Sat, 26 September 2015
If you are a new listener, If this is your first time here, welcome! I'm Craig. This is Reza, and we are going to help you improve your English and take it to the next level. In this episode: Urban living Listener Feedback: Surferlobo on iTunes Chile (24th June) Vocabulary: Urban living
flat (UK) / Apartment (US) - a block of flats / an apartment block
a residential area
on the outskirts
run-down / shabby Have you ever been to a dull, depressing place? to demolish, to knock down Is it better to demolish and rebuild or renovate and restore? Send us a comment or question craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com. Next episode: Listener Questions: go and come, would and could, como leer en inglés The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'
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Sun, 20 September 2015
If you are a new listener, If this is your first time here, welcome! I'm Craig. This is Reza, and we are going to help you improve your English and take it to the next level. In this episode: Telephone English Listener Feedback: Cristina from Barcelona: I need (to) speak on the phone in my work and I always am nervous (I’m always nervous). Can you explain some expression for speaking on the telephone? I love your podcasts and I learn lots of things every week. Thank you. Telephone English Reza and Craig agree that speaking on the phone in a foreign language is one of most difficult things to do. You can't see the other person, so you have no body language, hand gestures or facial communication.
Vocabulary To dial = marcar To put (s.o.) through = pasar/poner a alguien “Don't put any calls through for the next hour” - No pases ninguna llamada en la próxima hora “I'm putting you through now.” - Ahora le paso (or pongo) To hold (the line) = esperar (¡no cuelgue!) To hang up = colgar To give (s.o.) a ring/call = llamar a alguien To phone/call (s.o.) back = volver a llamar (a alguien) The line’s busy/engaged = está comunicando Leave/take a message = dejar/tomar un recado ring tone - tono de llamada
Expressions
Identifying yourself Hi, it’s Reza speaking. Hello, this is Craig = Soy Craig NOT I am Craig Good morning, my name’s Craig. Reason for phoning I’m ringing/calling/phoning to let you know ..... I'm ringing/I'm calling/I'm phoning to ask if ..... I'm ringing/I'm calling/I'm phoning to find out if….. I'm ringing/I'm calling/I'm phoning because I was wondering if .....
Asking for people Could I/May I speak to Craig, please? I’d like to speak to Craig Is Craig there, please? Could you put Craig on, please? I'm afraid... = me temo que... / lo siento per... I’m afraid Reza is not here/in the office
Asking for things Could you…..(+infinitive without to) Could you ring me back later. Could you ask/get + PERSON to ring/call me back (later)? Could you tell me what time the restaurant closes
Would you mind………(+ing) Would you mind sending me some information. Would you mind asking + PERSON to get back to me, please?
To review polite indirect questions look at Episode 50. http://www.inglespodcast.com/2015/05/11/indirect-questions-and-travel-in-morocco-with-special-guest-nicola-airc50/
Would you mind asking Reza to get back to me, please? I'll get back to you. I was wondering = estaba pensando… I was wondering if we could get together next week.
Giving your phone number My number is ...... You can get me on ....... You can get in touch on/You can contact me on .....
Ending the conversation To get back to someone = volver a llamar a alguien I’ll get back to you tomorrow.
Thank you for calling. Goodbye. Thanks a lot then. See you. Thanks for phoning. All the best. Bye.
Do you like speaking on the phone? (in Spanish?) Do you ever prepare for phone calls before you make them? What’s your preferred method of communication with people?
Send us a comment or question craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.
Next episode: Urban living The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later' |
Wed, 16 September 2015
Puedes contestar las preguntas de comprensión y obtener ayuda con el vocabulario difícil en esta entrevista en inglespodcast.com You can answer listening comprehension questions and get help with difficult vocabulary in this interview at inglespodcast.com |
Sun, 13 September 2015
If you are a new listener to this podcast, welcome! I'm Craig. This is Reza, and we are going to help you take it to the next level. With over 40 years of teaching between us, we'll help you improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. In this episode: the TOEFL and IELTS test Feedback: email from Antonio Tenorio (who also nominated us for the UK podcasters’ award. I've been looking for a way to learn English through listening to podcasts and I found this one which is helping me a lot because it's the best I ever met (heard). Reza and Craig are very skillful in (at) teaching English and they create all their podcasts in order to convey the best to their listeners. I send you a big hug and please keep pushing and helping us to learn your greats language. Thank you. We spoke about IELTS in Episode 15, ( http://www.inglespodcast.com/2014/02/21/aprender-ingles-con-reza-y-craig-15/) and compared IELTS to Cambridge exams (FCE, CAE etc) in Episode 24. (http://www.inglespodcast.com/2014/06/05/money-money-money-must-be-funny-in-the-rich-mans-world-airc24/ ) IELTS IELTS is the International English Language Testing System A collaboration between the British Council (the UK govt.’s cultural body and most important English language teaching org.); IDP: IELTS Australia ( Australian universities and recruitment/employment agency); Cambridge English Language Assessment. Test overview In IELTS, there are four papers: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. There are two different IELTS modules: Academic and General Training. The Speaking and Listening tests are the same in both modules, but the Reading and Writing tests are different. Academic module Choose this if you wish to study at undergraduate or postgraduate levels, or if you are seeking professional registration, e.g. doctors and nurses. General Training module Choose this if you wish to migrate to an English-speaking country, (e.g. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, or also USA) or if you wish to train or study at below degree level. IELTS FORMAT - ON PAPER, not computer Each skill is tested separately. Listening - 40 questions, 4 sections, a variety of question types - 30 mins. approx. Reading - 40 questions, 3 texts, a variety of question types - 60 mins. Academic module has more academic texts, whereas General module has non-academic texts. Writing - 2 tasks, 60 mins. Academic Q1: write about a diagram(s) incl. some statistics. General Q1: letter responding to a situation. Q2: an essay giving your opinion on a topci. Speaking - 3 parts: personal info; responding to a prompt card about a topic with three bullet points to talk about; conversation with examiner connected to prompt card topic - 11-14 minutes. One examiner talks to one candidate in a room. It is recorded. Price: approximately £115 (€190, $200) IELTS Links: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/ielts/why-take-the-test/ http://www.ielts.org/ http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/ Free or longer paid version for practice: http://www.roadtoielts.com/testdrive/ Free apps: http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-your-test/1001-ways-app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubl.ielts&feature=search_result
TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL iBT (computer) test. There is also a pBT (paper) version, but only available in very very few countries. Who accepts TOEFL? More than 9,000 colleges, agencies and other institutions in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores. Other organizations rely on TOEFL scores as well: Immigration departments use them to issue residential and work visas Medical and licensing agencies use them for professional certification purposes Individuals use them to measure their progress in learning English TOEFL FORMAT - ON COMPUTER, not paper During the test, you are asked to perform tasks that combine/integrate more than one skill, such as: Read, listen and then speak in response to a question Listen and then speak in response to a question Read, listen and then write in response to a question Reading - 60–80 minutes - 36–56 questions Read 3 or 4 passages from academic texts and answer questions. Listening - 60–90 minutes - 34–51 questions Listen to lectures, classroom discussions and conversations, then answer questions. Break - 10 minutes Speaking - 20 minutes - 6 tasks Express an opinion on a familiar topic; speak based on reading and listening tasks about campus situations & academic situations. Writing - 50 minutes - 2 tasks Question 1: Write essay response based on reading and listening tasks; Question 2: support an opinion on a topic. It takes approximately 10 days to get the results from the TOEFL test. It can cost between $150 - $225, although it usually costs about $160 - $180. Links: General info: http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/17494/TOEFL_Resources_Web_Video.htm Test overview: http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/ What happens at test centre: http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/15571_toefl_prometric.HTML Overview of each part of test, with a few simple questions: http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/tour/highrez/start-web_content.HTML Writing & Speaking video tutorial: http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/video_library/ DOWNLOADBALE OFFICIAL free test practice: http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/toefl_interactive_sampler/ There's some free practice here, inc. Speaking, (and a lot more if you pay): TOEFL NETWORK- http://www.toeflnetwork.com/#/page/5 Send us an email, or record your voice and send us a sound file, with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com. On next week's episode: Telephone English
The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later' |
Sun, 6 September 2015
If you are a new listener to this podcast, welcome! I'm Craig. This is Reza, and we are going to help you take it to the next level. With over 40 years of teaching between us, we'll help you improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. In this episode: Common mistakes made by Spanish speakers Listener Feedback: A huge thank you to sara Jarabo for becoming a Patron of the show on Patreon. You can support us at www.patreon.com/inglespodcast. And thank you to all our sponsors on Patreon, Mamen, Corey, Sara and Manuel. Olga (Sevilla) Una duda que tengo es el significado de "QUE". Normalmente significa 'What', pero en la frase ¡que barato¡ se escribe con 'that´s' "that´s cheap". ¿Porque? You're right, Olga - "Qué" is often translated to "what" (¿Qué hora es? - What time is it? ¿Qué es eso? - What's that?), but 'what' can also be translated as "How" or "That" in some specific expressions. ¡Qué cara! - What a cheek! How cheeky! 'He's taking a liberty!' Así que "¡Qué barato!" en inglés es "That's cheap" o "How cheap!". How fantastic! How wonderful! That's amazing! That's terrible! How frustrating! It's true that quite often you'll get into problems if you try to translate directly from Spanish to English. It isn't always possible. What's 'Tengo 20 años' - I'm 20 'Vamos a tomar una cerveza. - Let's go for a beer / Let's have a beer Tengo hambre / sueño - I'm hungry / sleepy Perdí el autobus - I missed the bus It's normal to translate when you first start learning a language, but try to stop doing it as soon as possible and start thinking in English. Common mistakes made by Spanish speakers: I like you - tu me gustas cocky, big-headed - arrogante, creído, engreído 'tener' is a problem, isn't it? - it doesn't necessarily translate to 'I have' tengo calor - I'm hot tengo sed - I'm thirsty (pronunciation /thirstee) ¡Ten cuidado! - Be careful! (Take care? - Cuídate) tienes suerte - you're lucky tengo frío - I'm cold tengo prisa - I'm in a hurry tengo miedo de/a - I'm afraid of... What are you afraid of? tienes razón - you're right (the 3 most useful words in any marriage!) Yes dear, you're right! I'm bored / I'm boring The film is boring - I am bored (by the film) - 'ed' adjectives are passive. 'ing' adjectives are active. This podcast is interested or interesting? You are interested by the podcast. XThe people is very kind.X - a person IS... / people ARE.... 'people' is the plural noun. 'person' is the singular noun. 'I brought my books here to help you.' NOT....Xto helpingX NOT Xfor to helpX It's the 'infinitive of purpose' (WHY?) : I brought my books here. - Why? to help you. I took a pen - Why? to write something. I took a chair. - Why? to sit down. I opened the door. - Why? to go out. Why did you listen to Aprender Inglés con Reza y Craig? to improve my English Why did Reza go there today? To podcast with Craig. TAKE and LAST It TAKES Reza 40 minutes to get to Craig's house. A podcast LASTS about 30 minutes. (the duration of the podcast is about 30 minutes) X"Can you explain me how to use the verb get?X Can you explain how to use... OR Can you explain TO ME how to use....OR Can you TELL ME how to use... TELL and SAY You usually SAY SOMETHING but you TELL SOMEONE ...but there are exceptions: TELL the truth TELL a lie TELL a story TELL a joke etc. "I SAID TO my boss..." OR "I TOLD my boss." XThere are much differents things to do in my town.X - There are many different things to do in my town. Adjectives do not agree with the noun in English. - No 'S'!! XI didn’t write nothing.X - "I didn't write anything." or "I wrote nothing." Can you think of more common mistakes? Send us an email to craig@inglespodcast.com or to Reza at belfastreza@gmail.com, or send us a voice message through our website. Just click the orange button on the home page. The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later' There are more podcasts to improve your English on our website at http://www.inglespodcast.com/ |