Aprender ingles gratis con La Mansion del Ingles. Un podcast para mejorar la gramatica, el vocabulario y la pronunciacion del inglés. Una leccion del ingles con ejemplos y ejercicios.
Learn English free with podcasts from La Mansion del Ingles. Improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. This English lesson contains examples and exercises.

Podcast Transcription

Good morning and welcome to another Mansión Inglés podcast from mansióninglés.com, recorded for February 2010. Is it two thousand and ten or twenty ten? I don’t know. Twenty ten has fewer syllables and it’s easier to say, but two thousand and ten seems more natural to me. I think we’ll have to wait and see what the majority of English speakers decide to say. Why not “two zero, one zero” just to be different?

Anyway, here’s where we talk about English. English vocabulary, English grammar, English expressions, pronunciation; “pronunciation” British English, American English, Spanglish English. All hopefully, to improve your English a little.

This month in our monthly newsletter – el cuaderno mensual, you probably saw a few general expressions in the basic section of the newsletter – la parte básico. If you did the exercise (and even if you didn’t) I want to test you. So I’m going to say the Spanish with my really bad Spanish pronunciation, and I want you to say the English translation before I do. So speak after you hear the tone. Di la traducción de las siguientes frases antes que las digo yo y después del tono. OK are you ready? ¿Listo?

1. Gracias – Thank you.
2. De nada - You’re welcome.
3. ¿Qué tal? - How are you?
4. No entiendo - I don’t understand.
5. Tengo una reserva - I have a reservation
6. ¿Cuánto cuesta? - How much is it?
7. Quisiera un café - I’d like a coffee.
8. ¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? - What’s your phone number?
9. ¿Te puedo dar un beso? - Can I kiss you? - Can I kiss you? 
10. Tomaré lo mismo que ellos - I’ll have what they’re having.

Now listen to the English again and repeat. Escucha y repite.

 Thank you

You’re welcome

How are you?

I don’t understand

I have a reservation

How much is it?

I’d like a coffee

What’s your phone number?

Can I kiss you?

I’ll have what they’re having

Good. Now let’s move on to the intermediate and advanced part of the newsletter where you saw vocabulary connected to the five senses – los cinco sentidos. Do you remember what the five senses are in English?

oído - hearing

vista - sight

tacto - touch

gusto - taste

olor - smell

We can use five basic verbs to talk about the five senses. Listen and repeat:

to sound ; to look ; to feel ; to taste ; to smell

These verbs are usually modified by an adjective, not an adverb. For example:

My new iPod sounds fantastic. Repeat: My new iPod sounds fantastic.

She looks really sexy. Repeat: She looks really sexy

It felt weird (weird means raro o extraño). Repeat: It felt weird

This chicken tastes wonderful. Repeat: This chicken tastes wonderful.

The cake smelt delicious. Repeat: The cake smelt delicious.

In the hearing exercise there were six adjectives to describe sound. Listen and repeat: 

noiseless – a noiseless environment.

silent – a silent prayer. A prayer, P-R-A-Y-E-R is oración in Spanish. Repeat- a silent prayer.

quiet – a quiet person

noisy -.  A noisy bar

loud – loud music

deafening – a deafening noise. Sordo is deaf, so we say a deaf person. “Can you hear me? Are you deaf?” - The verb is to deafen. And the adjective is deafening. Repeat: a deafening noise.

Do you remember the sight vocabulary? Maybe there are some words here that you haven’t heard before. For example:

to glimpse – vislumbrar. Glimpse is a verb and a noun. The noun glimpse likes to go together with the verb to catch. To catch a glimpse of something. What’s the past of the verb to catch? …….caught. ¡OJO! - Be careful of the pronunciation of caught C-A U-G-H-T. I caught a glimpse. Repeat..I caught a glimpse. I caught of glimpse of Penelope Cruz - I caught of glimpse of Penelope Cruz in a restaurant in Madrid last week. To catch a glimpse of someone or something.

Then we had the verb to gaze - mirar fijamente I can gaze out of the window for hours just thinking of nothing. Actually I’m lucky to have a flat with a view of the sea, so I do gaze out of the window quite often. Just gazing out to sea and daydreaming – when I should be working! To daydream is soñar despierto/a.

to stare also means mirar fijamente, but I think it is with more intensity - más intensidad - than to gaze. “Who are you staring at?” ¿A quién estás mirando?

It’s staring you right in the face – Salta a la vista. “She was staring into the distance” - tenía la vista fija en la distancia o miraba fijamente a lo lejos.

The verb to peer P-E-E-R means tratar de ver, esforzarse por ver. To look at something with difficulty.”He peered into the fog, but he couldn’t see anything.” “My grandmother peered at me over the top of her glasses.”

to glance means to look quickly - echarle una ojeada o un vistazo a algo. “She glanced at me as I walked past her desk.” “We glanced at each other discreetly.”

to notice is notar, o darse cuenta, o fijarse – “I didn't notice what he was wearing that day.” no me fijé en lo que llevaba ese día – “I noticed some words painted on the wall.” Me fijé en algunas palabras pintadas en la pared.

Sight verbs often have the preposition at. To look at, to gaze at, to stare at, to glance at etc.

The next group of words was connected to the verb to touch. Listen and repeat:

to snatch – arrebater, arrancar – A thief snatched her handbag.

to press – apretar – press the button to turn it on

to grab – agarrar – Can you grab that box for me?

to stroke – acariciar – My cat loves to be stroked.

to tap – dar un golpecito a – The screen is touch-sensitive. Just tap on an icon to open an application.

Next we had the verb to taste with some taste adjectives. How does a lemon taste? A lemon tastes sour.

And sugar? Sugar tastes sweet

Black coffee? Black coffee tastes bitter.

Crisps are papas. In British English, we say crisps for papas. In American English, papas are chips or potato chips. Of course, chips in British English are patatas fritas. How do you say patatas fritas in American English? Fries or French fries. Well they used to say French fries before the Gulf War, and when France refused to support America against Iraq, French fries became Freedom Fries. So I don’t know what they are called in America now. Probably just fries.

Anyway, how do crisps usually taste? Crisps or chips in the USA taste salty.

Indian food, Mexican food, some Thai food taste very spicy. Repeat Spicy. I love spicy food, especially curry. One of the best things in the world is to go to the pub, drink 6 or 7 pints of good English beer and then go for a Curry in a good Indian restaurant. You should try that sometime. It’s good for your English.

And finally, we had four adjectives connected to the sense of smell. Listen and repeat:

scented – perfumado - repeat: scented – a scented candle

fragrant – fragante - repeat: - a fragrant perfume

smelly – que huele mal, maloliente - repeat: smelly feet

stinking – apestoso/a, pestilente - repeat: stinking rubbish

Listen and repeat:

I feel great

It tastes delicious

That smells fantastic

It sounds brilliant

Hey, you look great

He smells disgusting

I never put vinegar on salads. It tastes too sour for me.

She smiled at me, gazed into my eyes and I fell in completely in love with her.

Strong cheese gets really smelly if you leave it out of the fridge too long in the summer.

If I’m too noisy while my dad’s reading the newspaper, he peers over his glasses at me and stares at me until I’m quiet.

To turn on the computer, press the silver button until you see a green light.

You forgot to put the milk back in the fridge. It tastes sour. It must have gone off.

Get your smelly feet off the table immediately!

Would you mind if we went to a different pub? This one’s too noisy. I can’t hear myself think.

Here’s some more vocabulary with the word ‘sense’. Listen to the Spanish and try to say the English word or expression before I do, then repeat to practise pronunciation.

un sentido del oído - a SENSE of hearing

un sentido del olfato - a SENSE of smell

un sentido del gusto - a SENSE of taste

un sentido del tacto - a SENSE of touch

entrar en razón - to come to one's SENSES

un sentido de la orientación – a SENSE of direction

un sentido del humor – a SENSE of humour

no tiene el más mínimo sentido del humor - He's got absolutely no sense of humour.

perdí completamente la noción del tiempo - I lost all SENSE of time

sentido común - common SENSE

Tuvo la sensatez de dejar su número de contacto - She had the SENSE to leave her contact number

no puedo hacerlo entrar en razón - I can't make him see SENSE

ser comprensible, tener sentido - To make sense

en cierto modo ambos tienen razón - In a SENSE they're both correct" -

Esto no tiene sentido - That doesn't make SENSE

lo que dijo era muy razonable - What he said made a lot of SENSE

un sentido de la justicia - A SENSE of justice 

un sentido del ritmo - A SENSE of rhythm 

un sentido de la orientación - A SENSE of direction 

un sentido de satisfacción - A SENSE of satisfaction 

no tiene sentido ser violento - There is no SENSE in being violent

dar un sentido de responsabilidad - to give a sense of responsibility 

buen juicio - good sense 

de cierto modo  - in a sense   

dar sentido – to make sense  

sentido metafórico - metaphorical sense

buen sentido al conducir  - road sense  

sentido del deber - sense of duty 

sentido del bien y el mal - sense of right and wrong  

sexto sentido - sixth sense  

That was a podcast from mansioningles.com. Thanks for listening and see you next month.

Aprender ingles gratis con La Mansion del Ingles. Un podcast para mejorar la gramatica, el vocabulario y la pronunciacion del inglés. Una leccion del ingles con ejemplos y ejercicios.
Learn English free with podcasts from La Mansion del Ingles. Improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. This English lesson contains examples and exercises.

Podcast Transcription

You’re going to listen to a text about the Simpsons. Before you listen, here is some vocabulary from the text.

careless = descuidado, despreocupado

precocious = precoz

to suck = chupar

pacifier (US) / dummy (UK) = chupete

role = papel

Now listen to the text

The Simpsons are a typical family who live in the fictional "Mid-American" town of Springfield. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant - a job which doesn’t really fit his careless, clown-like personality. He’s married to Marge Simpson, a typical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, who is ten years old; Lisa, who is eight years old; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family has a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. The first Simpsons episode was shown in 1987. Despite the passing of the years and celebrations such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons do not physically age and still look the same as they did at the end of the 1980s.

Listen to some answers to questions about the text. Try to ask the questions BEFORE you hear them. Ask the questions after the tone.

1. Springfield             

Where do the Simpsons live?

2. Homer      

What’s the father’s name?

3. At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant

Where does Homer work?

4. He’s a safety inspector

What does he do?

5. Marge Simpson

Who is he married to?

What’s his wife’s name?

6. Three

How many children do they have?

How many children have they got?

7. Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

What are the children’s names?

8. He’s 10.

How old is Bart?

9. Yes, A dog and a cat.

Do they have any pets?

10. Snowball II

What’s the cat’s name?

11. In 1987

When was the first Simpsons episode?

12. No, they look the same as they did at the end of the 1980’s.

Do the Simpsons physically age?

Listen and repeat the questions. Copy the intonation.

1. Where do the Simpsons live?

2. What’s the father’s name?

3. Where does Homer work?

4. What does he do?

5. Who’s he  married to? /What’s his wife’s name?

6. How many children do they have? / How many children have they got?

7. What are the children’s names?

8. How old is Bart?

9. Do they have any pets?

10. What’s the cat’s name?

11. When was the first Simpsons episode?

12. Do the Simpsons physically age?

During the interviews on last month’s podcast you heard some adjectives that are used to describe people (nice, lovely, kind, friendly etc.)

What are the English adjectives for these Spanish ones? Say the English translation before I do. They are all similar translations.

tolerante - tolerant

paciente - patient

sociable - sociable

aventurero/a - adventurous

maduro/a - mature

sincero/a - sincere

decidido/a, resuelto/a -  decisive

práctico/a – practical

Listen and repeat the adjectives.

tolerant

patient

sociable

adventurous

mature

sincere

decisive

practical

Here are some more adjectives for you to translate. Say the English translation before I do.

educado/a - polite                         

tacaño/a, malo/a  -  mean

egoísta  - selfish

perezoso/a - lazy

sensible - sensitive

sensato/a - sensible

malhumorado/a, de humor variable - moody  

de fiar, de confianza - reliable 

de mal humor, mal genio - bad-tempered

alegre - cheerful

Listen and repeat:

polite

mean

selfish

lazy

sensitive

sensible

moody

reliable

bad-tempered

cheerful

Do you know the opposites of the following adjectives? Some have the prefix un- (u-n), for example selfish – unselfish. Some have the prefix in- (i-n), for example intolerant.  Some have the prefix im- (i-m), for example impolite, and some have a different word to make the opposite, for example lazy and hard-working.

Try to say the opposite before I do, and then repeat the word to practise pronunciation.

reliable - unreliable – repeat - unreliable

mature – immature – repeat - immature

lazy – hard working – repeat - hard working

sincere - insincere – repeat - insincere

practical - impractical – repeat - impractical

selfish - unselfish – repeat - unselfish

sensitive - insensitive – repeat - insensitive

patient - impatient – repeat - impatient

sociable - unsociable – repeat - unsociable

sensible – foolish / silly – repeat - foolish / silly

polite - impolite / rude – repeat - impolite / rude

decisive - indecisive – repeat - indecisive

adventurous - unadventurous – repeat - unadventurous

mean – generous – repeat - generous

moody – even-tempered – repeat - even-tempered

practical - impractical – repeat - impractical

tolerant - intolerant – repeat - intolerant

cheerful – miserable – repeat - miserable

bad-tempered – sweet-tempered, calm – repeat - sweet-tempered, calm

Now listen to some sentences and guess the missing adjective from the previous list. Say the adjective after the tone.

1. Thank you so much for lunch in this lovely restaurant. It was very (tone) of you. generous
2. A person who doesn’t like to meet and spend time with other people is (tone) unsociable
3. He’s 43 years old and he behaves like a child. He’s so (tone)  immature
4. I like trekking, skiing, climbing and exploring different countries, but my wife only wants to sit next to a swimming pool all day. She’s so (tone) unadventurous / lazy
5. The opposite of selfish is (tone)  unselfish
6. My sister is always smiling, laughing and in a good mood. I don’t know what makes her so (tone) all the time. cheerful
7. The waiter will bring your dessert in a moment, darling. Don’t be so (tone) impatient
8. It takes me such a long time to make up my mind whenever I go shopping. I’m so (tone) indecisive
9. Don’t believe a word he says. He never tells the truth and he cannot be trusted. He’s so (tone) insincere
10. You left your wallet on the table outside, and went inside the café to go to the toilet! That wasn’t very (tone) was it? I’m not surprised it was stolen. sensible

Listen and repeat

1. That’s very generous of you.  
2. Don’t be so unsociable. 
3. He behaves like a child. He’s so immature. 
4. My wife’s so lazy and unadventurous
5. The opposite of selfish is unselfish 
6. My sister is always so cheerful. 
7. Don’t be so impatient darling.
8. I’m so indecisive, I think. No I’m not. Yes, I am!
9. Don’t believe him he’s so insincere. 
10. That wasn’t very sensible was it? That was bloody stupid!