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Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go...
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Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course.
To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or call us on 911086101 or contact your local Official School of Languages.
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To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or call us on 911086101 or contact your local Official School of Languages.
14 NOV 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast, brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. In this podcast, we are going to look at some, (and we mean some - there are many more) of the different types of connectors that exist in the English language, along with hearing some examples of them in use. So, what exactly are connectors? Connectors are basically conjunctive words that are used for connecting or linking what could potentially be separate sentences. Using connectors help to define the relationship between sentences and can enrich their meaning. Let’s listen to this example to understand this more. · Lisa went to all her lessons. She did well in her exams. Here we’ve heard two separate sentences. What’s the connection between them? Is the second sentence a consequence of the first? It seems so. We can use the connector ‘consequently’ to clarify this: · Lisa went to all her lessons and consequently, did well in her exams. Now let’s look at a different example where the logical connection between the two may not seem so clear: · Lisa didn’t go to all her lessons. She did well in her exams. In this case, the logical connection between them is not that of consequence, but of concession or contrast: · Lisa didn’t go to all her lessons, however, she did well in her exams. The connector adds information on the relationship between the sentences and joins the two statements by clearly linking the outcome in the second part with the action in the first. Ok, so now we know what connectors do, let’s look at the types of connectors that we’re going to learn today. We’ll be studying: · Connectors of addition · Connectors of contrast and concession · Connectors of cause and effect · Connectors of condition and · Connectors of consequence We think that’s enough for one podcast but, as we said previously, there are more. If you want you can write to us and let us know which other ones you know. Ok, so let’s start with connectors of addition. These are used when we want to add or give more information. Some examples are: Besides - (informal or neutral register) · It’s expensive and besides, it’s too slow. In addition (formal register) People can’t afford to buy a house because they’re unemployed and in addition they don’t have any savings. Moreover or furthermore – (neutral register)
- And moreover, they’re not energy efficient.
Then or Next – (informal, neutral register)
- Then, I decided to look at the cheaper options.
Moving on to connectors of contrast and concession, which are used to contrast ideas. Some examples are: However: (always separated by a comma)
- This restaurant has the best chef in town; however, their staff are quite rude.
Nonetheless or nevertheless: (formal register and always separated by a comma)
- I was in pain from the injury, nevertheless, I went to football practice as usual.
Yet or even so: (neutral register)
- I’ve asked you a thousand times not to leave your dirty socks on the floor; yet, you keep doing it.
Although/though and even though – (followed by a sentence) · She remained calm, although she had been betrayed badly. Despite or in spite of – (followed by a noun or nominal structure) · The overall situation is good, despite a few minor problems. Even if – (followed by a sentence) · The game is fun, even if you're really bad at it. Now some examples of cause-and-effect connectors:
Because of - (always followed by a noun or nominal structure) · The tennis match was stopped because of the rain. Due to or Owing to - (always followed by a noun or nominal structure) · The bus was delayed due to heavy snow. Ok, we have some more for you, this time comparative connectors. These are used to talk about differences or similarities.
Some examples are: As… as – (comparison of equality) · He is as good as his sister And than: (comparison of superiority) · The weather was drier last week than this week. And finally, to end this podcast, we’re going to look at how to end an idea using consequence connectors. We have 3 examples for you. As a consequence, or consequently – (formal register)
- Zack has skipped school on many occasions and has consequently failed his French test.
So – (informal or neutral register) · This detergent is highly concentrated so you will need to dilute it. And the last one, as a result – (formal register) · Profits have declined as a result of the recent drop in sales. That’s all for now on connectors. Well done! As you’ve heard, there’s lots to learn, but don’t worry, keep studying with us and you’ll be an expert in no time. Remember to write and tell us of any others that we have missed! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
6 NOV 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. In this podcast we are going to explore journalistic language in English, or journalese as it’s also known. When we say journalistic language, we are referring to the type of language used to compile and edit news, facts or opinions, presented to its target audience through the media. We’ll also learn some of its specific terminology. Like any other type of communication, journalistic language has its own codes, and the language is direct and formal. As this topic is so vast, we are going to focus on learning some essential terms for journalists, in both written and audiovisual forms. Before that though, let’s understand where the word journalese comes from. The term “journalese” (jerga periodística) belongs to the same family of words as “journalist” (periodista), journalism (periodismo) or “journey” (viaje, o camino en un día de viaje); as in the Spanish “jornada” (a day's journey or trip or working day) or “jornal” (a day's wage); and as the French “journal” ( newspaper or diary), which originates from the Latin term “diurnal”. The Acta Diurna was a kind of newsreel in ancient Rome, where information about social, political or economic events (las “noticias del día”) was published for the public to see. Interesting, isn’t it? Now, let’s begin learning some common, and sometimes confusing terms, used in the profession that every journalist (or English learner) should know. Starting with the essential one, news. News is an uncountable noun in English that structurally behaves as a singular noun: You’ve probably heard the expression; no news is good news. It’s a good example of how it is used in the singular form. In order to make it a countable noun, we need another word, for example: a piece of news or newspiece. Breaking news means noticia de última hora, and a newspaper, in its written printed or digital form, is periódico, sometimes shortened to ‘the paper’. Let's continue with some possibly confusing terms, such as “editor”: A newspaper editor is el director de un periódico, to whom letters to the editor are addressed. Also, the editor in chief or chief editor is el redactor jefe of the corresponding section of the publication, and an editor is un redactor. It can also refer to el corrector or revisor (in the Spanish sense of editar un texto), although in English there is a more specific term for this profession which is a proofreader. On the other hand, the Spanish “editorial”, means the same in English, editorial, as in the article published without a signature which represents the newspaper’s viewpoint. For the Spanish term “periodista” we find both the word journalist (the term in its broadest sense) and reporter (which is used more specifically for the person that seeks and collects information on the scene of the crime or incident). And to practise good journalism, it is essential to carry out fact-checking, (comprobación de hechos y datos), so as not to spread fake news (noticias falsas), and to present your work by the deadline (dentro de plazo). Let’s now understand some terms used and the structure of a newspaper article by referring to an article from The Guardian, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024: First of all, we find the headline, el titular, which informs us about the subject matter and aims to attract our attention so that we continue reading: “Fresh volcanic eruption triggers evacuation in south-west Iceland”, is our headline. Following that, we find the subtitle: “Plumes of lava reach 50 meters into air as people are moved away from Grindavík near Blue Lagoon spa.” You’ll see that headlines are often difficult to understand, as short words, which are not so commonly used in everyday language, are used to save space. Some examples of these are: back (meaning support) in the headline ‘Government backs the president’; clash (for violent disagreement) in the headline ‘400 demonstrators clash with police’; blast (meaning violent detonation or explosion) in the headline ‘blast kills 8 people’ and finally curb (for restriction) in the headline example: ‘Legislation curbs price and wage increases’. Continuing with the structure of a newspaper article, after the headline and subtitle, the news item follows on with the lead, entradilla, which contains the most important data, these being the answers to the “what, where and who questions”. Listen to the lead, la entradilla, of the volcanic eruption article that we’re focusing on: “A volcanic eruption [this is the what] has begun on the Reykjanes /’reikjanes/ peninsula in south-western Iceland [this is the where], according to the country's meteorological office, shortly after authorities [this is the who] evacuated the nearby town of Grindavík” /ˈkrɪntaˌviːk/. Following the lead, we find the body of the news, el cuerpo de la noticia, where the information is developed, and concludes with the ending or párrafo de cierre. In a newspaper article you might see specific quotes in quotation marks from the sources or fuentes of the news, that can speak on- or off-the record, oficialmente o extraoficialmente stating whether they wish to be quoted or not. Likewise, the news must include information about the author or authors and the byline, this is who is responsible for the information. In the case of our Guardian article, the newspaper includes information from the France-Presse agency in Reykjavik. It also includes an image and a caption (pie de foto). Of course, the journalistic text can include other elements, such as a subhead (in Spanish this is (ladillo o intertítulo) and is included between the body paragraphs, or it can include columns. And, obviously, the texts will be different, depending on the objective and section they occupy, whether it is a newspiece, an opinion piece, a feature (un artículo en profundidad) or an interview (una entrevista). Moving on to audiovisual media, this also has its own terms. In radio, television or podcasts we find many terms composed with cast (which among its many meanings includes transmitting images and/or sound): broadcast (emitir, difundir), and so newscast would be the programa de noticias and the newscaster is the locutor o presentador who addresses the audience, and who may be accompanied by a commentator (comentarista). So, now that you’ve learnt some journalese, you may wish to reinforce your learning on this topic. We recommend that you do this by looking for media that best suit your taste, and topics that you are interested in, because on the internet you‘ll find a huge range of newspapers, magazines, radio or television programs, on a wide variety of subjects (news, sports, culture, lifestyle, etc). By reading and listening you will expand your journalistic vocabulary and improve your level of comprehension. The offer is vast, so we have pulled together a few suggestions: The New York Times is an American newspaper that enjoys international prestige as a reference. Look for the section that most appeals to you. The Guardian is perhaps considered the British counterpart of the New York Times. You can compare how each of them deal with the news. Can you find any differences between American and British English? Why not take a look? And, of course, we recommend the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc.com) where you will find plenty of resources for reading, listening and viewing. Happy news reading! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
24 OTT 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today we’re going to learn about how to use adverbs in a sentence. Before we start, if you want to review adverb spelling rules and the different types of adverbs, then please listen to our other podcasts on these topics. We also have a blog post on adverbs that you may find helpful. Remember too that if you have any difficulty understanding, you can look at the transcript to check any new vocabulary or expressions. Ok, so let’s see where adverbs go in a sentence. Unlike other kinds of words, adverbs can be placed in different parts of a sentence: at the beginning, in the middle or at the end. Some can be placed anywhere to form meaningful sentences; others must specifically go in one of these three places: At the beginning, like the adverb quietly in the phrase: Quietly, he opened the door. When we want to emphasize the adverb, we can put it at the front. In the middle, like the adverb happily in this popular ending to children’s stories: And they lived happily ever after. Or at the end, like the position of always in this line from Bon Jovi’s song: “And I will love you, baby, always.” The position of the adverb is also very important if there is more than one verb because if we place it before or after the main verb, it refers only to that verb. We can say: The teacher quietly asked him to leave the exam. Here the teacher spoke quietly to the student, probably so as not to disturb other students still doing the exam. However, if we place it after a proposition, it complements the whole action described by the proposition. Notice the difference in meaning depending on the placement of the adverb. Listen. The teacher asked him to leave the exam quietly. In this example, the adverb does not refer to how the teacher spoke. It refers to how the teacher wants the boy to leave the exam, that is, without making any noise. Adverbs of manner, which, as you’ll remember, describe how we do something, usually follow the verb, or go after the verb and the object. Listen. We answered the exam carefully. James coughed loudly. He ate the chocolate cake greedily. Adverbs that point to a moment in time are usually placed at the end of the sentence. Listen to these examples. I will call you later. They are going on holiday tomorrow. You’re listening to this podcast now. However, as we learnt previously, if we want to emphasise the adverb, like in the song Yesterday by The Beatles, we can put it at the beginning. “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.” Adverbs of place are usually placed after the main verb or the proposition that they modify and are usually found at the end of the sentence. Listen. Come and sit here. Can you wait over there, please? Although you can also find them at the beginning of the sentence, to give emphasis, like in these examples: Here, we have a beautiful artefact from 1939. There, in the middle of the woods, a wolf awaited its prey. As you probably already know, the verb ‘to be’ often causes the rule to change when using adverbs of frequency. Here the adverb is usually placed after the verb. Listen. They are often late, We were never wrong. It was always sunny. but with all other verbs the frequency adverb goes before the verb, like this: Lee sometimes takes the bus to go to school. They never want to come with me. He often played football as a child. Having said this, most adverbs of frequency can also be placed at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. Listen. I get up very early sometimes or I sometimes get up very early. What about adverbs of degree? Adverbs of degree are usually placed before the verb. Here are a couple of examples. I really love reading on the beach in summer. They totally agreed with his decision. It’s easy to know where interrogative adverbs go, isn’t it? How do we start questions? With interrogative adverbs of course! How are you? Where is my passport? Why are you so late? When does the train arrive? Adverbs of probability and certainty are placed before the main verb except, once again, when the main verb is "to be". Listen to an example of each. She definitely left the country yesterday. He is definitely a smart boy. However, if there is an auxiliary verb, then the adverb is placed between the auxiliary and the main verb: He has definitely forgotten about us. You have certainly done a great job learning about adverbs with us. Don’t worry if it seems a lot to take in. Adverbs are not as daunting as they may seem. Some can go at the beginning, others in the middle, or at the end of a sentence. The more you read and listen to English you’ll see how adverbs are used and in time you’ll be an expert. Remember, practice makes perfect! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
13 GIU 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. One set of confusing verbs for Spanish learners of English is how to use the verbs lend and borrow. The confusion lies in the fact that in the Spanish language the translation for lend and borrow is prestar for both. To better understand these meanings, we can translate borrow as pedir prestado as well. · Te presto mis gafas de sol, ahora no las necesito. (I’ll lend you my sunglasses, I don’t need them now) · ¿Me prestas tus gafas de sol? (Can I borrow your sunglasses?) So, let’s understand the difference in meaning of the two, starting with lend. Lend is an irregular verb and means to give something to someone, expecting to get it back. Its past simple and participle form is lent. Let’s look at some example sentences: · I lent Carla the book as she really wanted to read it. · He never lends me his pen or pencil in class, even though we’re best friends and he knows that I don’t have one. On the other hand, borrow is a regular verb and means to obtain something from someone, intending to give it back after a short time. Let’s look at how we use borrow considering the previous sentences as our context. · Carla borrowed the book from me because she really wanted to read it. · I can never borrow a pen or pencil from Jimmy because he doesn’t let me. Be careful with the use of lend and borrow in questions. When you give something, you lend it. So, you can ask if someone will lend you something, like this: · Can you lend me the book, please? I really want to read it. Notice that it follows with the object pronoun me. That translates to: ¿Puedes prestarme el libro, por favor? And when you receive something, you borrow it. So, you can ask to borrow something like this: Can I borrow the book please? I really want to read it. Here no object pronoun follows the verb. The Spanish translation is: ¿Me prestas el libro por favor? Let’s finish with a few more examples. Can you lend me the book? Lend me. I don’t have the book, you have it and I’m asking if I can borrow it. Patricia always lends her sister things. Lends her sister. Her sister borrows clothes from Patricia. And finally, if you need financial help with a loan, un préstamo, or a mortgage, una hipoteca, from the bank then these examples would be useful to learn: The bank has lent us the money to buy our house, so now we have a big mortgage. Lent us. With borrow it is: We borrowed the money from the bank to buy our house. (Once again, remember, no object pronoun directly follows borrow). If you would like to study more on this topic then please see the corresponding That’s English! blog post. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
16 MAG 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today’s podcast is about the intensifiers so and such. Sometimes it’s a little bit confusing to know which one to use so we hope this podcast will clarify the situation. First or all, what do we mean by intensifiers? Listen to these sentences and tell us what the difference is when you hear so and such being used. · I’m happy. · I’m so happy. · It’s a beautiful day. · It’s such a beautiful day. What do so and such do to the sentences? I’m so happy. It’s such a beautiful day. That’s right, they give emphasis to the sentences, making them stronger, they intensify the meaning. Instead of using so and such you could use ‘very’ or ‘really’ instead. I’m very happy, or it is a really beautiful day. Ok, so now we understand why we use so and such and now we’re going to learn how to use them. We use so with adjectives or adverbs on their own. For example,: he is so nice or They’re so intelligent. So is also used with adverbs, for example: she plays the piano so well or that scooter goes so fast So can only be used with a noun, if it is used with the quantifiers much and many. Listen to these sentences: · They earn so much money. · There are so many people in the centre of Madrid today. Remember, so is used before adjectives or adverbs or with much and many before nouns. Let’s listen to some more examples with so. · It’s so cloudy today, I think it could rain. (so before adjective) · They danced so beautifully in the ballet. (so before adverb) · So much time is wasted on social media. (so before quantifier plus noun) · I’ve told you so many times to stop talking in the classroom! (so before quantifier plus noun) Do you remember the sentence He is so nice?. There is no noun, therefore so is used. But in the sentence he is a nice man, as we are using an adjective followed by a noun, then we need to use such because this intensifier modifies nouns. These nouns can be also modified by adjectives. The important thing to understand here is that if there is a noun, we need to use such. Let’s listen to some sentences with such. · It is such a pity that he didn’t get that job. (such before noun) · It was such a fantastic concert! (such before adjective plus noun) · It is such a lovely day, let’s have a picnic in the park. (such before adjective plus noun) · They are such fortunate children. (such before adjective plus noun) In these sentences we have added the noun after the adjective. That means we use such. Let’s do a final recap. Remember, if you are only using the adjective or adverb, you use so, and so is also used if you are using many or much in a sentence with a noun. On the other hand, if the sentence has an adjective followed by a noun, and you want to use an intensifier, then you use such. That’s so easy! It’s such an easy rule to remember, isn’t it?! We are so pleased that you listened to our podcast today. We hope you have such a wonderful day! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
18 APR 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today’s podcast explains the difference between the verbs hear and listen, as they are sometimes confused. First of all, let’s check that you know their Spanish translations and definitions. We’ll also hear and listen to some examples to distinguish them. Have you noticed that I have just used both verbs? There are some occasions where either verb is possible. Starting with the verb hear. Hear is the verb oír in Spanish. It is an irregular verb. Both its past and participle form is heard. It has various meanings: It can mean to receive or become conscious of a sound. · She heard a noise outside. It can mean to be told information about something. · Have you heard the news? It can also mean to listen to someone or something with great attention and this is where the confusion lies between its synonym verb, listen. However, hear is more frequently used when it is for a formal event, or also in a court. Listen to these two examples: · An audience gathered to hear him speak. (as in, he gave a formal speech) · The case will be heard by the High Court. The verb to listen is escuchar in Spanish. It is a regular verb so its past tense and participle form is listened. As we have learnt previously, it also means to give attention to someone or something, that’s to say, you pay particular attention to it. Here are some examples: · She is listening to a podcast. · What kind of music do you listen to? · Listen to this! You can win a car just by answering three simple questions. In order to help you understand the difference, think of hear as something which happens to us as a natural process. We hear sounds that come to our ears, without us trying to hear them. Listen, on the other hand, is an action, something that we consciously do, we choose to listen to certain things, you do not usually choose what you hear. Now, let’s listen to some more examples using hear and listen. · I can hear the church bells ring every morning. I don’t particularly want to hear them, but I can. · I hope you’re listening to me! When we listen, we focus on sounds, we choose to hear a specific sound, so I hope you’re paying attention! Finally let’s hear these two examples: · I can hear some music. (coming from somewhere, it’s very faint). · I am listening to some music. In this case I am listening to a song that I want to listen to. Time to go, I can hear my phone vibrating! We hope that helps to understand the difference between the two verbs. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
4 APR 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. This podcast is about a set of confusing verbs. They are the verbs rob and steal. We will also deal later with the verb burgle which has a similar meaning, but our main focus is on the verbs rob and steal. As both these verbs mean ‘to take something from someone or somewhere without permission’, llevarse algo de alguien o de un lugar sin permiso, it is sometimes difficult to know which one to use in a sentence. In addition to this, in Spanish there is only one translation, which is the verb robar, so for Spanish learners of English, this simply adds to the confusion. Rob is a regular verb, so its past and participle form is robbed. Steal, on the other hand, is an irregular verb. Its past simple form is stole and its participle form is stolen. So, let’s understand the difference between them. When we use the verb to steal, we are focusing on the object that is taken, NOT the person or the place. Listen to these sentences using steal: · Someone has stolen our car! · He stole my wallet. · He is a known pickpocket [MMP1] and steals people’s money on a regular basis. · The thieves stole the paintings from the museum. The focus in these sentences has been the car, the wallet, the money and the paintings. The verb to rob is slightly different. With this verb the focus is on the person or the place where the object or objects are stolen. Listen to these examples: · An old lady was attacked and robbed in the street yesterday. · The gang robbed the local post office on Tuesday morning. · Our bank was robbed three times last year. In these sentences the focus has been on the old lady, the post office and the bank. We hope that has made it a little clearer for you. Remember, steal is about the object or objects that are taken, whereas rob is about the person or the place. Now let’s touch on nouns that are created from these verbs. The person or people that rob and steal are either called a robber (in plural, robbers) or a thief (thieves in plural, with the ending spelled v e s; it’s an irregular plural, remember). Both translate into Spanish as ladrones. The crime of stealing is called a robbery or theft, un robo. If you remember, we said in the beginning that there was a third verb, burgle. Burgle is a regular verb so its past and participle form is burgled. This verb is used if the theft, el robo, has been from a house. Listen to this sentence: · The house was burgled while the owners were on holiday. The people that burgle are known as burglars and they commit a burglary. We’re almost at the end of this podcast, but before we go, let’s do a final recap on the verbs rob and steal. Listen to these similar sentences using both verbs, so you can distinguish between them: · I was robbed at the nightclub. (the focus is I) · Someone stole my mobile phone. (the focus is the mobile phone) · That poor man has just been robbed. A thief has stolen his bike. (in the first sentence, the focus is the man and in the second, his bike). That’s the end of this podcast. We hope that these verbs are now less confusing for you. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now! [MMP1]Pickpocket?
14 MAR 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. One set of confusing verbs for Spanish learners of English is how to use the verbs BRING and TAKE. We use one or the other depending on the spatial location we are referring to. Let’s start with bring. Bring in Spanish is the verb traer. It is an irregular verb. Its past tense and participle form are both brought. Bring means to take or carry someone or something to a place or a person. The movement of the person or object is from where the listener is (for example: ‘Can you bring me my jacket?’) ¿Puedes traerme mi chaqueta? The listener will return the sweater to the speaker’s location. Or, alternatively, it can be from the speaker to the listener as in the example ‘I’ve brought you some flowers.’ Te he traído unas flores. (In this case, the speaker has arrived at the listener’s location). It may help to always bear in mind that with bring the context is always ‘close’, cerca. It is associated with coming to a destination where the speaker or listener is located. Always think of: · Bring that here. Trae eso aquí. The verb take is the opposite to bring. Think therefore of the context being ‘far’, lejos. In Spanish it is the verb llevar. Take is also an irregular verb. Its past tense form is took and its participle form is taken. Take means movement with something or someone from where the speaker or listener is, to a different place, or away from somewhere. Imagine this situation. You are a high school student, and you are at the high school secretary’s office. The assistant tells you: ‘You have to fill in this form and then take it to the Maths Department.’ Tienes que rellenar este formulario y luego llevarlo al Departamento de matemáticas. Both the speaker and the listener are together in a different place to the Maths Department. So, take is associated with going away from a starting point where the speaker or listener are located. Always think of: · Take that there. Lleva eso allí. Let’s do a final recap. Both bring and take are verbs that refer to movement. Bring implies movement towards something, whereas take implies movement away from something. You have to think of the perspective of the context. Bring what you can. Take what you can. In the first example, bring implies you are carrying something with you toward a certain location. In the second example, take implies you are carrying something away from somewhere. We hope you now feel more confident about when to use these two confusing verbs. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
29 FEB 2024 · Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. One set of confusing verbs for Spanish learners of English is make and do. The confusion lies in the fact that in the Spanish language there is just the one verb to mean both, hacer, but in English we have make and do. So, what is the difference between make and do? As a general rule, we use make for activities that involve manual work, and do for all the others. Let’s look at some examples using do: We say: Do a course, do a report, do a great job, do business. Do homework, do experiments, do research. As these are relating to work, the verb used tends to be do. Other tasks that use do are when we are referring to household chores: Do housework, do the ironing, do the dishes, do the shopping, do the cleaning etc. Do is also frequently used for some sporting activities like: Do exercise, do Pilates and do gymnastics. So, when do we use the verb make, then? If we are talking about something that we produce or create, then the verb make is generally the verb we use. Let’s take a look at some examples, to understand this a bit better: We make breakfast, make lunch and make dinner. (We are producing something when we cook or prepare food, so we use make in this context, although some English speakers also use do in this case.) Make a profit, make a fortune, make money. You can make a choice, make a mistake, make an excuse, and make an effort. You can also make plans, make a reservation, and make a complaint. While we have looked at the basic difference here between make and do, as you can tell, it is not that easy, as there are too many exceptions to the rule. Our advice is to memorise lists for each verb. And, as you know, practice makes perfect! You can group them into smaller lists per topic to make learning them easier - like those relating to business or housework, for example. Please visit our blog post on make and do to see these lists and their Spanish translation. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!
15 FEB 2024 · If you are interested in studying English but want to do so in your own time, and perhaps in a more fun way, then the That’s English! course A Tu Ritmo, or as we would say in English ‘at your own pace’, may be just what you’re looking for. So, what exactly is A Tu Ritmo? A Tu Ritmo is a 100% online self-study course giving you access to hundreds of language learning activities on our e-learning platform to help you improve your English. There are no classes and no exams. In A Tu Ritmo you have access to That’s English material to improve your English level the way that you want, you have total flexibility. Whether your level is basic, intermediate or advanced, A Tu Ritmo can provide you with endless exercises, to suit all needs. As well as access to all the interactive online activities, there are other resources available to you, such as podcasts on a wide range of English language learning topics. There are also learning paths which are either skill or vocabulary based. These paths are designed to help you focus on specific grammar points or topic-related vocabulary. Imagine you are going to England for the weekend, and you want to review useful expressions then you may find our Travel learning path useful. In A Tu Ritmo, you will also have access to our drama series, documentaries and travel series, all of which have English subtitles. The drama series are level adapted. For beginners the series Park Hotel follows the day-to day life of the staff and guests in this typically English hotel. For students with a lower intermediate level, in the series Café 27 you will meet lots of different characters who frequent this London coffee shop. The actors come from different English-speaking countries, so it’s a great way for you to become familiar with different accents. For more advanced students the series 12 Penn Road follows the lives of four flatmates that house share in London. After each episode, you’ll find interactive activities related to what you have seen. If you like watching travel programmes we have four interesting English-speaking destinations for you to discover. In Road Trip Katy takes her American friend Sam around the United Kingdom country of Wales in her Mini Cooper. Alternatively, if your preference is to learn more about England, then there are two seasons in our That’s Britain series. In the first season our presenter Nigel takes you on a cultural trip around the UK visiting national parks, coastal regions, museums and famous cities such as Oxford. In the second season, you will accompany Elizabeth as she visits the north of England and Scotland. If, on the other hand, you’re a lover of everything green then you will undoubtedly like That’s Ireland. You will join presenter Aidan as he goes on a cultural journey around the Emerald Isle, visiting Ireland’s iconic places such as Dublin and Galway, as well as being wowed by the country’s wild beauty. Last but not least is That’s the USA. In the first season of this series our presenter Jodi explores the popular south-east regions of Florida and visits many interesting places like Miami, Orlando or St. Augustine. In season 2, Alex takes you to the north-east where he immerses himself in the culture and history of famous cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia, amongst others. As with our drama series, there are interactive online activities for you to do on what you have seen in each episode. The A Tu Ritmo course also includes a section of Self tests where you can self-assess your knowledge of the English language, level by level. Finally, on the A Tu Ritmo course, you will have access to our library of podcasts and a selection of posts from the That’s English! blog. The podcast library is divided into the following sections: “Language and Vocabulary”, “Cultural Curiosities” and “Burning Issues”. The transcripts of all the podcasts are also available on the platform. For more information about the A tu ritmo course, visit our website http://www.thatsenglish.com or contact us on 91 108 61 01.
Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go...
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Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course.
To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or call us on 911086101 or contact your local Official School of Languages.
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To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or call us on 911086101 or contact your local Official School of Languages.
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| Autore | That's English! |
| Organizzazione | That's English! |
| Categorie | Istruzione |
| Sito | www.thatsenglish.com |
| contacto@thatsenglish.com |
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