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 everyone! How are you? It’s good to be back with you again, and thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for July 2011.
Hemos empezado el cuaderno mensual de julio con los meses del año. No son muy difíciles por que muchos que suenen parecidos al español. Por ejemplo ¿Qué es el mes de November en español? Si, eso es noviembre. ¿and October? – Si, octobre. No olvides que hay que escribir los meses con una mayúscula en inglés. Ahora escucha los meses y repítelos.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
También hemos practicado un poco de los números ordinales.
Fifth – F-I-F-T-H es un número ordinal. Los ordinales en inglés se forman normalmente con sólo añadir la terminación -th. Excepto los tres primeros que son totalmente irregulares.
Escucha y repite:
First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh
Se usan los ordinales en inglés para los días del mes. Repite:
The first of May la preposición of se oye muy debil. Escucha y repite: The first of May - The first of May - The first of May
También se dice May the first
Repite: The second of June
June the second
It’s the third of December
It’s December the third
Se usa el ordinal en los títulos de los reyes. Repite:
King Juan Carlos the First
Alphonso the Thirteenth
Elizabeth the Second
King Henry the Eighth
También se usa el ordinal en las plantas de los edificios. Repite:
I live on the second floor
His office is on the third floor
Aquí hay más ejemplos. Escucha y repítelos:
This is my third job - This is my third job
It’s my sister’s thirtieth birthday.
Is she your first wife?
Is today the fourteenth or the fifteenth?
It’s our seventh anniversary tomorrow
The expensive shops are on Fifth Avenue
Very good! - ¡Muy bien!
Ahora escucha y repite las siguiente fechas:
The fifth of November, 1998
The second of February, 2005
The twenty-first of September, 2013
The twenty-third of April, 2011
The thirtieth of October, 2015
The twenty-second of May, 1999
The sixth of July, 2007
The first of March, 2014
Si quieres practicar más, hay ejemplos y ejercicios adicionales en la parte de gramática de nuestra página web mansioningles.com. Si prefieres aprende inglés con todo el contenido de nuestra web en un solo cd, incluyendo nuestros 3 cursos de inglés, compra La Mansión en CD por solo 24 Euros. Infórmate en mansioningles.com
The words like and as can be confusing for Spanish speakers because they can both be translated to Spanish as como .
I work as a waiter. Trabajo como un camerero.
They stared at him like he was crazy - Se quedaron mirándolo como si estuviera loco.
In the intermediate section this month, we practised some uses of like and as. Listen and repeat some example sentences.
This tastes just like chicken.
My sister works as a nurse.
Why are you standing there like an idiot?
I’m looking or a job, just like you.
No, not like that. Do it like this.
This looks like gold.
It smells like onions. - It smells like onions.
It sounds like Britney Spears.
I’m tired, as usual. I haven’t got any money, as usual.
I do it as a hobby.
I love adventure sports like rock climbing and snow boarding.
Next we had a look at gerunds and infinitives after verbs. Es decir, los gerundios y los infinitivos cuando vienen después de los verbos.
I’m going to say some verbs and I want you to say ‘gerund’ if the verb is followed by a gerund, and ‘infinitive’ if it’s followed by an infinitive. Let’s see how many you get right. Ready?
Ok, an easy one to begin with the verb want – gerund or infinitive? It’s infinitive. I want to go on holiday, I want to see you tomorrow. I want to say I love you.
Now, the verb enjoy? Gerund or infinitive? Well, enjoy is followed by a gerund. I enjoy going to parties. I enjoy playing tennis. We all enjoy studying English with Mansión Inglés, for example.
Now, what about the verb offer – ofrecer – gerund or infinitive? – infinitive – He offered to give me a lift to the airport. I offered to help her with her presentation. My boss offered to give me a rise in salary. Hmm.. actually I don’t think my boss would ever offer to give me a rise in salary. Hmm…actually, I don’t think my boss would ever offer to give me a rise in salary!
Next is the verb to happen – gerund or infinitive? Infinitive again. She happened to be there - dio la casualidad de que estaba ahí. In Spanish, the verb happen can mean pasar or suceder or ocurrir. But when happen is followed by an infinitive, it means por casualidad. - If you happen to see her… - si por casualidad la ves…
What about the verb refuse? – negarse or rechazar. Gerund or infinitive? – infinitive. She refused to see me. I refused to accept their offer. Are you refusing to do it?
What about mind? Like in the expression Would you mind? Gerund or infinitive? Gerund. Repeat: Would you mind phoning me back this afternoon? Would you mind helping me with this? Also ‘Do you mind..’. Repeat: Do you mind waiting a few minutes? Do you mind going by train?
What about the verb hope? Gerund or infinitive? Infinitive. Verbs that are used to speak about the future are usually followed by the infinitive. Repeat: I hope to retire when I’m 55. She hopes to change her car next year.
What about remind - recordarle? Remind is followed by the infinitive. Please remind me to phone David tomorrow. Notice that the object pronoun ME is after remind and before the infinitive. Remind me to phone. Repeat: She reminded me to phone her. – She reminded him to go. – They reminded us to buy etc.
Next we have the verb to admit. Gerund or infinitive? – gerund. Repeat: He admitted stealing the money – I admitted breaking the TV.
Agree? Gerund or infinitive? Infinitive. They agreed to go out for dinner. He’s agreed to lend me his video camera.
Suggest in Spanish is sugerir, proponer. Gerund or infinitive? Gerund. He suggested getting a pizza. They suggested leaving around 6 in the morning.
The verb to deny – negar – gerund or infinitive? Gerund. He denied making the mistake. She denied having an affair.
What about the verb consider? Consider is followed by a gerund. My wife and I are considering buying a house. I considered leaving my job.
And promise, to promise – is it followed by a gerund or an infinitive? – infinitive. I promise to phone you next week. Will you promise to always love me? She promised to tell me.
The verb to threaten in Spanish is amenazar. Gerund or infinitive? – Infinitive. He threatened to take us to court. She threatened to leave me.
Next was the verb to appreciate. Gerund or infinitive? Gerund. Repeat: I really appreciated spending time with you.
The verb to warn – W-A-R-N is advertir in Spanish. Gerund or infinitive? – infinitive. I warned you not to see him again. I’m warning you to stay away from her.
Afford means permitirse (el lujo) or proporcionar. Gerund or infinitive? – infinitive. I can’t afford to buy a new car. Can we really afford to go on holiday this year?
The verb advise? Gerund or infinitive? – Advise is followed by the infinitive. I advise you to make an offer on the flat. Notice that, like the verb to remind, the pronoun is between the verb and the infinitive. Repeat: They advised us to sell. She advised me to go. He advised her not to do it.
Our final verb is to help. Is help followed by a gerund or infinitive? – infinitive. I’ll help you to do it. Again, notice the pronoun YOU after the verb and before the infinitive. Repeat: He helped me to do it. She’s helping me to make the video. They helped us to move house.
Now, if you’re thinking of taking the Cambridge First Certificate exam, you need to study these gerunds and infinitives. You also need to prepare for the exam using 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 CDs icon on the right of the home page. 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.
In the advanced section this month we looked at some idioms. Let’s see what you can remember. I’m going to say the Spanish idiom in my horrible Spanish accent, and I want you to say the English equivalent in your excellent English accent. And to make it easier to jog your memory (para refrescarte la memoria – to jog your memory) I’ll say a key word that is in the English translation, to help you. Ready?
Ok, the first one is “No vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo”, or “No vendas la leche antes de comprar la vaca.” – CHICKENS - “Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
Another one:
“Dios los hace y ellos se juntan. or Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.” – BIRDS - “Birds of a feather flock together.”
Ok?
“No hay maestro como carne propia.” - EXPERIENCE - “Experience is the best teacher.”
“No hay mal que por bien no venga.” – CLOUD - “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
“Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.” – BUSH - "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
“Cuando el río suena, agua lleva.” – SMOKE - “Where there's smoke, there's fire.”
“A caballo regalado no se le miran los dientes” GIFT - "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
“Árbol que nace torcido, jamás su tronco endereza” – DOG - "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
How many did you remember? All of them? Well you can listen to this podcast again to jog your memory.
Now, in the business English section we practised the following words and expressions:
trade unions, to go on strike, technical support, personnel department, management, go slow, open-planned offices, an overtime ban, head office, office administration and industrial action.
I’m going to read the text from the monthly newsletter, el cuaderno mensual, and I want you to guess a word when I pause. Now, this is quite difficult so you may want to do the gap fill exercise in the newsletter before you listen, or just listen to the text two or three times. Try to remember the vocabulary and repeat it after me. Ready? Try to guess the word. Here we go!
In the Office
The people who work for a company are its employees or personnel. Other names include staff, workforce and workers. The word for the group of people organising and leading the company is the management.
The most important office of a company or organization is called its head office. Some managers have their own individual offices, but in many businesses most employees work in large areas where people work together, called open-planned offices.
Office administration (or admin) is the everyday work that supports a company’s activities and it is often done by administration staff or support staff. For example, those giving technical help to buyers of the company’s products are in technical support.
Labour unions (in Spanish sindicatos) are organizations defending the rights and interests of the workers. In British English, they are called trade unions.
When workers are not happy with pay or conditions, they may take industrial action. If the workers walk out of their workplace and stop working for a time (hacer una huelga), they go on strike.
Workers may decide not to go on strike, but instead to continue to work, but slower than usual, they have a go slow. Another kind of industrial action is where workers refuse to work more than the normal agreed number of hours that appear in their contract. This is called an overtime ban,
Larger organizations have what is called a human resources department, or HRD. This department deals with pay, recruitment etc. Another name for this department is the personnel department.
Well, that’s it for this week. Thanks to all of you for listening. If you want to contact us, you can find us on Facebook. Just search Facebook for La Mansión del Inglés and join our ever growing community of 13,000 or so fans. Or send an email to mansionteachers@yahoo.es. And you can also follow us on Twitter. Our Twitter name is MansionTwit.
You can sign up for our cuaderno mensual and see all the previous newsletters and podcasts by clicking on the link on the Mansion Ingles home page.
Until next month then, take care and keep practising English! Bye!
Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de julio 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.