Aprender ingles with Reza and Craig
English lessons to improve your grammar, vocabulary and listening skills. We'll help you take your English to the next level! Lecciones para aprender y mejorar tú inglés.

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. Welcome, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 52 recorded for August 2012.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos hablando sobre la rutina diaria - Our daily routine

And in the intermediate section, some gerunds and infinitives, and opposites.

In the advanced section, some more idioms and more words which have multiple meanings.

As usual there's a business English exercise and many more ways to 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.

So come on! - ¡Vamos alla! - let's get started con el nivel básico y la rutina diaria - Daily Routine. Voy a decir algunas expresiones relacionado con la rutina diaria y tu tienes que decir la traducción en inglés antes que la digo yo. Luego, repitela para practicar la pronunciación. Are you ready? ¿Estas listo?

despertarse  - to wake up   Repite: to wake up  

levantarse - to get up Repite: to get up

desayunar - to have breakfast Repite: to have breakfast

ducharse - to have a shower Repite: to have a shower        

vestirse - to get dressed Repite: to get dressed

ir al trabajo - to go to work Repite: to go to work

llegar al trabajo - to get to work Repite: to get to work

empezar el trabajo - to start work Repite: to start work

tomar un café - to have a coffee Repite: to have a coffee

Repite: I wake up at 6.30. - I get up at 6.35!

I get up late on Sundays.

I have coffee and toast for breakfast.

I have a shower before breakfast.      

I get dressed quickly (rápido) - I get dressed quickly.

I go to work by bus.

I get to work at 7.45.

I start work at 8 o'clock.

I have a coffee at 10.30.

Very good!  - ¡Muy bien!

 

In the intermediate section this month, we looked at some gerunds and infinitives.

After the verb surprise is it a gerund or an infinitive? - It's an infinitive. I was surprised to see or I was surprised to discover or I was surprised to hear etc.

What about the adjective busy? Is busy followed by a gerund or infinitive? I was busy....doing the report (gerund) - Repeat: I was busy doing the report  - She was busy answering her emails - They were busy getting ready for the party.

What about 'Thank you for....' - It's the preposition 'for' you should focus on because you always put a gerund after any preposition. Thank you for helping me. Repeat: Thank you for helping me. - Thanks for giving me a lift. I can't thank you enough for letting me stay for the weekend.

After the expression 'to be worth' (vale la pena) - What do you think, gerund or infinitive? It's worth.....+gerund - It's worth visiting the Louvre if you're in Paris. It might be worth trying different software - Are you sure it's worth going by car?

After 'be used to' which has the meaning of estar acostumbrado/a a is it gerund or infinitive? - 'be used to' - It's gerund - I'm not used to driving on the right. Repeat: I'm not used to driving on the right. - Are you used to eating so late? ¡OJO! -  It's the used to that means soler, tener el hábito de that takes the infinitive - For example, I used to live in London. I used to drive on the left. I used to have dinner at 6 o'clock.

What about after the expression to be happy? - I'm happy......to see you. - Repeat: I'm happy to see you - - I'm happy to see you again - I was happy to learn that you're coming to visit.

And after finish? - put a gerund. I've finished washing the car. I'll help you when I finish doing my homework.

Listen and repeat some examples:

He was surprised to discover the truth.

She’s busy doing the housework.

Thank you for giving me a hand.

It might be worth taking it back to the shop.

She’s not used to working late.

I’ll be happy to help you.

Have you finished doing the dishes?

Don’t forget to send us a message on Facebook.

We also looked at some opposites in the intermediate section. Listen and try to say the opposites before I do.

The opposite of sharp is.......blunt. This knife isn't sharp, it's blunt.

The opposite of tender meat is........ tough meat. Tender is soft and tough is hard. Be careful of the spelling of tough, it's really strange.T-O-U-G-H repeat. tough. - tough meat - this steak's really tough - How's the meat? It's a bit tough. - It's a bit tough.

The opposite of to take off for a plane is to........land. Repeat: We take off at 7 and we land around 9.30. - What time does the flight take off?

The opposite of agree is .........refuse. Well, it can also be to disagree. You agree with someone or you disagree with someone. But you can agree to do something or you can refuse to do something. Repeat: I agreed to take her to the station. She refused to lend me any money.

The opposite of catch a train is........to.... miss a train, or a bus or a plane. In Spanish you say to lose (perder). That always makes me smile when my students make that mistake. "I'm sorry I'm late, I lost the bus." You lost the bus? Where did you put it? It must be here somewhere. It was in my pocket five minutes ago, then it disappeared! - What's the past of catch? - Caught. Repeat: caught. We caught the last train. We nearly missed it.

The opposite of useful is.......useless. Repeat: useful - this new application is really useful. - useless - It's totally useless!

Speaking about the weather, the opposite of severe weather is mild weather. Repeat: severe - Canada has some severe weather. - Valencia has mild winters.

And finally, the opposite of to admit is......to deny (admitir y negar - admit and deny Repeat: He admitted stealing the money. - I denied eating the chocolate.

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. Estas lecciones están diseñados como una continuación del curso de audio Mansión Auto 2, y están basados en nuestro curso básico interactivo que ha ayudado a más de 25 millones de personas a aprender inglés. Las lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1) y estamos poniendo nuevas lecciones constantemente en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com (that's: mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala - punto.com. Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora 15 minutos y cada leccion está en 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, what's the English idiom for Sobre gustos no hay nada

escrito? gusto is taste and the idiom is - "There's no accounting for taste."

What about No se oia ni (el vuelo de) una mosca? - "There wasn't a sound to be heard."

The next one is Mas puede la pluma que la espada. This is a direct translation to English - “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

What about, Hierba mala nunca muere. or is it, Mala hierba nunca muere?

Think of good people for this translation not bad grass or bad weeds - “Only the good die young.” -

Next: Nada mejor que un ladron para atrapar a otro ladron.  translates to - “Set a thief to catch a thief.”

And finally, En una hora ne se gano Zamora  has the word Rome in it -         "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Now listen and repeat the idioms:

 “There's no accounting for taste.”

“There wasn't a sound to be heard.”

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

“Only the good die young.”

“Set a thief to catch a thief.”

"Rome wasn't built in a day."   

Also in the advanced section of this month's newsletter we looked at some more words with multiple meanings. For example, you probably know that drill means taladro you drill holes in the wall. The dentist uses a drill on your teeth - erghhhh! I hate that. And also we can have a fire drill at work. A practice, in case of a fire. A drill bit es una broca and in the army, un unstructor militar is a drill instructor.

Bust was the next word. To go bust means ir(se) a la bancarrota, quebrar - during this recession many companies are going bust. And bust is also a ladies bosom or chest. What bust size are you? You may be asked ladies when you go to buy a bra in Marks and Spencers. In colloquial English to bust something means to break it. Who busted the remote control? Don't play with that, you'll bust it!

The word file is carpeta - a paper file or a digital file - and it's also a tool (una lima) - you file your nails with a file - a nailfile and you may need a file in carpentry or metalwork. You can also file a news report (presentar un reportaje), and you can file a law suit which means presentar or entablar una demanda - You can file for a divorce, although lets hope you never have to! As a verb it can mean to walk in line - to file past something. So, how would you translate " la multitud desfiló ante la tumba."? - the crowd filed past the tomb.

Iron is hierro and we can say that something is as hard as iron. The ground is as hard as iron. It's also una plancha. And I try to see and use my iron as infrequently as possible. I hate ironing, God I hate ironing! the verb is to iron and there's a phrasal verb to iron out which means to resolve, (poner en orden, limar diferencias). We need to iron out a few minor differences before we begin. In English, to "strike while the iron is hot" means to take advantage of something while the moment is most appropriate. We shouldn't wait, we should strike while the iron is hot. Take action now!

Bound as a verb means saltar - El perro iba dando saltos detrás de la bicicleta - The dog bounded along behind the bicycle. If you are bound (the adjective) you are tied up - literally, not figuratively - My hands were bound -  tenía las manos atadas - bounds also means limits - Su generosidad no tiene límites - Her generosity knows no bounds -  

Another popular expression is "Within the bounds of possibility" -  dentro de lo posible - Yes, of course we will do it if it's in the bounds of possibility.


In the Business English section, we looked at some more business English vocabulary.

Don't forget that we do business not make business, and we make money, not do money. So, we do business with people in order to make money. Repeat: do business, make money.

Trendy means moderno - A trendy item of clothing or a trendy hairstyle.

Iba vestida muy moderna or a la última moda.- She was wearing a very trendy outfit.

Este barrio se está poniendo de moda - This part of town is getting very trendy.

Repeat: trendy - a trendy shop - That's a very trendy shirt you're wearing. - It's a really trendy restaurant.

Make often translates as hacer - it can also mean 'manage to attend'. Listen:

I'm afraid I can't make Saturday - Me temo que el sábado no puedo.

We just made the 3 o'clock train - llegamos justo a tiempo para el tren de las tres.

Repeat: I can't make it - I'm sorry, I can't make it - Can you make it tomorrow? - Can you make it on Friday?

If you have a hard time doing something, it's difficult for you to do it. It was a difficult experience - mal trago o mal rato - I had a hard time getting over my divorce. - They gave me a hard time at the interview.

A great deal means a lot. - a great deal of money, a lot of money - Repeat: A great deal - We spent a great deal - We spent a great deal of money on the flat.

The learning curve is la curva de aprendizaje. Repeat: the learning curve - What's the learning curve like on this software? Is it easy to use? Can I learn quickly?

You can learn quickly with La Mansión del Inglés. Go to our website at mansioningles.com and improve your English.

Well, that's just about all we have time for now. Remember you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on 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 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/

También tenemos dos aplicaciones para el nivel principiante y el nivel básico a la venta en la tienda de iTunes. Para encontrarlas, busca imansionauto. El precio de cada aplicación es de 2,39 euros.

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_Cuaderno_52_August_2012_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:28pm CEST

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. Welcome,  and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 51 recorded for July 2012.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos las formas básicas de los verbos y la formación de las preguntas en inglés.

In the intermediate section, the superlative (el superlativo) y expresiones con GET.

In the advanced section, some more idioms and some words which have multiple meanings.

As usual there's a business English exercise and many more ways to 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.

So, let's get started - vamos a empezar con el nivel básico.     

Escucha y repite las frases correctas conmigo.

Escucha: My sister wears glasses. - Mi hermana lleva gafas - No olvides la 's' de la tercera persona. - she wears - I wear, you wear,  she wears - repite: she wears - she wears glasses.

Alejandro studies law. -  he studies - repite: he studies - he studies law. (derecho) law - he's a lawyer - he studies law.

My brother has two children. Mi hermano tiene 2 hijos - I have. you have, he has, she has -  Repite: My brother has two children.

The shops close at 5.30. - las tiendas cierran a las cinco y media - Repite: five thirty - close - close at five thirty - The shops - The shops close at five thirty - They close at five thirty. ¿Es pronto no? En ingleterra, the shops close at five thirty. When do they close in Spain. At 8 o'clock? More or less - más o menos - more or less. In Spain, the shops close at 8 o'clock.

I don't do the housework. No hago yo la tareas domésticas - the housework (work es trabajo, house es casa - the housework - Las tareas domésticas) I Repite: housework - do the housework - I don't - I don't do the housework.

She loves computers. - Repite: computers - She loves - She loves computers.

In Spain people drive on the right. - Conducen a la derecha - ¡A la derecha! ¿Por que? Why? Why do you drive on the right in Spain? Why? In the UK we drive on the left. Repite: left - on the left - they drive on the left. In the UK they drive on the left - on the right - we drive on the right. In Spain, we drive on the right.

Pepito doesn't have coffee for breakfast.  Es el negativo del presente - se forma con doesn't en la tercera persona. He doesn't - He doesn't have - repite: He doesn't have - he doesn't have coffee - He doesn't have coffee for breakfast - He doesn't have coffee, he has tea.

Martin and Maria study with La Mansión del Inglés. - They study - Ellos estudian. Repite; they study - they study with us - they study with La Mansión del Inglés.

Good! - ¡Bien!

También en el nivel básico hemos praticado la formación de las preguntas.

Escucha y repite: 

What time do you get up?

When do they do the shopping?

When does the film start?

Where does she work?

How many hours does hework?

What food does she like?

How do you go to work?

Very good!  - ¡Muy bien!

In the intermediate section this month, we looked at some superlatives.

Listen and repeat:

It's the most expensive car in the world.

It's the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited.

It's the season I like the least.

It's the best website on the internet.

It's the longest distance I’ve ever travelled.

She's the most intelligent person I know.

It's the worst day of the week.

We studied vocabulary this month by focusing on expressions with GET. For example; get fit, get married, get dressed etc.

One use of GET is to become. If you get fit you become fit - en forma - I'm going to the gym because I want to get fit. I want to be fit, to become fit. I'm not fit now, but I want to get fit. to get in shape. Repeat: I want to get fit - I want to get in shape.

When the sun goes down it gets dark - it becomes dark. Repeat - to get dark - I turned the lights off and it suddenly got dark - Well yes......er...of course. If you turn off the lights of course it's going to get dark.

Get rich quick with this fantastic new system. Send me $20 euros and I'll tell you all about it. Get rich quick.

GET can also mean to obtain - obtener, conseguir o comprar. - I'm going into town to get a new dvd. I need to get a new credit card. Can you get some milk on your way home. Repeat: get some milk - get a new phone - I need to get anew office chair.

to get worse means empeorar - to deteriorate - the weather's getting worse. Repeat: the weather's getting worse. How's your dad? Is he still in hospital? - Yes, he's getting worse. What's the opposite of get worse? - get better. Repeat:  I'm getting better - I'm getting better at English. My English is getting better. How's your leg? - It's getting better thanks.

You can GET MARRIED and you can GET DIVORCED - you can use the verbs to marry and to divorce, but in spoken English, it's more common to use GET - Repeat: I'm getting married - When are you getting married? She got married last week. - Are they getting divorced? - They got divorced last year. ¡OJO! Remember that you get married TO someone (not 'with') and divorced FROM someone.

If you like these podcasts, 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. Estas lecciones están diseñados como una continuación del curso de audio Mansión Auto 2, y están basados en nuestro curso básico interactivo que ha ayudado a más de 25 millones de personas a aprender inglés desde el año 2001. Los lecciones están a nivel intermedio (B1) y estamos poniendo nuevos lecciones constantemente en mansioninglesdescargas.wazala.com (mansioninglesdescargas - todo junto - punto . wazala.com). Cada leccion vale 1.40 euros y dura approx. 1 hora 15 minutos y cada leccion en 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's the English idiom for El infierno esta llenado de buenos propositos, y el cielo de buenas obras? - Something to do with hell and good intentions...The road to hell is paved with good intentions. - The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What about: Donde hay humo, hay calor. - There's no smoke without fire. - There's no smoke without fire.

and Mas sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo. - There's nothing about the devil in the English translation, but there is the word experience - There's no substitute for experience. (That's true!) There's no substitute for experience.

The next idiom is Hay mucho más peces en el mar - That's an easy direct translation - There are plenty more fish in the sea. Repeat: There are plenty more fish in the sea.

El tiempo pasa inexorablemente. - You can't stop the passage of time. In the words of Pink Floyd on their Dark Side of the Moon album - "You run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking. - In English the idiom is - Time and tide wait for no man. - tide is la marea. Time and tide wait for no man.

And finally, Cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas. - The translation isn't about fleas (pulgas) but about taking the skin off of a cat. There's more than one way to skin a cat. - There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Now listen and repeat the idioms:

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

“There's no smoke without fire.”

“There's no substitute for experience.”

“There are plenty more fish in the sea.”

“Time and tide wait for no man.”

“There's more than one way to skin a cat.”

Also in the advanced section of this month's newsletter we looked at some words with multiple meanings. For example fine can translate as fino and a common collocation is a fine line. For example, there's a fine line between love and hate. But fine can also be bien. Ok. Parking fine - has aparcado muy bien. And also una multa. the verb multar is to fine. I was fined for parking on a zebra crossing, and that explains my bad joke. If you have parking fine on the windscreen (parabrisas) of your car is it a multa or a compliment?

The weather can also be fine. It was a fine day. It rained in the morning, but the afternoon turned out fine.

Our second word was pinch - a pinch of salt - a pinch of salt is a small quantity of salt. I think you say pizca in Spanish. If you feel the pinch you notice the difference in a negative way. At the moment we're feeling the pinch of the recession.

In British English slang to pinch something means to steal it. Steal is a strong word with very negative connotations. "You stole the money!" To pinch makes it sound softer, not such a crime. Another slang verb for steal is to nick - N-I-C-K- We nicked a car when we were drunk. There was a wallet inside, so we pinched that too!

You've probably heard of a baseball bat and a cricket bat, but what about to bat an eyelid. Eyelids are párpados and to bat an eyelid is not to react in response to something surprising or shocking - Nobody even batted an eyelid = Nadie siquiera se inmuta - When I told her I was thinking of having a sex change operation she didn't even bat an eyelid.

A bat is of course un murciélago which is on the flag of Valencia, where I live.

A tip is una propina - you leave a tip in a restaurant if the service was good. TIP is an abbreviation of To Insure Promptness - T-I-P. To make sure you are served well and in good time. Repeat: How much tip should I leave? A tip is also un consejo. If you want some tips on how to improve your English, watch the latest videos on our YouTube channel. There are some very good tips there.

Do you know what it's like to know something, but you just can't quite say it. You know it, an actor's name or someone you met at a party or a place you visited during your last holiday. You KNOW it but you just can't remember it. So it's on the tip of your tongue. - Repeat: It's on the tip of my tongue.

A spell is un encanto - Witches (las brujas) cast spells - She'll cast a spell on you.

Spell can also be a period of time. Repeat:  I'm going out for a spell. We also typically use spell to talk about the weather. Repeat: We're having a cold spell at the moment. It's a spell of bad weather.

The verb to spell is deletrear - Repeat: Can you spell it for me, please? - Can you spell it for me, please?

In the Business English section, we looked at some more business English vocabulary.

to be late - Repeat: I'm late - he's late - Why are you late? - He was 15 minutes late.

The verb to handle, when you're speaking about a situation means manejar. If it refers to people it means tratar. Repeat: She can handle the situation. He can't handle so much work. How are you handling the project? He's a difficult person to handle.

to turn around means darse la vuelta, but if a situation turns around it usually improves. Things are not looking good, but if we all work hard I'm sure we can turn things around. Repeat: to turn around. We can turn this situation around.

Another phrasal verb with turn is to turn down which means to refuse rechazar. Repeat: I turned the job down - I turned it down. He made me a good offer, but I turned it down.

Continuing with phrasal verbs, if you get behind something you support it. We need more people to get behind our proposal. Repeat: get behind. If you get behind me on this, I'm sure we can make it work.

The minimum wage is the lest amount of money an employer can legally pay an employee. The minimum wage in Spain is 633 euros per month, but in Chile it's the equivalent of 267 euros per month. That's the minimum wage in Chile. Unfortunately, many employers pay workers less than the minimum wage.

If you outsource work you pay someone outside your company or business to do the work instead of doing it inside the company. source is fuente and out=fuera - outsource - un fuente de fuera. Outsourcing work and services is often a better option and can save companies a lot of money. Repeat: outsource - We outsourced the web design.

A dispute is polémica in Spanish, controversia. - The matter is still in or under dispute -  aún no se ha llegado a un acuerdo sobre el asunto

The verb to dispute means discutir o cuestionar. - I don't dispute the fact that we need to cut back on expenditure. Repeat: to dispute - I dispute the fact. It's under dispute - the decision is under dispute.

Well, that's just about all we have time for, for now. Remember you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on 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 us an email at: 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

También tenemos dos aplicaciones para el nivel principiante y el nivel básico a la venta en la tienda de iTunes. Para encontrarlas, busca imansionauto. El precio de cada aplicación es de 2,39 euros.

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_Cuaderno_51_July_2012_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:51pm CEST

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. Welcome,  and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast. This is podcast number 50 (wow! I can't believe we've done 50 podcasts already). This one is recorded for June 2012.

Este mes, en el nivel básico practicamos el past continuous y también te cuento sobre un día diaria de un prof del inglés.

In the intermediate section, phrasal verbs with TAKE and some grammar revision on The Passive.

In the advanced section, some more idioms and some advanced collocations.

As usual there's a business English exercise and many more ways to 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.

So, let's get started - vamos a empezar con el nivel básico.     

El 'past continuous' o 'past progressive' se emplea para acciones pasadas en proceso de realización. Es decir, lo que ocurría o estaba ocurriendo en el pasado.

Por ejemplo: I was having lunch at 2 o’clock. - Estaba comiendo a las 2.

What were you doing when I phoned? - ¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando llamé?

They weren’t sitting in the restaurant when we arrived. - No estaban sentado en el restaurante cuando llegamos.

Se forma con el pasado del verbo auxiliar to be + el verbo+ing

Escucha, I was having lunch - I was (was=el pasado del verbo to be) having (el verbo 'have' + ing) lunch. Repite: lunch - having lunch - I was - I was having lunch. El verbo auxiliar was se dice debilmente. Escucha I was - I was having - I was having lunch. Repite: I was - I was having - I was having lunch.

Se puede emplear el past continuous y el past simple juntos. En este caso, el past continuous se usa para la accion más larga y el past simple para la accion más corta.

She sent (past simple) me a text message while I was waiting (past continuous) for her.

I was having a shower when she arrived. - Estaba duchando cuando ella llegó.

Escucha y repite algunos ejemplos del past continuous.

I was driving to work.

They were talking about football.

She was eating a hamburger.

The sun was shining.

The birds were singing.

He was drinking whisky.

They were shopping.

I was waiting for the bus.

Very good! ¡Muy bien!

También en el nivel básico este mes hemos estudiado un día en la vida de un profesor del inglés. Tal vez sería más interesante leer sobre un día de un futbolista, un cantante famoso o un actor de Hollywood, pero dicen que hay que escribir sobre lo que sabes, lo que conoces, entonces aquí es un día de mi vida. Escucha.

 

            A Day in the Life of an English Teacher

I get up at 7.30 or 8 o'clock and I have breakfast. I usually have cereal for breakfast and a strong cup of coffee.

While (mientras) I have breakfast I look at the news and the weather on my phone.

At 8.30 I sit down at my desk and start working.

I check (revisar, mirar) my email and write messages on Facebook and Twitter.

Then I work on my lessons and correct my student's homework.

At 11 o'clock I have a coffee break and at 12 I go to the gym for an hour to do some exercise.

I have lunch at 2pm and I usually have a short siesta for 15 minutes.

I usually have class in the afternoon and I teach until 9.30 or 10 o'clock at night. I always drive to work. My school is only (solo) about 15 or 20 minutes from my flat.

I have something to eat when I get home and I watch TV to relax for an hour before I go to bed. Sometimes I read in bed until I fall asleep.

Escucha y repite los siguientes frases:

I get up at 7.30

I have cereal for breakfast.

I look at the news - I look at the weather - I look at the news on my phone.

I sit down at my desk. - I sit down - I sit down at my desk

I check my email

I have a coffee break - have a - have a break - have a coffee break - I have a coffee break

I go to the gym

I do some exercise - do exercise - do some exercise - I do some exercise

I have lunch at 2 - have lunch - I have lunch at 2

I have a siesta

I always drive to work

I get home at 9 o'clock

I have something to eat

I watch TV

I relax - foranhour - for an hour - foranhour - repeat: foran - foranhour - I relax for an hour

I go to bed - goto - go to bed - I go to bed

I read in bed

I fall asleep

¡Estupendo! - Fantastic!

 

In the intermediate section this month, we looked at some phrasal verbs with take. For example: take out, take after, take up etc.

If you take out a DVD, you rent a DVD. Repeat: Take out a DVD. Shall we take our a dvd? Do you fancy taking out a film tonight?

If something takes up your time it occupies your time. What takes up your time? Work takes up a lot of my time. If you have a family, maybe most of your free time is taken up by your children. Repeat: What takes up your time? My children take up my free time.

If you are similar to your mum or dad in character, personality or appearance, you can use the phrasal verb to take after. I take after my dad in looks, but I take after my mum in character. I take after her. Repeat: I take after my mum - you take after your dad!

To take off means to remove - Repeat: Please take off your shoes. Would you like to take off your coat.

To take up means to begin a new pastime or hobby. Repeat: take up -  take up photography. I've taken up photography. When did you take up the piano?

If you take something back you return it. I'm taking this back to the shop. Repeat: to take it back - Why don't you take it back? It doesn't work - no funciona. Repeat: It doesn't work, take it back - take it back to the shop and ask for a refund. - Que devuelven el dinero - ask for a refund.

Cuidarse a alguien to take care of someone. My sister takes care of my mum. She looks after her - Repeat: to look after - to take of - Can you take care of my dog this weekend?

Will you take care of me when I get old?

If you don't go to work one day you can say that you took the day off. Repeat: to take the day off - If you're not well, if you're sick you can say I'm off sick - I was off sick last week. Repeat: Can I take the day off tomorrow? - Why don't you take a day off? - I need to take tomorrow afternoon off.

To take up can mean to begin a new hobby. It can also mean to make clothes shorter. If your trousers are too long, you take them up. If you a buy a dress that's too long, you can take it up. You can take up sleeves on a jacket (las mangas) repeat: take up the sleeves. Can you take up the sleeves please? - You can get the trousers taken up.

If a company takes on more staff it employs more workers. That's not happening much in Europe these days unfortunately, but sometimes companies do take on new people. Repeat: take on more staff. We took on 4 new web designers last month.

And finally, if you take to someone you like them. To take to someone - I met a friendly woman yesterday and I took to her immediately. I felt comfortable with her

Repeat: I took to him straight away. I took to her immediately.

Ok good. Now, we also revised some passive grammar in the form of FCE transformation exercises.

So, I'll say the active sentence and I want you to say the same sentence, in the passive, before I do. Then repeat the sentence to practise the pronunciation. Ok? Ready? Here we go.

A friend of mine showed us a great new shop.

We were shown a great new shop by a friend of mine.

They won't allow you to take photos inside.

You won't be allowed to take photos inside.

They should look into privacy on the Internet.

Privacy needs looking into/to be looked into on the Internet.

They grow a lot of rice in China.

A lot of rice is grown in China.

The government took over another bank.

Another bank was taken over/has been taken over by the government.

My neighbour took care of my plants.

My plants were taken care of my neighbour.

They say children are becoming more hyperactive.

Children are said to be becoming more hyperactive

Now, if you’re thinking of taking the Cambridge First Certificate exam, you will need to study at home, in your time, outside of the classroom. We can help you to prepare for this exam with the Mansion Ingles FCE preparation course. El curso lleva 60 horas de prácticas y estudio y ha sido desarrollado por profesores especializados en la formación práctica para la preparación a FCE. For more information, go to mansioningles.com and click the CD icon on the right of the home page. Then click on MansionFirst para ver el contenido del curso. Haz nuestra prueba de nivel de First Certificate to see if you have the level to take the exam. And you can also download course content free to try the course before you buy. If you have any questions about the exam, or about the CD (MansionFirst), just send us an email at mansionteachers@yahoo.es, or ask us a question on our Facebook page.

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's the English idiom for Nunca llueve a gusto de todos. - I'll give you a clue. It has the word meat in it. And the word poison. Any idea? No? One man's.....meat is another man's poison.

What about, Un loco hace cien. Some thing to do with apples.......in a barrel -  “One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel” - “One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel”

What was the translation of “Penny wise, pound foolish.” - Lo barato sale caro. My grandmother used to say that a lot. Penny wise (wise es sabio), pound foolish (a fool es un tonto/a and foolish is the adjective). - “Penny wise, pound foolish.”

Hablando del rey de Roma...y éste que se asoma. - We don't use the King od Rome in this idiom, we use the devil. "Speak of the Devil - Speak of the Devil (and he's sure to appear)." - Actually, I probably wouldn't say the last bit, just "speak of the devil". Imagine you're speaking about someone (behind their back, perhaps) and suddenly they're right there in front of you. Ah look who it is! Speak of the devil!

Nadie esta contento con su suerte. - Do you remember this one? Something about grass being green - “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” - That's one of my favourite idioms actually. I think many of us take the things we have  for granted. to take for granted - dar por sentado - Yes we take things for granted. we take our health for granted we take our family and our friends for granted sometimes, we don't really value and appreciate the things we have and the grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence. Out neighbour's car is better than ours. His job is better paid,  and it must be better to live in the US than in Spain.....not necessarily!

Our final idiom is No se sabe si algo es bueno hasta que se lo pone a prueba - the English love their desserts, cakes, biscuits and sweets. This idiom had a pudding in it “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” To prove the pudding is good you have to eat it - to taste it - "The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” - In the business world that would be something like "Try before you buy".

Now listen and repeat the idioms:

One man's meat is another man's poison.

One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel

Penny wise, pound foolish.

Speak of the Devil (and he's sure to appear).

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Also in the advanced section of this months newsletter we looked at some vocabulary collocation.

To bring up to date means actualizar algo. Have you brought the new manager up to date? Can you bring me up to date on what you've been doing? up to date - al día - to keep up to date is mantenerse al día o mantenerse actualizado - repeat: Please keep me up to date - keep the data base up to date.

pay someone a compliment sounds strange because pay means pagar - pay with money? no (it's a strong collocation) - the words pay and compliment like to go together - to pay a compliment means give a compliment. She paid me a lovely compliment the other day.

If you give something priority you prioritize it (priorizar) - Repeat: priority - give this priority - give this top priority. We need to give this project top priority.

To be able to put people at their ease is a wonderful quality to have. If you put someone at their ease, maybe they're nervous or tense and you calm them down. you make them feel comfortable. The dentist put me at my ease as soon as I sat in the chair. I was nervous before the interview, but the director cracked a few bad jokes and put me at my ease.

If you put something down to experience you decide that instead of being angry or upset about something bad that you have done or that has happened, you will learn from it.  'I'm so ashamed. I let him take advantage of me.' 'Don't be so hard on yourself. Just put it down to experience.'

In the Business English section, we looked at some business English vocabulary.

To make a fortune means to make a lot of money - una fortuna Repeat: to make a fortune. He make a fortune on the stock market.

Another way of saying "he was fired" is "he was shown the door." Do you remember the expression "We're letting you go" That's a soft, gentle way of giving bad news - "We're firing you" or "You've got the sack" - are both direct and maybe brutal ways of breaking the news. To be shown the door is a not very nice way to say the same thing. He was a really bad salesman and eventually they showed him the door. This is the door - use it!

A company that is quite new is often called a start-up, or a start-up company, and it's very common in the hi tech world of the internet, web design, mobile devices, social media and new media. - a start-up.

If a person stands in for someone, they do that person's job on a temporary basis until that person comes back to work. For example. your secretary is pregnant and goes on maternity leave for 6 months. Maybe you bring a temporary secretary from a different department to stand in for her. Repeat: to stand in - to stand in for someone - She's standing in for Maria who is on holiday at the moment.

I have to stand in for my wife and make lunch today, so we'll stop there for now. Remeber you can listen to all our previous podcasts at mansioningles.com and on 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 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/

También tenemos dos aplicaciones para el nivel principiante y el nivel básico a la venta en la tienda de iTunes. Para encontrarlas, busca imansionauto. El precio de cada aplicación es de 2,39 euros.

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__cuaderno50_june_2012_final_cut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:47pm CEST