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An Interview with Lucy Cattermole who gives helpful, practicle advice on the best way to study English abroad.

Una entrevista con Lucy Cattermole y consejos imprescindibles sobre como estudiar y mejorar su inglés en el extranjero.

Transcription

Can you tell me a bit about yourself an..and your job? What exactly do you do?

Er..yeah, I am a…well, I’m a history graduate..erm..talking about my job at the moment, I..erm..I..first of all, I live in Spain..erm..I’m English, but..er.. I..I came across Spanish in Spain really from travelling in South America, which I did just after university. Erm…and after that, after I’d had some fun there I moved to Spain with the British Council, doing a teaching, kind of a teaching training project.

Whi…Which British Council school did you work at?

It…oh…it was called the Intxixu Ikastola which is in Basque, not Spanish in fact,...erm..which was a great experience for teaching. It was small kids, it was kind of 5-year-olds to 10-year-olds. Erm…but I decided teaching wasn’t quite for me, and that’s when I got into working er..in a language school. Erm…which was a group of language schools with schools in the UK, the US, Australia..erm..and from then I’ve just I’ve..I’ve.. carried on really ever since that. I’ve moved from that school to a different school, and I’m now working in EC which is a group of ..er..schools; UK, US, South Africa and Malta.

Did you do any teaching when you were travelling around South America?

I didn’t actually, no. At that stage it was only a short trip and I just kind of fell in love with the Spa..well, you know, the Latin culture and that kind of thing, and..er.. basically enjoyed that. So I didn’t do any teaching there, but I applied for a placement with the British Council whilst I was travelling, and they placed me in Spain rather than South America. Th..they choose basically…erm..which turned out to be Bilbao.

So what made you decide t..to stay in Spain permanently?

Erm…oh..everything really. Compared to ..er..Sheffield, where I’m from, in the North of England there’s not much choice. Er..the weather, the food, the people…

How long have yo…how long have you been here?

Since 2001 nearly 10 years now.

About the same as me.

Yeah. No it’s lovely. I miss home. I do miss home. I love things about England, but..erm..I think I….

What do you miss….what do you miss the most?

Er…English breakfast..erm…pubs, my family, my friends..erm..TV, which I can get over here apparently, but I haven’t managed to fix that up yet..erm..but no I’m having a good time over here as well.

Ok so erm..why is it a good idea for Spanish students to study English abroad?

Oh..erm..loads of reasons, I would say..erm..personally, well s...speaking from my own experience learning another language and ..er..managing to kind of communicate everything and anywhere that you need is just…it’s amazing, it’s really rewarding..erm..apart from that obviously English with the majority people now and of course Spanish it’s kind of a vital element of your CV..of er.. working life..eerm..and apart from that of course, it’s great fun and I think it’s mind..er..I don’t know, it op..opens your mind a lot, it makes you much more culturally aware..erm..I definitely have become a much more er..open person than I was before..erm..and..well..no..I de..I definitely definitely recommend it..erm…

So if a…if a Spanish person..erm..living in Spain were thinking of going to study abroad, where would you recommend? Wh..what destinations are popular for Spanish people?

Erm..at the moment it.. it’s more European based I would say, the UK..Malta’s also a very popular destination in the summer time…erm…a lot of people don’t even know that Malta’s English speaking I don’t think but..erm..it definitely is, ..erm..and that’s become much more popular in recent years.

Erm…the US is on the up because I think, well prices, because of the weaker dollar in the last few years have er…have been much better. Air fares are much cheaper..erm..and then…well, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa they’re kind of more exotic destinations. Not as many people kind of, I think, kind of dare t..to make that big leap, but it’s definitely worth it if they can …erm..

My students often…. My students often ask me for recommendations, they say ..erm..”Do you prefer Ireland, or ..erm..or..maybe Wales or Scotland or England?”, and I tend to say that..erm.. Irish people are more open and friendly and they’re easier to talk to. What do you think?

Mmm..I suppose! Being English, it hurts to say it, but I think it probably might be true. Erm…although I do feel us English are changing, I really do. I think we’re also erm..I think...y’know England has become a much more multi-cultural society, and I think with that people have become more used to…kind of… we’re not so closed and English…and er…y’know..er.. private. So I think it’s….but Ireland is beautiful, it is, ..erm..and the people do have a very good reputation for their friendliness, definitely.

So, if the students decided to go abroad and study, what advice would you give?

Erm…I would definitely say go alone, and I know it’s harder..erm..but, as I said again from personal experience, I…when I first travelled to Spain and..er.. I was living in Bilbao I was totally alone, and th..the massive..erm.. advantage of that is that you learn the language so much quicker than if you go in a group of friends, because..erm.. obviously with your friends, y’know,  you’re speaking in your own language it’s…it’s much easier to stay in your group, than to ..erm..than to kind of break out..erm..as long as ..you know, if you’re very determined then you’re gonna get on with your course and make friends with others, then it’s fine to go in a group, but I think you’re kind of more forced into practising..erm..if you’re on your own

It’s very tempting, isn’t it, to.. to speak Spanish when you’re in a group of..of Spanish speakers?

Exactly, well it’s almost imposible..er..again, the Spanish, lovely people that they are, are very sociable and I, y’know, very talkative and it’s very… I think it’s hard to..to break out from that …if they’ve got…if the option’s there. So..erm.. I do try to recommend people to at least..at least, y’know, find accommodation on their own, even if they’re gonna go to the same destination as their friends..erm…maybe even different schools..and just yeah so as long as they’ve only got a limited time together.

Erm…and regarding a big city or a small town, erm… I think that really depends on the kind of person, y’know, the person considering going abroad.

That’s a…that’s a question that a lot of students ask me and I..and I really thi…I agree with you I really think it depends on what kind of…what they’re looking for. What sort of experience they’re looking for.

Exactly……exactly, I mean, we for example, in the UK we’ve got schools in the London, Cambridge and Brighton. Cambridge and Brighton are much smaller destinations, if it’s like…if it’s the first time somebody, y’know, leaves their home town, they’re from a small town, maybe they’re nervous, they’re quite young, then I would say maybe try…the first time try a smaller destination, like Cambridge or something  But if, y’know, if it’s somebody from Madrid who’s already been out a few times, well then go for London, make the most of it, definitely.

Do you think it’s true Lucy that there’s more of chance to..to speak and practise English in a smaller community, in a smaller town, than going to a big metropolis like London?

I guess so in a way, yes because you’re kind of in a more close knit community an..and maybe have more of an opportunity to mix with..erm.. with people from the city, from the town itself, but..erm..again, I think it depends on you..you have to…, as in the student, has to make the effort at the end of the day,.

Home stay. Erm..students also ask me whether they should go to home stay, stay with a family, or go to a hotel.

They’ve both got…they’ve both got advantages. Staying with a…a family obviously is wonderful, because y.. you get…you get the insight the culture. You’re living in a completely different..a different way, the food’s different the way people behave are different and you..you get a kind of…you get an extra support. When you go home at night, y’know, you’ve got your adopted mum or dad or both and brothers and sisters and that kind of thing, which is..which I think is a great experience ..erm..it can be difficult for students..erm.. because you have to be ready, I think, to adapt..erm..you’re not gonna eat at the same time, for example, as in Spain., you’re gonna have to eat a lot earlier. Erm…the food might not…might not be as nice as to what you’re used to with your..with your mum and your dad..erm..but I think as long as you go with an open mind, it’s …it’s a great experience..erm..and as long as you’re ready to, at the beginning, to feel a little bit..er..y’know, a little bit “.oo..what’s going on here?”..erm..after a while you’ll soon settle in, you just have to give it a week or so and then most people are extremely happy doing..er.. staying at an English family. Erm.. and wi..with hotels or residences..we…we normally work with..erm…student residences where we..where we..place, y’know, students from all over the world…erm…that experience is great because obviously you’re mixing with loads of people, normally of a similar age to you, from all sorts of countries, so you can make loads of friends and normally those friendships last for years, and you go and visit them in their countries afterwards, that kind of thing. Erm…so both have their…both have..have advantages really, again it depends on..on the person travelling, I would say, and what they want out of it.

I have spoken to students who have had bad experiences in…in home stay situations. Erm…what would…what would your schools do in that situation, if a ..if a student came to you and said, “I’m not happy, I don’t like the food, the people aren’t very nice to me…”

Yeah, erm…to be honest, as I’ve just said now if that happens a lot, at least at the very beginning, because I think a lot of people are quite…it’s quite difficult to adapt. I mean it’s very important..erm.. for people to kind of advise that, y’know, at the beginning it will, it might be a little bit difficult, but maybe to try and hang in there and see if it gets better, which I would say 95% of..of people who..who come unhappy to me, normally within a week or two are perfectly fine. Erm…in the case that it’s not ok, schools in general, and definitely our school, erm…we inspect our families on a monthly or bimonthly basis..erm..we go and visit them, we check out the room, we, y’know, we sign a contract with them for the kind of services that they have to offer..erm..and so schools should be controlling that very well. Erm..y’know, it..there can always be an exception, but it’s..it’s really very rare..erm…and, yeah as I said, I think the majority of the problems are more adaptation rather than actually, y’know actually about the family.

And so be flexible is your advice, be prepared to adapt and..er.. fit in…and be flexible..

Definitely, definitely. And, as I’ve said, I, I mean, I’ve done the same thing myself in Spain, at the beginning things are so different it is hard, erm.. but remember y’know, you’re doing this for a reason, you’re learning English, it is going to be a bit difficult at the beginning..erm.. and it’s definitely, y’know, just be a bit patient and..er.. open-minded, I’d say.

Exactly. Apart from home stays, hotels, accommodation, what other things should students take into consideration when they…when they study abroad.

Erm..well, obviously I mean, Spanish may not have this problem too much , but there are things like visas..erm..obviously airfares, medical insurance..erm..most..I mean you can..you can either reserve these yourself, or obviously with..er..with the person you’re..you’re reserving your course with…erm…but erm …I mean, yeah, there are a lot of…there’s also airport pick ups. A lot of people when they arrive at the..er..in a foreign country like to have somebody waiting for them to collect them and take them to their..erm..accommodation which..which kind of gives you a feeling of…a feeling of security, I think..erm..

OK, well, ..erm..is their anything you’d like to add because I’m out of questions?

Erm…the only thing I can say is if you’re considering studying abroad, do it. It’s erm..it’s an amazing experience. As I’ve said, I’ve done it myself, I now speak Spanish fluently, and it’s just…it’s so rewarding. And people really appreciate it if you can go up to them, being a foreigner, and speak to them, y’know, in their own language. It’s..er..it’s a great experience.

How long did it …how long did it take you to feel comfortable with Spanish?

Erm..it took me to be..to be comfortable I’d say about 8 months, and to be fluent it took me a year, just over a year. Erm…so, I mean, it..er..it sounds a long time, but..erm.. it’s definitely, definitely worth it and you can easily, I mean, just to improve your level, you can do that in, y’know, in just a few weeks. As long as you kind of immerse yourself in it, as I’ve said.

Most of my students don’t have the luxury to go long term, they tend to go maybe over the summer, maybe for..for the Easter break or Christmas break. And I always… I strongly recommend it, and I always say that maybe a month in England, if you’re not speaking Spanish, is probably worth at least..erm.. a term, two terms of study here in Spain.

Exactly, even..even a couple of weeks the amount you can get…’cos it’s not just the course you can do, it’s…it’s  the time in the afternoon, your activities speaking in English with other people, you go back to your family, it’s just a…such an intensive ..erm..

The going shopping, the going to the cinema …speaking…asking for directions in the street….

Everything …yeah

Exactly

No the…even a week, y’know, I mean the longer you can go the better, but if it’s a week, if it’s two weeks, if it’s a month, you’ll, I mean, you’ll.. every student sees the..the major progress that you can make even in such a short time. Definitely.

Do your schools offer week..erm..erm..courses? Because on…on the Internet they seem to be two-week minimum.

Yeah, no…we do offer …I mean, as..as you said,..as you said that you recommend a month, we do recommend at least two weeks, ‘cos a week doesn’t really give you that much time even to settle in, but..erm…we do offer special, especially for professionals..erm..intensive courses for a week, ‘cos a lot of, y’know, people  working might not have even two weeks to spare for English. So what we normally try to do for the week-long courses is make it very intensive, maybe up to 30 even 40 lessons a week..erm..and just really immerse yourself in the language to make it worthwhile.

Absolutely, it takes more than a week to get used to the English breakfasts!

Yeah, you’ll be…yeah..you’ll just get used to them and you won’t get used to missing them, so you have to be at least two weeks, exactly!

Hay información en castellano sobre viajar en Gran Bretaña, EEUU y Irlanda en la sección de recursos de La Mansión del Inglés:

http://www.mansioningles.com/Recursos.htm

http://www.mansioningles.net/formulario/inglesextranjero.htm

 

Help - Ayuda

to come across = encontrar(se)

to turn out = resultar

to fix up = arreglar

loads of = (a lot of, much/many) montones, toneladas

rewarding = gratificante

on the up = (getting better, improving) subiendo

to hurt = doler, herir, lastimarse

to break out = evadirse, escaparse

gonna = going to

to go abroad = irse al extranjero

close knit = unido

to settle in = instalarse, adaptarse

to hang in there = aguantar, tener paciencia, no darse por vencida

to check out = echar un vistazo

airport pick up = buscada, recogida del aeropuerto

foreigner = extranjera/o

to be worth it/to be worthwhile = valer la pena

to immerse = sumergir

'cos = because

 

 

 

Direct download: Lucy_Interview_Study_English_Abroad.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:04pm CEST

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

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

Hello! How are you? I’m great. Thank you very much for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for March 2011. Yes the year is 2011 and not 2010 as I said last month. I’m sorry. Thank you for correcting me in your emails. So, now I know what year I’m in, let’s start this month’s podcast.

En el nivel básico este mes hemos tenido más vocabulario agrupado por temas, por ejemplo el vocabulario de comida – food, la bebida – drinks, la ropa – clothes. Quidado con la pronciación de clothes. No se dice Xcloth-esX, se dice clothes. Repeat – clothes. “I like shopping for clothes.” “I love your clothes.” “Where do you buy your clothes?”  Ok, listen and repeat the vocabulary groups and the words. Escucha y repite los grupos y las palabras:

The first group was days – days of the week – los días de la semana. Listen and repeat. Escucha y repite: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. How do you say martes in English? - ¿Como se dice martes? – Tuesday. - ¿Y jueves? – Thusday. Repeat Thursday. Which day is before (antes) Saturday? – Friday. Which day is after (despues) Tuesday? - Wednesday.

Good! The next group was professions or jobs – las professions – Listen and repeat: nurse, accountant, lawyer, engineer, teacher, doctor, taxi driver, waiter, plumber (fontanero). Hay una lista extensa de las profesiones en la sección de vocabulario en mansioningles.com

Next was the countries group - Italy, Canada, Germany, Holland - and then drinks – coke, wine – there’s red wine and white wine (vino tinto, vino blanco) red wine, white wine – French wine, Italian wine, Chile makes very good wine, and of course the wonderful Rioja wine from Spain. Water can be mineral water or still water – sin gas – mineral water or still water or fizzy water – con gas. Repeat “fizzy”. “I’d like mineral water, please.” – “I’d like fizzy water, please.” and of course beer. A can of beer. – una lata – a glass of beer – un vaso – a bottle of beer – una botella. Can you think of more drinks? What about tea? Or milk – leche. Cold milk - ¿como se dice?leche fria – hot milk – leche caliente. One of my favourite drinks is hot chocolate, especially in the winter. There are alcoholic drinks: whisky, vodka, brandy, brandy es cognac. Rum – ron, and  gin -  gin is ginebra

The food group – la comida – was next. ¿Cómo se dice queso? – cheese – ¿pan? – bread - ¿Arroz? – rice – ¿huevos? - eggs. What about ¿pescado? – fish – ¿carne? – meat – ¿fruta? – fruit - ¿verduras? – vegetables. La palabra vegetables normalmente lleva 3 silabas. Lo más fuerte es la primera. Escucha: VEGetebles. Repite: VEGetebles - VEGetables.

What’s this Group? - ¿Qué es este grupo? Liverpool, Lyon, Milan, Sydney, Chicago, Shanghai, Rome, Istanbul, Dublin. – they are all cities.

The months of the year – los meses del año – start with…. January. Listen and repeat: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Good!

How many rooms in the house do you know in English? - ¿Cuantos habataciones en la casa sabes decir en ingles? ¿Qué es cocina? – kitchen, repeat – kitchen – ¿El cuarto de bañao? – bathroom – ¿El váter? – toilet – toalet en el ingles británico or bathroom en el ingles Americano.

Ropa - ¿Qué ropa puedes nombrar en inglés? What’s camisa? Shirt; ¿camiseta? - T-shirt; ¿pantalones? – trousers . trousers en el inglés británico y pants en el inglés Americano. What’s ¿Falda? – skirt; ¿guantes? – gloves; ¿calcetines? – socks; ¿abrigo? – coat; ¿vestido? – dress; ¿traje? – suit; ¿zapatos? – shoes; ¿chandal? – tracksuit.

The last Group – el último grupo was family. ¿Como se dice madre? – mum or mother; ¿padre? – dad or father – ¿hermana y hermano? – sister and brother. – ¿tio and tia? – aunt and uncle. – ¿sobrino and sobrina? – niece is sobrina repeat niece and sobrino is nephew – nephew.

Next we studied asking questions – Luego hemos practicado las preguntas. Escucha y repite las preguntas para practicar la pronunciación y la entonación.

Escucha y repite:

1.      What’s your name?

2.      How do you spell it?

3.      Where are you from?

4.      What’s your address?

5.      How old are you?

6.      Are you a student?

7.      What’s your job?

8.      What’s your email address?

In the intermediate section this month, we studied parts of the body. Listen and try to say the word before I do. Then repeat the word to practise pronunciation:

What do you use when you listen to music and when you hear people speaking? - your ears.

What’s inside your head and is used to think with? your brain.

Ok, these are in your mouth and you use them to bite and chew food. Bite is morder and chew – masticar. The answer? your teeth.

Giraffes have very long ones. Neck

These are thin pieces of skin that cover your eyes when you close them; your eyelids – eyelids.

You use these to smile and kiss someone with. Your lips.

You have ten of these on your feet. These are your toes.

On your hands, you have eight what? Fingersdedos de mano and two…. thumbs – I think thumb is pulgar in Spanish? ¿Dedo gordo?

OK, what is inside your mouth and you use it to taste food? your tongue. The spelling of tongue is strange; T-O-N-G-U-E – tongue.

The organ inside you which pumps blood around your body is your…. heart.

The two joints that connect your feet to your legs are your…. ankles. Don’t confuse ankle – tobillo with uncle – tío. Repeat; ankle – uncle.

These two joints are in the middle of your legs and they are your knees, with a silent ‘K’ repeat – knees.

The two joints in the middle of your arms are your elbows. and finally, the part of your body where you would wear a watch is your wrist.

Also in the intermediate section, there was a word formation exercise.

We can take a root word, for example the adjective definite - definitivo, seguro and change it by adding prefixes (prefijos) and suffixes (sufijos). A prefix changes the meaning of the word. So if you add -in to definite you get the opposite – indefinite. You change the word family if you change the suffix. So, the adjective definite becomes an adverb if you add –ly. Definitely. “I’ll definitely see you tomorrow.”

The verb to increase means to go up. Property prices are increasing. What’s the opposite of to increase? It’s to decrease. Prices are decreasing. They’re going down. Many adverbs are made by adding –LY For example slow – slowly; beautiful – beautifully; dangerous – dangerously. Increase is the same. “It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to find a job.” “She’s playing increasingly well.” An experienced player has experience. What’s the opposite of experienced? – inexperienced.

Short is an adjective; a short film, a short holiday. The verb of short is to shorten with -en. To make something shorter you shorten it. “My mum shortened my new trousers.” Deaf D-E-A-F is an adjective and the verb is to deafen. We were deafened by the noise. Sharp (afilado) is another adjective that adds -en to make it a verb, so to sharpen. “This knife isn’t very sharp. You need to sharpen it.”

What’s the English for the adjective fuerte? – strong. This coffee’s a bit strong. What’s the noun of strong? It’s strength. How do you spell it? S-T-R-E-N-G-T-H. So, the verb is to strengthen, in Spanish fortalecer o reforzar. “This piece of wood will strengthen the table.”

To recognise in Spanish is reconocer. “I recognised him from the party last week.” What’s the noun of recognise? - recognition. – and the adjective? recognisable – the opposite of recognisable is unrecognisable. “So many years had passed since I’d seen her that she was totally unrecognisable to me.”

What’s avoid in Spanish? – evitar – “I saw her in the street but she avoided me.” What’s the adjective? – avoidable. “It’s an avoidable situation. You can avoid it.” And the opposite of avoidable is…. unavoidable. “I’m sorry I was late for the meeting. It was unavoidable. I was unavoidably delayed.”

The opposite of expensive is…. cheap or inexpensive. “We had quite an inexpensive holiday. The flights were really cheap.”

Response is a noun. A response is a reply or a reaction to something - una respuesta. What’s the verb of response? To respond - and the adjective? – responsive. “There is a very responsive operating system in this mobile phone.” So, what’s the opposite of responsive? – unresponsive. Responsibility is also a noun. To take responsibility. “I took full responsibility for the mistakes in the report.”

The adjective unlikely means improbable, poco probable “They’re unlikely to agree.” – es poco probable que acepten. Collocations include highly and most. For example: “It’s most unlikely – it’s highly unlikely” – es muy poco probable. Repeat: It’s highly unlikely – “It’s highly unlikely he’ll sign the contract.” Es poco probable que aparezca ahora – “It's unlikely that he'll turn up now.”

Gratitude is a noun. What’s the adjective? grateful. “I’m very grateful for your help.” Do you know the opposite? – ungrateful. “She’s the most ungrateful person I know.”

Last month, on Facebook, Knelitaz (I hope I pronounced you name correctly) asked about the difference in pronunciation between sang and sung – the 2nd and 3rd forms of the verb to sing – cantar. Well, the 2nd form, sang, has the /a/ sound like in cat, hat, sat etc. The 3rd form, sung, has the /u/ sound like in cut, up, cup etc. Repeat: sing sang sung.

There are other irregular verbs that have the same sounds. Listen and repeat: nadar – to swim – swim, swam, swum – llamar - to ring – ring, rang, rung – beber – to drink, drink, drank, drank – cantar – to sing – sing, sang, sung – empezer – to begin –begin, begin, begun – hundir – to sink – sink, sank, sunk. Thanks very much for your question Knelitaz, and I hope I’ve pronounced your name correctly.

The advanced section this month practised money vocabulary and words connected to lies and deception. Don’t forget that in English we say to tell a lie not say a lie. If you tell a fib F-I-B it’s a small lie and if you tell a whopper it’s huge! If you are taken in by someone you’re fooled by them – engañado. ‘I was completely taken in by her.’

A hoax is an engaño. “The whole situation that John described turned out to be a hoax”

A con is timo in Spanish. A conman or con artist in Spanish is estafador or timador. – ‘They thought he was a Wall Street genius but he was really a world class con artist.’

On the subject of money, if a person is rolling in it they have a lot of money – and I mean a lot of money – ‘He’s absolutely rolling in it’, and this expression implies a touch of envy.

When you want to save, you put money aside or to one side. “I’m putting some of my salary to one side for my daughter’s 16th birthday party.”

If you’ve got money to burn, you’ve got so much money that you can waste some of it and spend it on silly things. ‘I’ve got money to burn.” (I haven’t really!)

If you save up for a rainy day, you save for a time in the future when you might need a bit of extra cash. “I’ve got a couple of thousand put aside for a rainy day.” Notice the “up” in save up. “What are you saving up for?” - “I’m saving up for my Christmas holiday.”

In the business section there were some telephone expressions. For example, devolver la llamada a alguien can be to phone someone back, or to ring someone back or to call someone back. Call someone is more common in American English and ring or phone someone is more common in British English.

Also on the telephone, we say “This is…” not X”I am”X. ‘Hello, this is Simon’, or “Simon speaking.” You can also say “It’s..”. - “Hello, it’s George, is Maria there?”

To connect someone on the phone is to put them through. If you phone a large company, you may hear, “Just a second please, I’m putting you through.” Or “Hold the line please and I’ll put you through when she’s free.” To hold the line means to wait – esperar. You may hear, “Please hold” or “Please hold on”. You can say “Can you put me through to the manager?”  or “Please put me through to the sales department.”

A salary is usually paid every month by bank transfer, and a wage is often paid in cash weekly or even daily. For example. builders, manual workers and workers who don’t pay tax are often paid cash wage. Fee F-E-E can be honorarios, a doctor’s fee or a lawyer’s fee, or el precio de entrada. “How much is the entrance fee?” And when you register for a course you pay a fee – una matrícula o inscripción. – “Have you paid the course fees yet?” “Are the fees expensive for a private school?”

Charge is cargo or precio in Spanish. – “There is no charge for the service” - no se cobra por el servicio, el servicio es gratis. – “Free of charge” or “Without charge”- , gratis, sin cargo – “At no extra charge” - Sin cargo adicional

And you’ll also be pleased to know that there is on charge for this podcast. But we do ask you to have a look at our cd collection at mansioningles.com. Just click the banner of cds on the right hand side of the home page and you can see the details and prices of all our cds.

You can also follow us on Twitter, just search for MansionTwit, and don’t forget to join our growing community of more than 10,000 students and teachers on our Facebook fan page. Search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés.

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

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de marzo aquí. 

Puedes ver todos los cuadernos anteriores aquí. 

Puedes recibir gratis nuestro Cuaderno mensual de Inglés aquí. 

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

 

 

Direct download: 2011_march_podcast_audacity_mix.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:53am CEST