February 2011

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.

Podcast Transcription

Hello! How are you? I’m fine. Thank you for downloading this Mansión Inglés podcast, recorded for February 2011.

En el nivel básico este mes hemos tenido vocabulario en distintos grupos como los adjetivos, los idiomas, los colores etc. Escucha y repite los grupos y las palabras:

adjectives – small; big; cheap; expensive; strong; weak

ordinal numbers (los numeros ordinales) – first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth. Su habitación esta en el septimo planta. - Your room is on the 7th floor. Repeat: the 7th floor - on the 7th floor - Your room is on the 7th floor. - Vivo en la segunda planta. - I live on the 2nd floor. Repeat: the 2nd floor – on the 2nd floor - I live on the 2nd floor

Next was the preposition group – las preposiciónes. ¿Te acuerdas de las preposiciones? - Do you remember any prepositions? – on – en español “en” “ponlo en la mesa o ponlo sobre la mesa – put it on the table - put it on the table. Repeat: on the table – put it – put it – put it on – los sonidos se juntan. No se dice “put it on” se dice “putiton”. Repeat: put it on – put it on the table.

La preposición in también puede significar “en” for example en Japón – in Japan – Está en una reunión, está reunido – He’s in a meeting. Repeat: a meeting – in a – in a meeting – He’s in a meeting.

Between – entre, entre 80 y 100 invitados. - Between 80 and 100 guests – Nada podrá separarnos – nothing can come between us.

The preposition at – No me llames a la oficina. - Don’t phone me at the office – me sonrió. - He smiled at me.

Another group (otro grupo) was surnames – apellidos. Tu nombre de pila, in English, is your first name. Repeat: first name. What’s your first name o What’s your name? Your apellido is your family name or surname. Repeat: surname.

The next group was colours. Listen to the colours in Spanish and say the English translation before I do. Escucha a los colores en español y di la traducción en inglés antes que lo digo yo. Ready? ¿Listo?

Rojo – red; rosa – pink: verde – green; marrón – brown, negro – black; amarillo – yellow; blanco – white; azúl – blue; naranja – orange

Los verbos auxiliares – auxiliary verbs. Repite: Do – Where do you live? - Can – can you speak Spanish? – does – Where does your husband work? – Have – Have you been to London?

Los verbos principales – speak – hablar – play – jugar – write – escribir – eat – comer etc.

What are the four seasons in English? - ¿Qué son los cuatro estaciones en ingés? ¿Invierno? – winter, ¿verano? – summer, ¿primavera? – spring, and ¿otoño? – autumno or fall. Se dice autumn A-U-T-U-M-N en el inglés Británico y fall – F-A-L-L en el inglés americano.

Another Group was languages. A person from Spain speaks Spanish. A person from England speaks English. A person from Italy? Speaks Italian. What does a person from Sweden speak? Swedish. Someone from Germany speaks German. A person from France speaks French. Someone from Russia speaks Russian and someone from Holland speaks Dutch. A person from Brazil speaks Portuguese, and so does someone from Portugal.

Another group was public buildings – los edificios publicos. ¿Como se dice la oficina de correos en ingles? How do you say correos en inglés? It’s the post office. Repeat: The post office. Excuse me, where’s the post office?

La comisaría, la estación de policía is the police station. Repeat: The police station. Excuse me, where’s the police station?

Ayuntamiento is the town hall. Repeat: the town hall

La biblioteca – the library Repeat: the library. Excuse me where’s the library?

El hospital - The hospital. Repeat: Hospital. ?Donde esta el hospital? Where’s the hospital? Please take me to the hospital.

Next we studied a bit of grammar – También hemos practicado un poco de gramática. Escucha y repite las frases para practicar la pronunciación y la entonación.

Escucha y repite:

Whose is this iPod? Whose – de quién - Whose is this iPod? iPod = iPod, iPad = iPad

It’s mine. – Es mio - It’s mine.

His sister is 23 years old. She’s 23. No se dice X”she has 23”X eso es Spanglish. Ella tiene 23 años – “She’s 23” or “She’s 23 years old.” Repeat: “She’s 23” “She’s 23 years old.” I’m 47. How old are you? - How old are you? Repeat: How old are you?

Who’s that woman? El “who” y el “is” se juntan – Who’s. !Ojo¡ - de quién whose – W-H-O-S-E y la contraciónd de “Who is” = who’s – W-H-O’-S la pronunciation es la misma. Repeat: Who’s that woman? - She’s David’s boss.

Have you ever been to Italy? - ¿alguna vez has estado en Italia? – Repeat: Have you ever…Have you ever been…Have you ever been to France? Nota que se dice TO France y no XinX France. Repeat: Have you ever been to Paris? Have you ever been to Rome? Have you ever been to Greece? Have you ever been to Scotland? Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.

Pepito hates going to the beach. Despues de los verbos hate = odiar, love = querer, amar, like = gustar etc, es común poner un gerundio. Repeat: I hate going to the beach; I love cooking at the weekend; I like listening to music.

What did you do last night? Repeat: Last night – do last night – didyou – didyou – What didyou - What did you do last night?

I’m a vegetarian. Vegetarian tiene 5 silabas Escucha: ve-ge-TA-ri-an. ¿Qué silaba lleva el stress? Qué se oye lo más fuerte? vegetarian. Es la tercera – the third syllable. Listen and repeat: ve-ge-TA-ri-an - ve-ge-TA-ri-an Are you a vegetarian? I’m a vegetarian. I don’t want any meat. No quiero carne – Repeat: meat - any meat. - want any meat. - don’t want any meat. - I don’t want any meat. - I don’t want any meat.

What would you like to drink? Repeat: drink - to drink (no se dice ‘too’, se dice ‘te’. Repite: to drink - like to drink? – would - would you - What would you - What would you like to drink? - What would you like to drink?

I’ll have a beer, please. Repeat: – a beer - I’ll have a beer - I’ll have a beer -I’ll have a beer, please. - I’ll have a Coke, please. - I’ll have a whiskey, please. - I’ll have a glass of wine, please.

In the intermediate section this month, we studied some common collocations. Listen and repeat to practise pronunciation.

To make a cancellation means to cancel (cancelar). I’d like to make a cancellation. Hello, I’m phoning to make a cancellation.

To make certain of something means to check that something is correct – to make sure. – I just wanted to make certain. I’d like to make absolutely certain that it will be ready on Tuesday.

To take a chance means to try something risky (correr un riesgo) I’ll take a chance. I’m not sure he’ll be in his office, but I’ll take a chance. You’re taking a chance flying with Ryan Air you know!

To make a claim – reclamar. I’d like to make a claim. If you want to make a claim, please fill in this form.

To make a complaint means quejarse “I’d like to make a complaint. Can I speak to the manager? Excuse me, who should I speak to to make a complaint?

To make a concession (una concesión). I think we should make a concession and meet them halfway.

To make contact with someone means to establish communication with them. They made contact with us by email. Have you made contact with him yet?

To make demands on someone means exigir. In my opinion, they’re making excessive demands. They’re making a lot of demands on us.

To make a discovery is to discover something. She made a wonderful discovery last week. Scientists have made an important discovery.

To make an enquiry means to ask. Excuse me, I’d like to make an enquiry. Hello, I’m calling to make some enquiries about your new products.

Also in the intermediate section, we looked at ‘ed’ and ‘ing’ adjectives.

Bored and boring can both be adjectives. This podcast is really boring. So how do you feel if the podcast is boring? You feel bored. You’re bored by the podcast. So think of the –ed adjective as passive, and the –ing adjective as active because it does something to you. The film is really interesting. If the film is interesting you are…….interested. If the film is frightening, you are…. frightened, etc.

Listen and repeat:

The film was boring. I was bored.

I felt really relaxed. The massage was relaxing.

We were totally satisfied. The meal was very satisfying.

I was so annoyed. It was very annoying.

The music was enchanting. We were absolutely enchanted.

I was disgusted. The kitchen was disgusting.

I was very amused. The film was really amusing.

We felt quite depressed. The news was very depressing.

I was moved by the story. It was so moving.

I felt terrified. It was a terrifying situation.

I’m really annoyed with my neighbour. He’s very…….annoying.

I was disgusted when he picked his nose during the interview. It was a disgusting thing to do.

I feel completely relaxed after I meditate. Meditation is so relaxing.

I was depressed for months after my grandmother died. Death is so depressing.

Oswaldo asked a pronunciation question on Facebook recently. His question was “Would you please help me with the difference between can and can't, because when I hear ‘can’ and can’t the pronunciation is almost the same for me.” Well, thank you for your question Oswaldo. So, when you want to hear the difference between the positive ‘can’ and the negative ‘can’t’, don't listen for the ‘t’, the /t/ sound, at the end of can’t because it isn't always pronounced clearly. Listen for the vowel sound (el sonido vocal). 'Can' has a short vowel sound (like the /æ/ in 'cat' or the /ə/ sound, the 'er' at the end of 'mother', ‘father’, ‘sister’, ‘teacher’, ‘brother’ etc.). 'Can't' has a long vowel sound (like the /ɑː/ in 'car'). Of course, pronunciation changes with different accents (American, Australian, Scottish etc), but I believe it’s easier to listen for the vowel sound in can and can’t than the final ‘t’ in can’t. Listen to some sentences and say if you hear the positive ‘can’ - puedo or the negative ‘can’t’ – no puedo. 1. I can’t hear you (can’t - negative) 2. I can see you on Friday. (can – positive) 3. Pepito can’t speak Russian. (can’t - negative) 4. My dad can’t use computers very well. (can’t - negative) 5. He can write emails, though. (can – positive) 6. We can meet up with you for lunch next Sunday. (can – positive)

We hoped you enjoyed the song by Paul Simon in the advanced section this month.

There was a grammar exercise, too. Listen and repeat the following sentences.

I went to the optician to have my glasses fitted. The causative ‘have’. You don’t fit your glasses yourself, do you? No you have them fitted by an optician. Do you fill your own teeth? No, you have a tooth filled (a filling is un empaste). Some people have their flat cleaned, they have their car washed or serviced (a car service es una revisión del coche), some people have their clothes dry cleaned, they may have their ears pierced, or have their flat painted, their rugs cleaned and most people don’t cut their own hair, they have their hair cut. You can also use get instead of have; I must get my hair cut. I should get my car serviced this month.

Clothes fit you. Fit is size and suit, the verb S-U-I T is when it looks good on you. Maybe the shirt is your size so it fits you. But perhaps the colour or the style is not right for you so it doesn’t suit you.

I’ve always wanted to take up scuba diving. The phrasal verb to take up means to start doing something new, a hobby or a sport. I’m thinking of taking up digital photography. Is there anything new you’d like to take up? Personally, I’ve always wanted to take up skiing. I’ve never been skiing. Scuba diving is buceo in Spanish. SCUBA is an acronym. It stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

It makes no difference to me whether we go out tonight or not. – It makes no difference - da lo mismo, es igual – It makes no difference. It makes no difference to me where we eat. I don’t care - It makes no difference - It makes no difference what you wear.

We saw quite a few wild animals when we went to Kenya. Quite a few – bastantes. It took me quite a few hours. – There were quite a few mistakes. – We went to quite a few different cities.

To wait for someone. - He’s late as usual. I don't think we should wait for

him. If you wait on someone you do things for them, like a waiter or waitress. – server a alguién. - “Make your own bloody sandwich. I’m not gonna wait on you!”

Are you going in for the competition? To go in for a competition means presentarse a un concurso. I’m going in for a dancing competition. Of course if you go in for a competition you take part in a competition. To take part in something = participar

Now, listen and repeat these expressions and sentences from the business English section:

To be made redundant means to lose your job, bit it’s not your fault – no tienes la culpa – it’s not because you’re a bad employee. Many people are losing their jobs at the moment because of the economic crisis. Compamies are cutting back – reducing – their workforce or staff (personal, plantilla) My brother-in-law was made redundant from a company in the UK 12 years ago. He got a lot of redundancy money (indemnización). He took voluntary redundancy (retiro voluntario). If you are a bad worker; always late, sleeping at your desk, taking too many days off sick etc, you are likely to be sacked or fired. You may get the sack. Repeat: He was sacked – He got the sack – He was fired – He lost his job – He was made redundant – He was laid off.

To be hired means to be given a job. He was hired by a software company. The phrasal verb to take on has a similar meaning. Ford have taken on 300 new employees. To be taken on - contratado – to take on = contratar - Our school has taken on 12 new teachers this year.

To finish a letter or an email in a very formal way, use Yours faithfully if you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to. Use Yours sincerely if you know the person’s name. So Dear Mr. Smith – Yours sincerely. Dear Sir or Madam – Yours faithfully. Dear John Williams – Yours sincerely. The way I remember this is “Never be sincere with a person you don’t know.” You can be faithful, but don’t be sincere if you don’t know their name. Of course, if the letter is informal, you have many possibilities. Best wishes, All the best, Regards, Kind regards, Best regards etc. remember the comma. All of these are neutral. Then, Lots of love, Kisses, Take care, Much love, Hugs (abrazos), are for your closest friends and family.

When you meet someone for the first time in a formal situation like a business meeting or a job interview, say ‘How do you do’ - ‘How do you do’ - . If someone says ‘How do you do” to you, the correct reply is “How do you do.”, The same. It’s just something you say, like “Encantado” in Spanish. “Nice to meet you”, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” and “Pleased to meet you” are also acceptable. “What’s up?”, “How’s it hanging, dude?” and other informal greetings are not suitable in a formal situation.

To pick someone up means recoger or buscar. - I'll pick you up at the airport - Te iré a recoger al aeropuerto. What’s the opposite of to pick someone up in this context? …..to drop someone off – dejar or entregar - I'll drop you off at your house, - Te dejaré en casa – Can you drop off the report at my flat tomorrow? - I’ll drop you off at your hotel. Can you pick me up at the airport and drop me off at my hotel? He dropped me off at the station.

To pick up can also mean ligar con algn. I picked up a great looking girl in a bar last night. She tried to pick me up.

'I'm afraid I have a bad line' means that the telephone connection is bad. If someone asks you to hold the line, they want you to wait - esperar. “Please hold the line, sir.” –“Would you like to hold?”

When you’re making a presentation, use words like Firstly, secondly, after that, finally etc to signpost your presentation. To signpost means indicar, señalizar or maybe destacar. You want to tell your audience where they are in your presentation. You don’t want to lose your audience. Here’s an example:

Firstly, let me remind you that you can buy a Business English cd from our website at mansioningles.com. It costs 34 euros and it’s full of business vocabulary, listening exercises and business expressions.

Secondly, I’d like you to know that we have many other fantastic cds for sale on our product page. Just click the cd icon on the right hand side of our homepage.

Thirdly, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at MansionTwit and also join our growing community of teachers and students on Facebook. Search for La Mansión del Inglés.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for listening and for downloading this podcast, and I hope you all have a great month. So, until next month take care, Bye for now!

Puedes ver el cuaderno mensual de febrero 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. Also music by Ben Othman from his album Intellectuel. Creative Commons licence from Jamendo.com