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! How are you? Welcome to another Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for September 2011.

En el nivel básico este mes hemos practicado un poco de pronunciación con los sonidos vocales. No voy a repetir lo mismo porque los sonidos están en el cuaderno de septiembre.

Pero si podemos practicar los plurales. Yo voy a decir los sustantivos en singular, y tú dices el plural antes que lo digo yo. Ready? ¿Listos?

One photo -  two photos

One glass – two glasses

One city – two cities

One key (una llave) – two keys

One man – two men

One party – two parties

One baby – two babies

One week – two weeks

One child – two children

Very good! ¡Muy bien!

In the intermediate section this month we practised the past continuous tense.

The past continuous, sometimes called the past progressive, is used to say that something was happening around a particular time in the past

Repeat the examples: I was having lunch at 2 o’clock.

What were you doing when I phoned?

They weren’t sitting in the restaurant when we arrived.

We can use the past continuous and past simple together. When this happens, the past continuous is used for the longer action and to provide background. The past simple is used for the shorter action.

Listen to the examples:

We were driving along when suddenly a dog ran out in front of the car.

The driving was the long action and the dog ran out was the short action in the middle.

She sent me a text message while I was waiting for her.

Listen and repeat the following examples of the past continuous:

Sofia broke her arm shile she was skiing.

When I arived, they were talking about football.

This time last week we were walking along 5th avenue in New York eating a hot dog.

When I left home, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. It felt good to be alive.

I looked out of the car window and I saw that we were driving past Big Ben.

When I saw Sandra she was drinking Guinness!

I met my girlfriend while I was travelling around Australia.

When I got home my son was drinking my whisky.

He told me that his wife was having an affair.

While I was waiting for the train, someone stole my iPod.

Next we practiced So am I and Neither am I

So am I significa yo también. We can also say “I am too”.

So does she means “she does too”. So has he means “he has too” etc.

Neither am I and nor am I significan yo tampoco. We can also say “I’m not either”.

Listen and repeat the examples:

He’s Spanish, and so am I.

She’s from Buenos Aires, and so am I.

I was angry, and so was my wife.

I can’t speak French, and neither can he.

I hate swimming, and so does she.

‘I’ve forgotten his name.’ – ‘So have I!’

'She's learning Chinese, and so is her husband."

‘I’ve decided to lose weight, and so has my wife.’

I can’t drive, and neither can my wife.

‘I love travelling.’ – ‘So do I.’

Julie won’t be at the meeting, and nor will Stuart.

‘I bought an iPhone.’ – ‘So did Gary’.

‘He’s tall and really attractive.’ – ‘So is his brother.’

‘You look tired.’ – ‘So do you.’

‘We weren’t surprised.’ – ‘Neither were we.’

The hotel was terrible, and so was the food.

In the advanced section this month we practised some more phrasal nouns.

Many people say that if you take enough vitamin C at the onset of a cold, you'll often recover faster. Onset here means at the beginning. – el comienzo – Yu sometimes hear people speaking about the onset of an illness, when the illness first started.

Outbreak can be translated as brote - The World Health Organization website is a useful resource for tracking the outbreak of diseases worldwide. You should take precautions against the outbreak of flu.

Page layout is the part of graphic design that deals with the arrangement and style treatment of elements (or content) on a page. Layout often means deseño and it’s common when talking about web page design, the page layout. It can also be used when talking about the inside of a house, for example. What’s the layout of the living room? I like the way the flat is laid out. – Me gusta la distribución del piso.

The word outlet can mean salida, mercado, punto de venta and válvula de escape. - An outlet store is a brick and mortar or online retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Playing tennis was a good outlet for her. - Jugar al tenis le servía para relajarse

Take-off is the phase of flight in which an aircraft goes through a transition from moving along the ground, or taxiing, to flying in the air, usually starting on a runway. To take off is the phrasal verb – What time does the flight take off? And also the phrasal noun – Please get ready for take-off.

Warm up is another example of phrasal verb and phrasal noun. Don’t forget to warm up before the match. A good warm up before exercise can help prevent injury.

Now I’m going to read the Student Banking text from the monthly newsletter, el cuaderno mensual,  and I want you to guess the word when I pause. Now, this is quite difficult so you may want to do the gap fill exercise in the newsletter before you listen, read it again now or just listen to the text two or three times. Try to remember the vocabulary and repeat it after me. Ready? Here we go!

Nowadays there is a wide…… choice of financial packages on offer for students, and it is……. advisable to talk to someone about the best….. deals available.

Many banks have employees who specialize in student finances, they are called…… consultants, and they can advise you on how to make provisions for your needs during your…. course. Now is the time to work out your probable… spending on food, accommodation and…. books; and if you have any… savings, you should decide whether to draw them out. Credits cards are a mixed…. blessing. It’s easy to misuse them and find yourself unable to keep up with…. payments.

However, don’t be disheartened with all this. Your earnings as a…. graduate should enable you to clear your…. debts with in a few years.

In the Business English section, we practised vocabulary of office stationary and equipment. Listen to the words in Spanish and try to say the English translation before I do. Then repeat the words to practise pronunciation.

sujetapapeles - paper clips

papelera - wastepaper basket

tijeras - scissors

archivos/carpetas - files/folders

maletín - briefcase

goma - rubber (uk) / eraser (us)

perforadora - hole punch

archivador - filing cabinet

grapadora - stapler

sacapuntos - pencil sharpener

Mansion Business is our complete business course in CD Rom. Mansion Business es un completo y moderno Curso de Inglés Comercial con material relacionada con el mundo de la empresa y los negocios.

Mansion Business contains business expressions and vocabulary, listenings and dialogues, reading texts and business functions like making presentations, speaking in meetings, describing market trends and lots more.

There are 4 review tests to maximise learning, and over 120 hours of lesson time. The course level in Mansion Business is intermediate to upper intermediate, and you can buy this CD only from La Mansión del Inglés for 34 euros plus postage.

So, if you need English for Business, you need Mansion Business. To order your CD, go to mansioningles.com, click on the CDs icon on the right side of the home page.

Allí puedes ver todo el contenido del CD y bajar la primera lección gratis para probar sin compromiso.

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 of fans. Or send an email to mansionteachers@yahoo.es. And you can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de septiembre 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.

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 mansionteachers@yahoo.es. 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!

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de agosto 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.