you this year? Repeat: – bring – brought – brought – brought you – brought you this year – Father Christmas brought you this year - What has Father Christmas brought you this year? -

Who do you eat Christmas dinner with? Repeat: Who do you…? – Who do you eat…? – Who do you eat dinner with? - Who do you eat Christmas dinner with?

I’m sorry, I forgot your present. – Forget – forgot….and……. forgotten! Have you forgotten - ¿Has olvidado? – Did you forget? – ¿olvidaste? – repeat: I forgot your present. - I’m sorry – I’m so sorry, I forget your present.

John Lennon died on 8th December 1980. 30 years later and, unfortunately, war is not over and the world is not at peace. If John were alive today, I’m sure he would be working and singing and trying for peace. His music lives on. I put the link (el enlace) to Maroon 5 and not to John because the sound quality is a bit better and I think it’s a little easier for you to understand the lyrics (las letras).

Don’t try to cook the Christmas fruitcake in the cuaderno, at least not with the whisky - por lo menos no con el whisky. It was a joke. – fue un chiste - Do you remember the vocabulary?

What was ‘level’ – a level teaspoon = a ras – a level teaspoon, or a level tablespoon or a level cup (in American English).

What was ‘to beat’ B – E – A- T = batir – beat the eggs

Fluffy was suave y esponjoso – For example, a fluffy pillow or a fluffy teddy bear – fluffy.

Stuck is atascado – I got stuck in the lift yesterday. The mixture is stuck to the sides of the bowl.

To sift was tamizar – sift the flour (la harina) or sift the sugar.

To strain S-T-R-A-I-N was filtrar / escurrir – to strain the liquid.

Bueno, aquí viene el anuncio, y sin vergüenza porque si no sabes que comprar para las personas importantes en tu vida este navidad, ¿porque no compras un cd de la mansion del ingles? o 2? o 3cds? , o el pack de regalo por solo 99 euros y ahorras 112 euros. Recebes todos nuestros cds en el pack completo y pagamos nosotros los gastos de envio, y también recibes un cd de regalo. Además, solo por navidad, y solo para le gente que apuntan al cuaderno mensual, ofrecemos un descuento de 5 euros. ¿Qué?, ¿No es bastante regalo para las personas importantes en tu vida? Pues compre un pack de ahorro para la gente que no son importantes, pero cómpralo. Puedes encontrar los detalles de todos nuestros cds y comprar los en nuestra página mansioningles.com. Haz click, cliquear, al lado derecha de la página en la imagen de los cds.

OK, listen and repeat the following Christmas words and expressions. Escucha y repite:

una tarjeta de Navidad - a Christmas card - a Christmas card

adornos de Navidad - Christmas decorations - Christmas decorations

un villancico - Christmas carol - Christmas carol

el acebo - holly - holly

la comida de Navidad - Christmas dinner - Christmas dinner

un calendario de Adviento - Advent calendar – an advent calendar

un pesebre - a crib – C-R-I-B,  crib or a manger – M-A-N-G-E-R, manger

la misa del gallo - Midnight Mass - Midnight Mass,

los Reyes Magos - the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men - wise W-I-S-E means sabio the noun is wisdom – W-I-S-D-O-M, wisdom. “I admire him for his great wisdom”.

un belén in English is a nativity scene - a nativity scene (Belén in English, the town, is Bethlehem)

un pastor – a shepherd - a shepherd. A person who looks after sheep. ¡OJO! – Sheep is the same in singular as plural. 1 sheep, 2 sheep, 3 sheep, A lot of sheep. A shepherd looks after sheep.

And finally un burro - a donkey, D-O-N-K-E-Y – donkey. 

OK, now repeat the dias festivos – the holidays

What’s Nochebuena? Do you remember? - Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve 

Día de navidad - Christmas Day - Christmas Day

diciembre 26, December 26th is calledBoxing Day - Boxing Day. Why Boxing Day? I think because years ago rich people gave their servants presents the day after Christmas. They gave them a box. In the box was probably a small gift or some money. So Boxing Day, the day that rich people gave their servants a box for Christmas.

¿Nochevieja? What’s Nochevieja?  - New Year's Eve - New Year's Eve

El día de año nuevo - New Year's Day

And finally, la Noche de Reyes - Twelfth Night

That’s it for this month and for this year! Have a very Merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday with your family and friends, and a Happy New Year. We’ll be back again in January with another Mansion Ingles podcast from Mansioningles.com

 

Direct download: 2010_December_podcast_mix.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:32pm CET

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.

Podcast Transcription

Hello and welcome to another Mansion Ingles Podcast from mansioningles.com. Recorded for November 2010.

We started this month’s Newsletter with some more essential English expressions – Hemos empezado el cuaderno de este mes con más frases claves que vas a necesitar para defenderte en inglés- Escucha y repite las expresiones. Repite varios veces y intenta imitar la entonación.

Buenos días - Good morning – good morning

¿Qué tal?- How are you? – howa – howa you? – howa you?

Bien, gracias. - Fine, thanks. – fine thanks 

Hasta luego - See you later Hay 3 palabras SEE YOU LATER, pero el YOU se dice muy débil. Escucha y repite: ya – ya - seeya – later – later – seeya – seeya later – seeya later

¿Cómo te llamas? - What’s your name? Hay 4 palabras – WHAT IS YOUR NAME. – el WHAT y el IS se juntan escucha: WHAT IS = what’s repeat: what’s. YOUR se dice muy débil. Escucha: ye - repeat: ye. What’s ye – what’s ye name? Ahora con entonación. Repite: What’s ye name? - What’s ye name? 

Me llamo……… - My name’s….. Hay 3 palabras MY NAME IS…., pero normalmente el IS se junta con el NAME para hacer una contracción. Escucha y repite: My name is = my name’s – My name’s Craig. Hi, my name’s Juan. Hello, my name’s Luis. What’s your name?

Mucho gusto. - Nice to meet you - Nice to meet you. Aquí hay 4 palabras NICE TO MEET YOU. El TO se dice como /te/. Escucha – Nicete - Nicete meet you. Escucha y repite: meet you – nicete – nicete meet you – nice to meet you.

Good! – ¡bueno! - Let’s move on to our list of irregular verbs. Vamos a seguir con la lista de verbos irregulares. La última lista de los verbos irregulares comunes.

¿Qué es el verbo coger en inglés? Bueno, en America latino creo que tiene una significa vulgar como to fuck en ingles. Creo que se usa el verbo agarrar para no crear confusión. Pero en España, coger normalmente es To take Escucha y repite: take – took –taken– con ‘n’. Repeat: take – took –taken. Please take some cake. I took the last train home. – Have you taken your holiday yet? Dar y coger = give and take.

Next is the verb  enseñar – to teach repeat: teach – taught – taught. El sonido vocal es /au/ - taught. Repite: taught – como bought, caught and thought. I taught tennis years ago. Have you taught children? How many hours do you teach?

El verbo decir is to tell. Listen; tell – told – told. Los verbos Tell y say tiene casi la misma significación. La diferencia es que un objeto directo sigue inmediatamente al verbo tell. Tell metell us etc. El verbo say nunca sigue un objeto. Es normalmente seguido por that (que) o el estilo indirecto. - I told him my name = Yo le conte a el mi nombre. - He told us your name =  El nos contó tu nombre. - Then she said "I love you" = Entonces ella dijo "te amo".  

¿Qué es el verbo pensar en ingles? - to think. Y qué es el pasado del verbo think? – It’s thought. El mismo sonido vocal del verbo taught. Repite: think – thought – thought - /au/ thought. I thought about you – Pensé en ti. – I don’t think so – no lo creo. Repite: I don’t think so. – Do you think so? I don’t think so. What are you thinking about? ¿Qué estas pensando? I’ve thought about you a lot.

Next is the verb understand or entender in Spanish. Repeat: understand – understood - understood. I’m sorry I don’t understand – lo siento, no entiendo – I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Do you understand? – I understood you perfectly. Do you understand Spanish? Yes, I understand, but I can’t speak it.

How do you say despertarse in English? To wakeaunque to wake es un verbo principal, es más común decir to wake up. Wake up es un verbo frasal -  a phrasal verb – un verbo compuesto con dos partes. Repite: wake up – el pasado es woke up. What time did you wake up today? I woke up at 7. What time do you usually wake up?  So, wake – woke – woken Repite: wake – woke – woken. Good!

Now, llevar puesto in English is to wear. Repite: wear –wore–worn. Escucha y repite los sonido vocales: /ea/ wear – /or/ - wore - /or/ worn – con ‘N’. What do you wear  for work? What did you wear yesterday? I wore my brown shirt. What are you wearing tonight? ¿Qué te vas a poner esta noche? – Have you worn your new shoes yet?

Next is the verb ganar en ingles – to win. Repeat: win – won – won. He usually wins. Did you win the competition? Manchester United won yesterday. How much money have you won? ¡Ojo! Se utiliza el verbo ganar en español para hablar del trabajo y los sueldos. ¿Cuánto ganas al mes? Pero en inglés hay otro verboto earn. How much money do you earn? I earn a good salary – gano un buen sueldo. She earns a lot of money. So earn money and win a competition. Earn a good salary and win the lottery.

And finally, the verb escribirwrite – W-R-I-T-E. Repeat: write – wrote – written. Otra vez write – wrote – written. I write a lot of emails. How do you write your name? I wrote to my insurance company. How many words have you written? I’m thinking of writing a book.

¡Muy bien! Ahora escucha de nuevo y intenta decir la segunda y tercera forma del verbo antes que lo digo yo. Ready? ¿Listo?

take

teach

tell

think

understand

wake

wear

win

write

took

taught

told

thought

understood

woke

wore

won

wrote

taken

taught

told

thought

understood

woken

worn

won

written

Very good! Well done! ¡Muy bien! – y con el verbo to write hemos terminado nuestra lista de los verbo irregulares en inglés. El mes que viene vamos hacer un pequeño ‘test’ de los verbos que hemos estudiado durante los últimos meses, así que si quieres repasar los verbos, consulta los cuadernos anteriores en www.cuadernodeingles.com hemos empezado estudiar los verbos irregulares en el mes de abril 2010.

Ahora escucha y repite algunas frases con los verbos de este mes en un contexto. Si te resulta más fácil, utiliza el botón de pausa en tu reproductor de mp3.

Primero, revisamos un poco de vocabulario

¿Como se dice despertar en inglés? – to wake up 

¿Cómo se dice correo electronico? – email 

¿Cómo se dice galleta en inglés? – biscuit – y en el inglés Americano? – cookie.

¿Cómo se dice el precio? – the price 

¿Cómo se dice camisa? - shirt 

Ahora escucha y repite las frases:

What time did you wake up this morning? - What time did you wake up this morning?

Did Barcelona win yesterday? - Did Barcelona win yesterday?

I don’t write many emails. - I don’t write many emails.

Who took the last biscuit? - Who took the last biscuit?

Have you taught Tai Chi before? - Have you taught Tai Chi before?

Did she tell you the price? - Did she tell you the price?

I’m sorry, I don’t understand - I’m sorry, I don’t understand

I don’t think so. - I don’t think so.

I can’t wear that shirt, I wore it yesterday. - I can’t wear that shirt, I wore it yesterday.

Moving on to the intermediate section, and in last month’s podcast, in October, we looked at strong or extreme adjectives  - freezing, filthy, enormous, exhausted etc. Remember? Now, this month, let’s look at the order of adjectives before a noun el orden de los adjetivos.

Remember, it’s the opposite to Spanish. Not the car red – el coche o carro rojo, but the red car. Not the girl beautiful – la chica guapa o linda, but the beautiful girl.

And the order of adjectives before a noun in English is stricter – más estricto, riguroso – than in Spanish.

The order is as follows: First, adjectives of opinion like nice, ugly, beautiful- your opinion. then size or weight (tamaño o peso): heavy, large, small, then age; young, old ancient etc. then shape like round square, rectangular. Followed by colour, then origin – where the noun is from, for example German or Canadian, then it’s the material of the thing; like metal, plastic, wooden etc. and finally the noun. One way to remember this is by using the acronym OSASHCORM. Repeat: OSASHCORM. The O is opinion, the S is size (or weight), the A is age, the SH is shape, the C is colour, the OR is origin and the M is material. OSASHCORM. Say it again with me after 3 one – two – three – OSASHCORM!

Listen and repeat the sentences:

An old blue sweater

An expensive Japanese car.                                

A sexy young lady.

A boring English grammar book.

The last two months.

A heavy black laptop.

A pretty French village.

An ugly heavy Swiss watch.

A terrible new film.  

A lovely white plastic table.

A funny little man.

Gorgeous big brown eyes.  

Also in the intermediate section, we looked at some more common collocations. Especially those words that like to collocate, or go together, with verbs make, take, do and have. So, let’s see what you remember.

If you make an appointment you organise a meeting with other people. I need to make an appointment to see my doctor. You can’t see him without an appointment. To have an appointment means you are going to participate in a meeting with other people. First you make an appointment, then you have an appointment. Don’t confuse appointment with arrangement. To make an appointment is pedir una cita o hora. An arrangement is more un arreglo o un plan: What are your arrangements? - ¿cuáles son tus planes? Both go together with the verb make, so you make arrangements and you make appointments. Have you made arrangements for Friday afternoon?

To have an argument with someone means to argue with that person. You can also say to have a row (with someone). To have a row is an informal British English expression. Quite common: “I had a row with my girlfriend and now we’re not speaking to each other.” Row, is a verb and a noun. “Listen to the neighbours rowing next door.” – to have a row with someone. – To have an argument.

To make a breakthrough means to make an important discovery. “Scientists have made a breakthrough in regenerative medicine.”

To take care means to be careful. I often say “take care” when I say goodbye to people I care about. Especially on the phone when I end a conversation. “Yeah, it was really great to talk to you. Speak to you soon. Take care. Bye.” Maybe in Spanish you say ¡Cuídate! Or ¡Que te vaya bien! – Take care! - Take care of someone or something means cuidar a. “My mum’s getting old now so my sister takes care of her.” - It’s similar to the phrasal verb to look after.

To take care of can also mean ocuparse de algo. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of all the emails and you make the coffee.”

If you take charge of something you assume authority over it. Imagine the police arriving at an accident scene. “Ok, stand back. We’re taking charge now.” Who’s in charge?” ¿Quien manda aquí” – To take charge – encargarse o hacerse cargo. “Who’s going to take charge of the office when Pepito leaves?”

To make conversation means to start a conversation with someone with no other aim than to talk and break the silence. To have a conversation means to converse, or to speak.

To make a deal (in British English) or do a deal (in American English) means to make a contract with someone. The businessman took his partner out to lunch to make a deal. - Le citó con la idea de hacer un negocio con él.

To make a decision, or take a decision, is to decide. “Have you made a decision about selling your flat?”

To do an operation means to operate medically on someone. “Who’s doing the operation?”

To take an opportunity is similar to taking advantage of a situation. To make an opportunity means to arrange things to your advantage. And to have an opportunity means to be at the right place at the right time to do something advantageous.

In the business English section this month, we practised asking people to do things in the office. When you ask people to do things in English, the intonation is very important. We use rising and falling intonation to be more polite.

Listen: Can I phone you later? Repeat: Can I phone you later?

Listen: Would you mind phoning me later? Repeat: Would you mind phoning me later?

Listen: Please make sure you phone me later. Repeat: Please make sure you phone me later.

Listen: Could you phone me later? Repeat: Could you phone me later?

Now you try…

Listen: Please don’t forget to phone me later.  Repeat: Please don’t forget to phone me later. 

Last month, in the advanced section, we practised animal idioms. This month we continue with the animal theme to look at collective nouns. Words used to describe groups of animals.

Listen and repeat to practise pronunciation:

a swarm of bees

a litter of kittens / puppies

a pride lions

a pack of wolves

a flock of birds or sheep

a band of gorillas

a colony of ants

a bed of oysters

a school of whales

a swarm of insects

a herd of cattle

a shoal of fish

Well, that’s it for this month. Thanks for listening. And remember to visit our online shop where you can find our business English cd, our First Certificate cd for the Cambridge FCE exam, our audio cds and many more. Just go to the mansioningles.com webpage and click on the cds on the right side of the home page. You can also follow us on Twitter, just search for MansionTwit, and don’t forget to join our growing community of students and teachers on our Facebook fan page.

 See you next time!

The music in this month’s podcast was by Revolution Void, the album was The Politics of Desire and the track was Outer Orbit. Also by Azhrak, the track was Below the Arctic Circle. Creative Commons licence from Jamendo.com

 

Direct download: 2010_Nov_Podcast.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:44pm CET