If you are a new listener to this award-winning podcast, welcome! 

We'll help you improve your English and take it to the next level.
Today we are joined by Martin.

In this episode: The Order of Adjectives Before a Noun

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

This week’s feedback: Alfredo (audio feedback)

Alfredo asks how he can improve his accent. People say that when he speaks English he has a strong Italian accent. How can he improve this?

Don't worry about your Italian accent, Alfredo. The most important thing is that people understand you when you speak.

It tickles my fancy = it appeals to me, I like it

The Order of Adjectives Before a Noun

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:

He’s a fat old man. (not Xold fatX)
She's an attractive, French businesswoman.
Martin's got an old, yellow bike.

colour blind - daltónico

We usually have one or two adjectives before a noun. Three is unusual:

This is a boring, expensive, thick English text book.

Adjectives usually (but not always) come in this order:

1. Opinion
2. Size
3. Age
4. Shape
5. Colour
6. Origin (nationality)
7. Material

Other Qualities could include, for example, thin (Thickness), light (Weight), warm (Clothes), etc.

A warm leather jacket.
A beautiful warm day.

bulky - voluminoso/a

A heavy, bulky Swiss suitcase

Numbers come first:

One lovely German woman.
six large eggs.
half a dozen free-range eggs.
My second big chance

Use commas when there’s more than one adjective: A wonderful, long, relaxing holiday. (but sometimes commas are not used with short, common adjectives: lovely blue eyes, a tall dark stranger.)

Occasionally, adjectives come AFTER nouns. for example in fixed expressions like 'president elect', 'secretary general', 'God Almighty!'

All things/Everything/Anything/Anywhere etc

All things culinary excite me; Anything Greek interests Mike.

Some adjectives CAN’T come before a noun. They come after the verb. (Predicative)

The boy is asleep/afraid/awake/alone/alike/alright. (NOT “the asleep/alone/etc. boy”)

Most begin with letter “a______”

Practice

house (modern, attractive)
dog (black, huge)
day (lovely, sunny)
nose (red, large)
face (round, friendly)
phone (expensive, Japanese)
car (new, sports, red)
boots (leather, black, sexy)
table (modern, glass, ugly)

Discussion

Describe the following (using no more than 2 adjectives):

your flat
the clothes you’re wearing
one another! Martin/Craig/Reza
Valencia
the room we're in
our favourite possession
your last holiday
your first girlfriend/boyfriend
your wife/husband/current partner (if different to above!!)
Inglespodcast.com…

...and now it's your turn to practise your English. We want you to tell us......Send us a voice message and describe something using our examples and the correct order of adjectives. speakpipe.com/inglespodcast.

Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.

On next week's episode: Q & A - Answering the many questions you have sent us by email or speakpipe.

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/  

On next week's episode:

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

Past Perfect Simple and Continuous with Mike Hardinge - AIRC91

If you are a new listener to this award-winning podcast, welcome! I'm Craig. I’m Reza.
With over 40 years of teaching between us, we'll help you improve your English and take it to the next level.
Welcome Mike! [44 years, so that totals 84 years of teaching experience between us!]

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

In this episode: The past perfect simple and continuous with special guest Mike Hardinge

What is the Past Perfect?

Use: The Past Perfect is the past before the past. When we are already talking about the past and we want to talk about an earlier past time.
It can be in a Simple or Continuous/Progressive form.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

Something that happened before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.
Focus tends to be on the completion of the action/state, not the continuity of it.

Form: had/ ’d + past participle (had eaten, had been, had forgotten, had seen etc)

Let’s see where the past perfect simple fits in. To do this we have to look at a much more ‘important’ tense ‘the past simple’.
The past simple forms the basis of a narrative; it gives us a sequence of events:

Maybe last night
(1) you stayed up (didn’t go to bed) to watch a film and (2) went to bed too late. In the morning, (3) you didn’t hear your alarm.
(4) You woke up late. (5) You got dressed in an awful hurry, (6) didn’t have breakfast and (7) rushed out of the house.
Then (8) you realised you HAD FORGOTTEN your keys.

The verbs in the story have a ‘fixed’ order, except for ‘had forgotten’, which takes us back to before or during when (5) you got dressed - maybe you put on another jacket or before (7) you rushed out of the house - you didn’t check to see if you had your keys.

Past perfect simple usually takes us back to a previous stage of a narrative.

It is very useful for giving reasons:

You couldn’t get back into your house (why?) because you HAD FORGOTTEN your keys.
or obviously it could be a negative action, an action not taken, which is the case here:
you couldn’t get back into your house because you HADN'T TAKEN your keys.

If you had gone to bed at the right time, none of this would have happened.

Examples: When Mike arrived, we had already recorded a podcast
I’d never seen such an excellent system for learning phrasal verbs before I saw Mike’s CD.
After she’d studied Mike’s phrasal verb CD, she understood the subject much better.
We’d had our old printer for 8 years before we bought that new one. (two ‘hads’. “ ’d” = “had”)

Question:(different word order) Had you ever won an award before you won in Manchester last year?
Negative: (with NOT) I hadn’t/had not studied Spanish, before I came to Spain.

Reza arrived late. By the time he arrived, we had already ordered our food from the waiter.
As soon as he’d lit/he had lit his cigarette, the bus arrived at the stop.
No sooner had he lit (OBLIGATORY INVERSION) his cigarette than the bus arrived at the stop.
Reza and Craig spoke about INVERSION in episode 78 ( http://www.inglespodcast.com/2015/11/22/sentence-inversions-airc78/ )

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Use: Focus tends to be on the continuity of the activity/process. Something that started in the past and continued up to a particular time in the past.
Can be used for more temporary actions/situations or a repeated action or a longer action interrupted by another action. Often there’s evidence that the action had been continuing more or less up to point.

I HAD LIVED in Salamanca for two years before I came to Valencia. (use simple to stress the completed action)
I HAD BEEN LIVING in Salamanca for two years before I came to Valencia. (use continuous to stress the continuity of an action that may, or may not, be unfinished)

Present perfect simple: I HAVE READ fifteen books this year. (focus on the number of books completed)
Present perfect continuous: I'VE BEEN READING the last Harry Potter book and I can't understand a word. (focus on the continuous action)

Past perfect simple: Valencia HAD BEEN PLAYING very well before the new manager.
Past perfect continuous: Valencia HAD WON 15 games before the new manager.

Form: had/ ’d been + -ing form of the verb

Back to MIke's forgotten keys story. You can’t have a bare narrative with no description and maintain interest, so:

Last night....
(1) you stayed up (didn’t go to bed) to watch a film. IT WAS A REALLY GREAT FILM ABOUT DRAGONS AND MONSTERS AND HEROES WERE FLYING ABOUT ALL OVER THE PLACE. As a result,
(2) you went to bed too late. THE BED WASN’T MADE BUT YOU WERE TOO TIRED TO WORRY. In the morning,
(3) you didn’t hear your alarm. THIS WAS HARDLY SURPRISING.
(4) You woke up late.
(5) You got dressed in an awful hurry, THE ROOM WAS IN A TERRIBLE MESS, THINGS WERE LYING EVERYWHERE.
(6) You didn’t have time for any breakfast and you
(7) rushed out of the house, like a bat out of hell. It was only after you HAD CLOSED the door that
(8) you realised you HAD FORGOTTEN your keys.

Description with WAS, WERE, HAD or PAST CONTINUOUS makes the narrative more palatable (rico/a, apetitoso/a).

The past perfect continuous can add to this description.

YOU HAD BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD AND WANTED TO GIVE YOURSELF A TREAT, so you stayed up to watch a film….you didn’t hear your alarm.
You woke up late. ACTUALLY YOU HADN'T BEEN SLEEPING VERY WELL RECENTLY...YOU HADN’T BEEN LIVING IN THE FLAT FOR VERY LONG.

The past perfect continuous is very useful for giving background description to a story, in a similar way as the past continuous tense.

Compare: When I woke up yesterday it was raining. - The rain was falling when I woke up
When I woke up yesterday it had been raining. - The rain wasn’t falling when I woke up. It had (recently) stopped. The ground was still wet.

Use the past perfect in 3rd conditional 'if' sentences:

If I hadn't drunk so much whisky on Saturday night, I wouldn't have felt so bad on Sunday morning.

If Craig HAD GOT MARRIED when he was 22, he'd have had a family at a very yound age.
If Reza HADN'T STAYED in Valencia, he might have gone to Sardinia.
If Mike's parents HAD TAKEN him abroad when he was really young, he would have learnt another language.
If Mike HADN'T BROUGHT his daughter to Spain, she wouldn't have learnt Spanish.

ITALKI AD READ

The past perfect is also used in reported speech:

"I HAD never MET Mike before I started working at the school." - Craig said that he HAD never MET Mike before he started working at the school.

It's often ok to use the past simple instead of the past perfect, especially when there is a time expression:

Bill had been married twice before he met Susan. (past perfect) - Bill was married twice before he met Susan. (past simple)

Time expressions

Mike's Basque Beret (boina)

"I haven't seen Mike's beret before." / "I haven't seen Mike in a beret before."
"It's the first time I have seen Mike's beret." / "It's the first time I have seen Mike in a beret."

Looking back, and talking about the past, you could say, "It was the first time I had seen Mike's beret." / "It was the first time I had seen Mike in (or wearing) a beret."

It's three months since I spoke English / It's three months since I've spoken English.

It was three months since he had spoken English.

More time expressions often used with the past perfect: by the time, before, after, as soon as, no sooner.....than....., up to then/that moment

and 'because' for giving reasons: "He was very dirty BECAUSE he had just been walking in the rain."

Craig went to bed early last night because he'd been exercising and he was very tired.

Practice

Tell a story and use the past perfect.

Craig: You are a Zombie.
Reza: You woke up naked on a park bench this morning. (to cut a long story short - "en resumen", "resumiendo", "y te la hago corta".....)
Mike: You started speaking fluent Chinese for no apparent reason. (the long and the short of it is....."en resumen", "resumiendo", "y te la hago corta".....)

Thanks Mike! You can find Mike's website and his CD on how to learn phrasal verbs at: http://mikehardinge.com/

...and now it's your turn to practise your English. We want you to practise the past perfect and record yourself saying 4 or 5 sentences using the past perfect. Mix it up with past perfect simple and past perfect continuous and make sure the sentences are true for you. Or tell us a real or imaginary story similar to ours. Send us a voice message at speakpipe.com/inglespodcast (90 seconds - need an app for mobile)

Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.

Please show us some iTunes love. Write a review, give us some stars on iTunes.
If you do that, we become more visible and more people can find us. Show us some love.

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

If you are a new listener to this award-winning podcast, welcome!
With over 40 years of teaching between us, we'll help you improve your English and take it to the next level.

In this episode: How to avoid personal questions

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

Congratulations to Beatriz Asensi Gallardo on passing the FCE exam! You are an FCE girl now!

Listener Feedback: Rafael
Reza, tú lo haces bastante bien lo de pronunciar español, sin embargo a Craig si, que le cuesta un poco más, y no acabo de entenderlo porque a veces he oído los años que lleva Craig en España, ¡y son muchos!
Creo que alguna vez habéis dicho que lleváis desde 1998....a veces pienso en ello y me imagino viviendo en Inglaterra tantos años y (creo) que hablaría inglés como un nativo....
(bueno, tampoco estoy muy seguro de ello) os pido perdón, porque la mayoría de las veces os escribo en español, pero, aunque os lo entiendo todo....no soy capaz de "colocar este rollo" (get this out/across) en inglés....
Bueno, espero que Craig no se moleste con mi comentario y si fuera así, le pido disculpas por adelantado...Un saludo afectuoso, Rafael

Hi Craig and Reza,
How are you doing? I'm Pepe Calvo, a 51 years old (51-year-old) self-taught English student. I started to learn English on my own in my mid-forties and thanks to the Internet and the help from podcasts like yours I think I'm getting it.
From the beginning I also started to practise with English natives, who are retired and live nearby, and it was tough but now I'm really proud to be able to follow a conversation more or less fluently.

I don't spend any time studying, nor do I do exercises and things like that, I think the key is to listen to English - the more you can, the better, and in addition, speak, read, write and watch
(documentaries are my favourites) in English as much as you can. I call it "my little linguistic immersion" and I think it works, doesn't it?
Nowadays, I am listening to your podcasts but I'm not up to date with them yet and I'm wondering if you’ve already got the ‘dulce de leche’ recipe, have you? If not, it is the least I can do for you to express my gratitude.
It is really easy, my mom used to make it when I was a kid, here you are:

https://cookpad.com/es/recetas/129294-dulce-de-leche-con-leche-condensada-en-olla-rapida

Thank you very, very much for your generosity sharing your work for free, it is a great help for people like me, I really appreciate it! I live in Tortosa, not too far from you, if there is something more I can do for you, you only have to ask.
Listen to you soon!

Compound adjectives

The journey lasts 3 hours - It's a three-hour journey
It's a 10 kilometre trip - The trip is 10 kilometres
How to avoid personal questions

How to avoid personal questions

What kind of questions, and in what kind of situations, could be difficult, inappropriate and/or embarrassing?

Filling in a form
applying for a service or product (online or face to face)
meeting someone for the first time and making small talk
job interviews

(to deflect - desviar)

Are the following expressions “Asking a personal question”(Q) or “Responding to a personal question”(R)?

Why do you ask? (R)
That’s got nothing to do with you. (R)
I know this is a bit personal, but... (Q)
Can I ask you a personal question? (Q)
That’s rather a personal question. (R)
I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…(Q)
I’m afraid that’s none of your business. (R)
I’d rather not answer that (if you don’t mind). (R)
I know this is a bit nosey, but…(Q) (nosey = entrometido/a, indiscreto/a, 'meter las narices')
Mind your own business! (R) SHOWS ANNOYANCE
I don’t mean to pry, but….(Q) - (to pry - entrometerse)
I’m sorry to say I’m not prepared to answer that. (R)
No comment. (R)
I don’t want/wish to comment on that. (R)
If you don’t mind m, I’d like to ask....(Q)
Would it bother you if I asked…(Q)
I’ll understand if you don’t want/wish to answer, but…(Q)
I’d rather you asked me something else. (R)
Forgive me for asking, but…(Q)
If it’s not too personal,...(Q)
Let’s change the topic, (shall we?) (R)
You’ve got some nerve asking that! (R) SHOWS ANNOYANCE
That’s for me to know (and you to find out - SHOWS PLAYFULNESS) (R)

Practice:

I know this is a bit nosey, but how much money do you earn? - Let's change the topic, shall we?
Forgive me for asking, but are you married? - I'd rather not answer that if you don't mind.
I don't mean to pry, but how much do you weigh? - Why do you ask? Perhaps we should move on to another topic.
I hope you don't mind me asking, but how much rent do you pay for your flat? - Why do you ask?
I hope you don't mind me asking, but have you ever taken drugs? - No comment!
Forgive me for asking, but how much did you pay for that shirt? - Let's change the topic.
How old are you? - Let's change the topic, shall we?
I know this is a bit nosey, but who did you vote for in the last election? - I'd rather not answer that, if you don't mind.
Have you got a boy/girlfriend?
Do you fancy anybody? / Do you have a crush on anybody?
I know this is a bit personal, but how many people have you slept with? - I'd rather not answer that, if you don't mind.
Did you sleep with her/him last night? - Mind your own business!!
How do you make your humous so tasty? What's your secret recipe/ingredient?
I don't want to pry, but what size trousers do you take? What size are you?

(to have a crush on someone - encapricharse con alguien)

Thank you to Mamen for sending audio feedback on our sponsor, italki.

Discussion:

Are there any other questions that you don’t like answering?

vague - vago/a, impreciso/a

...and now it's your turn to practise your English. We want you to tell us about a time when you were asked a personal question.
Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. speakpipe.com/inglespodcast

Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.

On next week's episode: The Past Perfect tense (simple and continuous) with special guest (and published author) Mike Hardinge

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

If you are a new listener to this award-winning podcast, welcome!
With over 40 years of teaching between us, Reza and Craig will help you improve your English and take it to the next level.
Grow your grammar, vocalize your vocabulary and perfect your pronunciation

In this episode: politics and government vocabulary

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

Listener Feedback: Gabriela (Peru - living in Australia)

Hi, Reza and Craig. I am from Peru, but at the moment I am living in Australia.
My native language is Spanish and now I am learning English and it's interesting.
Thank you for your help, I listen to your podcasts very often and I like how you explain all of the subjects.
Sorry for my mistakes in this message.
Can you speak about verb tenses? How do I know if I'm using the correct tenses in my speaking or writing? Thank you so much for your answer.

It's very difficult to speak about ALL of the verb tenses in English in one podcast episode, Gabriela. We suggest you go to inglespodcast.com and type in the verb tenses into the search box.
Listen to all the past episodes in which we have spoken about verb tenses.

False friend: estar constipado - to have a cold / to be constipated - estar estreñido

Politics and Government

Vocabulary:

politics - política (don't forget that the word 'politics' has an 's' in English)
politician - político
political - político
policy - política, plan de acción
government - gobierno (coalition - coalición - a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government.
"a coalition between Liberals and Conservatives")
to govern - gobernar
party - partido
Conservative Party - partido conservador - right-wing - de derecha
(very right-wing = fascist - fascista
Labour Party - partido laborista - left-wing - de izquierda
very left-wing = communist
liberal (líberal) - liberal
Republican Party - partido republicano
Democratic Party - partido demócrata
to run for president (to run for office) - ser candidato a presidente
democracy (n) - democracia
democrat - demócrata
democratic (adj.) - democrático
to elect - elegir
to vote - votar
(a general) election - elección (local/regional elections)
ballot - votación
campaign - campaña
candidate - candidato
electorate - electorado
(a government) minister - ministro
ministry - ministerio
opposition - oposición
parliament - parlamento
poll - encuesta, votación
poling station - the place where you vote in an election
referendum - referendum
socialist - socialista
capitalist - capitalista
nationalist - nacionalista
monarchist - monárquico
regionalist - regionalista

Italki ad reaad:

Questions:

How old were you when you first voted? - Reza was in his early 20s. Craig has never voted. (to abstain - abstenerse)

What characteristics should a good politician have? - Craig: honesty, motivating, idealistic, believe in the common good, serve the public
Reza: honesty, to keep their word.

Have your political views changed much during your lifetime? Reza: No, but he is more understanding these days. He would never let his political views get in the way of friendship.
Craig used to be very left wing. In recent years he's moved a little bit more to the right.
to strike - hacer huelga

Should voting be compulsory? Reza used to think so, but now he thinks people shouldn't be made to vote.

(Voting is compulsory in 22 states worldwide - 12 Latin American countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Congo, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Honduras, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nauru (the smallest state in the South Pacific), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Singapore, Thailand, Uruguay)

Would you vote for an actor or actress who campaigns for a government position? Reza would (if they were politically aware)

Do most people really care who runs the country as long as they have a high standard of living?

I'm going to lay my cards on the table - voy a mojarme (to lay your cards on the table - poner las cartas sobre la mesa)
Reza feels strongly that 65 people should not own half of the world's wealth. He thinks something should be done about that.

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? - Neither Reza nor Craig will be hoping that Donald Trump wins the US election.

...and now it's your turn to practise your English. We want you to tell us your opinion on politics and answer some of the questions that we asked in this podcast......Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. inglespodcast.com - speakpipe

Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.

On next week's episode: How to NOT answer personal questions!

Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/ 

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

Hello and welcome to Mansion Interviews, a podcast which gives me an excuse to talk to interesting people while at the same time improving your English.

Now today we're going to listen to a chat I had with the wonderfully interesting Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat who is an English teacher based in London, but I met her in Sitges, near Barcelona.

Shanthi has a wonderful blog and obviously we speak about that, and many other things besides, so let's not waste any time, let me introduce you to Shanthi from englishwithatwist.com.

You can improve your listening with comprehension questions and find some help with difficult words from this interview at inglespodcast.com/shanthi . I suggest you go to the webpage, look at the show notes because this episode with Shanthi is particularly rich in vocabulary.

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 

Vocabulary

to backtrack - retroceder, volver atrás
awkward - incómodo, torpe
vivacious - vivaz, animado
to frown upon - no ver con buenos ojos, estar mal visto
rusty - oxidado (my Italian is pretty rusty - me falta práctica en italiano, tengo el italiano muy olvidado)
to end up - terminar, acabar
from scratch - desde cero
to be thrown into the deep end - to be made to do something difficult without being prepared for it or being given any help
carefree - sin preocupaciones
to merge - fusionarse, unirse
to make redundant - despedir / to be made redundant - ser despedido (por reducción de plantilla), quedar sin trabajo
human resources - recursos humanos
handkerchief - pañuelo
to regurgitate - repetir mecánicamente
buzzword - palabra de moda
to come across - encontrarse con
patterns - pautas
to trigger an idea - desencadenar una idea
to come up with - inventarse
to embark (on) - embarcarse en, lanzarse
boost - levantar, alzar, incrementar
I can't stand - No puedo soportar
to waffle - decir chorradas, dar vueltas / to waffle on - enrollarse
how on earth...? - como demonios....?

Shanthi's blog post on setting language-learning goals:

http://englishwithatwist.com/2015/12/29/5-tips-on-how-to-make-and-keep-your-news-year-resolution-to-improve-your-english/

It was so much fun talking with Shanthi. Don't forget you can find her website, her blog and the services she offers at: englishwithatwist.com

Thank you to you for listening to this Mansion Interview. You can find more podcasts to improve your English at inglespodcast.com and you can study English free at mansioningles.com

If you enjoyed this podcast, please go to iTunes and give us some stars and maybe a short review so that more people can find our podcasts.

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