Pronunciación

Pronunciar ciertas palabras en inglés puede ser misión imposible especialmente si nunca las has escuchado. Los propios nativos a veces no saben cómo pronunciar las palabras nuevas que sólo han visto escritas.

En esta web podrás comprobar y practicar la pronunciación de las palabras que no sepas o tengas duda:

http://www.howjsay.com/

Good luck!

Personajes de cuentos y de la cultura popular

¿Alguna vez te has preguntado como se dirá "Caperucita Roja" o "El Ratoncito Pérez" en inglés? Aquí tienes una  lista de personajes de algunos los cuentos más conocidos:

Little Red Riding Hood / Little Red Cap > Caperucita Roja

Tooth Fairy > El Ratoncito Pérez

The Three Little Pigs > Los tres cerditos

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs > Blancanieves y los siete enanitos

The Pied Piper of Hamelin > El flautista de Hamelin

The fairy godmother > El hada madrina

Cinderella / The Little Glass Slipper > Cenicienta

Alice in Wonderland > Alicia en el País de las Maravillas

Sleeping Beauty > La Bella Durmiente

One hundred and One Dalmatians > 101 dálmatas

The Little Mermaid > La Sirenita

Ali Baba and the Fourty Thieves > Ali Baba y los 40 ladrones

A book for the summer

Cuando lees en inglés aprendes nuevo vocabulario y expresiones, además de acostumbrarte a entender textos largos (hecho que puede ayudarte a la hora de hacer exámenes). En este listening, John nos recomienda un libro muy divertido para el verano.

Now, pay attention to the video and answer the questions:

How many books is John reading?

What's the title of the book that he recommends?

Where does Reginald Perrin work?

What does "yummy" mean?

What's Reginald Perrin's main problem?

Algunos de los acrónimos y abreviaturas más comunes en inglés

Las abreviaturas que encontrarás a continuación se forman con la inicial de cada palabra a la que representan:

- ASAP: as soon as possible (lo antes posible)

- RSVP: répondez s'il vous plait (del francés), please reply (por favor, contesta)

- LOL: laughing out loud / lots of love/ lots of luck
(reirse en voz alta/ mucho amor/ mucha suerte)

- OMG! : oh my God! (oh Dios mio!)

- PTO:  please turn over (por favor, dar la vuelta, girar la página)

- PS:  postscript (postdata en las cartas)

-FYI: for your information (para tu información)

- E.G.: for example (del latín "exempli gratia", por ejemplo)

- PIN: personal identity number (número personal en una cuenta bancaria, por ejemplo)

-BRB: be right back (vuelvo enseguida)

-BBL: be back later (luego vuelvo)

-AKA: also known as (también conocido/a como)

-DIY: do it yourself (házlo tú mismo)

-BTW: by the way (a propósito)

- NP: no problem/ no protest (sin problema)

-VIP: very important person (persona muy importante)

- TBC: to be confirmed (pendiente de ser confirmado)

-UFO: unidentified flying object (ovni: objeto volador no identificado)

¿Encuentras alguna abreviatura que acabas de estudiar en esta foto?

Tania. Berlin.

De momento, todo bien - So far so good

Cuando queremos indicar que algún proceso o situación va bien (hasta el momento presente), usamos la expresión:

        So far so good

Some examples:

How's he doing? So far so good. He just needs to keep improving.

(Qué tal le va? De momento, todo bien. Sólo necesita continuar mejorando).

How's your new job? Well, the company is making deals. So far so good.

(Qué tal tu nuevo trabajo? Bien, la empresa está haciendo negocios/tratos. Hasta ahora, todo bien).



Gogol Bordello - Wonderlust King

El inglés de Gogol Bordello no es el mejor del mundo y dista mucho de ser académico, pero este grupo compuesto por inmigrantes de Europa del Este ha conseguido tocar conciertos por todo el mundo y comunicar sus mensajes en el idioma internacional con muchísima energía!



Back in the day yo" as we learned
A man was not considered to be
Considered to be fully grown
Has he not gone beyond the hills
Has he not crossed the 7 seas
Yeah, 7 seas at least!


Now all them jokers kept around
Just like the scarecrows in hometown
Yeah, scarecrows in hometown
From screen to screen they're travelin'
But I'm a wonderlust king


I stay on the run
Let me out
Let me be gone
In the world's beat up road sign
I saw new history of time...
New history of time!!!


Through Siberian woods
Breaking up their neck


Chinese moving in building discoteques


Transiberian sex toys and what a nut
Yeah, and why not?
Well at least it's something different
From what they got in every other airport


Ja ne evrei, no koje-chto pohozge
sovrat ne dast ni Yura ni Seryozga!
Simple because I'm not a total gadjo
Da ja shut, ja tziratch, nu tak stozge?


I traveled the world
Looking for understanding
Of the times that we live in
Hunting and gathering first hand information
Challenging definitions of sin


I traveled the world
Looking for lovers
Of the ultimate beauty
But never settled in
I'm Wonderlust King!


And presidents
And billionaires
And generals
They'll never know
What I have owned!
What I have owned...
I'm a wonderlust king!

Holidays OR Holiday

En verano muchos de nosotros nos vamos de vacaciones, ¿cómo lo diríamos en inglés?

Mañana de me voy de vacaciones: Tomorrow I'm going on holiday. NO "holidays"

¡ Estoy de vacaciones!: I'm on holiday! NO "holidays"

¿Cuando podemos usar "holidays"?

Toma nota de estos ejemplos: (periodo de tiempo en el que no trabajamos)

I usually take my holidays in July. (Normalmente me tomo vacaciones en Julio)

I will never forget the wonderful holidays I had last year. (Nunca olvidaré las vacaciones maravillosas que tuve el año pasado)

**Ahora, compara:

John gets back from his holiday tomorrow. (John vuelve de sus vacaciones mañana) 
His holidays finish tomorrow.  (Sus vacaciones terminan mañana)
              
Last year I didn't use up two days of my holidays, so I've got two day's holiday outstanding.
(El año pasado no usé dos días de mis vacaciones, por eso me quedan dos días pendientes de vacaciones)

En resumen, cuando quieras decir que estás o que te vas de vacaciones usarás las expresiones:

TO BE ON HOLIDAY (estar de vacaciones)

TO GO ON HOLIDAY (irse de vacaciones)

Have good holidays!

Different accents - Acentos en inglés

En este vídeo vas a a escuchar una rima muy conocida por los británicos, verás personas con diferentes acentos y también podrás practicar tu pronunciación. Te animo a que te aprendas este conocido "nursery rhyme" y lo practiques tanto como puedas!!

Como ejercicio, investiga sobre esta rima, significado, origen, etc.....

"Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after"

Dave and Mount Kilimanjaro

Where is Dave?

Which is the correct plural of "cactus"?

How did he feel due to altitude sickness when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro?

How does he describe the last 500 metres?

Dave got lost, but he almost reached the top of the mountain....How?

What does he say about coming down?

HARD and HARDLY

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre "hard" y "hardly"?

Hard y hardly son adverbios pero hard también puede actuar como adjetivo.

Some examples:

She is hardly ever at home. (Ella casi nunca está en casa) ADVERB

They have hardly any money. (Ellos casi no tienen dinero) ADVERB

I can hardly hear you. (Apenas te oigo) ADVERB

She works quite hard. (Ella trabaja bastante duro) ADVERB

You are a very hard teacher. (Eres un profesor muy duro) ADJECTIVE

It was very hard getting out of bed this morning. (Fue muy duro levantarse esta mañana) ADJECTIVE

Hello, I love you

Algunos seguidores del blog me han pedido que ponga más canciones con sus lyrics (letras) porque les ayuda a practicar la pronunciación de una forma más divertida, y además aprenden vocabulario y expresiones comunes. Hoy propongo la canción "Hello, I love you" de The Doors, por dos motivos:


1) La pronunciación de la "H". Un problema común de los españoles es pronunciar el sonido de la "h" inglesa como nuestra "j" española, de una manera muy fuerte. Fíjate en la pronunciación de la "h" en la canción y verás que es una j muy suave, como suspirando....


2) En esta canción usan mucho la tercera persona del singular, en este caso "she". Recuerda que en el presente simple añadimos una "s" al verbo principal. Por ejemplo: She meets, She holds, She moves....son algunos ejemplos que aparecen en el vídeo.

Por lo que a mi respecta - As far as I am concerned

Cuando queramos dar nuestra opinión, podemos utilizar fórmulas ya conocidas como "I think",  "In my opinion" or "Personally". Hay un idiom en inglés que no es tan conocido por lo estudiantes, pero que los nativos usan constantemente. Si lo usas, tu inglés sonará más natural:

"As far as I am concerned"

Some examples:

- As far as I am concerned, McEwan is a truly remarkable writer.

- Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous female painters ever and one of the best as far as I am concerned.

- This is the best paella I've ever eaten as far as I am concerned.

Matt from Miami

Listen to my friend Matt and answer these questions:

Where is Matt?
What's the story of that place?
Where is he from?
What does he think about Valencia?
What does he do?
What can you say about Miami? (weather, beaches, lifestyle)

Not / No

En algunas redacciones he leído un error común en el uso del NOT/ NO.

- Usamos NOT cuando negamos el verbo:

"I do not (don't) have any interest" (have es el verbo/ "no tengo")

"He does not (doesn't) like playing tennis" (like es el verbo/ "no gusta")


- Usamos NO cuando negamos el nombre:

"She showed no enthusiasm for the idea". (entusiasmo es el nombre)

"They have no interest". (interés es el nombre)

El verbo "Suggest"

Después de muchas clases, he comprobado que el verbo "suggest" nos suele dar problemas a la hora de usarlo. A continuación podrás ver cómo formarlo para no equivocarte más:


1) SUGGEST + GERUND

- I suggest writing this down. (Sugiero que apuntes esto)

- I suggest going to Scotland again. (Sugiero ir a Escocia otra vez)

2) SUGGEST + SHOULD

- My boss suggested I should change banks. (Mi jefe sugirió que debería cambiar los bancos)

- I suggest your sister should join a dancing club. (Sugiero que tu hermana se una a un grupo de baile/ tu hermana debería unirse a un grupo de baile)

** Estas dos opciones son las más comunes, pero también podemos usarlo de la siguiente forma:

3) SUGGEST OMITTING "SHOULD" (ELLIPSIS)

- He suggested I change banks.

- I suggest your sister join a dancing club ("I suggest your sister should join a dancing club")

**Este verbo también es típico del "Reported Speech":


- "Let's close the windows, it's cold in here" (Nerea to Irene)

Nerea suggested closing the windows because it was cold in there OR
Nerea suggested closing the windows to Irene

- "Why don't we go shopping together?" (Remei to Toni)

Remei suggested  going shopping together OR
Remei suggested going shopping together to Toni

**Negative sentences: como usar "suggest" en negativo.

He suggested not spending so much money on clothes.

Lo que NO hay que hacer:

Ahora que ya sabes como usar el verbo, recuerda que el error típico que se comete es:

 " He suggested me to buy a present for my brother" >>>NO !!!


¿Qué te parece si  te inventas algunos ejemplos para praticar?

Emily

- What does Emily study?

- What does she think about learning German?

- What does she like about Madrid?

- What does she think about Spanish food?

El boca a boca - El boca a oreja

En inglés la expresión "el boca a boca" se traduce como "by word of mouth" cuya definición es:

Word of mouth refers to oral communication and the passing of information from person to person. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. (Wikipedia)

For example: " They are promoting their business by word of mouth."

Desayuno - Breakfast

Hay palabras cuya formación y significado es bastante curioso.

For example: The word breakfast comes from break and fast.

Break means romper and fast means ayunar.

So the word means:  "romper el ayuno" (después de la noche)

Have you ever thought that in Spanish it is exactly the same?
                         
                                       Des - ayunar

Sobre las elecciones

Después de las elecciones hay que seguir aprendiendo inglés :) soooo...here you have an exercise to fill the gaps:

Spanish socialists suffer heavy election losses

Spain's governing Socialist party has suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.

With 91% of municipal votes counted, the centre-right Popular Party (PP) had almost a 10-percentage point ..................., the interior ministry said. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero conceded defeat but ruled out early general elections.

Voting took place amid mass protests against high unemployment and the government's handling of the economy.

Mr Zapatero said three years of economic crisis had taken their toll. "It destroyed thousands of jobs. It is a crisis that had profound effects on citizens' morale. I know that many Spaniards suffer great .................... and fear for their futures," he said. "Today, without doubt, they expressed their discontent," he added.

However, he vowed to .................... job-creating reforms until the end of his mandate. At this point, a general election must be ................... by March of next year.

Jubilant PP supporters celebrated outside their party headquarters in Madrid as the final votes were ...................... counted. The party was heading to victory in virtually all 13 regional governments up for grabs, including Castilla-La Mancha where the Socialists have always held power.

In municipal elections, the PP won by about two million votes, compared ................ its victory margin of 150,000 in 2007. The Socialist party also lost bastions such as the town halls in Barcelona and Seville.

Prime Minister Zapatero's government has been ........................ to overcome recession and create jobs. Prime Minister Zapatero says voters expressed their discontent ...................... Spain's economic hardship. Spain's overall jobless rate ................... to 21% in the first quarter of this year, the highest in the industrialised world. Youth unemployment stands at 45%.

......................., thousands of young protesters remain camped out in squares across the country. What began as a sit-in in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square a week ago has ....................... into a national protest movement popularly known as 15-M.

About 30,000 people were estimated to have occupied the central square in the run-up to the vote. The protests, which have also taken place in cities including Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao, have so far been ...................... .

Demonstrators ........................ a government ................. on political protests on the eve of the election. On Sunday protesters in Puerta del Sol voted to stay in the square until at least 29 May. "Our ................. to press on is at maximum level," said spokesman Francisco Minarro, 32.

peaceful	turned	zeal	held	defied
ban	soared	at	Meanwhile	struggling
being	to	lead	pursue	hardship

Indignados

El Washington Post se hace eco del movimiento social "Democracia Real YA".

Vocabulario útil antes de leer la noticia:

Demonstration: manifestación
Political party: partido político (el plural es "parties")
Ban: prohibición
Protest: protestar
Economic crisis: crisis económica
Regional elections: eleciones municipales
Ruling: sentencia
Complaints: quejas
Corrupt: corrupto
Austerity measures: medidas de austeridad
Unemployment rate: tasa de desempleo
To lay off: despedir
Protesters: manifestantes

Thousands stage demonstrations in Spanish cities to protest political parties, crisis handling

Thousands of Spaniards defied a ban on a pre-election demonstration and mounted a protest camp in the heart of the Spanish capital to express anger at political parties and the country’s handling of the economic crisis.

The crowds packed Puerta del Sol square overnight Thursday and pledged to stay there until after municipal and regional elections this weekend.
The Madrid electoral board banned the demonstration Wednesday evening saying it could influence the elections Sunday. But the ruling appeared to have the opposite affect and — spurred on by social media messages — thousands of people of all ages swarmed into the square.
Some 500 riot police stood guard but did not intervene.
Similar overnight protests, albeit smaller in size, have taken place in several cities, including Barcelona and Seville, in recent days.
The demonstrators have a range of complaints but are united behind the slogan of “Genuine Democracy Now.”
They see the mainstream political parties as incompetent, corrupt and pro-business and are angry that ordinary people have had to suffer the brunt of the austerity measures aimed at resolving the economic crisis.
Spain is battling to emerge from nearly two years of recession that has left it with a swollen deficit and a staggering 21.3 percent unemployment rate.
The demonstrations, initially organized by students and unemployed and disaffected youths, are a spillover from countrywide demonstrations last Sunday. They have triggered a lively debate throughout the country on how the crisis has been handled by the politicians and financial institutions.
Jose Delgado Marquez, a 72-year-old retiree, said he went to the protest Wednesday out of solidarity with his children.
“Fortunately, they have work but they earn next to nothing and are always worried about getting laid off,” Marquez told the Associated Press. “This movement has to carry on. The protesters have to stick it out.”
In Madrid, the protesters set up tents to keep dry or protect them from the sun. They used cardboard sheets to lie on and distributed blankets. They also set up free food and drink stalls.
The ruling Socialist party of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is tipped to suffer a resounding defeat in the local elections. In turn, the leading conservative opposition Popular Party is expected to make huge gains.
General elections are not scheduled until 2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/thousands-stage-demonstrations-in-spanish-cities-to-protest-political-parties-crisis-handling/2011/05/19/AFZuq16G_story.html