Artículos, reflexiones y opiniones de profesores sobre english

The English language is chunky!    That is to say,    words often combine with other words to make phrases  (or chunks).    For example in collocations, phrasal verbs and expressions. Collocations A collocation consists of    words that are often found together     (not just by chance). You may know some verb-noun collocations already for example: 'catch a cold'; 'ask a favou...

Practice makes perfect I think the key to training your listening skills really is regular practice.  I'm not referring to just exam practice, which can get tedious, but using real authentic sources.  This can be  podcasts,  series or  youtube  videos.  Just find what interests you and away you go! In my classes I tend to use real sources like this, even turning them into exam-style questions. The p...

-ing  and -ed adjectives Remember an adjective ending in -ing describes a situation and an adjective ending in -ed describes a feeling. Here are some of the most common ones: boring - bored disappointing - disappointed surprising- surprised interesting - interested exciting- excited shocking - shocked Same root, different meaning Often the same root can be used to form adjectives with different meanings. IMAGINE ---- imaginable,  &nb...

Nouns can be made from many phrasal verbs. I have compiled a very short list of some common examples (with their phrasal verbs in brackets): OUT workout (work out) burnout  (burn out) UP catch-up (catch up) hold-up   (hold up) IN break-in   (break in) intake   (take in) Normally the particle goes after the verb, for example in 'break-in', but sometimes it goes before the verb, for example in 'intake'. These ar...

Many phrasal verbs have abstract meanings. I'm going to explain this using phrasal verbs formed from the verb 'look'. An example of a phrasal verb with a concrete meaning is 'look for' (buscar). Here are some examples of phrasal verbs with abstract meanings with the verb 'look': look forward to: await with excitement/ long for (tener muchas ganas de) look back (on): reflect on/ reminisce about (recordar) look up to: admire/ respect/ regar...

When learning a new language it is important to use real contexts such as news articles and horoscopes to give it real meaning.   But it is also how you record new language which is important in how effectively you learn and retain it. Horoscopes are an excellent authentic source of informal language such as phrasal verbs. Here I’ve written one I've invented myself: Capricorn Horoscope New opportunities are opening up at work this we...

So why are English learners put off by phrasal verbs? Why do they try to get out of using them and why do they struggle to get the hang of them?  In my experience learners often try to get out of (avoid) using phrasal verbs as they are indeed problematic for them due to their sometimes abstract meanings.  For example, if you consider 'get out of', it is difficult to connect this to the meaning of 'avoid'. It's only when we consider the...

La pregunta más frecuente que se hacen la mayoría de los alumnos que quieren aprender inglés es ¿Cómo mejorar mi fluidez? ¿Qué puedo hacer para mejorar mi pronunciación? muchas de estas respuestas las podrás encontrar en este artículo. Además cabe resaltar que la educación que se imparte hoy en día tanto en colegios como en muchas academias, se basa principalmente en gramática, lectura y escritura dejando muchas veces de lado el "SPEAKING", al ...

English has plenty of commonly confused words and this is sometimes due to the way in which we usually pronounce these words or the way we usually spell them. Today we're going to talk about three words that are daily used and are commonly confused when speaking. These words are "by", "buy" and "bye" Could you pronounce them? Have you notice they are similarly pronounced? English has this strange effect. In Spanish we would say these words are ...

There's something we must never forget to do every night before going to sleep and that's keep in our schoolbag everything we'll need to use at school and prepare        the following day and go to sleep with a smile in our face. Our schoolbag keeps more than our own books, it keeps our agenda and our notes. Our notes? I don't mean the notebooks, I mean those notes we write to remember a date, a mark from an exam, a tel...

To better understand contemporary we have to go way back. It is not clear exactly when contemprary dance was founded or who was he founder of the original idea. Some people argue that its origin is from Eastern customs such as the practice of yoga thanks to the breathing techniques and martial arts because of the stable position, balance and smooth transition from one position to the other. Other historians have ano...

Aunque la pregunta sea un poco injusta, porque la verdad estos ejemplos son parte de mi historia personal, hay una razón muy importante por la que los he mencionado: todos ellos me ayudaron a aprender español.    Ok, es verdad que Harry Potter no es exactamente una lectura breve. Pero, pensemos ahora en Shakira como otra forma de incorporar el idioma. ¿Por qué no intentar traducir tus canciones favoritas? Y, si quieres dar un paso...

A job interview in English? Already overwhelmed? The words `job interview´ are not particularly associated to having fun, but here are some tips to overcome the obstacles and to successfully carry it out in English!  Relax A a job interview, a potential employer evaluates your candidacy, true. However, you are also considering whether you want to be part of the company values, the team, share tasks and time with new colleagues,… right? In ...

Dear magicians, When you observe a magic trick, are you empowered enough to comprehend every single step that leads to impress the audience? Not to mention, when you look at a painting somewhere at the National Gallery, are you able to unveil the secret story behind it by only staring at that masterpiece? Well, it seems a tough question.  Harry Houdini, the well-known magician used to say: “Never tell the audience how good you are, they wi...