martes, 4 de noviembre de 2014

Phrase of the day with an explanation of it's origin 

Today's phrase is a phrasal verb with a sports origin.

To keep it up

Definition:
To persevere at a task and to continue in the same way.


Origin:
In Victorian times playing badminton was very popular in the summer in the garden. The shuttlecock needs to be kept up in the air at all times and so the phrase "keep it up" was shouted to encourage the players to continue a rally.

jueves, 23 de octubre de 2014

An interesting article which shows the differences between American English and British English:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/mar/12/english-to-english-translating-cultural-divide?CMP=fb_us
Phrase of the day with an explanation of it's origin

Today's phrase is a phrasal verb with a nautical origin.

To be taken aback

Definition:
When someone has been really surprised by something unexpected and it stops them in their tracks.


Origin:
'Aback' is a nautical term for when there is a sudden change in the direction of the wind which flattens the sails against the mast. This can mean that sailing boats and especially the old tall square-rigged ships will be slowed down or even blown backwards.



miércoles, 16 de abril de 2014

Looking for business English or useful phrases for your presentation?

Sometimes you need to have just the right phrase for your presentation or vocabulary to compose a business letter or e-mail. On this site you might find exactly what you're looking for. Business English

jueves, 20 de marzo de 2014

Do you need listening practise? Do you love music?

Go to http://en.lyricstraining.com/ and listen to 1000s of English songs and learn while you listen by filling in the missing words.


A few tips....


English songs use a lot of incorrect English so be careful not to pick up bad habits but it is useful to recognise these words as they are used a lot in coloquial speech:


wanna = want to
gonna = going to
´cause = because
ain´t = isn´t/it´s not

We love the Brits… they stop at zebra crossings!



We love the Brits… they stop at zebra crossings!
• The two nations have ties that have lasted centuries





THE British love Spain. Fact.
The property market may be suffering and the press may be full of stories about how we are all desperate to go home, but don’t be fooled.
The truth is us Britons show no signs of falling out of love with Spain – and the claims that a third of us want to go home are, quite frankly, well wide of the mark.
Spain is by far the number one choice for Brits seeking a place in the sun and even those who choose not to live here keep coming back on holiday. Well, around 12 million of us, at least, each year as it happens.
Coming primarily for the beaches, we are also here for the culture, the food and wine, with cities like Sevilla, Salamanca and Madrid, brimming with British tourists.
This is all, of course, well catalogued… with writers such as British author George Orwell writing in Homage to Catalonia: “I would sooner be a foreigner in Spain than in most countries. How easy it is to make friends in Spain.”
What is less well known however, is that the love affair flows two ways.
Despite centuries of wars and hegemony, the two nations have now forged a long-lasting bond that ties them, imperturbably, together.
And furthermore, the Spanish actually have a fondness for the English that far exceeds tolerating us for spending vast sums of money in their bars.
As many as 71,000 Spaniards have now officially made their home in the UK, a figure that is rising as the Spanish are forced to go searching for jobs. On top of this, at any one time there could be at least another 100,000 Spaniards living a footloose life, many in West London.
While Brits in Spain are taken by sun, sea, sand and sangria, etc, the Spanish are mostly seduced by our music, football…. and the fact we actually stop at zebra crossings!
On top of this, according to online forums, the Spanish like our television programmes – in particular comedy – as well as the concept of being an English gentleman.
“I love the traditions and the values in the UK,” explains Jose Ramos Paul, a winemaker from Ronda. “The British are patriotic and look out for themselves.
“And I love how much they support the monarchy.”
He continues: “Of course there is a history war and both of us had empires that brought us into conflict but we have supported one another when it was needed.
“I have a lot of English friends and I think the relationship between Spain and England is very good now. In fact, I would argue it is the one of the countries we have the strongest relationship with. We understand one another.”
Much of this can be put down to the monarchy, as it happens, with the Queen of England actually being a cousin of Queen Sofia of Spain.
When speaking about the close bond between the royal families Queen Elizabeth II actually once remarked that ‘all four of us’ – referring to herself, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Spanish king and queen – ‘are the great grandchildren of Queen Victoria’.
Relations between the two families go back more than eight centuries however, even before the establishment of the current Bourbon dynasty in Spain and Hanover in Britain.

The two families were related by marriage for the first time in 1170, when the daughter of Henry II (of England), Eleanor, married King Alfonso VIII of Castile.
“There are a lot of connections between the two countries,” explains Gonzalo del Rio y Gonzalez-Gordon, from Carmona, whose family has run the famous Gonzalez Byass sherry house in Jerez for 176 years.
“A lot of English people are partners with Spaniards in business and I think the two countries have a wonderful relationship from business to personal relationships.
“My great granddad actually married a Scottish lady and despite the English being Saxons and the Spanish being Latin, it works well.
“I like the English culture, the customs, the education, and, above all, the way you understand honour and principles.
“I certainly think most Spaniards like the English and we have a good future.”
British expat writer Chris Stewart agrees.
The Driving Over Lemons author, who insists he will only ever ‘leave Spain in a box’, insists: “The British and Spanish get along pretty well.
“We were sworn enemies for a long while, of course, and the relationship has been up and down but I think it is in a good phase at the moment.
He continues: “We have certainly had no trouble at all being accepted into the local community and it has been that way from the beginning.
“I would like to think we are well thought of. I certainly think well of them,” he adds.
“The cheap booze and the sunshine is a big attraction but there are also more profound things. There is a cultural connection.
“Spain has always had something exotic about it.
“Now everyone wears the same things but it has still retained a hint of exoticism that you see through things like bullfighting. There is a certain otherness but at the same time it is not too far
from England.”
He continues: “The Victorians when they visited actually often wanted to be captured by bandits. After all, it was a friendly ambush and they would pay them and it was all part of the travel experience.
“We must also remember we did them a big favour in getting rid of Napoleon,” he adds.
At the start of the Napoleonic Wars, and notably the Battle of Trafalgar, Spain found itself allied with France.
But this was short-lived and when Napolean invaded Iberia to foist his brother onto the Spanish throne, the British and (most) Spanish joined forces.
A united British-Spanish-Portuguese army, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, eventually forced the French out of Spain, in what the Spanish now call their War of Independence.
Although history, as taught in Spanish schools, minimises his contribution and those of the British soldiers that fought with him, there is no disputing that the Duke of Wellington was the driving force behind the success.
Of course, this is not the only time that the British have taken up arms to defend their Spanish neighbour.
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War many Britons travelled out in great haste to defend the Spanish republic.
The first British volunteer to die was actually a female artist Felicia Browne, who was killed attempting to blow up a fascist munitions train on August 28, 1936.
Many Britons served in several of the hastily raised militia units even before they were grouped together in the International brigades.
“I would like to think I’d have been with them,” continues bilingual Stewart, who has lived on a farm in the Alpujarras for more than two decades.
“It is very admirable. They came to fight out of a passion for Spain and a battle against fascism that was lost and then won.”
But we have not always fought for a common cause, it should be pointed out.
In 1587, for example, Sir Francis Drake attacked the port of Cadiz and seized 3,000 barrels of the drink which soon became a favourite with the English Court and was even recommended by Queen Elizabeth I.

Due to the ever growing popularity of sherry, many British entrepreneurs later set up their own businesses in Jerez during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Names such as Gordon, Garvey, Byass and Sandeman became identified with the area.
“The Brits are clearly lovers of all good things,” adds Gonzalo del Rio, who sits on the board of the huge sherry dynasty Gonzalez Byass.
“They are always eating and drinking the best quality foods and wines and they always seek out the best places.
“Indeed, if you look at all the good places in history the British found them.”
And where, of course, have we settled the most? Well, in Spain.
And having lived together, fought together, worked together, married each other, and shared our hobbies, our cultures, our music, our food and our eccentricities, is it any wonder we are good friends?
20 ways to know you’ve become a local
The longer Brits live in Spain the more they become accustomed to the Spanish way of life, with things that once seemed strange now completely taken for granted.
The following list highlights some of the eccentricities of Spanish living that are now an everyday occurrence for expats.

1) You think adding lemonade or coke to red wine is perfectly acceptable.
2) You can’t get over how early bars and clubs shut back home.
3) You aren’t just surprised that the plumber/decorator has turned up on time; you’re surprised he turned up at all.
4) You’ve been part of a botellon.
5) Not giving every new acquaintance two kisses seems so rude.
6) On MSN you sometimes type ‘jajaja’ instead of ‘hahaha’
7) You think aceite is a vital part of every meal. And you don’t understand how anyone could think olive oil on toast is weird.
8) A bull’s head on the wall of a bar isn’t a talking point; it’s just a part of the decor.
9) You’re amazed when TV ad breaks last less than half an hour.
10) You forget to say please when asking for things – you implied it in your tone of voice, right?
11) You don’t see sunflower seeds as a healthy snack – they’re just what all the cool kids eat.
12) Every sentence you speak contains at least one of these words: ‘bueno,’ ‘coño,’ ‘vale,’ ‘venga,’ ‘pues nada’…
13) You know what resaca means. And you had one at least once a week when you lived in Spain.
14) You eat lunch after 2pm and would never even think of having your evening meal before 9pm.
15) You know that after 2pm there’s no point in going shopping, you might as well just have a siesta until 5pm.
16) You know how to change a gas bottle or bombona.
17) On a Sunday morning, you have breakfast before going to bed, not after you get up.
18) The fact that all the male (or female) members of a family have the same first name doesn’t surprise you.
19) You know that the mullet didn’t just happen in the 80s. It is alive and well in Spain.
20) You know the difference between ‘cojones’ and ‘cajones’, ‘tener calor’ and ‘estar caliente’, ‘bacalao’ and ‘bakalao’…and maybe you learned the differences the hard way!

martes, 11 de marzo de 2014

Vegetables | Learn English | Vocabulary and Pronunciation

This is a very good video for learning food vocabulary and pronunciation. It's all about vegetables and it gives you the phonetics too.


viernes, 7 de marzo de 2014

Natural History Museum Alive by David Attenborough

This is a fantastic new documentary by David Attenborough. If you are interested in Natural History or not it is worth a watch. Pre-historic animals are brought to life and the computer graphics are amazing.You can also try the youtube captions as there are no subtitles, however be warned as they are not quite accurate.


jueves, 6 de marzo de 2014

Watch the United States grow before your eyes

On March 4, 1789, the U.S. Constitution took effect, forming a nation of 13 colonies and a whole heck of a lot of unorganized territory. On August 21, 1959, Congress admitted Hawaii as the 50th state. Here you have this gif of all the steps it took to get us from point A to point B:




martes, 4 de febrero de 2014

Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers with narration and subtitles.

Watch this film of Wallace and Gromit with the narration in subtitles. It´s just 30 minutes and a perfect listening and reading exercise.

Tune in and make sure you get your listening practice

 

Tune in and learn


We know how important doing listening exercises are when learning a language, but finding the time to do them can be difficult. An effective way to include English listening in your everyday life is to turn on the radio. Radio programmes cover such a wide range of topics giving you the oppotunity to hear accents, sentence structure and vocabulary. As a English learner in Spain you have limited oppotunities to listen to native speakers, therefore if you have internet then you have access to an extensive range of listening resources. For example, BBC iplayer has variety of radio stations that broadcast programmes about music, sports, news and comment. www.bbc.co.uk/radio

It is important to make listening exercises compatible with your daily life - so why not put the radio on while your doing the dreaded ironing or preparing dinner. This way, you can kill two birds with one stone. Another tip is to find a programme you are interested in and tune in to it every week, that way it becomes a habit and you will find that you become familar with the language, topics and the presenters. It may even become an enjoyable activity!

Another great way to listen is in the car while driving. Being near the Costa Blanca, Alicante region and all those British expats, there are plenty of English radio stations that are easy to pick up in Gandia. Here is a list and the link: http://www.eyeonspain.com/radio/radio-stations-spain.aspx

One of the best ones from here is Spectrum fm. I think around this area you can also pick up Bay radio. 

There is also a programme about rock music on RNE3 that is bilingual - in Spanish and English. All the information is on the is on the webpage. Here is the link:
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/the-selector/

Remenber not to worry about understaning every word, what is important is that you are listening. Just by listening you can  improve your intonation and rhythm which make your speeech sound more natural. From a linguistic point of view; results of the large body of research have shown that listening is not a passive process, in which the listener simply receives a spoken message, but rather a complex cognitive process, in which the listener constructs the meaning using both her linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge (http://deal.elte.hu/pages/novelty/htm2/vol73/bojana.htm).

So turn the radio on now and share with us in class what you have listened to.

Words in purple are in the Glossary below

Tune in - sintonizar (con) algo 
wide range of topics - temas muy diversas 
broadcast - transmitir, emitir 
daily life - vida diaria 
dreaded - temible
you can kill two birds with one stone - realizar dos acciones simultáneamente
British expats (expatriate) - emigrado(a) (sustantivo masculino o femenino) (familiar) (especialmente británico)
passive process - processo pasivo
cognitive - cognitivo
knowledge - conocimientos

lunes, 3 de febrero de 2014

Educación exigirá a los Erasmus Plus nivel B2

Educación exigirá a los Erasmus Plus nivel B2 del idioma del país en el que se desarrolle la beca


  • También exigirá a los candidatos tener aprobados 60 créditos de la carrera
  • Los becarios del Ministerio recibirán 100 euros más por cumplir esos requisitos
  • La UE aporta fondos para 30.000 becas y Educación financiará otras 10.000


viernes, 24 de enero de 2014

English spelling and pronounciation are very difficult and here are plenty of examples to highlight this!


1) The bandage was wound around the wound. 

2) The farm was used to produce produce. 

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. 

4) We must polish the Polish furniture. 

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out. 

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. 


8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. 

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. 

10) I did not object to the object. 

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. 

13) They were too close to the door to close it. 

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present. 

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. 

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. 

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.. 

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? 




Let's face it - English is a crazy language.  We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.. 

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? 

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? 

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on. 

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. 


You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .. 

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.' 

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? 

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? 

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? 
We call UP our friends. 

And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. 

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. 

At other times the little word has real special meaning. 

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UPexcuses. 

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. 

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. 

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! 

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. 

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. 

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. 

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. 

When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. 
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. 
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. 

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, 

for now my time is UP, 

so........it is time to shut UP!

Healthy eating in the New Year

Here are some ideas to help you get back in shape after the Christmas excesses while at the same time practicing your English.

14 Enero 2014
It seemed like fun at the time as you relaxed all your regular eating norms and enjoyed all the rich food that we eat at Christmas and New Year. But now you are paying the price as your clothes feel tight and the scales tell you things you don't want to know. You have put on some extra kilos! So, it's time to get back in shape with some exercise and healthy eating. This month our Food & Drink section has some mouthwatering, simple yet low calorie recipes to help you. We hope you enjoy them. Don't forget to get your English back into shape too at www.facebook.com/EnglishToday where we have tips, quizzes and news all through the week.

http://www.englishtodaymagazine.com/index.php


Pea & mint soup



Nutrition per serving

kcalories
108
 
protein
8g
 
carbs
17g
 
fat
1g
 
saturates
1g
 
fibre
4g
sugar
1.6g
 
salt
0.84g
A healthy starter or snack that's great hot or cold



Pea and mint soup


Ingredients

  • 1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 850ml vegetable or chicken stock
  • 900g young peas in the pod (to give about 250g/9oz shelled peas)
  • 4 tbsp chopped fresh mint
  • large pinch caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
  • 150ml buttermilk or soured cream

Method

  1. Put the spring onions into a large pan with the potato, garlic and stock. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is very soft. For the garnish, blanch 3 tbsp of the shelled peas in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain, put in a bowl of cold water and set aside. Add the remaining peas to the soup base and simmer for 5 minutes – no longer, or you will lose the lovely fresh flavour of the peas.
  2. Stir in the mint, sugar and lemon or lime juice, cool slightly then pour into a food processor or liquidiser and whizz until as smooth as you like. Stir in half the buttermilk or soured cream, taste and season with salt and pepper.
  3. To serve the soup cold, cool quickly, then chill – you may need to add more stock to the soup before serving as it will thicken as it cools. To serve hot, return the soup to the rinsed-out pan and reheat without boiling (to prevent the buttermilk or soured cream from curdling).
  4. Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the remaining buttermilk and the drained peas.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2004
Glossary
  • in shape- en forma
  • scales - balanza
  • starter - entrante
  • spring onion - cebolletas
  • trim - recortar
  • roughly chop - en trozos grandes
  • blanch - escaldar
  • drain - escurrir
  • pour - echar
  • whizz - licuar
  • stock - caldo
  • curdle - cortarse (leche)

miércoles, 22 de enero de 2014

Hola a todos,
Aquí os dejo una web muy interesante para aprender inglés con las canciones. Tiene varios niveles de dificultad. Haz click sobre la imagen.
 Lyrics training