Aprende ingles con inglespodcast de La Mansión del Inglés-Learn English Free
Lecciones para aprender y mejorar tú inglés. English lessons to improve your grammar, vocabulary and listening skills.

Las notas del episodio

Feedback/News: Merry Christmas! What are you doing for Christmas this year?

Reza's going to Belfast to spend Christmas with his family.

 

Question from Mara from Valencia: "What's the difference between other and another?" (singular/plural)

 

Gramática:  other, another, others

This is another episode. There are 9 others. There are 9 other episodes.

another + single countable noun  (Can I have another beer?)

other + plural countable nouns (There are other episodes)

There are 9 others (no noun)

Craig also does other work (other + uncountable noun)

He has other jobs

 

Vocabulary Corner:

December 24th - Christmas Eve

December 25th - Christmas Day

Boxing Day = el 26 de diciembre, día festivo en Gran Bretaña

January 1st - New Year's Day

December 31st - New Year's Eve

January 6th - The day of the (three) Kings, or "Epiphany"

wrapping paper = papel de envolver/papel de regalo

¡Feliz Navidad!  - Happy Christmas! / Merry Christmas!

¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!  - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

¡Felices fiestas! - Season's greetings! Happy holidays!

Salud! - Cheers! ("Slancha" in Ireland)

 

Phrasal verb: wrap up (not RAP!)

to wrap up presents (envolver, empaquetar). People wrap up presents at Christmas time.

To wrap up a deal (to complete, conclude a deal etc). This podcast wraps up the year.

Don't get too wrapped up in work (absorbed, involved)

Wrap up warm, it's cold outside (abrigarse). Wrap up well in the winter when it's cold.

 

Para estudiar los phrasal verbs, recomendamos el cd de Mike Hardinge: http://www.mansioningles.com/otrosproductos/phrasal/phrasal_verbs.htm

 

Pronunciación: In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (car, hotel, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.

For example: photograph, photographer and photographic.

Do they sound the same? How many syllables do they have? Where's the stress in each word?

photograph (DA de de)

photographer (de DA de de)

photographic (de de DA de)

 

Hay más practica con el estres de las palabras aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer14_7.htm

 

Reza's Top Tip: Watch DVDs in English.

1) Watch in English with English subtitles (original version). Pause and take notes.

2) Watch again with English sound and with Spanish subtitles.

3) Watch again with English sound and English subtitles but don't stop it.

 

Let's wrap up this episode Reza! Give us a Christmas gift - go to iTunes and give us some stars (estrellas) y un corto resumen en iTunes.

 

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre el inglés, puedes ponerse en contacto con Reza a belfastreza@gmail.com y a con Craig a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

 

 

Direct download: AIRC_010_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:00pm CET

Las notas del episodio

 

Feedback/News: A question from Jóse in Madrid, Spain "¿Cómo puedo preguntar sobre el tiempo en inglés?" - The weather/La clima - What's the weather like? What's the ______ like? (hotel, food, party, new phone like?) What was the flight like? What was your weekend like? What was it like?

 

Gramática:  Verb collocations (verb + adj./noun)

Craig liked Argentina (el verbo 'to like' en el pasado)

What's Argentina like? (¿Cómo es?)

Does Buenos Aires looks like Paris? (se parece)

What does it feel like? - It feels like Paris.

Does it smell like Paris? - It smells like Buenos Aires.

 

Pronunciación: /i/ and /i:/

/i/ - hit, sit

/i:/ - me, three

 

hit / heat

ship / sheep

sit / seat

whip / weep

sh*t / sheet

 

Phrasal verb: take up

I'll take you up on that! (say yes, agree) - tomar/aceptar el reto

Craig will take Reza up on his chess challenge, and on his offer to have a meal at his flat.

Nelso Mandela took up the fight against racism.

To take up a hobby/sport - Are you taking up anything in the new year?

Reza's friend has recently taken up jogging (not footing!!)

Reza is thinking of taking up aerobics.

Bob took up his new role as director (to accept a role or task)

To take up time (ocupar tiempo)

Take up trousers, to take up clothes (to make shorter)

Aquí hay una lista de los verbos compuestos (phrasal verbs): http://www.mansioningles.com/gram54.htm

 

Vocabulary Corner: Work - trabajo:

What's the difference between work and job?

Job is a noun. Work is a verb and a noun. When work is a noun, it's usually uncountable: I have two jobs. I have a lot of work.

Reza has a lot of work. He has three jobs.

Career is a false friend. - You study a degree or a subject at university.

You begin your career when you start working.

Reza has changed his careers. He used to be a musician.

You boss sacks you (if you're a bad employee. - to get the sack / to be fired, to get fired. Reza got the sack in East Berlin. He got the sack from selling newspapers.

to resign from your job (you decide to leave) / to hand in your notice or resignation (tell your employer in advance that you are going to leave.

to be made redundant - redundancy money. Many people in Spain are being made redundant at the moment.

to retire at the retirement age - to get a pension from the state (a state pension). You can also get a private pension.

Puedes estudiar más sobre el tema de work en nuestro curso intermedio: http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer21_1.htm

 

Reza's Top Tip: Brainstorm collocations.

DRIVE - to drive a car, bus, taxi etc.

to drive someone mad / crazy

Reza's mum drives him up the walls (in Belfast) or up the wall (in London). She drives him mad, she drives him crazy.

She drives him round the bend

to drive a point home

to drive a hard bargain - He drove a hard bargain

to drive under the influence (of alcohol or drugs)

 

STONE - a stepping stone - I see this job as a stepping stone to reach my goal

a stepping stone in a river

The Rolling Stones

A rolling stone - "a rolling stone gathers no moss" (musgo)

A stones throw away. It's a stones throw away from here.

To leave no stone unturned - The police left no stone unturned.

To sink like a stone

a headstone (lápida mortuoria, piedra sepulcral)

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

 

 

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es (Craig) o belfastreza@gmail.com (Reza).

Direct download: AIRC_009_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:00pm CET

Could / couldn't, collocations with 'have', pronunciation: consonants and vowels, phrasal verb 'to set up' - AIRC8

LAS NOTAS DEL EPISODIO

 

Gramática:  Could and Couldn't

I could swim when I was young.(habilidad en el pasado) - podia

Tomorrow we could swim in the sea.(condicional) - podría

Craig can't play a musical instrument (now)

Craig couldn't play a musical instrument when he was younger (past)

Craig, could/can I ask you a question? (permission)

Estudia más sobre los verbos modales aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer20_6.htm

 

Pronunciación: consonantes + vocales

"Have a" cuando un vocal va después de un consonante en inglés, los sonidos se juntan. "Have a cup of tea" - "have a cuppa", "have a coffee", "have a can of beer"

"Got to get a lot of it".

 

Phrasal verb: to set up

to set up a tent, to set up equipment (montar)

to set up a meeting (arrange, organize)

to set up a business, an organization, a foundation, a charity (fundar, montar)

to set up a person (to trick them - hacer trampas, engañar) "The murderer set me up", "It was a set up".

 

Vocabulay Corner: collocations with HAVE 

"to have fun", "to have a ball, (fun v funny) - a funny joke, a funny film, a funny person (gracioso) - a fun person (divertido) to have a good time

To have st in common with so What do we have in common? Craig and Reza have jazz music and houseproud mothers in common.

To have time (to do things) What would you like to have more time to do? Reza doesn't have time to surf the Internet.

Reza has a new phone. He's got (he has got) a new phone.

 

Reza's Top Tip: Use polite language with strangers 

"Where's the bus staion?" (direct) - "Could you tell me where the bus station is?" (indirect and more polite)

"Do you like paella?" - "Can you tell me if you like paella?"

"Can I smoke? - Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Would you mind telling me where the bus station is?"

"I'd like to know where the bus station is?"

"I wonder if you wouldn't mind telling me where the bus station is?"

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

 

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

Direct download: AIRC_008_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:58am CET

Las notas del episodio

 

Let's get cracking! = ¡Vamos a empezar!

 

Gramática:  Can / can't

Can I ask you a question?

You can speak Spanish. Reza can speak a bit of Valencian.

Can you play any musical instruments? - Yes, I can.

Can, like could, should, would, may etc son modal verbs (verbos modales).

El can se puede emplear para hablar de la habilidad y también para pedir las cosas "Can I have....?)

Can I have a biscuit? Can I have a cup ñof tea? Can I help you?

 

John can be quite cold sometimes. (possibility)

It can be wet in Valncia sometimes. (possibility)

This postcard can't be from Bob. (impossibility)

 

Practicar el 'can' para pedir las cosas aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/nc_lec04_3.htm

 

Vocabulay Corner: Clothes

Reza is wearing jeans and a very nice striped short. Craig is wearing nice linen shorts.

trousers (UK) / pants (US). pants (UK) / shorts (US), waistcoat (UK) / vest (US), panties (US) / knickers (UK), tights (UK) / pantyhose (US), 

to wear (llevar puesto) "He's wearing a blue coat" / to put on clothes / to get dressed / To take off clothes (quitar la ropa)

training shoes (UK) / sneakers (US) - zapatillas deportivas

 

Practicar el vocabulario de la ropa en inglés aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/nc_lec15_2.htm

Hay una lista de ropa en nuestra seccion de vocabulario: http://www.mansioningles.com/vocabulario10.htm 

 

Phrasal verb: to set off

SET has many uses in English. Set off means: to begin a journey - "We set off at 6 o'clock."

to set off also means to activate something: "I set off the alarm." "Young children sometimes set off car alarms in the street."

Set off can also mean to start an emotion. "The picture sets her off crying."

Set off also means (destacarse) "The white background really sets off the person in the picture."

 

Pronunciación: clothes /cloves/, a suit /soot/ - traje = suit (noun) "it suits you" (Te va bien)

"It fits you" (it's the correct size) - Does this fit me?

tracksuit (chandal), slippers - "Where are my slippers?", (a pair of) shoes - high-heeled shoes, striped (con rayas), blouse - "Your a big girl's blouse!" (You're too soft). 

 

Reza's Top Tip: use the negative (adj/adverb) to be indirect/polite

"Well, it isn't the best thing I've seen", "It doesn't look that great." "I've seen you looking better."

"It wouldn't be my first choice.", "It's not bad."

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

 

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

Direct download: AIRC_007_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:34am CET

The full audio interview with Craig and Marie.

Watch the video and answer comprension questions here: http://www.mansioningles.com/practica/practicar_ingles04.htm

Ver el video y contesta las preguntas de comprensión aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/practica/practicar_ingles04.htm

Direct download: Coffee_with_Maria_Podcasat_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:27pm CET

Las notas del episodio

Gramática:  Used to / be used to / get used to

Craig used to live in London. he used to go out with friends, he used to drink a lot of beer. He used to go to record shops and book shops. He used to buy clothes. He used to watch a lot of TV in the UK.

Now in Valencia, he usually goes to the gym. He usually does some work on Sundays.

Use 'used to' for things in the past that are not true today.

Use the adverb of frequency 'usually' for present habits.

It was difficult for Craig to get used to going out late at weekends. But now he's used to eating late.

Reza is getting used to his first smart phone.

 

Pronunciación: /j/

Jazz, June, January / to jump (saltar) Jumping Jack Flash / judge / Not only with the letter 'j', but sometimes with the letter 'g' as in general / giant / gym and Jim (the name) etc. compare to /je/ vision - television, pleasure, leisure.

Sigue los siguientes enlaces y mejorar tu pronunciación:

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer01_3.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer04_6.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer06_6.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer08_6.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer10_7.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer08_9.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer12_7.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer14_7.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer17_3.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer19_4.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer24_7.htm

 

Phrasal verb: COME OUT

After a long meeting they CAME OUT of the room.

My friend CAME OUT in a rash (rash = sarpullido, erupción).

To COME OUT on strike. To COME OUT in support of the nurses.

The sun, the moon and the stars COME OUT. What time does the moon come out?

To COME OUT (of the closet). To admit in public that you are gay.

Revisa más phrasal verbs aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/gram54.htm

 

Vocabulary Corner - Sport:

Learn words in groups - Es mejor aprender el vocabulario en los grupos/familias

Football : pitch, stadium, to kick the ball into the net, referee - 1-0 (nil)

Tennis : court, umpire. net 15-0 (love)

Tennis, basketball, volleyball, badminton, squash COURT

to draw a game of football - It's a draw - Valencia drew with Barcelona yesterday.

Let's kick off (let's start) . Let's kick off this meeting by talking about....

It's a whole new ball game (It's a totally new thing)

Right off the bat (to begin with, immediately) - When we started this podcast we had over 1.000 listeners right off the bat.

Golf club - baseball bat - cricket bat - table tennis bat - tennis racket - squash racket.

A ball-park figure (an approximate number). Give me a ball park figure on your expected salary.

To hit it out of the park - to have a lot of success.

Estudia más vocabulario del deporte aquÍ: http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer07_5.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer07_1.htm

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer08_10.htm

 

Reza's Top Tip: Spelling - double letters

Si la palabra termina con consonante, vocal, consonante hay que poner doble consonante al final(ej. running; shop-shopping; putting)

sleeping (termina con -eep); hope-g (termina con -ope)

Regret - regretting (el estrés está el la segunda silaba)

limit - limiting (el estrés esta en la primera silaba)

travelling (British English spelling)

traveling (American English spelling)

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

Direct download: AIRC_006_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:11am CET

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 67 recorded for November 2013.

En el nivel básico practicamos los pronombres y los antónimos

En el nivel intermedio estudiamos los tiempos verbales y el vocabulario del cuerpo (parts of the body).

We practise some general vocabulary at advanced level, and also we help you with what to say in English in certain social situations There's also business vocabulary and a translation exercise, all to help you 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 podéis 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, ve a mansioningles.com y sigue los enlaces en la página principal.

Hemos recibido un comentario en iTunes de Carlos G - "Mil gracias por vuestro fantástico podcast, pero no hemos transcrito el contenido de los últimos podcasts. Os animo

a que lo hagais para poder seguir aprendiendo. Gracias a vosotros. Un abrazo."

Bueno Carlos, gracias por tu comentario. Si que publicamos la transcripción en los cuadernos mensuales, siempre los publicamos el mes siguiente. Es decir, puedes leer la transcripción de este podcast de noviembre en diciembre. Y no olvides que todos los cuadernos pasados están disponibles en www.cuadernodeingles.com/. También puedes ver las trascripciónes en mansioningles.libsyn.com/

Ok, vamos a empezar con el nivel básico y los pronombres de objeto. Do you remember the object pronouns in English? Vamos a repasarlos.

me - me repite: me

te - you - repite: you

lo - him - repite: him

la - her - repite: her

lo - it - repite: it

nos - us - repite: us

os - you - repite: you

los/las - them - repite: them

Escucha y repite las siguientes frases de ejemplo

Escucha: You're lovely! I really like you. repite: You're lovely! I really like you.

Escucha: He's not very friendly. I don't like him. repite: He's not very friendly. I don't like him.

Escucha: Are they talking to us? repite: Are they talking to us?

Escucha: Football's great! I love it. repite: Football's great! I love it.

Escucha: She's horrible. I don’t like her. repite: She's horrible. I don’t like her.

Escucha: I don't like vegetables. I hate them! repite: I don't like vegetables. I hate them!

Escucha: Homework? I hate it. repite: Homework? I hate it.

Escucha: Please give it to me. repite: Please give it to me

Escucha: Did they invite us? repite: Did they invite us?

Escucha: My neighbours are nice. I really like them. repite: My neighbours are nice. I really like them.

¡Muy bien! - Very good!

Ahora practicamos los antónimos. Escucha y intenta decir los antónimos antes que los digo yo. Luego, repítalos para practicar la pronunciación. Ready? - ¿Listo?

expensive - cheap repite: cheap

tall - short - repite: short

young - old - repite:  old

empty - full        - repite: full

fat - thin - repite:  thin 

happy - sad - repite: sad


Ok good, now moving on to the intermediate section, and in this month's cuaderno we looked at verb tenses. I'm going to read the examples we had and I want you to think which verb tense I'm using. For example, "I live in Valencia", which tense is live? Yes, present simple. What about, "I've been living in Valencia since 1997?" Well, that's present perfect continuous.

Listen : Take your umbrella with you in case it rains. - Present simple. The weather forecast said it'll get colder today.

Listen : I'm really sorry we haven't been in touch for so long. Since we moved to Barcelona, we've been very busy doing up our flat here. We tried to send you an email last month, but it came back to us so you must have changed your address.

Listen : We were going out to a pub quiz tonight, but we have just heard that it's been cancelled, so I think we'll just stay at home and watch a film instead.

Listen : Hey Maria! How are you? I haven't seen you for ages. You look great! What have you been doing since we last met?

Listen : We intended to go around Europe this summer, but my mother-in-law is sick, so I suppose we'll be staying at home.

Listen : I wish you had told me that you don't eat seafood. Let me make something else for you.

Moving on to the vocabulary part of the intermediate section, and we talked about parts of the body and what you did with them. For example, what do you do with your eyes? You see with your eyes. You can also look and watch. Look at something (look at that beautiful girl over there). And you can watch a game, watch TV, watch a film etc.

What do you do with your ears? You hear with your ears. You can also listen. Listen and look and watch are more active verbs. You actively listen to music or to another person. You actively watch a game of football. But hear and see are senses, sentidos.

So, what do you do with your nose. It's a verb and a noun, and another sense. You smell with your nose. You have a sense of smell. And what a wonderful sense it is! What's your favourite smell? flowers perhaps? or freshly baked bread? I like the smell of petrol, which is a bit strange, I know. And the smell of freshly cut grass. That's a smell I miss from the UK. There were public parks near where I used to live in London. But in Valencia there isn't a lot of grass around and it's usually full of dogs mess. My favourite smell though, has to be....chocolate!

Which part of the body do you kiss with? - You kiss with your lips. And what do you do with your teeth? Well you can bite (morder, in Spanish) and you can chew (masticar). If you need to chew a lot, for a long time, you can say the food is chewy. That's the adjective. Chewy. "The steak's nice, but it's a bit chewy".

What do you do with your hands and your fingers? - touch, which is another of the five senses, the sense of touch. Can you name the five senses? the sense of smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch. And of course, there is The Sixth Sense, which is a film starring Bruce Willis.

What do you think with? You think with your brain. And if you are a footballer, what do you do with your feet? Kick - to kick the ball, or kick another player if you play dirty.

Finally, which part of your body do you use to smile? Well, you can smile with your mouth, your lips and I believe you can also smile with your eyes. In fact, you can give a false smile with your mouth but it's very difficult to lie and smile with your eyes. Your eyes tell the truth. they are the window to the soul.

Siempre me ha gustado la idea de aprender inglés con videos. Por eso te recomendamos ABA English. Los videos de ABA English son muy profesionales y están muy bien hechos.

Además de las 144 clases gratuitas de gramática en vídeo, también tienes la posibilidad de probar la primera unidad de tu nivel (hay 6 niveles distintos) y realizar todas las secciones de esta unidad para probar su metodología única de aprendizaje. 

Tú aprendes inglés viendo películas cortas con subtítulos, que ya es un método muy eficaz para aprender inglés,  pero también actúas en estas películas! Es muy divertido! En la misma unidad realizas ejercicios de speaking y role play actuando en el diálogo del cortometraje que has visto!

Los cortometrajes, con situaciones de la vida real, son la base de cada unidad del curso de inglés. Llevan incorporada la tecnología de reconocimiento de voz propia. 

Echa un vistazo a los videos de ABA English.com. Puedes empezar los cursos gratis sin coste y además con apoyo en español.

Al empezar, tienes que facilitar una dirección de email y contestar algunas preguntas básicas, pero no es necesario que realices ningún pago. Pienso que si una empresa ofrece un producto gratis para probarlo es porque es bueno y la empresa cree en sus productos.

¡Regístrate hoy y aprende inglés gratis con video, en casa y a tu ritmo. ABA English.com! Pruébalo no tienes nada de perder.

In the advanced section this month, we looked at some vocabulary the first expression was bound to. To be bound to means ser seguro que.

Listen: Why don’t you email Pepito, he’s bound to have the meeting agenda. Repeat; he's bound to have it - she's bound to know the answer - We're bound to get lost! - I'm bound to make a mistake.

Listen: I have no idea where we arranged to meet them. I suppose they could conceivably be waiting at the hotel. conceivably means posiblemente - they could conceivably be waiting at the hotel - it's possible that they are waiting at the hotel. Repeat: conceivably - You could conceivably be wrong, you know. I may conceivably get the promotion.

Listen: We’re highly likely to be the leaders in our field this time next year. Highly likely means there's a very good chance. Repeat: It's highly likely. It's highly likely we'll go away for Christmas. It's highly likely he'll be late again.

Listen: You’re looking really tired! You can’t have had a very relaxing holiday. Can't is the opposite of must for possibility. It's Sunday. My parents always go out for lunch on Sunday. My wife phones my parents and there's no answer. I say, "They must be having lunch now." They must be having lunch now means I'm about 95% sure they are having lunch. I'm almost positive. The opposite is they can't be. My parents can't be at home. It's Sunday. They always go out. They can't be at home.

To put the modal verbs in the past you need to use have. Today is Monday. phone my mum and say, "you must have been having lunch when my wife phoned you." You can't have been at home.

Listen: There’s a slight possibility that you’ll get their answer before the weekend. A slight possibility is a very small possibility. Repeat: a slight possibility. There's a slight possibility. There's a slight possibility you'll hear from them. There's a slight possibility they'll get in touch before the weekend.

Listen: Pepito broke his leg last week so he couldn’t have played football at the weekend. - Another example of have putting a modal verb (couldn't) in the past. He couldn't have played. It wasn't possible that he played because he had broken his leg. Repeat: He couldn't have played - She couldn't have gone - We couldn't have known - You couldn't have seen me, I wasn't there.

In the advanced section this month, we also looked at what you should say in certain situations. Some of these little language chunks (trozos de lenguaje) can be difficult.

For example, someone says to you:

"I'm terribly sorry, I've just spilt red wine over this white cushion." cushion is cojín.

A possible answer, if it's your cushion, is "Can't be helped." or "It can't be helped", It's no one's fault, don't worry about it, it's ok. Nothing can be done to help the situation. Repeat: Can't be helped. - Someone says. "We're going to be late because of the heavy traffic", and you say....can't be helped. "Someone's says, "The shop's going to be closed by the time we get there." you say, "Can't be helped."

Another example is when someone says "How about lending me your new video camera for our holiday?"

If it's a brand new, expensive camera. And if, like me, you are very protective and illogically possessive of your technology gadgets, you could answer,  "No way!" (¡Ni hablar!)

Can I borrow your new car for the weekend? You say, "No way!". Someone says, "Can you lend me a couple of thousand euros to go to the casino?" you say, "No way!"

Someone says, "Sorry. I hope you didn't mind us putting on the stereo. We didn't know you were trying to work in here." You say:

Don't mind me! (No haces caso de mi)

Repeat: Don't mind me!

Someone says, "Do you mind if I use that computer?" you say. "Don't mind me. Help yourself. Don't mind me."

Someone makes a suggestion, like let's go out for dinner, let's rent a DVD, Why don't we go shopping this afternoon? We could go for a walk. You say,

Might as well. (¿porque no?, no hay otra cosa que hacer)

Repeat: might as well. - Shall we go out for a walk? - might as well. Do you want to go to the pub? might as well.

Let's go to the cinema - might as well.

If you don't apologise, I'll never talk to you again.

I couldn't care less. (¡Me da igual!, ¡Me da lo mismo!)

Repeat: I couldn't care less.

You can also forget the I and just say "Couldn't care less"

Are you watching this? Can I change the channel? - Couldn't care less.

You're going to be late for school - couldn't care less.

You can't go outside in that shirt, it's dirty. - I couldn't care less.

Listen: I think you should have a word with your boss and tell her how unhappy you are with the decisions she's been making.

I've got a good mind to. (No es mala idea, Creo que haría eso)

Repeat. I've got a good mind to.

You should report your neighbours to the police. - I've got a good mind to.

Why don't you complain to you boss about your long hours?

Do you know what? I've a good mind to! - Repeat: I've a good mind to.

 

In the Business English section this month we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first expression was to review a proposal - revisar una propuesta - Repeat: to review a proposal. I think we should review their proposal. Have you had time to review our proposal?

I think you should have a word with Pepito, he's not pulling his weight. No está haciendo lo que debe hacer. No está haciendo su parte. Repeat: pulling his weight. Are you pulling your weight? He's not pulling his weight, you know. To pull your weight means to work as hard as other people in a group - The rest of the team complained that Sarah wasn't pulling her weight.

A fixed amount of money charged for professional services is called a fee. F-E-E. Repeat: What is your fee? How much is your lawyer's fee? I think lawyer's fees are too high. Is there a fee for getting a driver's license?

Listen : We've reviewed your proposal, and there are one or two things we'd like to go over with you. To go over means to talk about (analizar, revisar). Repeat; to go over - We should go over these sales figures. Have you gone over the proposal? When do you want to go over the presentation?

After receiving a pay cut and having to work more hours, the employees took the union's advice and went on strike.  to go on strike hacer una huelga. Repeat: They've gone on strike. Why are they on strike' They're on strike for more pay. Are they on strike again? How long have they been on strike for?

Well, we're not on strike at La Mansión del Inglés. We're busy creating more material to help you improve your English. But we have reached the end of this podcast, but never fear/don't worry (never fear=no temas/no tengas miedo) we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and of course on iTunes. And we have a new podcast called Aprender inglés con Reza y Craig en lo que hablo con mi amigo Reza, que también es profesor de inglés, sobre el vocabulario, la gramática y la pronunciación de inglés. Puedes encontrarlo también en iTunes.

Si te gustan nuestros podcasts, puedes ayudarnos con una corta reseña en iTunes contribuyendo así a que más personas puedan conocernos y escucharnos. Gracias a todos los que ya han escrito algún comentario. Thank you to all of you who are writing reviews.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, If you want to contact us you can find us on Facebook. Just search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés where you can ask questions, make comments and do exercises and practise your listening. Or you can send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter where we tweet useful links to improve your English, English slang vocabulary, quotations and much more. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno67_november2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:57am CET

Las Notas del Episodio

Gramática: El 'past simple' y el 'present perfect' juntos

I've been to Bilbao (present perfect) - Cuando hablas de tu vida hasta ahora.

When did you go? (past simple) - Para hablar de las cosas en el pasado.

Have you been to Cuba? (present perfect)

When did you go? - I went 6 or 7 years ago (past simple) La expresión del tiempo 'AGO' se emplea con el past simple.

Have you eaten anything today? (today hasn't finished yet)

When did you eat it (a specific time in the past)

Job interviews: Have you ever worked for a multi-national company? (present perfect)

When did you work there? (past simple)

How long have you been living in Valencia? (present perfect continuous)

I came here 17 years ago (past simple) I came in 1997.

 

Estudiar sobre el Pasado (pretérito) en inglés aquí:  http://www.mansioningles.com/gram40.htm

 

Pronunciación: los consonantes juntos (consonant clusters) - crisps (papas, chips) / structure (edificio) / stretch (estirar, estirarse) - stretcher (camilla) / hitch hiker / crunch, crunchy (crujiente) 

scrimp and save (When I'm 64....)

Every summer we can rent a cottage

In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear (expensive)

We shall scrimp and save

Grandchildren on your knee

Vera, Chuck, and Dave

Leer las letras the lyrics) a este canción de los Beatles en YouTube aquí: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldIfhc1pJpk

 

Phrasal verb: PUT OFF - to postpone (posponer) Reza has put off re-wiring his flat. Craig has been putting off going to the optician. Flu = gripe / Las Fallas festival in Valencia puts Reza off (distraer)

Music PUTS Craig OFF when he's trying to work. / Reza's experience with the girl in the cafe has PUT him OFF meeting women. The cockroach in the bar PUT Craig OFF eating in the restaurant.

 

Vocab Corner: COME - to come as a surprise. It came as a surprise to Craig to see we had nearly 2,000 downloads (descargas) of the podcast this month. It came as no surprise that the podcast is a success. 

/ to come as a relief (didn't have to pay for dinner in that expensive restaurant) - to come as a relief  - Come as a GREAT/TERRIBLE/DREADFUL shock (susto) - It came as a BIG/GREAT/COMPLETE surprise

Come to power A Prime Minister comes to power / come to a decision - Craig has come to the decision to go to Disneyland. "Come off it!" ¡Venga ya!- Estas tomando el pelo - You're pulling my leg.

Reza's Top Tips: Label (poner etiquetas) Pictures and photos. Also use Post-it notes to label things around the house and the office.

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

 

 

Direct download: AIRC_005_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:58am CET

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 66 recorded for October 2013.

En el nivel básico practicamos las colacaciones de los verbos, y también un poco de vocabulario general.

En el nivel intermedio estudiamos el uso de los verbos GET, GO y HAVE y también una selección de preguntas sobre la gramática.

In the advanced section, we practise more advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise, all to help you 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 podéis 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, ve a mansioningles.com y sigue los enlaces en la página principal.

Antes de empezar, quiero dar las gracias a todos nuestros seguidores en Facebook. Ya tenemos más de 30,000 fans y seguimos creciendo cada día. Si tienes alguna pregunta, comentario o duda sobre el inglés o simplemente quieres hacer ejercicios adicionales, puedes encontrarnos en facebook.com/mansioningles

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico to make a noise - hacer un ruido - hacer se puede traducir como to make o to do, pero cuando va con el sustantivo a noise, decimos make a noise. Repite: make a noise. Shhh...don't make a noise they're sleeping. Who was making all that noise last night?

También decimos take photos Repite: take photos - How many photos did you take? I took hundreds of photos.

Estoy seguro que sabes que en inglés decimos drive a car or drive a bus or a taxi. Pero cuando hablamos de las motos, las bicicletas y los animales decimos ride - R-I-D-E Repite: to ride a bike, ride a horse, ride a motorbike. Can you ride a motorbike? Have you ever ridden a horse? I would love to ride an elephant. I rode a camel in Egypt.

¿Cómo se traduce 'llevar gafas'? to wear glasses Repite; wear -wear glasses. I wear glasses - I've been wearing glasses for years. He's wearing a jacket - Are you wearing jeans?

Luego tenemos la expresión to run for the bus. Repite: the bus - run for - run for the bus. I ran for the bus this morning.

¿Como se dice suerte en inglés? - luck - Repite: luck - Luck es un sustantivo. ¿Cuál es el adjetivo? - lucky. Repite: Lucky. I'm lucky! Are you lucky? Are you a lucky person? I am. I think I'm very lucky.

El verbo to book significa reservar. For example you can book a room in a hotel. Repite: to book - to book a room. Can I book a room, please? I'd like to book a room. También puedes book a table in a restaurant. Repite: to book a table. Can I book a table, please? I'd like to book a table for two, please.

If you book a room in a hotel, you stay in the hotel. Repite: stay in the hotel. Where are you staying. Are you staying in a hotel?

¿Cómo se dice mandar un correo electrónico en inglés? - to send an email. Repite: send an email. Did you send me an email? I'll send you an email. I'll send you an email next week.

Very good! - ¡Muy bien!

También en el nivel básico este mes hemos practicado un poco de vocabulario. Vamos a ver si te acuerdas de las palabras.  

A dress, skirt, trousers, shirt, socks are all examples of.....clothes. Repite: clothes. I like your clothes. I need new clothes.

What do you cut your food with? You cut your food with a...... knife - K-N-I-F-E. Repite: Knife. knife and fork - knife, fork and spoon. Can I have a knife, please?

Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four....seasons. Repite: seasons. What's your favourite season? I like spring and autumn. I think autumn is my favourite season. En el inglés americano, autumn se dice fall - F-A-L-L because the leaves, las ojas, caen de los arboles.

What do you usually drink tea and coffee and hot chocolate from? You drink tea and coffee from a ....cup. Not a glass, a cup. You drink Coca Cola from a glass, you drink beer from a glass. You drink tea and coffee from a cup. Repite: cup - a cup - a coffee cup - a tea cup. A cup of coffee. A cup of tea.

Now, what is the name of the part of the house where you cook? You cook in the ....kitchen. Repite: kitchen. Ten cuidado con la diferencia entre kitchen and chicken. Chicken is pollo.  Repite: kitchen - chicken - kitchen. We cook in the kitchen. The chicken's in the kitchen.

What's the name for the room where you usually have a shower, clean your teeth or wash your face? It's the bathroom. Repite: bathroom. Excuse me, where's the bathroom?

 

Ok good, now moving on to the intermediate section,

Listen: 'Have you ever been to this restaurant?’  - ‘No, this is the first time.’

'Have you been' is the present perfect tense. Listen: Have you been to New York? Has estado una vez en Nueva York? Repite: Have you been to New York? Have you been here before? Have you ever eaten Japanese food?

Listen: We don’t have to be at the meeting. 'Have to' is similar to 'must' for obligation. The difference is that 'must' is often external obligation (it comes from outside the speaker) and 'have to' can be the obligation you feel inside. For example, your boss says "Everyone must go to the meeting", so you feel you have to. The government says "you must pay your taxes" so we all have to pay our taxes. A mother tells her son that he 'must do his homework', so the son tells his friend "I can't play with you now because I have to do my homework. My mother says I have to do my homework."

Another difference of course is that 'have to' can change to the past: "I had to do my homework" and to the future "I will have to do my homework" or "I'll have to do my homework". We cannot say, X"I will must do my homework."X That's wrong!

Repeat: I'll have to work on Saturday. - I had to work late yesterday. Do we have to go to the meeting?

Listen to a different example from the same exercise: "I didn't remember where I had parked my car." Listen again. Which verb tenses do you hear? "I didn't remember where I had parked my car." Did is the past of do, so didn't remember is past simple. What about the second verb tense? I "had parked". Had + past participle is the past perfect tense. I had is often contracted to I'd. Repeat: I'd parked - I'd parked my car. I didn't remember - I didn't remember where I'd parked my car. (No recordaba dónde había aparcado el coche.) Repeat again: I didn't remember where I'd parked my car. - I didn't remember where I'd left my bag. I didn't remember what I'd said to her - I didn't remember what I'd done with my keys.

Escucha otro ejemplo y, como antes, piensa cuales son los tiempos verbales: I was sitting on the train when suddenly my mobile rang.

I was sitting - past continuous - my mobile rang - past simple. The sitting is the longer action. I was sitting before my mobile rang. I was sitting when my mobile rang, and I was sitting after my mobile rang. Repeat: I was sitting - I was sitting on the train - I was sitting on the train when my mobile rang. I was watching TV when I heard a noise. I was reading when you arrived. I was sleeping when you phoned.

Here's one more example from the same exercise. Listen: Exercising before breakfast is the best time if you want to burn calories.

Why is 'exercising' a gerund in this sentence? Why is it verb + ing? Well, it's because we often use a gerund as the subject of the sentence. Repeat: Exercising is good for you. Smoking is bad for your health. Jogging is a popular pastime. Reading is something I don't do very often.

In the next exercise in this month's 'cuaderno', we looked at some expressions with the verbs get, go and have. Listen and repeat the sentences to practise pronunciation. Listen:

How many e-mails do you usually get? Repeat: usually get - do you usually get - How many? How many emails? - How many e-mails do you usually get?

Listen: Does she usually get drunk? Repeat: get drunk - usually - usually get drunk - Does she? - Does she usually get drunk?

Listen: Did you have a shower? Repeat: have a - have a shower - Did you? - Did you have a shower?

Listen: Did you go away for the summer? Repeat: the summer - for the summer - go away - go away for the summer - Did you - Did you go away for the summer?

Listen: Did you go anywhere nice? Repeat: nice - anywhere - anywhere nice - Did you go? Did you go anywhere nice?

Listen: What time did you get home? Repeat: get home - did you - did you get home - What time? - What time did you get home?

Listen: Do you always get up early? Repeat: early - get up early (nota como se junta el sonido final de /up/ con el sonido vocal al principio de /early/ - up early. Repeat: up early - get up early - Do you always? - Do you always get up early?

Listen: Did you go out on Saturday? Repeat: on Saturday - go out - go out on Saturday - Did you go out on Saturday?

Listen: Where did you did you get your phone? Repeat: your phone - get your phone - Where did you? - Where did you get? Where did you get your phone?

Listen: Where did you go for lunch? Repeat: lunch - for -  for lunch - go for lunch - Where did you? - Where did you go for lunch?

Listen: Who did you have dinner with yesterday? Repeat: have dinner with - have dinner with yesterday - Who did you? - Who did you have dinner with yesterday?

In the advanced section this month, we looked at some more collocations. The first of which was to make the best of something which means to do as well as possible with something that is not too promising. Repeat: I'll make the best of it. I don't like it, but I'll make the best of it. we can also say 'make the most of it'. Repeat: make the most of it. Make the most of a bad situation. Make the most of a bad job. Make the most of your time in the UK. (¡aprovechadlo!)

Now, if you draw (someone’s) attention to something, you attract someone to notice or focus on someone or something. Repeat: draw your attention to - let me draw your attention to this wonderful painting. My attention was drawn to a small insect on the floor.

If you jump for joy you are extremely happy. Repeat: I jumped for joy when I got my exam results. When she agreed to have dinner with me I jumped for joy. The children jumped for joy when we got to Disneyland.

To draw out something means to make it longer than it needs to be. Repeat: to draw out a meeting. It wasn't necessary to draw out the meeting for so long. Why does he have to draw it out so much?

Repeat: to draw out something.

If you make allowances (for something) you take certain facts or circumstances into consideration. Repeat: to make allowances for. When we go to the UK we should make allowances for the weather. You have to make allowances for the age of the property.

If you jump or are thrown in at the deep end, you start doing something new and difficult without help or preparation. Repeat: jump in at the deep end / thrown in at the deep end. I was thrown in at the deep end when I worked in a professional kitchen for the first time. You should jump in at the deep end and buy your first computer. Repeat: jump in at the deep end - I was thrown in at the deep end.

stand a chance (of doing something) is another popular collocation. It means there's a possibility. You have a chance that something will happen. Repeat: stand a chance - Do you think I stand a chance? Do I stand a chance of winning? No, I don't think you stand a chance to be honest! You don't stand a chance of getting that job.

Our last expression was to jump the gun which means to start before the starting signal. Guns used to be used to start a race. If you start before the gun goes 'bang' you jump the gun. Repeat: jump the gun. Don't jump the gun. Be patient! You're always jumping the gun. He apologised for jumping the gun.

 

In the Business English section this month we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first expression was to become head of something. This means to be in charge, to manage (ser el jefe). Repeat: She's head of sales. He's head of design. She became head of the company in March. Who's head of the department?

Let's discuss means vamos hablar de.... Repeat: let's discuss the sales figures. Let's discuss your role in the company. Let's discuss the release date of the new product.

outsourcing is subcontracting to an outside company. In Spanish, I think it's subcontratación o la externalización of a product or service. Repeat: outsourcing. Many companies are outsourcing their manufacturing. It's cheaper to outsource the work.

Finally, the phrasal verb to run on means to continue without stopping or go on longer than expected. Repeat. Run on. What's the past of run? - ran. Repeat: the meeting ran on. - The meeting ran on for nearly three hours. - The story ran on for months.

¡Muy bien! - Very good!

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you say the Spanish translation before I do. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Are you ready?

They didn’t want to stay here. - No querían quedarse aquí. Repite: They didn’t want to stay here. - stay here - to stay here - They didn’t want - They didn’t want to stay here.

Unemployment is increasing / rising / going up. - El paro está subiendo. Repite: Unemployment - Unemployment is increasing - rising - Unemployment is rising - going up - Unemployment is going up.

Don’t talk to me about economics. - No me hables de economía. Repite: economics - talk to me - Don't talk to me - Don’t talk to me about economics.

The economy is beyond our control.  - La economía está más allá de nuestro control. Repite: the economy - beyond our control - The economy is beyond our control.

How many beers do we have left? - ¿Cuántas cervezas nos quedan? Repite: left - have left - How many? How many beers? How many beers do we have left? How many beers do we have left?

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English before I do. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

¿Quieres decir que ésta es la última? - Do you mean this is the last one? Repeat: the last one - this is the last one. Do you mean? - Do you mean this is the last one?

Habrá más vino. - There’ll be more wine. Repeat: more wine - There will - there'll - there will be - there'll be - There’ll be more wine.

Corrieron a la farmacia. - They ran to the pharmacy/chemist (UK) /drugstore (US) Repeat: They ran to - They ran to the pharmacy - They ran to the chemist - They ran to the drugstore.

¿Por qué no querían quedarse? - Why didn’t they want to stay? Repeat: want to stay - Why didn't they? - Why didn’t they want to stay?

Dijeron que tenían muchas cosas que hacer. - They said they had a lot of things to do. Repeat: things to do - a lot of - a lot of things to do - They said they had - They said they had a lot of things to do. - They said they had a lot of things to do.

Well, I've got a lot of things to do also, so unfortunately that's the end of this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and of course on iTunes.

Si te gustan nuestros podcasts, puedes ayudarnos con una corta reseña en iTunes contribuyendo así a que más personas puedan conocernos y escucharnos. Gracias a todos los que ya han escrito algún comentario. Thank you to all of you who are writing reviews.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, If you want to contact us you can find us on Facebook. Just search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés where you can ask questions, make comments and do exercises and practise your listening. Or you can send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter where we tweet useful links to improve your English, English slang vocabulary, quotations and much more. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Mansion Ingles Podcast October 2013 - Aprende gramática y vocabulario inglés

 

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 66 recorded for October 2013.

 

En el nivel básico practicamos las colacaciones de los verbos, y también un poco de vocabulario general.

En el nivel intermedio estudiamos el uso de los verbos GET, GO y HAVE y también una selección de preguntas sobre la gramática.

In the advanced section, we practise more advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise, all to help you 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 podéis 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, ve a mansioningles.com y sigue los enlaces en la página principal.

 

Antes de empezar, quiero dar las gracias a todos nuestros seguidores en Facebook. Ya tenemos más de 30,000 fans y seguimos creciendo cada día. Si tienes alguna pregunta, comentario o duda sobre el inglés o simplemente quieres hacer ejercicios adicionales, puedes encontrarnos en facebook.com/mansioningles

 

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico to make a noise - hacer un ruido - hacer se puede traducir como to make o to do, pero cuando va con el sustantivo a noise, decimos make a noise. Repite: make a noise. Shhh...don't make a noise they're sleeping. Who was making all that noise last night?

 

También decimos take photos Repite: take photos - How many photos did you take? I took hundreds of photos.

 

Estoy seguro que sabes que en inglés decimos drive a car or drive a bus or a taxi. Pero cuando hablamos de las motos, las bicicletas y los animales decimos ride - R-I-D-E Repite: to ride a bike, ride a horse, ride a motorbike. Can you ride a motorbike? Have you ever ridden a horse? I would love to ride an elephant. I rode a camel in Egypt.

 

¿Cómo se traduce 'llevar gafas'? to wear glasses Repite; wear -wear glasses. I wear glasses - I've been wearing glasses for years. He's wearing a jacket - Are you wearing jeans?

Luego tenemos la expresión to run for the bus. Repite: the bus - run for - run for the bus. I ran for the bus this morning.

 

¿Como se dice suerte en inglés? - luck - Repite: luck - Luck es un sustantivo. ¿Cuál es el adjetivo? - lucky. Repite: Lucky. I'm lucky! Are you lucky? Are you a lucky person? I am. I think I'm very lucky.

 

El verbo to book significa reservar. For example you can book a room in a hotel. Repite: to book - to book a room. Can I book a room, please? I'd like to book a room. También puedes book a table in a restaurant. Repite: to book a table. Can I book a table, please? I'd like to book a table for two, please.

 

If you book a room in a hotel, you stay in the hotel. Repite: stay in the hotel. Where are you staying. Are you staying in a hotel?

 

¿Cómo se dice mandar un correo electrónico en inglés? - to send an email. Repite: send an email. Did you send me an email? I'll send you an email. I'll send you an email next week.

 

Very good! - ¡Muy bien!

 

También en el nivel básico este mes hemos practicado un poco de vocabulario. Vamos a ver si te acuerdas de las palabras.  

 

A dress, skirt, trousers, shirt, socks are all examples of.....clothes. Repite: clothes. I like your clothes. I need new clothes.

 

What do you cut your food with? You cut your food with a...... knife - K-N-I-F-E. Repite: Knife. knife and fork - knife, fork and spoon. Can I have a knife, please?

 

Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four....seasons. Repite: seasons. What's your favourite season? I like spring and autumn. I think autumn is my favourite season. En el inglés americano, autumn se dice fall - F-A-L-L because the leaves, las ojas, caen de los arboles.

 

What do you usually drink tea and coffee and hot chocolate from? You drink tea and coffee from a ....cup. Not a glass, a cup. You drink Coca Cola from a glass, you drink beer from a glass. You drink tea and coffee from a cup. Repite: cup - a cup - a coffee cup - a tea cup. A cup of coffee. A cup of tea.

 

Now, what is the name of the part of the house where you cook? You cook in the ....kitchen. Repite: kitchen. Ten cuidado con la diferencia entre kitchen and chicken. Chicken is pollo.  Repite: kitchen - chicken - kitchen. We cook in the kitchen. The chicken's in the kitchen.

 

What's the name for the room where you usually have a shower, clean your teeth or wash your face? It's the bathroom. Repite: bathroom. Excuse me, where's the bathroom?

 

 

Ok good, now moving on to the intermediate section,

 

Listen: 'Have you ever been to this restaurant?’  - ‘No, this is the first time.’

 

'Have you been' is the present perfect tense. Listen: Have you been to New York? Has estado una vez en Nueva York? Repite: Have you been to New York? Have you been here before? Have you ever eaten Japanese food?

 

Listen: We don’t have to be at the meeting. 'Have to' is similar to 'must' for obligation. The difference is that 'must' is often external obligation (it comes from outside the speaker) and 'have to' can be the obligation you feel inside. For example, your boss says "Everyone must go to the meeting", so you feel you have to. The government says "you must pay your taxes" so we all have to pay our taxes. A mother tells her son that he 'must do his homework', so the son tells his friend "I can't play with you now because I have to do my homework. My mother says I have to do my homework."

 

Another difference of course is that 'have to' can change to the past: "I had to do my homework" and to the future "I will have to do my homework" or "I'll have to do my homework". We cannot say, X"I will must do my homework."X That's wrong!

 

Repeat: I'll have to work on Saturday. - I had to work late yesterday. Do we have to go to the meeting?

 

Listen to a different example from the same exercise: "I didn't remember where I had parked my car." Listen again. Which verb tenses do you hear? "I didn't remember where I had parked my car." Did is the past of do, so didn't remember is past simple. What about the second verb tense? I "had parked". Had + past participle is the past perfect tense. I had is often contracted to I'd. Repeat: I'd parked - I'd parked my car. I didn't remember - I didn't remember where I'd parked my car. (No recordaba dónde había aparcado el coche.) Repeat again: I didn't remember where I'd parked my car. - I didn't remember where I'd left my bag. I didn't remember what I'd said to her - I didn't remember what I'd done with my keys.

 

Escucha otro ejemplo y, como antes, piensa cuales son los tiempos verbales: I was sitting on the train when suddenly my mobile rang.

 

I was sitting - past continuous - my mobile rang - past simple. The sitting is the longer action. I was sitting before my mobile rang. I was sitting when my mobile rang, and I was sitting after my mobile rang. Repeat: I was sitting - I was sitting on the train - I was sitting on the train when my mobile rang. I was watching TV when I heard a noise. I was reading when you arrived. I was sleeping when you phoned.

 

Here's one more example from the same exercise. Listen: Exercising before breakfast is the best time if you want to burn calories.

Why is 'exercising' a gerund in this sentence? Why is it verb + ing? Well, it's because we often use a gerund as the subject of the sentence. Repeat: Exercising is good for you. Smoking is bad for your health. Jogging is a popular pastime. Reading is something I don't do very often.

 

In the next exercise in this month's 'cuaderno', we looked at some expressions with the verbs get, go and have. Listen and repeat the sentences to practise pronunciation. Listen:

                                                               

How many e-mails do you usually get? Repeat: usually get - do you usually get - How many? How many emails? - How many e-mails do you usually get?

 

Listen: Does she usually get drunk? Repeat: get drunk - usually - usually get drunk - Does she? - Does she usually get drunk?

 

Listen: Did you have a shower? Repeat: have a - have a shower - Did you? - Did you have a shower?

 

Listen: Did you go away for the summer? Repeat: the summer - for the summer - go away - go away for the summer - Did you - Did you go away for the summer?

 

Listen: Did you go anywhere nice? Repeat: nice - anywhere - anywhere nice - Did you go? Did you go anywhere nice?

 

Listen: What time did you get home? Repeat: get home - did you - did you get home - What time? - What time did you get home?

 

Listen: Do you always get up early? Repeat: early - get up early (nota como se junta el sonido final de /up/ con el sonido vocal al principio de /early/ - up early. Repeat: up early - get up early - Do you always? - Do you always get up early?

 

Listen: Did you go out on Saturday? Repeat: on Saturday - go out - go out on Saturday - Did you go out on Saturday?

 

Listen: Where did you did you get your phone? Repeat: your phone - get your phone - Where did you? - Where did you get? Where did you get your phone?

 

Listen: Where did you go for lunch? Repeat: lunch - for -  for lunch - go for lunch - Where did you? - Where did you go for lunch?

 

Listen: Who did you have dinner with yesterday? Repeat: have dinner with - have dinner with yesterday - Who did you? - Who did you have dinner with yesterday?

 

Siempre me ha gustado la idea de aprender inglés con videos. Por eso te recomendamos ABA English. Los videos de ABA English son muy profesionales y están muy bien hechos.

  
Además de las 144 clases gratuitas de gramática en vídeo, también tienes la posibilidad de probar la primera unidad de tu nivel (hay 6 niveles distintos) y realizar todas las secciones de esta unidad para probar su metodología única de aprendizaje. 

 

Tú aprendes inglés viendo películas cortas con subtítulos, que ya es un método muy eficaz para aprender inglés,  pero también actúas en estas películas! Es muy divertido! En la misma unidad realizas ejercicios de speaking y role play actuando en el diálogo del cortometraje que has visto!

 

Los cortometrajes, con situaciones de la vida real, son la base de cada unidad del curso de inglés. Llevan incorporada la tecnología de reconocimiento de voz propia. 

Echa un vistazo a los videos de ABA English.com. Puedes empezar los cursos gratis sin coste alguno y además con apoyo en español.

Al empezar, tienes que facilitar una dirección de email y contestar algunas preguntas básicas, pero no es necesario que realices ningún pago. Pienso que si una empresa ofrece un producto gratis para probarlo es porque es bueno y la empresa cree en sus productos.

 

¡Regístrate hoy y aprende inglés gratis con video, en casa y a tu ritmo. ABA English.com! Pruébalo no tienes nada de perder.

In the advanced section this month, we looked at some more collocations. The first of which was to make the best of something which means to do as well as possible with something that is not too promising. Repeat: I'll make the best of it. I don't like it, but I'll make the best of it. we can also say 'make the most of it'. Repeat: make the most of it. Make the most of a bad situation. Make the most of a bad job. Make the most of your time in the UK. (¡aprovechadlo!)

 

Now, if you draw (someone’s) attention to something, you attract someone to notice or focus on someone or something. Repeat: draw your attention to - let me draw your attention to this wonderful painting. My attention was drawn to a small insect on the floor.

 

If you jump for joy you are extremely happy. Repeat: I jumped for joy when I got my exam results. When she agreed to have dinner with me I jumped for joy. The children jumped for joy when we got to Disneyland.

 

To draw out something means to make it longer than it needs to be. Repeat: to draw out a meeting. It wasn't necessary to draw out the meeting for so long. Why does he have to draw it out so much?

Repeat: to draw out something.

 

If you make allowances (for something) you take certain facts or circumstances into consideration. Repeat: to make allowances for. When we go to the UK we should make allowances for the weather. You have to make allowances for the age of the property.

 

If you jump or are thrown in at the deep end, you start doing something new and difficult without help or preparation. Repeat: jump in at the deep end / thrown in at the deep end. I was thrown in at the deep end when I worked in a professional kitchen for the first time. You should jump in at the deep end and buy your first computer. Repeat: jump in at the deep end - I was thrown in at the deep end.

 

stand a chance (of doing something) is another popular collocation. It means there's a possibility. You have a chance that something will happen. Repeat: stand a chance - Do you think I stand a chance? Do I stand a chance of winning? No, I don't think you stand a chance to be honest! You don't stand a chance of getting that job.

 

Our last expression was to jump the gun which means to start before the starting signal. Guns used to be used to start a race. If you start before the gun goes 'bang' you jump the gun. Repeat: jump the gun. Don't jump the gun. Be patient! You're always jumping the gun. He apologised for jumping the gun.

 

 

In the Business English section this month we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first expression was to become head of something. This means to be in charge, to manage (ser el jefe). Repeat: She's head of sales. He's head of design. She became head of the company in March. Who's head of the department?

 

Let's discuss means vamos hablar de.... Repeat: let's discuss the sales figures. Let's discuss your role in the company. Let's discuss the release date of the new product.

 

outsourcing is subcontracting to an outside company. In Spanish, I think it's subcontratación o la externalización of a product or service. Repeat: outsourcing. Many companies are outsourcing their manufacturing. It's cheaper to outsource the work.

 

Finally, the phrasal verb to run on means to continue without stopping or go on longer than expected. Repeat. Run on. What's the past of run? - ran. Repeat: the meeting ran on. - The meeting ran on for nearly three hours. - The story ran on for months.

 

¡Muy bien! - Very good!

 

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you say the Spanish translation before I do. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Are you ready?

 

They didn’t want to stay here. - No querían quedarse aquí. Repite: They didn’t want to stay here. - stay here - to stay here - They didn’t want - They didn’t want to stay here.

 

Unemployment is increasing / rising / going up. - El paro está subiendo. Repite: Unemployment - Unemployment is increasing - rising - Unemployment is rising - going up - Unemployment is going up.

 

Don’t talk to me about economics. - No me hables de economía. Repite: economics - talk to me - Don't talk to me - Don’t talk to me about economics.

 

The economy is beyond our control.  - La economía está más allá de nuestro control. Repite: the economy - beyond our control - The economy is beyond our control.

 

How many beers do we have left? - ¿Cuántas cervezas nos quedan? Repite: left - have left - How many? How many beers? How many beers do we have left? How many beers do we have left?

 

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English before I do. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

¿Quieres decir que ésta es la última? - Do you mean this is the last one? Repeat: the last one - this is the last one. Do you mean? - Do you mean this is the last one?

 

Habrá más vino. - There’ll be more wine. Repeat: more wine - There will - there'll - there will be - there'll be - There’ll be more wine.

 

Corrieron a la farmacia. - They ran to the pharmacy/chemist (UK) /drugstore (US) Repeat: They ran to - They ran to the pharmacy - They ran to the chemist - They ran to the drugstore.

 

¿Por qué no querían quedarse? - Why didn’t they want to stay? Repeat: want to stay - Why didn't they? - Why didn’t they want to stay?

 

Dijeron que tenían muchas cosas que hacer. - They said they had a lot of things to do. Repeat: things to do - a lot of - a lot of things to do - They said they had - They said they had a lot of things to do. - They said they had a lot of things to do.

 

Well, I've got a lot of things to do also, so unfortunately that's the end of this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and of course on iTunes.

 

Si te gustan nuestros podcasts, puedes ayudarnos con una corta reseña en iTunes contribuyendo así a que más personas puedan conocernos y escucharnos. Gracias a todos los que ya han escrito algún comentario. Thank you to all of you who are writing reviews.

 

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

 

Remember, If you want to contact us you can find us on Facebook. Just search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés where you can ask questions, make comments and do exercises and practise your listening. Or you can send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter where we tweet useful links to improve your English, English slang vocabulary, quotations and much more. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

 

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

 

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno66_october2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:45pm CET

Gramática: Present Perfect

What have you done today so far?

I've had breakfast

How long have you been working on this video? 

You haven't finished yet. He has been working on his video for two weeks.

 

Have you ever been to Disneyland? - No, I haven't.

Have you been to America? - I have. I've been to Maine.

Where have you been to in Spain? - I've been to Sevilla. I've been to Bilbao.

 

Oneupmanship:

Have you ever been to China? No, I haven't.

Have you ever tried my mum's scones? Yes, I have.

to go over = repasar

Estudiar más sobre el 'present perfect' here: http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer06_9.htm

 

Pronunciación: /s/ in words like slippers, Spain, Spanish, special, stop, spelling, stomach, (stomache ache = dolor de estómago)

/je/ sound in words like pleasure, television, leisure, measure (medir) Like the French / treasure (tesoro)

 

Phrasal verb: GET OFF (bajar) - to get off the bus. I got off the bus. Get on or off a motorbike, train, camel, horse, bicycle etc.

To GET OFF WITH something - (escaparse sin castigo) The corrupt politicians get off without punishment.

TO GET WITH someone (ligar) - Reza did not get off with the girl in the cafe. She told him to get lost :-(

 

Facebook page question: Thank you to Calixto Joao Vivas Prado from Monóvar - (to be off = I'm off/I must be off = tengo que marcharme / to be off=caducado "This milk's off"/to go off = "That fish'll go off if you 

don't put it in the fridge." (estropearse) Mandar sus preguntas a: mansionteachers@yahoo.es

 

Reza's Top tips: Think of question words before conversation. Where...? Why...?  When...? How...? Who...? etc

Where do you work? Where is your office? What do you do in a typical day? Who do you work with? How many people work in your office?

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

 

 

Direct download: AIRC_004_final_cut.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:45pm CET

Episodio 003 - La notas del episodio

 

Gramática: past simple - Use 'did' for questions in the past simple.

Past simple questions:

Did you have a good week?

When did they arrive?

Where did you take them?

Did they spend some time on the beach?

Did they get the chance to practice some Spanish?

DID + the infinitive of the verb (sin "to")

Why DID your parents DECIDE to come to Spain?

to make a fool of yourself = hacer el tonto

You LIVED in London.

¡OJO! - No se pone el DID con el verbo "to be".

Where were you born? - I was born in London.

Were you a happy child? - I was a bad child.

El pasado del verbo modal CAN (poder) es COULD:

When you were young could you run fast?

When you lived in Belfast could you speak Spanish?

 

Pronunciación: la /h/ Hello - how are you - Harry Potter - Have a cup of tea! - have a beer! - have a beer! Hello - 

Hello, I'm Henry - Hello, I'm Henry and I'm happy!  I'm a hairdresser hairdresser - I'm a happy hairdresser - 

I'm from Helsinki I'm a happy hairdresser from Helsinki - Hello, how are you? I'm Henry the happy hairdresser from Helsinki.

 

Phrasal verb TO GET ON 

- to continue (continuar)

- to have a good relationship (llevar(se) bien) I get on with my sister. I get on well with my brother. I get on badly with my boss. 

- to manage (manejar, llevar) How are you getting on with your class?

- (subir al autobus, tren, barco, bici etc. Pero GET IN a car and a taxi) To get in/out of -- To get on/off

 

Colocarse con Craig (Vocabulary Corner): 

TAKE -  take care of (cuidar) look after / proud (adj.) pride (noun) - take pride in (Our mothers TAKE PRIDE IN their houses) - to take the mickey (bularse de algn.) - to take a joke - 

to be taken to hospital (llevar) take to school / take pity on someone (PITY = pena) / To take pleasure (in something) - Reza took great pleasure to ride in Craig's car. To take advice (from somebody) 

 

Reza's Top Tip: Use a Thesaurus for a better grammar range (alcance de gramática)

Example: ILL (enfermo/a) - sick, infirm, off coour, queasy, unwell / BIG (grande) - huge, enormous, giant, vast, gigantic, titanic

Dictionary: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Thesaurus: http://thesaurus.com/

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

 

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

Direct download: AIRC_003_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:01pm CET

Aprender inglés con Reza y Craig

Episode 002 - Las notas del episodio

 

Gramática: present simple y present continuous

 

Pronunciación:

cat / cut

hat / hut (cabaño, refugio)

cap / cup

sack (saco, despedir) / suck

 

Reza's Hot Tip: Learn words in groups/word families. / aprende el vocabulario en grupos

 

Collocate with Craig: Expressions with Make and do

DO

do good / do harm

do well / badly

do (s.o.) a favour

do exercise / an exercise - hacer

MAKE

make a change/changes  /  make a complaint  /  make a decision  /  make an effort  /  make an excuse

make love / war / peace

make a mistake  / make a noise  /   make a phone call  / make a suggestion

make an offer - make you an offer you can't refuse "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in"

 

Phrasal verb: take on (to take someone on - engañar/to take on new staff - emplear)

 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later - licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

Si quieres mandarnos un comentario sobre este podcast o una pregunta sobre la gramática, la pronunciación or el vocabulario de inglés, Mandenos un email a mansionteachers@yahoo.es.

 
Direct download: AIRC_002_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:07pm CET

The full audio interview with Craig and Martin.

Watch the video and answer comprension questions here: http://www.mansioningles.com/practica/practicar_ingles03.htm

Ver el video y contesta las preguntas de comprensión aquí: http://www.mansioningles.com/practica/practicar_ingles03.htm

Direct download: Coffee_with_Martin_Podcasat_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:16pm CET

Las notas del episodio 001 Octobre 12, 2013:

Gramática: present simple (el presente simple)

Pronunciación:  the schwa: When you wake up Monday morning - a - a pen, a book a teacher, a computer, mother sister, father, brother, banana 

los sonidos debiles: los articulos, los pronombres, las preposiciones etc (of - for - glass of beer, a cup of tea/for - is this for me? It's for you)

cat / cut

hat / hut

cap / cup

sack (saco, despidir) / suck

Reza's Hot Tip (consejo de Reza) : Write a sentence with a gap, wait a few days then try to remember the word and write it in the gap.

Colocar con Craig: Las colaciones con make and do

make:  food and drink  / do business and make money (US English How much money do you make? /Earn? - profit/loss? - make a loss / profit

create / physically make: table, furniture,

Do: in the house (except bed) Did you make your bed this morning?

Phrasal verb : take up - Reza explica los distintos significados del phrasal verb to take up.

 

Direct download: RC_001_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:39am CET

Aprender ingles y mejora tú gramatica, vocabulario y pronunciacion con lecciones, ejemplos y ejercicios.

Learn English with La Mansion del Ingles. Lessons to improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 65 recorded for September 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos algunas frases con el gerundio, y también tenemos vocabulario de los grupos de palabras - word families.

En el nivel intermedio tenemos más ejemplos del uso de could, can y be able to y por vocabulario tenemos más confusing words; las palabras que se puede confundir.

In the advanced section, we practise more advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise, all to help you 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.

Many thanks to Humberto Cordero for your email. Humberto vive en Chile y es aficionado a nuestros podcasts. Dice que ha aprendido mucho con La Mansión del Inglés y quiero decir muchas gracias a Humberto por su email y sus amables palabras.

 

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico y las frases que llevan el gerundio, es decir el verbo con I-N-G. ¿Cómo se dice el verbo ver en inglés? - to see. ¿Y cuál es el gerundio del verbo see? - seeing. Repite; seeing también puede ser watch. La diferencía entre see y watch es que "watch" es mirar cosas o personas en movimiento. Entonces decimos watch a football match, watch TV etc. Puedes watch a film or see a film - ver una pelicular., pero si quieres preguntar a alguien si ha visto una peli, se pregunta con el see. Have you seen any good films recently? Did you see the film yesterday? Pero si estás mirando una pelicular ahora mismo, se dice watch. I'm watching a film. Repite: I'm watching a film. What film are you watching? Do you like watching horror films? (Nota que decimos horror films y no terror films.)

¿Cómo se dice escuchar en inglés? To listen. Repite: to listen. I'm listening to music. Nota la preposición TO con el verbo to listen. To listen TO something. Repite: listen to music. Listen to the radio. I'm listening to the radio. - I'm listening to a podcast - Do you like listening to rap music?

¿Cómo se dice jugar en inglés? - to play. ¿Entonces, qué es el gerundio del verbo play? - playing - Repite: playing. Do you like playing cards? Do you like playing tennis? I like playing football.

Se puede traducir el verbo hacer a make o do. Pero cuando preguntamos por las actividades y los deportes, usamos el verbo to do. Escucha: What do you like doing at the weekend? Tenemos dos verbos DO en este ejemplo. El primero es el verbo auxiliar do que necesitamos para hacer la pregunata en el timepo presente simple. Repite: What do you.....? What do you like doing? What do you like doing in the summer? Do you like going to the beach? Do you like doing sport? What do you like doing?

¿Cómo se dice nadar en inglés? to swim. ¿Y el gerundio? swimming. Repite: swimming. Do you like swimming? Do you like swimming in the sea?

¿Cómo se dice salir en inglés? to go out. ¿Y cuál es el gerundio? going out. Repite: going out. Do you like going out?  Do you like going out at night? Do you like going out to restaurants? Do you like going out with friends? Of course you do! I love going out.

¿Cómo se dice viajar? - to travel. ¿Y Cuál es el gerundio? travelling. Repite: travelling. Do you like travelling? Do you like travelling by train. Otro verbo que puedes emplear aquí en vez de like es enjoy (disfrutar). La gramática con el gerundio es lo mismo. Escucha: Do you enjoy travelling? Repite: Do you enjoy travelling? Do you enjoy travelling by train? Do you enjoy travelling by plane? I love travelling by plane, but I don't enjoy being in airports very much.

¿Cómo se dice levantarte en inglés - to get up. ¿Y cuál es el gerundio? - getting up. Repite: getting up. Do you like getting up early? I hate getting up early. I like getting up late. Especially at weekends.

Very good! ¡Muy bien! Ahora, continuamos con las familas, los grupos de palabras - Word families. Creo que te he dicho una vez que es un buen idea aprender el vocabulario en grupos, en familias. Es más fácil recordarlas. Escucha algunas palabras en grupos y repitelas.

twenty - thirty - forty - fifty - sixty - seventy - eighty - ninety

teach - teacher - football - footballer - compose -composer       - clean - cleaner - sing - singer - law - lawyer - drive - driver - write - writer

January - February - March - April - May - June       - July - August -  September - October - November - December

have - had - buy - bought - read - read - write - wrote - speak - spoke - see - saw - get - got - make - made - say - said - drink - drank

Spain - Spanish - France - French - Italy - Italian - Germany - German - Britain - British - Mexico - Mexican - Greece - Greek

Ok good, now moving on to the intermediate section, we practised some more examples of 'can', 'could' and 'be able to'.

'Can' and 'could' are modal auxiliary verbs. 'Be able to' is NOT an auxiliary verb (it uses the verb to be as a main verb).

Muchas veces en inglés empleamos to be able to or to be allowed to en lugar de "can". Solo podemos formar el can en el pasado - Es el 'could'. 'Can' en el pasado es 'could'. Si queremos poner 'can' en otros tiempos, hay que usar el 'to be able to' or 'to be allowed to'.

Listen and repeat some more examples with can, could, be able to and be allowed to.

I can drive. Repeat: I can drive. - I could drive when I was 18. - Repeat: I could drive when I was 18. - I'm not allowed to drive a bus. Repeat: I'm not allowed to drive a bus

I couldn't drive when I was 16. Repeat: I couldn't drive when I was 16. I've been able to drive since I was 18. Fíjate en la contracción. Listen: I have been able - I've been able. Repeat: I've been able - I've been able to drive. - I've been able to drive since I was 18.

Will you be able to drive? Repeat: Will you be able to drive?

He can play the guitar. Repeat: He can play the guitar. He could play the guitar when he was 10. Repeat: when he was 10 - play the guitar - He could play the guitar - He could play the guitar when he was 10.

Listen: We won't be able to go to the wedding. Repeat: go to the wedding - Won't be able to - We won't be able to go to the wedding.

She's not allowed to see him. Repeat: She's not allowed to see him. She can speak to him. Repeat: She can speak to him. But she's not allowed to see him.

Moving on to vocabulary in the intermediate section and we had some confusing words: We had keen, fond, appeal, fascinated, fancy and interested. Listen and repeat some examples:

I don’t fancy going out tonight. Fancy is more used in British English for the meaning of gustar or apetecer. Do you fancy going out? Repeat: Do you fancy going out? Do you fancy some pizza? What do you fancy doing tonight? Do you fancy seeing a film? What do you fancy? (¿Qué te apetece? o ¿Qué quieres tomar?) What do you fancy? - Repeat: What do you fancy? What do you fancy to drink?

If you fancy someone you are attracted to them sexually. I fancy that girl over there in the red dress. She's gorgeous! I really fancied you when we were at school together.

the verb appeal also means gustar, atraer. That house really appeals to me. Esa casa me gusta de verdad. Nota que appeal lleva la preposición to. Hay verbos que están casi siempre acompañados con una preposición fija. Se llaman dependent prepositions y en el caso de appeal, su dependent preposition es el 'to'. Appeal to - Repeat: It appeals to me. That holiday in Italy appeals to me. It doesn't appeal to me. A camping holiday doesn't appeal to me. I've been camping before, when I was younger, but now I'm older I prefer hotels. I want a comfortable bed. Sleeping in a tent just doesn't appeal to me anymore.

What's the dependent preposition of interested? I'm interested.....? Listen: I'm very interested in astronomy. What are you interested in? Repeat: What are you interested in? Are you interested in golf? I'm not interested in golf at all. It doesn't appeal to me.

When keen is used in the sense of aficionado, it also has a dependent preposition. Do you know it? It's keen on. I'm keen on tennis. I'm keen on cooking. I'm fond of it, I have a liking for it. Repeat: I'm keen on cooking. I'm very keen on Chinese food. I'm not keen on seafood. 'Fond of' is similar to 'keen on'. Repeat: fond of. I'm fond of fish. Repeat: I'm fond of fish. I'm fond of fish, but shellfish doesn't appeal to me. Are you keen on seafood? What sports are you keen on? I'm keen on motor racing, boxing and I'm quite keen on football too. I'm not very fond of golf, though.

Listen: I’m fascinated by astronomy. Repeat: fascinated by. You can also say fascinated with. Repeat: I'm fascinated with this new watch you bought me. What fascinates you? Are you fascinated by technology?

Siempre me ha gustado la idea de aprender inglés con video. Por eso te recomendamos ABA English. Los videos de ABA English son muy profesionales y están muy bien hechos.

Además de las 144 clases gratuitas de gramática en vídeo, también tienes la posibilidad de probar la primera unidad de tu nivel (hay 6 niveles distintos) y realizar todas las secciones de esta unidad para probar su metodología única de aprendizaje. 

Tú aprendes inglés viendo películas cortas con subtítulos, que ya es un método muy eficaz para aprender inglés,  pero también actúas en estas películas! Es muy divertido! En la misma unidad realizas ejercicios de speaking y role play actuando en el diálogo del cortometraje que has visto!

Los cortometrajes, con situaciones de la vida real, son, entonces, la base de cada unidad del curso de inglés. Llevan incorporada la tecnología de reconocimiento de voz propia. 

Echa un vistazo a los videos de ABA English.com. Puedes empezar los cursos gratis sin coste algúno y además con apoyo en español

Al empezar, tienes que facilitar una dirrecion de email, y contestar algunas preguntas básicas, pero no es necesario que realices ningún pago, y yo siempre pienso que si una empresa te ofrecen un producto gratis para probarlo, es por que es bueno y que la empresa crean en sus productos.

¡Registrate hoy y aprende inglés gratis con video, en casa y a tu ritmo. ABA English.com! Pruébalo no tienes nada de perder.

In the advanced section this month, we looked at some more collocations. The first of which was to draw the curtains. To draw the curtains means to close the curtains. Repeat: draw the curtains. Could you draw the curtains please? Shall I draw the curtains? It's getting dark.

Another collocation with draw is to draw the line (at something) which means to set a limit at something, to decide when a limit has been reached or to separate one thing from another. For example, It's not clear where this writer draws the line between fact and fiction. Repeat: to draw the line. It all depends where you draw the line. I think we should draw the line at stealing, don't you?

Of course, one meaning of draw is dibujar. To draw a picture, draw some trees and a house on paper, You can also draw a weapon, a gun. Jesse James drew his gun and shot the man dead in the street.

You can also draw a game or a match (empatar). Madrid drew 1-1 with Chelsea in the Champions League. The match was a draw.

A Lawyer can draw up a contract. The phrasal verb to draw up means redactar. Repeat: to draw up. Draw up a contract and I'll sign it.

If you jump to a conclusion you quickly judge or decide something without having all the facts. You guess the facts about a situation without having enough information. Repeat: to jump to a conclusion. Don't jump to conclusions. Listen to me first. You're always jumping to conclusions.

If something stands to reason, it's obvious, it's what you would expect. Repeat: It stands to reason. It stands to reason he lost his job. It stands to reason they bought a bigger house.

To stand trial means to be the accused person in a trial before a judge. To be on trial. Repeat: to stand trial. He's standing trial for murder. The Spanish politician had to stand trial for tax evasion.

Another common phrase with stand is to stand for president or stand for office. Repeat: He's standing for president in the next election. Why don't you stand for governor?

If you make ends meet, you have enough money to pay for your expenses. To make ends meet. It's usually used when people don't have a lot of money, but they just manage to get by. They succeed in paying for the things they need. Repeat: to make ends meet. - I also work at nights to make ends meet. - I work overtime to make ends meet. - I had to get a second job to make ends meet.

Another strong collocation is to make an impression (causar(le) una impresión). Repeat: to make an impression. She made an impression on me. You can make a good impression or a bad impression. He made a very good impression on all of us.

The collocation have the impression or have an impression means to suspect or sense something. Repeat: to have the impression - I have the impression that she's a bit irresponsible. - I have the impression you don't trust me.

Listen to the collocations and expressions again and repeat them after me:

draw the curtains

jump to a conclusion

stand to reason

make ends meet

stand for president 

make an impression

draw the line (at something)

stand trial

In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first expression was to run out of something. This phrasal verb means agotar, quedarse sin algo. Repeat: to run out of. We've run out of paper. Oh no, I've run out of coffee! Can you buy some more wine, we've run out.

I hate running out of beer.

Another expression with run is to run short on something. Quedarse corto de algo. Repeat: to run short of - We're running short of sugar. We're running short of ink for the photocopier. Can we finish the meeting now? We're running short of time.

If you come up with something, you think of something or develop something. Repeat: to come up with. He often comes up with very creative solutions. She comes up with some very good ideas.

It's important not to lose sight of the main point. to lose sight - perder la vista. Don't lose sight of the main objective. Repeat: Don't lose sight of the main objective. - I think we're losing sight of our goals here.

If you take drastic measures you do severe, radical or extreme things in order to reach an objective. Repeat: take drastic measures. - He took drastic measures. - We must take drastic measures to stop this fall in revenue.

There are several ways to say that something has gone down - que algo ha bajado. You can say dropped, decreased, fallen and reduced. Repeat: Sales have gone down - profits have fallen - sales have decreased - profits have been reduced - sales have dropped.

¡Muy bien! - Very good!

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you say the Spanish translation before I do. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

People are buying less. - La gente está comprando menos. Repite: People are buying less.

This headache is terrible. - Este dolor de cabeza es terrible. Repeat: This headache is terrible.

The pages are torn. - Las páginas están rotas. Repeat: The pages are torn.

They’ve gone/they’ve left - Se han marchado. Repeat: They’ve gone/they’ve left

Do you believe everything they tell you? - ¿Crees todo lo que te dicen? Repeat: Do you believe - Do you believe everything - they tell you? - Do you believe everything they tell you?

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English before I do. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

¿Quién está autorizado para firmarlo? - Who’s authorized to sign it? Repeat: sign - sign it - to sign it - authorized - authorized to sign it - Who’s authorized to sign it?

Su piso es muy impresionante. - Your/his/her flat (UK) / apartment (US) is very impressive. Repeat: impressive - is very impressive - Your flat is very impressive. - His flat is very impressive. - Her flat is very impressive.- Your apartment is very impressive.

¿Por qué no está él aquí? - Why isn’t he here? Repeat: Why isn’t he here?

Le voy a pedir perdón. - I’m going to apologise to him. Repeat: apologise to him. - I’m going to - I’m going to apologise to him.

Jamás he dicho semejante cosa. - I’ve never said such a thing. Repeat: such a - such a thing. - I’ve never said - I’ve never said such a thing.

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and of course on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escribes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts. Muchas gracias a Marlen80 que dice "Me encanta! Tanto para principiantes como para avanzados. Es muy bueno el contenido". Thank you Marlen80, we appreciate it. And thank you also to nachoycris que dicen "Muy bueno y nada pesado. Sobre todo muy practico." Gracias. Thank you to all of you who are writing reviews.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 more than 26,000 fans. Or send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno65_September2013_NEW.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:04pm CET

Aprender ingles y mejora tú gramatica, vocabulario y pronunciacion con lecciones, ejemplos y ejercicios.

Learn English with La Mansion del Ingles. Lessons to improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 64 recorded for August 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos los negativos de las frases en la gramática y los contrarios (opposites) en el vocabulario.

En el nivel intermedio enfocamos en could, can y be able to y por vocabulario tenemos una seleción de confusing words; algunas palabras que se puede confundir.

In the advanced section, we practise more advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise all to help you 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.

 

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico. y las frases negativas. Voy a decir algunas frases en afirmativo y tú tienes que decirlo en negativo. Por ejemplo, si digo "He likes football", tú dices "He doesn't like football". OK? Luego, y como siempre, repite la frases para practicar la pronunciación. Ready? - ¿Listo?

They speak English very well. - They don’t speak English very well. También puedes decir They do not speak English very well, pero en el inglés informal y en el inglés hablado es mucho más común hacer la contracción don't - do not = don't. Repite: don't - they don't - They don't speak English.

She smokes cigars. - She doesn’t smoke cigars. Recuerda que la tercera persona he, she y it, el negativo es doesn't o sea does not. La contracción es doesn't - Repite: doesn't - She doesn’t smoke cigars.

He works in a hotel. He doesn’t work in a hotel. - Repite: He doesn’t work in a hotel.

She has three jobs. She doesn’t have three jobs. - Repite: She doesn’t have three jobs.

He goes to work by bus. He doesn't go to work by bus. - Repite: He doesn't go to work by bus

Very good! ¡Muy bien! Ahora, continuamos con los contrarios de algunas palabras en inglés. Voy a decir las palabras y tú intenta decir los contrarios antes que los digo yo. Luego, repitalos para practicar la pronunciación.

win - lose

lend - borrow

go - come

win - lose

leave - arrive

miss (a bus, a train etc) - catch

learn - teach

open - close

buy - sell


Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised the grammar of can, could and be able to. 'Can' and 'could' are modal verbs and are often used to speak about ability, in the case of can, and past ability in the case of could. 'Be able to' is also used to talk about ability, and with 'be able to' you can talk about ability and possibility in the future. For example, "Next year we'll be able to go on holiday", or "Will you be able to come for dinner with us on Saturday?"

Listen and repeat some more examples with can, could and be able to.

We won't be able to go, I'm sorry. Repeat: I'm sorry. - able to go - We won't be able to go - We won't be able to go, I'm sorry.

I could speak French when I was younger. Repeat: younger. - when I was - when I was younger. - I could speak French - I could speak French when I was younger.

I can't now. Repeat: I can't now. Fíjate que con el negativo can't, no se oye muy bien la 't' final. can't - I can't now. Pues, es más efectivo enfocar en el sonido vocal /ɑ:/ el la palabra can't. Es más largo que el sonido vocal en la forma positiva can /æ/. Escucha: /ɑ:/ can't /æ/ can. Cuando el can está en el principio de una frase o en medio, el sonido vocal es más débil aun. Muchas veces se oye /ə/  /kən/  Repeat: Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you, and I can see you. Repeat: Can you hear me? Can you see me? Can you speak Spanish? Pero cuando el can está en una respuesta corta, normalmente lleva el sonido /æ/ can - Yes, I can. Repeat: yes, I can. Can you speak Spanish? Yes, I can. Can you speak German? No, I can't. can - can't.

Can you swim? Repeat: Can you swim? Yes, I can.

I couldn't speak to him. Repeat: speak to - speak to him - I couldn't - I couldn't speak to him.

I'm sorry, I can't help you. Repeat: help you. - I can't help you. - I'm sorry, I can't help you.

Were you able to see her? Repeat: see her - able tə - able to see her - Were yə - were - yə - Were yə - Were you able to see her?

I couldn't agree with you more. Repeat: couldn't - couldn't agree - I couldn't agree - I couldn't agree with you more.

Can you do me a favour? Repeat: favour - a favour - do me a favour - Can you do me a favour? - could you - Could you do me a favour? 'Could' is a bit more polite than 'can', but the intonation often shows more politeness than the words you use. Listen: Can you do me a favour? That's polite because of the intonation. Repeat: Can you do me a favour?

I used to be able to run fast. Repeat: used tə - I used tə - be able tə - I used tə be able tə - I used to be able to run fast.

We can't meet you until next week. Repeat: next week - until next week - We can't meet you - meet you. Fíjate como al unir el 'meet' y el 'you', el sonido cambia - meet you - meechu - repeat: meechu - We can't - We can't meet you - We can't meet you until next week.

Have you been able to finish the estimate? Repeat: estimate (presupuesto) - the estimate - finish the estimate - able tə - able tə finish - able to finish the estimate - Have you bin - Have you been able tə - Have you been able to finish the estimate? - Have you been able to finish the estimate?

I've never been able to understand you. Repeat: understand you - bin able tə - bin able tə understand you - I've never bin - I've never been able to understand you.

Very good! ¡Muy bien! That's fantastic or, as they say in London, fan-bloody-tastic!

Moving on to vocabulary in the intermediate section and we had some more confusing words: disapproved, object, denied, disagree,  rejected and refused. Listen and repeat some examples:

They rejected the plans. to reject - rechazar. Rejected - rechazado. Repeat: rejected. They rejected the plans. The plans have been rejected.

She denied cheating in the exam. After the verb to deny (negar) use a gerund. Repeat: She denied cheating - He denied stealing the money - I denied breaking the glass.

Her parents disapproved of her going out with a married man. If you disapprove of something you think that it is bad. Ver lo con malos ojos o estar en contra. Notice the preposition of with disapprove. Repeat: to disapprove of - They disapproved of the marriage. I strongly disapprove of your behaviour. My parents disapprove of me. They've always disapproved of me. Only joking mum! My mum listens to this podcast, so I have to be careful about what I say!

We object to working extra hours. Notice the preposition to. Object to. Repeat: We object to working extra hours. - We object to getting less money. - I objected to working on Saturday.

I disagree with people who want to legalize cannabis. Actually, that's not true, but it's only an example. Notice the preposition with - to disagree with. Repeat: I disagree with you. - I'm sorry, I have to disagree with you. - I'll have to disagree with you on that. - Do you disagree with me?

Listen: Pepito refused to accept my offer of 6000 Euros per month. After the verb to refuse, use the infinitive form of the verb. Repeat: He refused to accept. - We refused to go. - I refused to work for them. - Will you refuse to accept their offer?

Si quieres aprender inglés con vídeos y gratis te recomendamos ABA English.

Siempre me ha gustado la idea de aprender inglés con video. ¡Es entretenido! It's fun! Los videos de ABA English son muy profesionales y están muy bien hechos.

Los cortometrajes, con situaciones de la vida real, son la base de cada unidad del curso de inglés. Llevan incorporada la tecnología de reconocimiento de voz propia.

Las 144 Videoclases con profesores nativos Britanico/americano explican muy bien la gramática. En mi opinion como profesor, los módulos están muy bien diseñados.

El problema con muchos videos en YouTube para aprender inglés es que no están hechos por buenos profesores; tienen mal sonido, mal hechos incluso hay algunos que llevan errores gramáticales y te van a enseñar mal! No vale la pena aprender con ellos!

Echa un vistazo (have a look) a los videos de ABA English.com. Look at the free videos. Puedes empezar los cursos gratis sin coste algúno y además con apoyo en español.

Al empezar, tienes que facilitar una dirrecion de email, y contestar algunas preguntas básicas, pero no es necesario que realices ningún pago, y yo siempre pienso que si una empresa te ofrecen un producto gratis para probarlo, es por que es bueno y que la empresa crean en sus productos. Es una garantia de la calidad.

¡Registrate hoy y aprende inglés gratis con video, en casa y a tu ritmo con ABA English! Pruébalo y estoy seguro de que no quedarás decepcionado. I promise you won't be disappointed.

In the advanced section, we looked at some more collocations. The first of which was to come to an end which really means to end or to finish. All it's doing is changing the verb to end into a noun and adding the verb to come. To come to an end.

Repeat: to come to an end. What time did the meeting come to an end?

To crack your knuckles is to deliberately pull your fingers so that they make a short loud sound. Knuckles in Spanish are nudillos. Some people find this noise really annoying. My sister does and so, of course, when I was young I would do it on purpose just to annoy her, especially when we were watching TV together. I used to crack my knuckles.

Next was to bear something (or someone) in mind which means to remember and think about someone or something. For example, bearing in mind that she's had so little experience, I thought she did very well. Repeat: to bear in mind. Please bear this in mind. You can also say keep in mind. Please keep this in mind. Remember this.

To come down on (someone) is to criticize someone or something. Also to insult or tease someone. Why are you coming down on me like that? Stop coming down on me all the time. Repeat: To come down on. Stop coming down on me.

If something comes to nothing it amount to nothing. It's worthless (Quedar en la nada). All my hard work has come to nothing. Repeat: to come to nothing. I've worked on this webpage for nearly 20 years and it's all come to nothing! We had high hopes, but, at the end of the day, the project has come to nothing.

If you come up against a brick wall you are not able to continue an activity or do something you want to. Repeat: to come up against a brick wall, or to be up against a brick wall. Pepito wants to leave home, but he can't find  a job. He's up against a brick wall.

A grudge is resentimiento o rencor, and if you bear (someone) a grudge/a grudge against (someone) or hold a grudge against someone it's guadarle rencor a alguien. Repeat: to bear a grudge - to hold a grudge. She still bears a grudge against me after all these years. Do you hold any grudges against ex-boyfriends or girlfriends? I used to hold a grudge against an old friend of mine who stole my girlfriend from me many years ago. Yes, you know who you are Paul! But, after all these years I bear no grudge against him, or my ex-girlfriend, and I wish them well. Life's too short to bear grudges, don't you think? Repeat: To bear a grudge against someone.

Another collocation with the verb to bear is to bear a resemblance (to someone / something). This means to have a degree of similarity to someone or something. Repeat: Resemblance - to bear a resemblance. This bike bears a strong resemblance to the one I had stolen last month. Don't you think that man over there bears a resemblance to your brother?

To bear with means to be patient with (aguantar con). Repeat: bear with me. Please bear with me for a second. Just bear with me, this will only take a minute.

Moving on to collocations with crack. We had crack you knuckles before, there's also to crack a joke which means simply to tell a joke. Repeat: to crack a joke. She's always cracking jokes. He cracked a joke in the middle of the meeting.

If you are working really hard or if you are under a lot of pressure or stress you could crack under the strain. This means you have a mental or emotional collapse. He was working 80 hours a week at the office and he finally cracked under the strain. Repeat: to crack under the strain. If she carries on like that, she'll crack under the strain.

Listen to the collocations and expressions again and repeat them:

come to an end

crack your knuckles

bear something in mind 

come down on (someone)

come to nothing

come up against a brick wall.

bear (someone) a grudge / a grudge against (someone)

bear a resemblance (to someone / something)

crack a joke

crack under the strain.

bear with (someone)

 

Good, OK. Moving on to the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first expression was the way I see it. la manera en que lo veo, or la manera como yo lo veo. It's a similar expression to "from my point of view" - desde mi punto de vista. Repeat: The way I see it.....From my point of view. The way I see it, we should focus on our overseas markets. From my point of view we're wasting our time.

Your input in a discussion is your contribution of information or a comment or viewpoint. For example, I'd like to hear your input on this. Can we get his input before we make a decision? Repeat: We need your input on this. I really value your input.

To make a point es decir algo importante. To say something significant. Repeat: You make a good point. He made a good point when he said that.

The phrasal verb to lay off means despedir and unfortunately we are hearing about too many people being laid off these days. Repeat: He was laid off from work. When will companies stop laying people off?

I agree with you up to a point. Up to a point means hasta cierto punto. Repeat: up to a point. I agree up to a point.

The next steps was the final expression. Steps are pasos. So the next steps are los siguientes pasos. What are the next steps? What exactly do we do next? Repeat: The next steps. What are the next steps? What are the next steps on this project?

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

The washing machine is broken. - La lavadora está rota. Repeat: washing machine - The washing machine - The washing machine's broken

Are you losing money? - ¿Estáis perdiendo dinero? Repeat: Are you losing money?

We’ve been losing money for two years. - Estamos perdiendo dinero desde hace dos años. Repeat: for two years - losing money - losing money for two years - We’ve been - We’ve been losing money for two years.

The handle is broken. - El asa está rota. Repeat: handle - The handle's broken.

I slept like a log. - Dormí como un tronco. Repeat: a log - I slept like a log

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

No deberías haberte dormido. - You shouldn’t have fallen asleep. Repeat: fallen asleep - shouldn’t have - You shouldn’t have - You shouldn’t have fallen asleep.

No lo pude evitar. - I couldn’t help it. Repeat: help it - I couldn’t help it.

Eso es lo que me gusta oír. - That’s what I like to hear. Repeat: That’s what I like to hear.

Esto es aburrido. - This is boring. Repeat: This is boring.

Quien quiera que hizo esto, realizó un buen trabajo. - Whoever did this did a good job.

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escribes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 more than 25,000 fans. Or send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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. 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno64_August_2013_NEW.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:01pm CET

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.

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

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 63 recorded for July 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos los adverbios de frecuencia como always sometimes, never etc.  

En el nivel intermedio enfocamos en las frases condicionales, los 'if' sentences y tenemos más ejemplos del vocabulario de la personalidad - character and personality.

In the advanced section, we practise more advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise all to help you 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.

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico. y los adverbios de frecuencia - adverbs of frequency. Voy a decir algunos adverbios en español, y tu dices la traducción en inglés antes que lo digo yo. Luego, repite la palabra en inglés para practicar la pronunciación. Ready? - ¿Listo?

siempre - always

casi siempre - almost always

a menudo, frecuentemente - often

generalmente, normalmente - usually (normally)

a veces - sometimes  

pocas veces, casi nunca - rarely (hardly ever)

nunca - never

Very good! ¡Muy bien! Ahora, escucha y repite algunos ejemplos con los adverbios anteriores:

Escucha: I always have breakfast. Nota como el I y el always se juntan con un sonido en medio - I always. es el sonido /y/ como en las palabras yes, yesterday, yellow. Escucha y repite: always - yalways - Iyalways - I always have breakfast - I always have breakfast.

Escucha: I never go shopping by bus. Repite: by bus - go shopping - go shopping by bus - I never go shopping by bus - I never go shopping by bus.

Escucha: I sometimes read magazines. Repite: magazines - read magazines - I sometimes read magazines - I sometimes read magazines.

Escucha: I rarely see English films. Repite: English films. - see English films - rarely - rarely - I rarely see - I rarely see English films. - I rarely see English films.

Escucha: I often do exercise. Repite: do exercise. - often - often - I often do exercise. - I often do exercise.

Escucha: I almost always have lunch at home. Repite: at home. - have lunch - have lunch at home. - almost always - almost always - I almost always have lunch at home. Nota que aquí también entre el I y el almost existe otra sonido /y/ Escucha: Iyalmost - Repite: Iyalmost - I almost always - I almost always - I almost always have lunch at home.

Escucha: I hardly ever go to the cinema. Repite: the cinema. - go to the cinema. - hardly ever - la /h/ no se dice desde la garganza. No se dice "ch" hardly se dice /h/ hardly imaginate que estas limpiando las gafas. Escucha. /h/. Repite. /h/ hardly - hardly - hardly ever - hardly ever -  I hardly ever go to the cinema. - I hardly ever go to the cinema.

Escucha: I don't usually have coffee. Repite: have coffee. (nota que se dice have coffee y no take a coffee. Tomar un cafe en inglés es have coffee.) Repite: have coffee - usually have coffee - I don't - I don't usually have coffee. - I don't usually have coffee.

Escucha: I sometimes speak English. Repite: speak English. - I sometimes speak English. - I sometimes speak English.

Escucha: I never speak French. Repite: speak French.- I never speak French - I never speak French

Escucha: I rarely leave home before 8. Repite: rarely - rarely - I  rarely - I rarely leave home - I rarely leave home before 8.00. - before 8.00. - I rarely leave home before 8.00. - I rarely leave home before 8.00.

Escucha: I often get up before 7. Repite: before 7 - get up - get up before 7. - I often (también aquí hay este sonido raro en medio). Escucha: Iyoften. Repite: Iyoften - I often get up - I often get up before 7. - I often get up before 7.

 

Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised some conditional 'if' sentences. Listen:

If I get home before 6, I’ll start making the dinner. Repeat: making the dinner. - I’ll start making the dinner. - If I get home before 6, - If I get home before 6, I’ll start making the dinner. - If I get home before 6, I’ll start making the dinner.

Listen: If it doesn’t stop snowing, the flight might be cancelled. Repeat: might be cancelled. - the flight might be cancelled. - If it doesn’t stop snowing, the flight might be cancelled. - If it doesn’t stop snowing, the flight might be cancelled.

Listen: If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the last train. Repeat: the last train - we’ll miss the last train. - If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the last train. - If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the last train.

Listen: If he doesn’t work harder, he won’t make any commission. Repeat: make any commission. - he won’t make any commission. - If he doesn’t work harder, he won’t make any commission. - If he doesn’t work harder, he won’t make any commission.

Listen: If the film starts at 7, we’ll have time for dinner. Repeat: we’ll have time for dinner. - If the film starts at 7, we’ll have time for dinner - If the film starts at 7, we’ll have time for dinner

Listen: If I help you, will you do me a favour? Repeat:

do me a favour? - will you do me a favour? - If I help you, will you do me a favour? - If I help you, will you do me a favour?     

Listen: If you aren’t very hungry, I’ll only make a salad. Repeat: make a salad. - I’ll only make a salad. - If you aren’t very hungry, I’ll only make a salad. - If you aren’t very hungry, I’ll only make a salad.

¡Muy bien! ¡Bien hecho! - Very very good!

Now, also in the intermediate section this month we studied some adjectives of character and personality. Vamos a ver si recuerdas el vocabulario.

What do you call a person who doesn’t notice what is happening around her/him and who very often forgets things? This kind of person is - absent-minded - despistado. Repeat: absent-minded. My dad's very absent-minded. He's always forgetting things. Actually, my girlfriend says the same thing about me. She says I'm absent-minded. You're as absent-minded as your dad!", she says. We can say in English "Like father, like son." which means you're the same as your dad. You're just like your dad. Repeat: Like father, like son.

What's the name in English for someone who believes in his/her own values and abilities. - self-confident. Repeat: self-confident. Self-confident is the adjective. He's a very self-confident young man. What's the noun? self-confidence. Repeat: self-confidence - He's got a lot of self-confidence. He's full of self-confidence.

A person who shows good sense and judgement. A practical and logical person is sensible. He's very sensible he's got a lot of sense. He's a sensible boy.

Someone who is difficult to please because they only like a few things, or they like things in a particular way and will only accept exactly what they want is... fussy. Repeat: fussy. I'm quite fussy with some things. My mum's very fussy with her food. Do you say 'especial' in Spanish? Ella es muy especial con la comida - She's really fussy. Repeat: she's really fussy. She's such a fussy girl. She won't eat any vegetables.

What do you call someone who will listen to you. A person who's ready to understand you and help you? This kind of person is sympathetic. Repeat: sympathetic. She's very sympathetic. What's the noun of sympathetic? Sympathy. I have absolutely no sympathy for you.

Next, this type of person is determined and will not change her/his point of view even if he/she is wrong. Stubborn (tozudo). Repeat: stubborn. He's a stubborn man - my boss is so stubborn. He never admits being wrong or making a mistake. A similar word is obstinate. You're so obstinate.          

A person who changes temperament and has a variable character, the kind of person who can be happy one minute and miserable, annoyed and depressed the next minute is called a.......moody person. - malhumorado - Repeat: moody. Don't be so moody. Cheer up!

Someone who doesn’t like being the centre of attention and feels uncomfortable with others. This person is not typically very sociable. Do you know?- shy - timido o timida - repeat - shy. I'm really quite shy. I am! I'm a shy person.

Somebody who is always smiling, optimistic and in a good mood is cheerful - repeat: cheerful - You're very cheerful today. She's a cheerful, happy person.

And finally, what do you call somebody who tries to hurt or upset people on purpose, someone who doesn't care about how these people feel. A cruel person. Repeat: cruel - don't be cruel. You're such a cruel person.

OK, listen to the adjectives again and repeat them after me to practise pronunciation.

absent-minded

self-confident

sensible

fussy

sympathetic

stubborn

moody

shy

cheerful

cruel

Moving on! In the advanced section, we looked at some more collocations. The first of which was to meet a deadline. Deadline is fecha límite and to meet a deadline is cumplir con la fecha de entrega. Por ejemplo: Will you be able to meet the deadline? repeat: meet the deadline - Can you meet the deadline. They were unable to meet our deadline.

To shed a tear is another way to say to cry. Be careful with the word tear because the spelling, T-E-A-R is the same as the verb to tear (arrancar). Listen to the difference in the pronunciation: tear and tear. Tear is lagrima. Repeat: tear - to shed a teat. Don't shed any tears for me.

The next collocation was to cast light on (something). To cast means lanzar, echar. So to cast light on something simply means to throw or put light on a situation or a problem. Someone who casts light on a situation provides an explanation for it or information that makes it easier to understand. Repeat: to cast light on something. As a lawyer, he was able to cast some light on the problem.

Another thing you can cast is a net, una red, as fishermen do. Metaphorically speaking, if you cast your net wider you look in a larger area. If we don't get many interesting candidates this time round we may have to cast our net a little wider.

You can also cast doubt on something si tienes una duda sobre algo. The police cast doubt on his story. They didn't really believe him. Repeat: to cast doubt. They cast doubt on his story.

Another collocation with cast is to cast a shadow. shadow is sombra, and my students often ask me the difference between shadow and shade, because in the dictionary, shade is also sombra. Well, shadow is the dark shape that the sun makes when it shines on an object. So, if you walk along the street on a sunny day you see your shadow on the ground.

But shade is an area that the sun doesn't get to. It has no clear shape. You can sit in the sun or in the shade. On very hot days in Valencia, I prefer to sit in the shade. Shade is an uncountable noun. Shadow is a countable noun. The old house was full of dark shadows. Repeat: Shade - to sit in the shade. Let's sit in the shade. Shadow - to cast a shadow - That building is casting a long shadow on the ground.

Another collocation with cast is to cast your mind back, which is when you try to remember something. Repeat: cast your mind back - cast your mind back to when we first met. Cast your mind back is usually followed by 'to'. "Cast your mind to when..." or "Cast your mind back to the time when..." or "Cast your mind back to September of 2012.

The first collocation we looked at was to meet a deadline. Also with the verb meet we can say to meet your match. If you have met your match you have met someone who is equal to you or able to defeat you in some way. Repeat: to meet your match - He finally met his match when he was beaten by a computer.

Another thing you can meet is disaster.  He met with disaster as the rope snapped and he fell to his death. You can meet with disaster and with triumph and in the famous poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same."

If you compromise with someone, we can say that you meet them halfway. Repeat: to meet someone halfway. I think we should meet them halfway on this. I won't give in completely, but I'll meet you halfway.

To shed a load is an expression often used when a lorry or truck loses the load it's carrying by accident and it drops it all over the motorway or highway. Notice that lorry and motorway are British English terms, while truck and highway are more common in American English. Repeat: to shed a load. A lorry shed its load on the M25 this morning during the rush hour.

If you bleed we can say that you shed blood. To shed blood can also mean to kill in a violent way. No blood was shed during the revolution. Repeat: to shed blood. A lot of blood was shed when the rebels took the village.

Listen to the collocations and expressions again and repeat them after me:

meet a deadline

shed a tear

shed light on (something)

cast a net

cast doubt on (something)

meet your match

shed a load

meet with disaster

cast a shadow

cast your mind back

meet (someone) halfway

shed blood

In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first word was tangible (something real or concrete - tangible). Repeat: tangible. We didn't see any tangible benefits. There were no tangible differences.

To reap - R-E-A-P is a verb and an agricultural term. It means cosechar, recoger. If you reap the benefits of a situation you get the benefit - cosechar los frutos, you profit from something. Repeat: to reap the benefits. I hope that we can reap the benefits in the future. You can also reap the rewards and reap the profits.

If you measure up (to someone or something) you compare well to someone or something. Repeat: to measure up - He just doesn't measure up to Sarah in intelligence. - This meal doesn't measure up to my expectations. Do you think he'll measure up to the job?

Tech support is technical support or servicio técnico. Repeat: tech support. If you need help, contact tech support. The tech support team is familiar with the ins and outs of a device. They are able to troubleshoot most problems that a user experiences. Technical support may be provided over the phone, through email, or with a live-chat interface.

If you see eye to eye with someone, you are in agreement with them. Repeat: to see eye to eye. I think we see eye to eye on this - We never saw eye to eye on this question. We don't really see eye to eye on this issue. We just can't seem to agree on it.

Our last expression was to write someone or something off. It's a phrasal verb. To write off. To write off means to drop something from consideration, to give up on something. For example, we're not making any money on this product. In fact, we're losing money! I think we should write it off. In the Spanish dictionary, it says descartar o declarar siniestro total - to write off.

I'm sure they'll recover. Let's not write them off just yet.

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise your pronunciation. Ready?

It rained all night. - Llovió toda la noche. - It rained all night. Repeat: - It rained all night.

I haven't had this much fun since the Eighties. - No me he divertido tanto desde los años ochenta. Repeat: - since the Eighties - this much fun  - this much fun since the Eighties. - I haven't had - I haven't had this much fun since the Eighties.

You're the prettiest girl in this bar. - Eres la chica más bonita en este bar. - Listen: You're the prettiest girl in this bar. Repeat: - the prettiest girl - the prettiest girl in this bar - You're the prettiest girl in this bar.

I can't really speak Spanish; I only learned a few phrases from a website.

Realmente no puedo hablar español; solo aprendí unas frases de una página web. Listen: - I can't really speak Spanish. Repeat: - I can't really speak Spanish. I only learned a few phrases from a website. - from a website. - learned a few phrases - I only learned a few phrases - I only learned a few phrases from a website.

It was such a boring meeting that I fell asleep. - Fue una reunión tan aburrida que me dormí. Repeat: I fell asleep. - a boring meeting - It was such a boring meeting - It was such a boring meeting that I fell asleep.

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then, repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

Este pastel es suya, ¿no? (de él) - This cake is his, isn’t it? Repeat: This cake is his, isn’t it? - This cake is his, isn’t it?

La habitación de mi hermana está allí. - My sister’s room is over there. Repeat: over there - My sister’s room is over there. - My sister’s room is over there.

¿Quién lo pisó? - Who stepped on it? Repeat: - Who stepped on it?

Perdía el vuelo. - I missed the flight Repeat: - I missed the flight

Así es la vida. - That’s life! Repeat: - That’s life!

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escribes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. Y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 more than 25,000 fans. Or send me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno63_July_2013_NEW.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:45pm CET

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.

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


Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 62 recorded for June 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos el afirmativo y el negativo del pasado simple y las preposiciones.

En el nivel intermedio enfocamos en la diferencia entre any, some, either and neither y el vocabulario de la personalidad - character and personality.

In the advanced section, we practise vocabulary with some  advanced collocations, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise all to help you 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.

 Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico. Voy a decir algunas frases en el afirmativo, y tú tienes que cambiarlas al negativo. Por ejemplo, yo digo "She is a teacher." Tú dices: "She isn't a teacher." OK? Luego repitas la frase negativa para practicar la pronunciación. Ok.

1. I like classical music - I don't like classical music. Repite: I don't like classical music.

2. He plays tennis - He doesn't play tennis. Repite: He doesn't play tennis.

3. She is divorced - She isn't divorced. Repite: She isn't divorced.

4. They are students - they aren't students. Repite: They aren't students. También puedes decir they're not students. Depende como se hace la contración del They are not. Puede ser they're not o they aren't. Repite: they're not students - they aren't students - They're not Spanish. They aren't Spanish.

5. She likes photography - She doesn't like photography. Repite: She doesn't like photography.

Very good! Now, también hemos practicado algunas preposiciónes. Las preposiciones son difíciles en inglés por que muchas veces son diferentes al traducir las al español. Pero no te preocupes demasiado porque si haces una falta con una preposicion la gente van a entender lo que quieres decir. No es una falta grave. Pero, hay que intentar aprender las poco a poco - little by little - poco a poco. Escucha:

They sometimes go snowboarding in December. In december. Cuando hablamos de los meses en inglés, decimos la preposición in. Repite: in December. We go in December. In June - I never go in June. - In March - My birthday's in March.

Escucha: The Tourist Information Office closes at five o’clock. Cuando hablamos de la hora en inglés, empleamos la preposición at. Repite: at five o'clock. It closes at five o'clock. At 8.30 - I finish work at 8.30. - at 7 - I have breakfast at 7.

Escucha: She was born on May 12th. - Ella nació el 12 de mayo. Cuando hablamos de los días, utilizamos la preposición on. Repite: on May 12th - born on May 12th. She was born on May 12th. - On Monday. I work on Monday. - On Saturday. I don't work on Saturday. On Thursday. See you on Thursday!

Escucha: My keys are in my coat pocket. Muchas veces la preposición in se traduce como 'en'. Escucha: In my pocket. - en mi bolsillo. My keys are in my coat pocket. - Mis llaves están en el bolsillo de mi abrigo. Repite: In my pocket. In my car. It's in my car. In the house. It's in the house. In the office. They're in the office.

Escucha: Where can I try on this shirt? - ¿Dónde puedo probar esta camisa? to try on es un phrasal verb (un verbo compuesto) Los phrasal verbs llevan un verbo y una preposición o un adverbio o a veces ambos. To try on significa probar ropa. Repite: try on - try on clothes - try on a shirt - try on shoes - Please try on the jacket. Do you want to try on the dress?


Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised the difference between any, some, either and neither. Let's look at either and neither first. There are two possible pronunciations. Listen: either/either - neither/neither. Repeat: either/either - neither/neither.

either se puede traducir como: cualquiera de los dos y neither como ninguno (de dos)

Either student can take the test. - (Uno de los estudiantes puede tomar el examen.)

Neither student can take the test. - (Ninguno de los estudiantes puede tomar el examen.)

A veces el neither va con el nor y sirve para unir dos oraciones. En este caso significa: “ni” Por ejemplo: “Ni cafe ni té”. “Neither coffee nor tea”.

Neither puede también significar “tampoco”. Por ejemplo: “I don't want to go. Neither do I.” - Yo no quiero ir. Yo tampoco (ni yo).

Escucha y repite algunos ejemplos:

I don't like Lady Gaga. Neither do I.

Neither the Tower of London nor Buckingham Palace were included in the tour.

I neither sing nor dance.

I can't swim. Neither can I.

Either (o either) puede significar: ni, o, cualquiera, ninguno/a, alguno/a, tampoco, ni siquiera.

Listen and repeat: You can have either tea or coffee. Which would you prefer? Either, I don't mind.

We'd like to buy either the blue one or the red one. We don't mind. Either of them.

Who are those two women? I don't know either of them.

I can't speak French. I can't either.

I don't like Alejendro Sanz. I don't either. (También puedeo decir "Neither do I:"

I don't like tennis. - I don't either/neither do I.

OK, let's talk about some and any. Usually, we use some in positive sentences and any in negative and question sentences.

Listen:

afirmativo - I've got some biscuits. Do you want one?

negativo - Sorry, I haven't got any money.

pregunta - Have you got any brothers or sisters?

Repeat: I've got some biscuits. Do you want one?

Sorry, I haven't got any money.

Have you got any brothers or sisters?

Listen and repeat some more examples with some and any:

I don't need any help. Repeat: I don't need any help.

You've got some coffee on your shirt. Repeat: - You've got some coffee on your shirt.

Did you buy any wine? Repeat: Did you buy any wine?

There somebody at the door. Repeat: There somebody at the door.

Are you doing anything this weekend? Repeat: Are you doing anything this weekend?

This project will take some time. Repeat: This project will take some time.

I don't want anything to drink. Repeat: I don't want anything to drink.

Has anyone seen the dog? Repeat: Has anyone seen the dog?

Would you like some beer? Repeat: Would you like some beer?

Are you going anywhere this summer? Repeat: Are you going anywhere this summer?

We also use any in positive sentences when we mean "It doesn't matter which" - no importa que

You can visit us any time.

Which direction should I take? - Any one. It's up to you.

I like any jazz music.

Repeat:

You can visit us any time.

Which direction should I take? - Any one. It's up to you.

I like any jazz music.

 

Also in the intermediate section this month we studied some adjectives of character and personality. Vamos a ver si recuerdas.

What do you call a person who doesn’t like sharing or giving things. The opposite of generous. - mean

Someone who likes giving orders and telling other people what to do. - bossy

What's the adjective for a lively person who likes to be doing something all the time. - active

Do you know the opposite of active? - inactive.

People, usually children, who get everything they want even when they shouldn’t. - spoiled

A person who isn’t interested in anybody but herself/himself. He/she thinks he/she is the only person who exists. - selfish

A person who is aware of the feelings of others and is considerate. - thoughtful

Somebody who thinks money and possessions are more important than anything else. - materialistic

Someone whose feelings are very easily hurt. - sensitive. Be careful of the false friend sensible. Remember sensato - sensible and sensible - sensitive.

What's the name for children behaving badly and not doing what they are told. - naughty

And finally, a person who is in good physical condition, who does a lot of exercise and doesn’t tire easily after hard physical work.                 - fit - We also say to get fit. to get fit or to be fit. I'm fit = estoy en forma. I'm trying to get fit - I go to the gym to get fit. Are you fit?

OK, listen to the adjectives again and repeat them after me to practise pronunciation.

mean

bossy

active - inactive

spoiled

selfish

thoughtful

materialistic

sensitive

sensible

naughty

fit

If you like these podcasts, remember that you can buy complete lessons for only 1 euro and 40 centimos (the price of a cup of coffee) from our online shop - nuestra tienda online. Tenemos un curso entero de nivel principiante y básico. Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale solo 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 y lleva su trascripcion en formato PDF. Así puedes aprender inglés haciendo ejercicio, limpiando la casa, en el coche, caminando con el perro y en todo el tiempo muerto que tienes. Mejorar tú ingles con las descargas de la mansión del inglés. Bueno, también puedes encontrar la dirección de la tienda en la trascripción de este podcast.


In the advanced section, we looked at some collocations. For example to play truant. That's when you don't go to school and you go shopping or you play football in the park. Have you ever played truant from school? I don't remember ever playing truant. I liked going to school most of the time. In American English you can say to play hooky or to skip a class.

The next expression was to put your foot in it. If you put your foot in it or put your foot in your mouth, you do something by accident which embarrasses or upsets someone. For example, I really put my foot in it when I asked her if she was pregnant.

to hold a meeting is to have a meeting about something but the verb to hold is a strong collocation with meeting. You can also hold a reunion of old school friends, hold a business meeting and hold an online meeting on the Internet.

If you put two and two together, you understand something by using the information you have. For example, I didn't know his wife had left him, but when I saw that all her clothes and her things and her car were gone, I put two and two together.

To put your foot down means to assert something strongly. For example, Pepito's boss put her foot down and refused to accept any more bad behaviour. She put her foot down.

To play a trick on someone or play a prank on someone es hacer una broma - to do a trick that affects someone. For example, Somebody played a trick on me by hiding my shoes. Did you ever play any tricks on your teacher at school. We used to play tricks regularly, but not with all the teachers, only some of them.

To hold down a job means to keep it possibly in the face of difficult circumstances, as in "He held down the job for a year before handing in his notice".

To hold a record for something means to have the record for an event or an achievement. For example, She holds the world indoor 800 metres record.

To play havoc with something means to cause someone to have trouble doing something. Listen: Strong winds played havoc with her golf game.

It can also mean to damage something. For example,  Stormy conditions played havoc with the fishing.

Put your feet up means to relax, especially by sitting with your feet supported above the ground. For example:

You go home and put your feet up, love. I can't wait to finish work and put my feet up.

to hold your breath means to stop breathing for a short period, on purpose. Do you hold your breath when you dive into the water? I can't hold my breath for very long.

But it can also mean to wait or delay until something special happens and it's often used in the negative. For example, I expect to get paid for last month's work this week, but I'm not holding my breath. It's often late. Or another example, do you think there'll have free drinks and sandwiches at the meeting? Don't hold your breath! o sea, "no te hagas ilusión". Don't hold your breath!

Finally, to play a part in something or play a role in something means to participate in something in a specific way. For example, I hope to play a part in the development of the new product. He played a big part in the success of the company.

Listen to the collocations and expressions again and repeat them:

play truant

put your foot in it

hold a meeting

put two and two together

put your foot down

play a trick (on someone)

hold down a job

hold a record

play havoc with (something)

put your feet up.

hold your breath

play a part in (something)

 

In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first word was merger. A merger is the combination of two or more companies, either by the creation of a new organization or by absorption by one of the others. I think in Spanish it's fusión. Repeat: merger - mergers and acquisitions. In order to save the business, they merged with another company.

The phrasal verb to set aside means dejar a un lado. We set aside some money for a holiday. It's good to set aside money for emergencies. Have you set aside any money for anything recently? I haven't got any money to set aside!

Another phrasal verb was to bring in which means to include. The example was "I would like to bring my partner in on this discussion." To bring someone in on something. Shall we bring her in on the secret? I don't think it's necessary to bring them in on this deal. Notice that this phrasal verb must be separated. You put the object between the verb and the particle. You say bring her in on it but not Xbring in her on it.X

If you make sound decisions you make good decisions. He makes sound business decisions. Repeat: He makes sound business decisions. We can trust him. He makes sound decisions.

Feasible means possible, doable. In Spanish viable, o realizable. It's not a feasible project. We can't do it. Repeat: It's not feasible. I'm sorry, but it's not feasible. It's not economically feasible.

The word demographic is similar in Spanish, demografía. Listen and repeat the pronunciation: demographic. The demographics show that income went down. We have to examine the demographics.

To rule out means to eliminate. Listen: We can't rule out the possibility that we'll need another round of investment capital before the end of the year. Repeat: rule out - We should rule out the possibility of a merger. Don't rule out the competition.

You may hear or read companies speaking about their mission statement. Especially of it's a North American company. According to the dictionary, a mission statement is "A summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual." For example a mission statement for La Mansión del Inglés could be "To help Spanish speakers learn and improve their use of the English language." or something similar. Does your company have a mission statement? If not, what do you think it should be? You could write it in Spanish and then try to translate it into English. If you need help to check your mission statement, ask us on Facebook.

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

1.I only believe what you tell me. - Sólo creo lo que tú me dices. - I only believe what you tell me.

2.Could/Can you call a doctor? A German Shepherd has bitten my left leg. - ¿Puedes llamar a un doctor? Un pastor alemán me mordío en la pierna izquierda. - Could/Can you call a doctor? A German Shepherd has bitten my left leg.

3.I was hoping that you remembered how I got this tattoo. - Estaba esperando que tú recordaras como conseguí este tatuaje. - I was hoping that you remembered how I got this tattoo.

4.If the shoe fits, you can call me Cinderella. - Si me queda la zapatilla, me puedes llamar Cenicienta. If the shoe fits, you can call me Cinderella.

5.I don't own that penguin, it's a rental. - No soy el dueño de este pinguino, lo alquilo. - I don't own that penguin, it's a rental.

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

1.¿Sabes cuanto él gana? - Do you know how much he earns? - Do you know how much he earns?

2.Él llevaba unas gafas oscuras. - He was wearing dark glasses. - He was wearing dark glasses.

3.Mi nivel está por encima del de ellos. - My level is above theirs. - My level is above theirs.

4.Tienen que llegar antes de la fecha tope. - They have to arrive before the deadline. - They have to arrive before the deadline.

5.Siempre le encantaba bailar. - He always loved to dance. - He always loved to dance.

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escibes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno62_June_2013mp3.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:03pm CET

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.

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

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 61 recorded for May 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos el presente simple en un historia sobre un día en la vida de Alex. En el nivel intermedio, practicamos los adjetivos y los adverbios y hay vocabulario del tema crime and punishment. There are more animal idioms in the advanced section and we practise gerunds and infinitives. We have business vocabulary, a translation exercise and we've included new listening exercises at three different levels, all to help you 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.

Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico. Escucha el texto sobre un día en la vida de Alex: A Day in the Life of Alex

Alex gets up late every day, at about 8.30. He has a shower but he doesn't have breakfast because he hasn’t got time. He goes to work by bike. He gets to work at 8.55.  He turns on his computer and starts work. At 11 o’clock he has a coffee and a sandwich in the local bar. He works until 1.30 and then he has lunch. When Alex finishes work he goes to the gym. He gets home late and he is usually very tired. He has dinner about 8.30 and then he watches TV or reads a book. Alex usually goes to bed at about 11 or11.30.

Ahora, escucha y repite algunas frases del texto:

He gets up late - Repite: He gets up late

He has a shower- Repite: He has a shower

He doesn't have breakfast - Repite: He doesn't have breakfast

He hasn't got time - Repite: He hasn't got time

He goes to work - Repite: He goes to work

He turns on his computer - Repite: He turns on his computer

He starts work - Repite: He starts work

He has coffee. He has coffee at 11 o'clock. - Repite: He has coffee - at 11 o'clock. - He has coffee at 11 o'clock

He works until 1.30- Repite: He works until 1.30

He has lunch - Repite: He has lunch

He finishes work- Repite: He finishes work

He goes to the gym - Repite: He goes to the gym

He gets home late - Repite: He gets home late

He has dinner - Repite: He has dinner

He watches TV - Repite: He watches TV

He reads a book - Repite: He reads a book

He goes to bed - Repite: He goes to bed

 

Ahora escucha y repite las preguntas.

What time does he get up? - Repite: What time does he get up?

Does he have breakfast? - Repite: Does he have breakfast?

Does he have a shower? - Repite: Does he have a shower?

How does he go to work? - Repite: How does he go to work?

What time does he get to work? - Repite: What time does he get to work?

What does he turn on? - Repite: What does he turn on?

When does he have coffee? - Repite: When does he have coffee?

When does he have lunch? - Repite: When does he have lunch?

What does he do after work? Where does he go? - Repite: What does he do after work?

What does he watch? - Repite: What does he watch?

What does he read? - Repite: What does he read?

What time does he go to bed? - Repite: What time does he go to bed?

Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised some adjectives and adverbs. Listen and repeat the sentences to practise pronunciation.

That soup smells good.

Nervous - repeat: nervous - Did you feel nervous? Did you feel nervous before the interview? Were you nervous? Were you nervous before the interview?

She looked at me angrily. Anger is the noun, angry is the adjective and angrily is the adverb. Repeat: Why are you angry? You have so much anger inside you. He banged the table angrily.

Please leave the room quietly. If quietly is the adverb, what's the adjective? - quiet. He's a quiet boy. Please be quiet, your dad's asleep.

He plays the trumpet very well. Repeat: He plays well, he's a good musician. She sings well, she's a very good singer. I swim well, I'm a good swimmer. What's the opposite of well? - badly - repeat: badly. He speaks English very badly.

Don't get on that motorbike, it doesn't look safe. Repeat: safe. - It's not safe. Is it safe? Is that bike safe? And the opposite of safe is..........dangerous (you knew that!) It's a dangerous game. If safe is the adjective, what's the adverb? safely. Repeat: safely - Did you arrive safely?

Don't forget to drive carefully! carefully is the adverb. Repeat: carefully - The adjective is careful. He's a very careful driver. He drives carefully. Do it carefully - Do it with care.

The paella tastes nice. Nice has many uses and I think it's used more in British English than American English. It can mean amable - He's a nice man. It can mean agredable - The weather's nice today. It's a nice day. It can also mean attractive, bien, bonito. That's a nice house. Your flat's really nice. It can mean fino Her lunches are always very nice, with silver cutlery and silk serviettes. Another meaning is excelente - That was a nice shot on goal.

The second exercise in the intermediate section was about the vocabulary of crime and punishment.

to rob a bank - repeat: to rob a bank - a bank robbery. There was a bank robbery this morning. The bank robbers stole half a million euros. A person who steals something is a thief - THIEF. the noun is theft - THEFT. Why didn't you report the theft of your car, sir?

What's the adjective of crime? - criminal - repeat: criminal. He has no criminal record. A person who breaks the law is also a criminal. We can also say that he, or she, commits a crime. The verb to commit can be used with murder, suicide, adultery etc. Repeat: He committed murder. How many murders has he committed? Is it illegal to commit suicide? Is suicide a crime? If you have sex with a person who is not your wife or husband you commit adultery. Repeat: to commit adultery.

To smuggle means to import illegally. In Spanish, contrabandear, pasar de contrabando. Repeat: to smuggle - He was caught smuggling drugs. He tried to smuggle diamonds across the border. The border is la frontera. Across the border.

Innocent is an adjective. He's innocent - repeat: He's innocent - He was found innocent - She's innocent of the crime. What's the opposite of innocent? Guilty - Repeat: guilty - He was found guilty. Do you know the noun of innocent? Innocence - Repeat: innocence. There was no doubt of her innocence. doubt is duda - repeat: doubt - There was no doubt of her innocence

I want to tell you a secret - ¡un secreto que no mucha gente saben! Not many people know that you can buy complete English lessons for only 1 euro and 40 centimos from our online shop - nuestra tienda online. Tenemos un curso entero de nivel básico, y estamos haciendo lecciones nuevos de nivel principiante ahora mismo. Creo que hay 4 leccions ya en la tienda de nivel principiante, y cada 2 o 3 semanas ponemos una leccion más. Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. o busca Mansion Ingles descargas en Google. Cada leccion vale solo 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 y lleva su trascripcion en formato PDF. Así puedes aprender inglés haciendo ejercicio. limpiando la casa, en el coche, caminando con el perro y en todo el tiempo muerto - ¿Se dice esto en español; 'tiempo muerto'? En inglés se dice 'dead time' es el tiempo que estas haciendo una tarea (por ejemplo limpiando los platos) y puedes hacer otra cosa a la vez como mejorar tú ingles con las descargas de la mansión del inglés. Bueno, puedes encontrar la dirección de la tienda en la trascripción de este podcast.

In the advanced section, we had some more animal idioms. Listen and repeat some example sentences. The first was to teach an old dog new tricks. People usually don't change very much, not really, especially when they get older. Like my dad, for example. He won't ever change, he's very set in his ways. It's difficult to teach him new things or new habits. So, I could say, You can't teach an old dog new tricks. He is the way he is. Repeat: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I don't like bull fighting personally, but I do like this expression; to take the bull by the horns. It means to forcefully attack a difficult situation or problem. It's difficult to take a bull by its horns, I suppose. I've never tried it. Never will! But to confront a difficult situation with strength and determination is to take the bull by the horns. Repeat: to take the bull by the horns.

A dark horse is a person who does not tell other people about their ideas or skills and who surprises people by doing something that they don't expect. For example,  "I didn't know your sister had written a novel. She's a bit of a dark horse, isn't she?"

A dark horse can also be a person who wins a race or competition although no one expected them to. For example, she has never won an international competition before, but she could be a dark horse this year.

Chicken feed is a small amount of anything, especially money.  Of course I can afford $800. That's just chicken feed. Well, it may be chicken feed to you, but that's a month's rent to me! You could also say it's peanuts for a small amount of money. They pay me peanuts at my company.

To worm your way out of something means to manipulate yourself out of a job or responsibility. Don't try to worm yourself out of this situation. It's all your fault! You can't worm out of this. You promised you'd come with me. Don't worm your way out of it with some pathetic excuse about having to work.

To put or to set the cat among the pigeons is to do or say something that causes trouble and makes a lot of people angry or worried. Tell them all they've got to work on Saturday. That should set the cat among the pigeons. That was a very controversial suggestion Pete made at the meeting. He's certainly put the cat among the pigeons.

An early bird is a person who gets up early or arrives early to something. I always get up in time to watch the sunrise. I'm an early bird. She's such an early bird that she's usually in the office before 7.

A cash cow is a steady dependable source of funds or income. We can't sell the hotel, it's become such a cash cow.

Listen and repeat the idioms after me:

        You can't teach an old dog new tricks

        You must take the bull by the horns

        You're such a dark horse

        $500 is chicken feed

        Don't try to worm your way out of it

        That has really put the cat among the pigeons.

        You're such an early bird.

        it's a real cash cow.

Ok, moving on to the grammar exercise which was about gerunds and infinitives. Listen and repeat:

I tried to get back to sleep.

I remember walking you home.

Don't forget to lock the door.

We regret to inform you that there has been a delay.

This will mean paying more money.

I dread to think how much it's going to cost.

Please stop tapping your pen.

Remember to send me an email.

He came running up to me with a present.


In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first was the expression to be swamped with work. A swamp es un pantano. If you are swamped with something you have a lot of work. estas agobiado, inundado de trabajo. Repeat: swamped with work. I can't see you tonight, I'm swamped with work.

In your job, you have skills and knowledge that you are the most knowledgeable about. This is your area of expertise. It's the area in which you are proficient, skilled, and specialised in. What's your area of expertise? "I'm sorry, I can't help you. This isn't my area of expertise." or I can say,  "It's outside my area of expertise."

¿Cómo se dice investigación in English? - research. And which verb collocates with research? Is it "make research" or "do research"? - It's do research.  Repeat: Do research. We need to do some more research. Have you done the research?

A binder is una carpeta and a archivador de anillas is a ring binder. repeat: ring binder.

The phrasal verb to speed up means to get faster. Can you speed it up a bit? There are people waiting. Come on, speed up or we'll be late.

To pursue means perseguir, seguir for example, I've always wanted to pursue a career in advertising.

If something is familiar it's vaguely recognizable - conocido. His face looks familiar, I know him from somewhere. A stapler is a familiar tool to have in the office.  

Finally, a company's stock or inventory is the supply of goods it has for sale. Do you have these shoes in stock? I'm sorry, we don't have them in stock, but I can order them for you.

 

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So, I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

1. Where have you been lately? - ¿Dónde has estado últimamente? - Where have you been lately?

2. She’s tall, fat and ugly. - Es alta, gorda y fea. - She’s tall, fat and ugly.

3. I’m getting better / I'm improving - Estoy mejorando. - I’m getting better / I'm improving.

4. What was the matter? - ¿Qué te pasaba? - What was the matter?

5. I broke a finger. - Me rompí un dedo. - I broke a finger.

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

  1. La temperatura es de 4 grados bajo zero. - The temperature’s 4 degrees below zero.
  1. ¿Cómo está María? - How’s María?
  1. ¿Cómo es María? - What’s Maria like?
  1. Es baja, morena y guapa. - She’s short, dark and beautiful / pretty. / She's a short, beautiful / pretty brunette.
  1. ¿Cómo te encuentras?  - How do you feel? / How are you? / How are you doing? / How are you feeling?

 

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor (¿Cómo se dice hacer un gran favor? - to do a big favour - so please, do us a really big favour y escribe una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escribes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno61_May_2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:04pm CET

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.

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

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 60 recorded for April 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos el pasado simple y los contarios. En el nivel intermedio enfocamos en la diferencia entre los verbos SAY y TELL and also we look at some confusing words. In the advanced section, there are some animal idioms and more collective nouns that we started studying last month.

There's business vocabulary as usual, and a translation exercise all to help you 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.


Ok, let's start then with el nivel básico. El primer ejercicio trataba del tiempo verbal pasado simple. Escucha y repite algunas frases del dialogo.

Escucha: Did you have a good holiday? Repite: good holiday - have a - have good holiday - Did you have? Did you have a good holiday?

Escucha: Where did you go? Repite: go - did you - did you go - Where did you go?

Escucha: We went to London. Repite: London - to London - We went to London.

Escucha: We found a wonderful hotel. Repite: - hotel - a wonderful hotel - We found - We found a wonderful hotel.

Did you fly? - Repite: fly - did you - did you fly?

No, we didn't fly Repite: We didn't fly - No, we didn't fly.

Escucha: The flights were too expensive. fly es el verbo (volar) y flight es el nombre (vuelo). Repite: flights - the flights - too expensive (demasiado caro) Repite: too expensive - The flights were too expensive.

Escucha: We drove there. El verbo drive (conducir) es irregular - drive - drove - driven. Repite: drive - drove - driven. We drove - We drove there.

Escucha: It took about 24 hours. El verbo take también es irregular. Repite: take - took - taken. It took - 24 hours - about 24 hours - It took about 24 hours.

Escucha: We stopped every five or six hours. Repite: hours - five or six hours - We stopped - We stopped every five or six hours.

We had a great time. Repite: We had - we had a - We had a great time. - We had a great time.

Escucha: I improved my English a lot. A lot significa mucho. Repite: a lot - My English - my English a lot - I improved - I improved my English a lot.

We spent too much money. too much es demasiado - too much money - demasiado dinero. to spend (gastar) es otro verbo irregular. Escucha: Spend - spent - spent. Repite: spend - spent - spent. We spent - too much money - We spend too much money.

What did you do? Repite: do - did you - did you do - What did you do? - What about you? What did you do?

Escucha: We didn't go anywhere - Repite: anywhere - didn't go - didn't go anywhere - We didn't go anywhere.

We stayed in Barcelona. Repite: We stayed - We stayed in Barcelona - we stayed in Barcelona.

Very good! ¿Muy bien!

A continuación hemos revisado algunas contrarios. Contrarios en inglés son opposites.

Voy a decir una lista de palabras y tú tienes que decir los contrarios antes que los digo yo. Después, repite los contrarios para practicar la pronunciación. ¿Listo? ok.

good – bad

black – white

big – small / little

old – new / young

off – on

cold – hot

true – false

expensive – cheap

wrong – right

married – single

Very good! ¿Muy bien!


Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised the difference between say and tell.

After tell, we usually say who is spoken to and we do not put to before the object. - No ponemos el to antes del objeto.

Por ejemplo, decimos Tell me your name. No se dice XTell to me your nameX.

After say, we don't have to say who is spoken to. If we do, we put to before the object. Con say si se puede poner el to antes del objeto.

Por ejemplo, podemos decir What did your boss say to you? - Pero no se dice, XWhat did your boss say you.X

Tell means to inform or instruct. For example: Tell me how to do it.

It's common to use tell in the following expressions: tell a lie / tell the truth, tell a story,  tell me his name, y decimos say something, say something in Chinese, for example. Say something in French.  Say 'yes'.

Repite: tell a lie / tell the truth, tell a story, say something in Chinese,  tell me his name, say 'yes'.

Listen and repeat the following sentences.

Why didn't you say goodbye?

OK, Tell me what you need.

Who said that?

Tell her to shut her mouth.

Say something in French.

Pepito told his girlfriend a lie.

Don't tell lies.

Tell the truth.

Tell me that you love me.

Sorry, did you say something?

You don't tell me anything.

Have you told your boss?

Sorry, what did you say?

Please say 'yes'.

The second exercise in the intermediate section was about confusing words, and we looked at the words prevent, protect, divert, avoid and guard. Listen and repeat some examples.

 Avoid means evitar and when it's followed by a verb the verb is a gerund (un gerundio). Listen: I avoided speaking to her. Repeat: I avoided speaking to her. He always avoids going to meetings.

The verb protect (proteger) is usually followed by an object. Repeat: It protects me. I try to protect her. The case protects my phone.

Divert in Spanish is desviar Repeat: divert the traffic. We were diverted. The noun is diversion. Repeat: diversion - The was a diversion.

Prevent is impedir and it's usually followed by an object and the preposition from. To prevent something from happening or to prevent someone from doing something. Repeat: They prevented me from doing it. She prevented him from going. Don't prevent me from trying.

The last word was guard which can be a verb or a noun. To guard someone or something and a guard (guardia). A security guard es un guardia de seguridad. Repeat: security guard. Police are guarding the terrorists. You can say that someone is under guard. They are under guard at a high security prison.

If you like these podcasts, remember that you can buy complete lessons for only 1 euro and 40 centimos from our online shop - nuestra tienda online. Tenemos un curso entero de nivel básico, y estamos haciendo lecciones nuevos de nivel principiante ahora mismo. Creo que hay 2 o 3 leccions ya en la tienda de nivel principiante. Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale solo 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 y lleva su trascripcion en formato PDF. Así puedes aprender inglés haciendo ejercicio. limpiando la casa, en el coche, caminando con el perro y en todo el tiempo muerto - ¿Se dice esto en español; 'tiempo muerto'? En inglés se dice 'dead time' es el tiempo que estas haciendo una tarea (por ejemplo limpiando los platos) y puedes hacer otra cosa a la vez como mejorar tú ingles con las descargas de la mansión del inglés. Bueno, puedes encontrar la dirección de la tienda en la trascripción de este podcast.

In the advanced section, we had some animal idioms. Listen and repeat some example sentences.

It's about 30 kilometres, as the crow flies.

Stop making such a pig of yourself.

Don't let the cat out of the bag. It's a secret.

Be brave! Come on! ¡Animo! You must do it! Don't chicken out.

He's as blind as a bat. He can't see a thing.

Be careful! You're like a bull in a china shop.

She's got a bee in her bonnet about something.

Something's not right. I can I smelt a rat.

Ok, moving on to collective nouns. What do you call a collection of fighter jets? It's a squadron. A squadron of fighter planes or jets. If there's a big crowd of people and all you can see are faces you can call it a sea S-E-A of faces. Do you say that in Spanish, ¿un mar de caras? - a sea of faces.

Wolves, lobos, many wolves together are a pack of wolves.

When soldiers, police etc. fire automatic weapons you can say there was a hail of bullets. Bullets son balas. The bank robbers came out in a hail of bullets.

Many papers together can be called a bundle of papers. There's usually a bundle of papers on my desk (I'm not very tidy). You can also have a bundle of clothes, and there's usually a bundle of clothes in the corner of my room too! I must get organised.

Seagulls are gaviotas, the collective term is a flock of seagulls. Of course, we can also have a flock of sheep. Notice I said 'sheep' for the plural and not XsheepsX. It's an exception.

But we don't say a flock of goats (cabras), we say a herd of goats. H-E-R-D. A herd of goats.

Finally, if you hear many rumours (rumores), you call it a spate of rumours. S-P-A-T-E - A spate of rumours. There's a spate of rumours going round the office about our new boss.

Listen and repeat these collective nouns after me.

 a squadron of fighter jets

a sea of faces

a pack of wolves

a hail of bullets

a bundle of papers

a flock of seagulls

a herd of goats

a spate of rumours


In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary, and the first was the phrasal verb to set up. To set up a business means to start a business. Repeat: to set up a business. To set up a company. We set up our business last year.

The next phrasal verb was to look through. I looked through the documents. You can also look through a book (hojear un libro). I looked through the guide book, but I couldn't find the hotel. Would you mind looking through these instructions?

Next we had the phrasal verb to walk someone through something, which means to guide someone or to explain something in detail. - To walk someone through something, Repeat: Can you walk me through it? Can you walk me through your sales strategy? Let me walk you through the legal side of the agreement.

One by one means one at a time, uno por uno. I looked through the papers one by one until I found the one I was looking for.

If you are a temp, you are a temporary worker. Temp can also be used as a verb. I'm temping for the company until something better comes up. I've been temping for six months.

If you give feedback, you give your opinion about something. I was given positive feedback on my presentation. Please complete these feedback forms before you leave the meeting. Let me have your feedback by email.

The word compliment (cumplido) collocates with the verb to pay, so you pay someone a compliment. Repeat: to pay a compliment. She paid me a lovely compliment - She paid me a lovely compliment on my work. I get embarrassed when people pay me compliments.

If you are snowed under, you are very busy. Repeat: I'm snowed under - I'm snowed under at work - I'm totally snowed under this week.

We also gave you some more sentences to translate in this month's cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

It was a wonderful/marvellous experience. - Fue una experiencia maravillosa. - Repeat: It was a wonderful experience. - It was a marvellous experience.

This is the end. - Éste es el final.-  Repeat: This is the end.

Things are never clear. - Las cosas nunca están claras. - Repeat: Things are never clear.

What did you do? - ¿Qué hiciste? ­- Repeat: What did you do?

"Suck the prawn's head." (or "the head of the prawn") - Chupa la cabeza de la gamba. - Repeat: "Suck the prawn's head.", or "Suck the head of the prawn")

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

Llevan tres meses casados. - They’ve been married for three months. Repeat: They’ve been married for three months.

Antes había más gente aquí. - There used to be more people here. Repeat: There used to be more people here.

Estos resultados son un poco mejores. - These results are a little better. Repeat: These results are a little better.

Las corbatas no son necesarias. - Ties aren’t necessary. / Ties are unnecessary. Repeat: Ties aren’t necessary. Ties are unnecessary.

¿Hubo tormentas? - Were there any storms?  Repeat: Were there any storms? 

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, but we'll be back with you next month as usual with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta reseña en iTunes. Si escibes una reseña en iTunes más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrellas, si te gusta nuestros podcasts.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno60_April_2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:14pm CET

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.

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

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 59 recorded for March 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico y intermedio vamos a ver si sabes que tienes que decir en ciertas situaciones en inglés. Practicamos también los pronombres personales him, her and them en el nivel básico, y en el nivel intermedio hay más sentence transformations como las que se encuentra en el examen FCE de Cambridge.

There are some more idioms to study in the advanced section along with some practice on collective nouns. There's business vocabulary as usual and we've included a translation exercise this month all to help you 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.

Ok, let's start with el nivel básico. En el primer ejercicio del nivel básico, hemos preguntado ¿Cómo tienes que responder? cuando te dicen algunas frases en inglés.

Voy a decir las frases y quiero que tú repites la contestación de cada frase en voz alta. ¿Listo?

1. How's it going?

Great! How are you doing? - Repite: doing - How are - How are you - How are you doing? - Great! How are you doing? - How are you doing?

2. What did you do at the weekend?

Not much. What about you? - Repite: Not much. - Not much. - What about you? - What about you? - Not much. What about you?

3. Are you married?

No, I'm single. - Repite: No, I'm single. - No, I'm single.

4. Sorry I'm late.

That's OK. - Repite: That's OK. - That's OK.

5. Hi, how are you today?

Fine thanks, and you? - Repite: Fine thanks, and you? Fíjate en la entonación. Escucha: Fine thanks, and you? - Repite: Fine thanks, and you?

6. I'm very sorry about that.

Never mind. - Repite: Never mind.

7. What time is it, please?

I'm sorry, I don't have a watch. - Repite: a watch. - I don't have - I don't have a watch. - I'm sorry, - I'm sorry, I don't have a watch. - I'm sorry, I don't have a watch.

8. Excuse me, where's the restroom?

It's the first on the left. - Repite: the left. - on the left. - first on the left. - It's the first on the left. - It's the first on the left.

9. Can you help me. please?

Of course! What can I do for you? - Repite: do for you? - can I do for you? - What can I do for you? - Of course! - Of course! What can I do for you? - Of course! What can I do for you?

10. I can't do this.

What's the matter? - Repite: the matter? - the matter? - What's the matter? - What's the matter?

Bueno, ahora que hemos practicado un poco la pronunciación, vamos a repasarlas expresiones otra vez. Digo yo la primera parte, y intentas tú contestar con las respuestas que hemos practicado. No te preocupes por que voy a ayudarte en voz baja. ¿Listo?

How's it going?

- Great! How are you doing?

What did you do at the weekend?

- Not much. What about you?

Are you married?

- No, I'm single.

Sorry I'm late.

- That's OK.

Hi, how are you today?

- Fine thanks, and you?

I'm very sorry about that.

- Never mind.

What time is it, please?

- I'm sorry, I don't have a watch.

Excuse me, where's the restroom?

- It's the first on the left.

Can you help me. please?

- Of course! What can I do for you?

I can't do this.

- What's the matter?

Great! Fantastic! - Well done! Now, luego hemos practicado los pronombres personales him, her y them

Escucha y repite: Do you like him? Do you like her? Do you like them? I like The Beatles. Do you like them? - Yes, I love them.

Her - repite: her - do you know her? Who is she? - ¿Quién es ella? - repite: Who is she? Do you know her? No, I don't know her. I know him. I know him, but I don't know her.

I'm not speaking to you. Repite: I'm not speaking to you. I'm speaking to her. I'm speaking to her. She's not speaking to me, but I'm speaking to her.

Please give them to me. Repite: to me, give them to me - please give them to me. - Give it to me - Give them to me - please give them to me.

She doesn't want to see him - Repite: see him - to see him - want to see him. - doesn't want to see him. - She doesn't want to see him. He wants to see her - but she doesn't want to see him.

I never eat tomatoes - I hate them - I really hate them - and apples - I don't them - I really don't like them.

Where’s your sister? I’d like to speak to her - Repite: speak to her - I'd like to - I'd like to speak to her.

Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised responding to certain expressions in English. For example, someone says to you, "What do you reckon?". What's a good response? Well, "What do you reckon?" means "What do you think?". Someone is asking for your opinion. So, depending on the situation, you could say "It's great" or "I don't like it" or I think we should wait etc. The correct answer in the question from the newsletter was, "I've got no idea." Repeat: What do you reckon? - I've got no idea. - Reckon is more common in British English than American English, but Americans use it to. "I reckon you'll make a good profit this year, buddy." I apologise for my terrible American accent.

The next expression was "I'm afraid I haven't done it yet." and the response was "Don't worry, there's no rush." No te preocupes, no hay prisa - Repeat: I'm afraid I haven't done it yet - Don't worry, there's no rush.

The expression "Who goes first?" is commonly used when you're playing a game or when there are turns involved. You go first, then you go second. Repeat: Who goes first? - I'll go first - It's your turn (toca a ti) Repeat: It's your turn - Who's turn is it? - It's mine - It's yours - It's hers. Who's go is it? - Who goes first? - You do - You go first.

Next was "Sorry, I can't come next week." The reply was "Never mind, I'll text you." Repeat: come next week - I can't - I can't come next week - Sorry, I can't come next week - Never mind, I'll text you. Repeat. I'll text you - I'll send you a text - I'll text you - Never mind (no te preocupes) Never mind - Never mind, I'll text you.

"Would you go along with that?" means "Do you agree with that?" Repeat: go along - go along with that - Would you? - Would you go along with that? - Not really - Would you go along with that? - Yes, I would. - Would you go along with that? - Yes. absolutely! Totally! Would you go along with that? - No I'm afraid I wouldn't, actually.

Is that a new top? - A top could be a blouse, a T-shirt, a sweater. It's commonly used to talk about the clothes that girls and women wear on the top half of their body. Repeat: That's a nice top! Where did you get that top? - Is that a new top? - Yes, it is. - yes, I got it yesterday - Yes, I got it in the sales - Do you like it? - Is that a new top? _ Yes, it was only 15 euros.

Listen: What time's the meeting?

- It's been put off. Do you remember the meaning of the phrasal verb "put off"? It means to postpone - posponer - The meeting has been put off until next week. Repeat: put off - the meeting's been put off.

"Alright mate?" is a British English greeting. It means "¿Qué tal tio?" - ¿Qué pasa hombre? - ¿Cómo te vas? - an appropriate response would be Alright? Repeat: Alright? - Alright mate? - alright? How's it going? - ¿Cómo vas? How's it going?

"I'm a bit chilly" Tengo un poco de frio. Chilly - Repeat: chilly - I'm a bit chilly. Are you cold? - We'll, I'm a bit chilly - I'm a bit chilly, actually. Are you chilly? - A bit, can we turn off the air con? The air con is the air conditioning - Repeat: Air con - turn off the air con - can we turn off the air con?

Very good!

Also in the intermediate section there were some sentence transformation exercises. If you are studying for the exam, don't forget that we have a CD for sale that will help you study for the exam. It costs 34 euros + postage and you can see details of the CD and try some of the exercises at manioningles.com. Just click the CDs icon on the right side of the home page.

In the sentence transformation part of the Use of English exam, you have to take the information in the first sentence and re-write it (write it again), using the word in bold so that the second sentence has the same, or a similar, meaning. You cannot change the word in bold. You can write between 3 and 5 words in the space including the word in bold. So, if you have 6 or 7 words in the space, or even 2 words, go back and think again because you've made a mistake.

Listen and repeat the sentences to practice pronunciation. Remember, you can see the sentences, and do the exercises,  in our monthly newsletter for March, el cuaderno inglés de marzo.

What a shame. They drank all the beer.

 

WISH

 I wish they hadn't drunk all the beer.

 1. He doesn't have enough money to buy the iPad.

 TOO

 The iPad is too expensive for him to buy.

 

2. "You should start doing a new sport, Pepito", the doctor said.

TAKE

The Doctor advised Pepito to take up a new sport.

 

3. Pepito suddenly realised that the neighbour was watching him.

WATCHED

Pepito suddenly realised that he was being watched by the neighbour.

 

4. I could never have passed that interview without your help.

if

I could never have passed that interview if you hadn't helped me.

 

5. We paid some people to paint the flat for us last Easter.

HAD

We had some people paint the flat last Easter.

 

6. Sandra hasn’t been to Cadiz before.

VISIT  

It is Sandra's first visit to Cadiz.

 

7. I last saw Pepito two months ago.

FOR

I haven't seen Pepito for two months.

 

8. We last went to Seville three years ago.

YEARS

It has been three years since we last went to Seville.

 

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. Tenemos lecciones de nivel intermedio, pre-intermedio y nivel básico. Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y cada leccion está en el 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,

Una golondrina no hace verano. - This is a direct translation... - "One swallow does not make a summer."

Next was No todo el monte es orégano. - In English we say...  "Life isn’t a bowl of cherries." Repeat: Life isn’t a bowl of cherries. - Hmm...cherries, oregano - oregano (in English), cherries. Americans say oregano, and the British say oregano. A bowl of cherries, a mountain of oregano.

Quien rie último, ríe mejor. - "He who laughs last laughs the longest." - That's not easy to say, actually. Repeat: laughs the longest - laughs last - He who laughs last, laughs the longest.

The next idiom was, El hábito hace al monje. Do you remember the English equivalent?.... - "Clothes maketh the man."

Dice más una imagen que mil palabras....... - "A picture is worth a thousand words."

And finally, we had No se puede repicar y estar en la procesión. - "You can’t be in two places at once." -

Listen to the idioms again and repeat them:

One swallow does not make a summer.

Life isn’t a bowl of cherries.

He who laughs last laughs the longest.

Clothes maketh the man.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

You can’t be in two places at once.

Ok, moving on to collective nouns. What do you call a collection of tourists? (apart from noisy) a party of tourists - and a group of trees all in one place is a...clump of trees. C-L-U-M-P. We speak about a gang of terrorists and a fleet of ships F-L-E-E-T. a fleet of ships. Many reporters in one place is a crowd of reporters and a collection of monkeys together is a troop of monkeys T-R-O-O-P - a troop of monkeys. Steps are escaleras, and a lot of steps together are a flight of steps. "He ran up a flight of steps and into the building." Finally, if your cat has kittens, the collective name for them is a litter of kittens. Listen to the collective nouns again and repeat them.

        a clump of trees

        a party of tourists

        a gang of terrorists

        a fleet of ships

        a crowd of reporters

        a troop of monkeys

        a flight of steps

        a litter of kittens

 

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

If you travel on business, it's a business trip. Repeat: business trip. I went on a business trip to Madrid last week.

A core competency is something that a person, or a company, can do well. It's something that sets you apart from other people, or something that sets one company apart from another. To set apart means to distinguish or make different, distinguir in Spanish. The thing that sets our company apart is our customer service. The thing that sets you apart is your ability to listen.

To hold something up means to delay something. What's holding up the product release? What's holding you up? - What's delaying you? - If you arrive late, you hold everyone up.

In business, it's very important to have a positive attitude. I admire her positive attitude.

A tag es una etiqueta. So, when you visit other companies it's not unusual to be given a name tag so that you can be identified as a visitor as you walk around.

agenda and diary are often confused. A meeting has an agenda, a list of items to be discussed during the meeting. So, agenda is a false friend. No es 'agenda'. Agenda means orden del día. What's on the agenda for today? Have you received the agenda for today's meeting? A diary is what Spanish speakers call agenda. I'll write it in my diary for next week. I have a note in my diary to phone you today.

The expression to drop the ball means to fail in some way, to make a mistake. For example, everything was going fine until our project manager dropped the ball. - Have you seen the new James Bond film? It's terrible. They've really dropped the ball with that.

If you have a lot on your plate, you're very busy. Repeat: on my plate - I have a lot on my plate. I'm sorry, I've got too much on my plate at the moment. I'm really busy.

We also gave you some sentences to translate in this months cuaderno. First, you had to translate from English to Spanish. So,  I'll say the English sentences and you can say the Spanish translation. Then, repeat the English sentence after me to practise pronunciation. Ready?

Better late than never.  - Más vale tarde que nunca - Repeat: Better late than never. 

This is as good as it gets! - ¡Mejor imposible! - Repeat: This is as good as it gets!

I can't stand him! - ¡No lo soporto! - Repeat: I can't stand him!

I'm a happy-go-lucky person. - Soy una persona despreocupada. - Repeat: I'm a happy-go-lucky person.

She/He always gets her/his own way. - Siempre se sale con la suya. - Repeat: She/He always gets her/his own way.

Good, now I'll read some Spanish sentences and you translate to English. Then repeat the sentences after me to practise your pronunciation. OK?

¡Se ha acabado el tiempo!  - Time's up! - Repeat:  Time's up!

¿Cómo funciona?  - How does it work? - Repeat:  How does it work?

Me está poniendo de los nervios.  - He's getting on my nerves. - Repeat:  He's getting on my nerves.

¡Déjame en paz!  - Leave me alone! - Repeat:  Leave me alone!

¡Tomátelo con calma!  - Take it easy! (Also chill, chill out!, Keep your hair on and Relax, man) - Repeat: Take it easy! (Also chill, chill out!, Keep your hair on and Relax, man)

Well, that's all we have time for on this podcast, so until the next one, take care, take it easy and relax or "chillax" which is a combination of chilling out and relaxing - "Chillax, man!"

Anyway, we'll be back with you next month with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta critíca en iTunes. ¿Como se dice crítica o reseña en inglés? ¿Te acuerdas?- Review - to write a review. If you write a review on iTunes (si escibes una crítica en iTunes) más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes. y también puedes darnos algunas estrallas, si te gusta.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, take care, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno59_March_2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:01am CET

 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.

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

Hello once again and welcome to another Mansion Ingles podcast. This is podcast number 58 recorded for February 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico vamos a practicar algunos frases con los verbos, y también vocabulario sobre el tiempo. The weather. En el nivel intermedio practicamos vocabulario de la compra - Shopping.

There are some more idioms to study in the advanced section along with vocabulary about lies and deception. There's business vocabulary as usual, and of course many more ideas and resources to help you 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.

Ok so, let's begin then as usual with el nivel básico. En el primer ejercicio del nivel básico, habían algunas colocaciones con verbos y sustantivos. Escucha y repite:

to go abroad - abroad significa en el extranjero. Escucha: abroad. Repite: Abroad - to go abroad.  I go abroad every year. I went abroad for Christmas. Did you go abroad last year?

to buy souvenirs. Souvenirs son recuerdos. Escucha: souvenirs. Repite: souvenirs. to buy souvenirs. I buy souvenirs. When I go abroad, I buy souvenirs.

to rent an apartment. - alquiler un piso. apartment es una palabra en el inglés americano. ¿Cómo se dice piso en el inglés britanico? - flat. Repite: flat - to rent a flat. Apartment - to rent an apartment. I want to rent an apartment.

Escucha: to take photos. Repite: photos - take photos. I like taking photos. Did you take any photos?

Escucha: To go for a walk - nota como las palabras for y a se juntan - go for a walk - Repite: walk - for a - for a walk - go for a walk. I often go for a walk after lunch.

Escucha: to have a good time. Repite: time - good time - have a good time. We have a good time. Yesterday we had a good time. Are you having a good time?

to walk around the town. Repite: the town - around - around the town - walk around the town. We love walking around the town.

Escucha: to go by car. Repite: car - by car - go by car - we go to work by car. I went by car. I like going by car.

Escucha: to stay in a hotel. Repite: hotel - in a - in a hotel - stay in a hotel - We stayed in a hotel - Where did you stay? We stayed in a hotel. Did you stay with friends? No, we stayed in a hotel.

Very good! ¿Muy bien!

Luego, hemos practiacado vocabulario sobre el tiempo. ¿Cómo se dice 'hace frio' en inglés? - It's cold. Repite: It's cold.

 ¿Cómo se dice nieve en inglés? - snow. Repite: snow. It snows in winter. Does it snow in winter? Does it snow in Valencia? No, it doesn't. Does it snow in Chicago? Yes, it does.

¿Cómo se dice, 'Hace calor'? - It's hot. Repite: It's hot. It's very hot. It's really hot today.

¿Cómo se dice very very very hot? - It's boiling! Phew, it's boiling in here! - It's boiling today.

¿Cómo se dice niebla en inglés? fog - F-O-G fog - y ¿Qué es el adjetivo? - foggy - It's foggy - It's foggy outside. I can't see, it's foggy.

¿Cómo se dice lluvia en inglés? - rain. repite: rain. Esta lluviendo - it's raining. Repite: It's raining.

¿Cómo se dice 'soleado' en inglés? - sunny. Repite: sunny - It's sunny - Is it sunny? Is it sunny in Valencia? - Yes, it is. It's very sunny.

 

Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we practised some vocabulary connected to shopping. Let's see if you can remember the vocabulary if I read the definitions. For example, What's the name of the place, in a clothes shop, where you try on clothes before buying them? It's the...... fitting room. Repeat. the fitting room - Excuse me, where's the fitting room? Can I try this on? Yes sir, the fitting room is over there.

What does the shop assistant usually stand behind? A shop assistant usually stands behind the...... counter. Repeat: counter.

If clothes are the correct size, we say that they.....fit you. If they look good on you, we say that they.....suit you. Repeat: It fits you. Does it fit you? Yes it fits me. - Does it suit me? - Yes, it suits you very well.

What do we call the time of year when shops reduce the price of their goods? This time of year is known as the.... sales. Repeat: sales.  The sales are on in Valencia at the moment. During this time you can very often find good ......bargains. Repeat: bargains. or gangas - bargains - Where did you find that bargain? Repeat: Where did you find that bargain? -  I found it in the sales.

Ok, which two things can you put your shopping in, in a supermarket? Well, if you don't have a lot of shopping, you can put it in a....basket - una cesta. A shopping basket. Repeat: A shopping basket. But if you have a lot of shopping, you'll probably need a ....trolley, a shopping trolley, or a shopping cart as they say in the US. You've probably seen the words "shopping cart" on internet web sites like Amazon, for example. Repeat: basket. Can I have a basket? - trolley - Excuse me, where are the trolleys?

Finally, what's the area of the supermarket called where you pay for your goods? It's called the ....checkout. Repeat: checkout.

Excellent! - Well done!

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. Las lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1). Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 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, ser pan comido. Do you remember this idiom in English? It's "A piece of cake.". Repeat: A piece of cake. The exam was a piece of cake. I was nervious before the job interview, but in the end it was a piece of cake.

The next one was más muerto que mi abuela. - "(To be) as dead as a doornail." Repeat. as dead as a doornail. I think I've killed this spider, it's as dead as a doornail.

Then we had the idiom Por los pelos. Do you remember the English? Something about teeth. - "By the skin of our teeth."  or by the skin of my teeth. Repeat: by the skin of my teeth - I passed the exam by the skin of my teeth. They got to the airport late and they caught the plane by the skin of their teeth.

Our next idiom was llevar las riendas. -  "(To be) in the driver's seat." Huge consumer demand for electricity has put energy companies in the driver's seat. - in control.

How do you say "Estar por buen camino" in English? - " To be on the right track."  Repeat: on the right track. Now we're on the right track. We made some mistakes in the beginning, but now we're on the right track.

And finally, Esto es el colmo - Do you remember? "This is the last straw." Repeat: the last straw. It was the last straw.  He came home drunk at 5 o'clock in the morning and that was the last straw.

Listen to the idioms again and repeat them:

  • A piece of cake.
  • (To be) as dead as a doornail.
  • By the skin of our teeth.
  • (To be) in the driver's seat.
  • (To be) on the right track.
  • This is the last straw.

Also in the advanced section, there were some words connected to lies and deception. For example. if you are frank with someone you are honest and sincere with them. For example, "She gave a frank opinion of my work." - "I'll be frank with you." "To be perfectly frank, I don't think it's good enough." Repeat. Let me be frank with you. - To be perfectly frank I don't believe you.

If something is trumped up, it's false or fabricated (fabricado, inventado). trumped up often collocates with 'charges'. He was arrested on trumped up charges. Repeat: trumped up charges. He was arrested on trumped up charges.

Counterfeit money is false or fake money. It's not real. This 50 euro note is counterfeit. The cashier would not accept the payment because it was made with counterfeit money. Repeat: counterfeit money. Don't accept any counterfeit notes. Remember, 'bills' in American English and 'notes' in British English. A 20 dollar bill in America, and a 20 pound note in the UK.

A swindler es un estafador o timador. Someone who tricks you. Don't buy anything from Barry, he's a swindler. The verb is to swindle. They were swindled out of 4,000 pounds. We say that you are swindled out of money. Repeat: He swindled me. He swindled me out of 100 euros.

A more informal way of saying to swindle is to rip off. It's a phrasal verb - R-I-P O-F-F. - Rip off - To rip someone off. For example "He ripped the tourist off." Repeat: to rip off. I was ripped off. He ripped me off at the train station. You can also use this phrasal verb as an noun phrase. Listen: It's a rip-off. Did you pay 70 euros for that bag? What a rip-off! Repeat: It's a rip-off. Don't eat in that restaurant, it's a rip-off. 80 euros for dinner? What a rip-off!

The word authentic is similar in Spanish - auténtico - but what's the opposite of authentic? - fake - F-A-K-E - Repeat, fake. That watch isn't real. It's fake. It's a fake watch. Fake means to have a false or misleading appearance, so a person can also be fake if they are trying to be someone they're not. Listen: I don't like that new secretary, she seems so fake. Repeat: fake - She's so fake.

 

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

Listen and repeat: First thing (lo primero) - first thing in the morning (a la primera hora) I'll phone you first thing in the morning. - I'll do it first thing - The first thing I do is check my mail.

To implement means implementar, poner en marcha - Repeat: implement, to implement a plan - When are you going to implement it? - The contract was implemented after everyone signed.

To drive sales means to push or increase sales. It can also be used as a noun - a sales drive. Repeat: sales drive. Our company is embarking on a new sales drive. We're driving sales online.

To jeopardize means to put in danger, to expose to loss or injury, to put at risk. Repeat: jeopardize - He jeopardized his job -  He jeopardized his job by always arriving late. If you do that you'll jeopardize the whole project.

The phrasal verb to take on can mean to employ (contratar). We took on 5 new employees last month. It can also mean hacerse cargo de - I think I've taken on too much work. Repeat: to take on - When did the company take you on? - She's taken on too much work.

A fire drill es un simulacro de incendio and it's very common to have regular fire drills in British and American companies. Repeat: fire drill - There's going to be a fire drill tomorrow. What time's the fire drill?

If your office has a dress code it means there are rules of acceptable clothing. You probably should wear a suit and tie, and jeans and T-shirts are often not suitable. Repeat: dress code. Does the office have a dress code? What will I be expected to wear? If there's no dress code, you can wear whatever you like, although pyjamas are probably not a good idea.

Speaking of pyjamas, I think it's time for me to go to bed or 'hit the sack' as we say in colloquial English. So, I'm going to hit the sack now, but don't worry, we'll be back with you next month with another podcast based on our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta critíca en iTunes y darnos estrellas por la calidad del mismo. ¿Como se dice crítica o reseña en inglés? - Review - to write a review. If you write a review on iTunes (si escibes una crítica en iTunes) más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, take care, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Take care and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno58_February_2013.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30pm CET

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.

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

Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe we're already in 2013. Another year goes by and I'm really excited about 2013 and all the new material we'll be bringing you to help you improve your English. So thank you very much for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 57 recorded for January 2013.

Este mes, en el nivel básico vamos a practicar las preguntas con la forma ing del verbo, y también un poco de vocabulario de las tiendas - Shops.  En el nivel intermedio practicamos confusing words - algunas palabras que se puede confundir en inglés and also there are some sentence transformations of the type commonly found in the Cambridge FCE exam.

There are some more idioms to study in the advanced section, and  there's business vocabulary as usual, and of course many more ideas and resources to help you 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.

Ok so, let's begin then as usual with el nivel básico. En el primer ejercicio del nivel básico, tenias que completar algunas frases con el verbo en su forma de gerundio - ...ing. Escucha las frases y repítelas.

Escucha: Do you like studying at night? Repite: at night - studying - studying at night - Do you like? - Do you like studying at night?

Escucha: Do you like driving at night? Repite: driving - driving at night - Do you like? - Do you like driving at night?

Escucha: Do you like sunbathing? Repite: sunbathing - Do you like? - Do you like sunbathing?

Escucha: Do you like watching TV in bed?  Repite: in bed - watching TV - watching TV in bed - Do you like? - Do you like watching TV in bed?

Escucha: Do you like going to bars?  Repite: bars - going to - going to  bars - Do you like? - Do you like going to bars?

Escucha: What do you like doing at the weekend?  Repite: weekend - at the weekend - doing at the weekend - What do you like? - What do you like doing at the weekend?

Escucha: Do you like travelling by plane?  Repite: by plane - travelling by plane - Do you like? - Do you like travelling by plane?

Escucha: Do you like buying clothes? Repite: clothes - buying clothes - Do you like? - Do you like buying clothes?

Escucha: Do you like working with a computer?   Repite: computer - with a - with a computer - working with a computer - Do you like? - Do you like working with a computer?

Escucha: Do you like doing housework? Repite: housework - doing housework - Do you like? - Do you like doing housework?

Very good!

Luego hemos practicado algunas tiendas. ¿Cómo se dice 'tienda' en inglés? - shop - repite - shop.

Escucha las tiendas en español y intenta decir el inglés antes que yo. Luego, repite la palabra en inglés para practicar la pronunciación.

panadería - baker's

supermercado - supermarket

zapatería - shoe shop

optica - optician's

fruitería - fruit shop

peluquería - hairdresser's

librería - book shop

centro comercial - shopping centre (UK) / shopping mall (US)

farmacia - chemist's (UK) / drugstore (US)

carnicería - butcher's

Very good! - ¡Muy bien!


Ok, moving on to the intermediate section, we had the following confusing words:

insist         persuade                advice      advise      make       suggest

Listen to the sentences and repeat them.

I suggest buying a new computer. suggest is followed by a gerund - I suggest looking, They suggested renting a car etc. Listen: I suggest buying a new computer. Repeat: I suggest buying a new computer.

She insists on sitting in the front row. Row es fila - repeat: row - in the front row (en la primera fila) She always insists on sitting in the front row. Fijate en la preposición on. To insist on doing something. Listen: She insists on sitting in the front row. Repeat: She insists on sitting in the front row.

He didn't want to go, but I managed to persuade him. You persuade someone to do something. Listen: I managed to persuade him to go. Repeat: I managed to persuade him to go.

If you take my advice, you’ll go and see a doctor. Advice (consejo) is something you take and you give. You give someone advice and you take advice from someone.

Advice, with a 'c', is the noun. The verb is to advise, with an 's'. Listen: advise - Listen: He advised me to wait. Repeat: He advised me to wait.   Listen: We advise customers to check their change. Repeat: We advise customers to check their change.

Advice, with a 'c' is an uncountable noun. I'll give you some advice, or I'll give you a piece of advice. No se dice Xan adviceX. Listen: Take my advice, go and see a doctor. Repeat: Take my advice, go and see a doctor.

I can’t make you help me, but I would be very grateful if you did. To make someone do something means almost to force them to do it (forzar). Dad made me clean his car. Mum made me do my homework. You can't make me do it! Notice that we say make someone do something. No se dice Xmake someone to do something.X Listen: I can’t make you help me Repeat: I can’t make you help me.

Moving on to the next exercise in the intermediate section, we studied sentence transformations of the kind found in the Cambridge FCE exam. If you're studying for this exam. you can find more practice on our website mansioningles.com in the First Certificate section.

Listen and repeat the sentences to practise pronunciation:

He suggested going to the cinema.

If I were you I would talk to my parents.

He didn't have the strength to lift the desk.

La Mansión del Inglés was set up in 2001.

Julia is really keen on Pepito.

The last time I wrote to Diana was before she left for Argentina.

They put me in charge of research and development.

My parents really had a good time in Ireland.

The new hospital will be opened by the Prime Minister.

Excellent! - Well done!

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. Las lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1). Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y 15 minutos y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 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 was Quien mala cama hace, en ella se yace / El que hace la paga?  En inglés it's; "You've made your bed, now lie in it!" In other words, you've created this situation for yourself, now you have to deal with it - you must deal with the consequences of your actions. - "You've made your bed, now lie in it!"

What about: Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda? - "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." - a sow - S-O-W - es una cerda - a female pig. Repeat: sow - "You can't make a silk purse (un monedero de seda) out of a sow's ear."

The next idiom was: A la ocasion la pintan calva. - In English it's: “You have to strike while the iron is hot.” - to strike means to hit. - “You have to strike while the iron is hot.”

What about, No hay mas cera que la que arde. - “What you see is what you get.”

And the next one was, El tiempo lo cura todo. - Do you remember? “Time heals all wounds.” wound is herida and to heal is curar, so it's quite similar to the Spanish idiom. “Time heals all wounds.”

And lastly, we had Dime con quien andas, y te dire quien eres. in English it's, “You can judge a man by the company he keeps.”  Ah yes, that's very true. Show me your friends and I'll know who you are! - “You can judge a man by the company he keeps.” 

Listen to the idioms again and repeat them:

  • "You've made your bed, now lie in it!"
  • "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
  • “You have to strike while the iron is hot.”
  • “Time heals all wounds.”
  • “What you see is what you get.”
  • “You can judge a man by the company he keeps.”

Also in the advanced section, we had a multiple meaning words exercise. The first word with a multiple meaning was flag. You can flag someone down, which means to signal them to stop. Repeat: to flag someone down - the police flagged me down. When someone important dies, it's customary to fly a flag at half mast. mast is mástil in Spanish, so the flat is halfway up the mástil, the mast.

Another meaning of flag, when flag is a verb is desfallacer, flaquear or decaer. Their strength flagged - Les fallaron or les flaquearon las fuerzas. She began to flag at the end of the race.

Mean was the next word. Mean can mean the opposite of generous. To be mean with money, tacaño, She's so mean she never buys me lunch!

Mean also means significar. What does this word mean?

Mean can also mean unkind or nasty - malo - It was really mean of you - Fue una maldad de tu parte. - You were really mean to me - Me trataste muy mal.

Stall was the next word - S-T-A-L-L. A stall in a market is un puesto en un marcado - a market stall. As a verb, to stall for time means to delay. "Stop stalling - no andes con rodeos or con evasivas.

an engine can stall - parar or ahogar - My car stalled this morning on the way to work. In business, you can stall negociations. paralizar - They want to try and stall the proceedings - Quieren dilatar el proceso. - Try and stall her - trata de entretenerla.

Seal is una foca, but it also means sello and cierre hermético -  He gave the plan his seal of approval - dio su aprobación al plan.

The phrasal verb to seal off means acordonar o cerrar - The police sealed off the area because of a bomb scare.

Spare can mean not in use (de más) - Have you got a spare umbrella you could lend me? - ¿Tienes un paraguas de más que me puedas prestar?

Have you got any spare paper - ¿Tienes un poco de papel que no te haga falta?

As a verb, it means to do without; Can you spare your dictionary for a moment? - ¿Me permites el diccionario un momento, si no lo necesitas? - Can you spare your dictionary for a moment?

If you can spare the time - si tienes or dispones de tiempo. Please help me, if you can spare the time.

To spare can also mean to give -  to spare (sb) sth - can you spare me a pound? - ¿Tienes una libra que me prestes?

Can you spare me a few minutes? - ¿Tienes unos minutos? - Can you spare me a few minutes?

In the Business English section we looked at some more business English vocabulary. To attend a meeting means to be present at a meeting, in Spanish asistir - Do I have to attend the meeting? Repeat: Do I have to attend the meeting?

The verb to ensure means asegurar o garantizar. They ensured that everyone was invited. -  Aseguraban que todos habían sido invitados. Repeat:  to ensure - They ensured that everyone was invited.

Drill means taladro the verb to drill is taladrar, but a fire drill es un simulacro de incendio. The practice of procedure in case of a fire. Repeat: Fire drill - Yesterday, we had a fire drill ar work.

To follow up means poner en práctica. Repeat: to follow up - Please follow up the phone call with an email. - I've been told I have to make a follow-up appointment with the doctor. - Me dijeron que tengo que hacer la próxima cita con el doctor.

Well that's all we have time for on this podcast, but don't worry, we'll be back with you next month with another follow-up podcast from our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta critíca en iTunes. ¿Como se dice crítica o reseña en inglés? - Review - to write a review. If you write a review on iTunes (si escibes una crítica en iTunes) más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

Until next month then, take care, keep practising and taking your English to the next level! Happy New Year and 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno57_January_2013.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:01am CET

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.

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


Hello again, Merry Christmas! and a huge Christmas "thank you" to all of you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 56 recorded for December 2012.

Este mes, por navidad, hemos practicado el vocabulario de navidad y también algunos verbos principales en el nivel básico. En el nivel intermedio hay una carta para Santa y una cancion de navidad con Michael Buble que se llama Let It Snow (dejelo nevar - o algo así).

Etymology - the origins of words and expressions - was our focus in the advanced section, and there's business vocabulary as usual, and of course many more ideas and resources to help you 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.

Ok so, let's begin then as usual with el nivel básico.

¿Como se dice Santa Claus en el inglés britanico? - Father Christmas, y ¿Qué es un muñeco de nieve? - a snowman - repite - snowman. Christmas cards son tarjetas de navidad. Repite: Christmas cards - y regalos de navidad son.....Christmas presents. ¿Cómo se dice pastel de navidad en inglés? - Cristmas cake Repite: Christmas cake. Y ¿Cómo se dice arból de navidad? - Christmas tree. Repite: Christmas tree. ¿Te acuerdas como se dice reno en inglés? - reindeer - Repite - reindeer.

¿Cómo se dice papel de envolver/papel de regalo en ingles? - wrapping paper. Repite: Wrapping paper. To wrap es envolver - to wrap a present. Repite: wrap a present. We wrap presents for Christmas. - Please can you wrap it for me?

Ahora escucha y repite las siguientes frases:

Santa Claus speaks German.

Santa Claus also plays the piano.

Santa's son does his homework. He does his homework every day.

Santa likes rice.

Please write your name.

Please write your address

Please write your passport number

Please write your Christmas list.

Father Christmas uses Facebook.

He also uses Twitter.

Father Christmas likes sending messages.

He goes skiing after work.

Santa's girlfriend studies English.

Santa wears a red coat.

Santa drives a blue car.

Where does Santa live? He lives at the North Pole - el polo norte - Repite: The North Pole. He lives at the North Pole.

Very good! - ¡Muy bien!

The 24th December is Christmas Eve. Repite: Christmas Eve.

The 25th December is Christmas Day Repite: Christmas Day.

The 26th December is Boxing Day. Repite: Boxing Day

The 31st of December is New Year's Eve. Repite: New Year's Eve.

and the 1st of January is New Year's Day. Repite: New Year's Day.

Very good!

 

In the intermediate section this month, there was a letter to Santa. Listen to the letter and answer the following questions.

1) What did the dog eat?

2) What does my sister Sally want for Christmas?

3) What does my mum want?

Dear Santa Claus,

I hope you are well and that your preparations for Christmas this year are coming along nicely.

I'm writing to you because I'm really looking forward to Christmas and I want to tell you about the presents we’d all like to have this year.

I’d really love to get two new cars. I broke my toy Ferrari and the Porsche fell off the table and now it's only got one wheel.

I’d also like a lot of sweets and a big box of chocolates to share with my friends at school. Please don't put the chocolates in my Christmas stocking because the dog will probably eat them like she did last year.

I would love to have two horses. Dad thinks this is silly because we live in a city and he says there's nowhere to put them and we won't be able to look after them. That's silly because we could easily keep them in the park around the corner and my brother John can feed them. He's nearly thirteen.

By the way, John wants a new bike this year and my sister Sally would like an iPad. Please don't get her the old iPad because she says the camera's rubbish and the new model has a much better screen.

Dad wants some new tools and a big flat-screen TV to watch the football on. I know that Mum thinks a new TV is a big waste of money and that's why I'm asking you.

Mum wants a new dress and some perfume. She needs a new pair of slippers too, but don't worry about those because I think Dad's getting them.

Granny says she wants new legs for Christmas so that she can get up and down the stairs easier, so I'll leave that with you. Oh, and my Granddad wants his luck to change so that he can win money betting on the horses. Can you do that for him? I think he would also like a bottle of brandy, because Dad always shouts at him when he drinks the brandy from the cupboard.

I think that's all for this Christmas. Be careful when you come down the chimney, because we had it blocked up last month and there's a gas fire there now. It might be better if you came through the window. I'll leave one open for you.

Best wishes and a very Merry Christmas to you, your reindeer and all your little helpers in Lapland.


Answer the questions.

1) What did the dog eat? - chocolates

2) What does my sister Sally want for Christmas? - an iPad

3) What does my mum want? - a new dress and some perfume. And a pair of slippers.

If you like these podcasts and they help you to learn English, you can buy full lessons for only 1 euro and 40 centimos from our online shop - nuestra tienda online. Las lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1). Puedes encontrarlas en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora y 15 minutos y cada leccion está en el formato mp3 y lleva su trascripcion en formato PDF.

In the advanced section this month, we followed the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", an English Christmas carol that tells about a series of increasingly impressive gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas.

We looked at the etymology, the origin, of 12 common English expressions.

Before I read the 12 expressions with their explanations, I'm going to say some of the vocabulary in Spanish and I want you to say the word in English before I do. Then, repeat the word to practise pronunciation. Ready?

gallows = horca

pot = olla, cacharro

to tan = curtir

tannery = curtiduría

saying = refrán, dicho

thatched roof = tejado de paja

dirt = suciedad, mugre

slate = pizarra

slippery = resbaladizo, resbaloso

straw = paja

chew = masticar

loaf = pan de molde

to show off = hacer alarde de

lead = plomo

to knock out = dejar sin conocimiento

burial = entierro

to bury = enterrar

to dig up = desenterrar

coffin = ataúd

grave = tumba

scratch = rasguño, arañazo

corpse = cadáver

bell = campana

graveyard = cementerio

Very good!

The first expression was to have "one (drink) for the road"

There is an old pub/hotel in Marble Arch, London, which used to have a gallows (una horca) next to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows to be hanged. The horse drawn wagon that took the prisoner had an armed guard on it to stop the prisoner from escaping.

So the guard would stop the wagon outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like one last drink before he died. If he said, “Yes,” it was referred to as one for the road. If he refused, that prisoner was on the wagon. To be "on the wagon" today means not to be drinking alcohol.

And today, to have one last drink before you leave a pub or a house is to have one for the road. Shall we have one for the road? Shall we have one last drink? Yes, good idea! I'll have one for the road. What would you like to drink? Oh, just a Coke. I'm on the wagon.

Many years ago people used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot, which was taken once a day and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were piss poor; but worse than that were the really poor folk, who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot. They didn’t have a pot to piss in and they were the lowest of the low.

Baths used to consist of a big tub, or cuba, filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water. He had the first bath, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. From this we get the saying Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! which in Spanish I think translates to tirar las frutas frescas con las podridas or las pochas.

You must have heard the expression It's raining cats and dogs. But where does it come from? Well, houses used to have thatched roofs (tejados de paja), thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats, the dogs and other small animals, like mice and insects, lived in the roof. When it rained, of course, it became slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. This is where we get the saying It’s raining cats and dogs.

Floors in houses years ago were just dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. From this we get the saying, dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors (suelos de pizarra) that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they put straw (paja) on floor to stop them from slipping. When winter came, they added more and more straw, which was called thresh, until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance to stop it. This is where the word threshold comes from. Threshold in Spanish is umbral. And today there's a tradition, when you marry, the groom lifts up the bride and carries her across the threshold and into her new house.

A person who brings home the bacon in a family earns the money. Years ago it was something very special to get some pork and take it home.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon, to show it off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little bacon to share with guests and they would all sit around talking and chew the fat. "Chewing the fat" means talking or chatting about nothing in particular. "Let's chew the fat." "Who brings home the bacon in your family?"

The upper crust of society are the rich, wealthy landowners. The people with money and power. The top class. Many years ago, bread used to be divided according to status. The common workers got the bottom of the loaf (which was usually burnt), the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust. So the 'upper crust' of society are the rich and wealthy.

Cups made from lead (plomo) used to be used to drink beer or whisky. The combination of alcohol and lead would sometimes knock the drinkers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would think they were dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would come around to eat and drink and wait to see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small, and the local villagers started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, put it through the coffin and up through the ground and then tie it to a bell. Someone  would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (which was called the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

Listen and repeat the 12 expressions of Christmas.

to have one for the road

to be on the wagon.

to be piss poor or dirt poor

to not have a pot to piss in

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!

It’s raining cats and dogs

to bring home the bacon

to chew the fat

the upper crust

to hold a wake

the graveyard shift

to be saved by the bell / to be a dead ringer

Very good!

Moving on to Business English, let's practise some business vocabulary.

When someone "brings something to the table", it means that they have something to offer. Repeat: to bring to the table. "What are they bringing to the table? What are they offering?

If you are made redundant you lose your job. Repeat: to be made redundant. I was made redundant. 3 of us are going to be made redundant next year. Sandra has been made redundant from her clerical job.

Remember that a degree is something you do, not make. I did my degree at London University. Repeat: to do a degree. I did a degree in industrial design. She's doing a law degree.

A competitor is a company that competes with another company. Google is one of Apple's main competitors. Google is competing with Apple. There's a lot of competition in the mobile phone market.

Well that's all we have time for on this podcast, but don't worry, we'll be back with you next month with another podcast from our monthly newsletter, our cuaderno de inglés mensual. Remember, you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on iTunes.

So ¡Feliz Navidad!  - Happy Christmas! -  Merry Christmas! from all of us here at La Mansión del Inglés. ¡Felices fiestas! - Season's greetings! and we look forward to the New Year when we'll be bringing you more new material.

Si te gusta este podcast, puedes hacernos un gran favor y escribe por favor una corta critíca en iTunes. ¿Como se dice crítica o reseña en inglés? - Review - to write a review. If you write a review on iTunes (si escibes una crítica en iTunes) más personas pueden escucharnos porque subimos en el 'ranking' de iTunes.

Thank you very much for listening to this podcast, and for being part of the community of La Mansión del Inglés.

Remember, 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 me an email to: mansionteachers@yahoo.es. You can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct download: podcast__cuaderno56_December_2012.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:50pm CET