28/9/12

PHRASAL VERBS WITH VERB "COME"

A list of phrasal verbs that contain  come.

A word in brackets, such as somewhere or something, means that we can use the phrasal with or without that word.

come across something

To find or discover something.
She had never come across vinegar on chips before she visited Britain.

come across as

To seem or appear to be like something.
He comes across as a nice man but he can be very unpleasant sometimes.
I’ve met the new boss and he comes across as being very nice.

come back (somewhere)

To return.
I came back home because I had forgotten my mobile phone.
Steve, come back immediately!

come down with something

To become ill.
I think I’m coming down with a cold. I feel terrible.

come out with something

To introduce something.
Apple have come out with a new design for the iPad.

come out in something

To have a medical condition on the skin, such as a rash or spots.
I’ve come out in these horrible red spots.

come round

To visit someone.
What time will you come round tonight?

come through (something)

To survive something.
She came through the operation very well.

come up

Something unexpected happens.
Something has come up. Sorry, I have to go home straight away.

come up with

To have an idea or a suggestion.
During the meeting we came up with some good suggestions.
John came up with a good idea.

24/9/12

Reading about... LIONEL MESSI.


Lionel Andrés Messi

 
Lionel Andrés Messi , born on 24 June 1987, is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Barcelona and the Argentine national team. He is one of the best football players of his generation and is frequently considered as the world's best contemporary player. Lionel Messi, whose playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21 and won both by the age of 22. Diego Maradona once declared that Messi was his "successor."
Lionel Messi's talent was early detected by his father. When he began playing with the local team, his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona . At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, which is a medical condition in which the body does not produce enough growth hormone and whose treatment nessecitates a lot of money. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke the La Liga record for the youngest footballer to play a league game, and also the youngest to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in 2006–07; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Perhaps his most successful season was the 2008–09 season, in which Messi scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign.
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team.
Source: Wikipedia

Comprehension:

  1. Lionel Messi's talent was discovered
    a.
    in Spain
    b.
    in Argentina
  2. Messi's health condition was critical
    a.
    before he moved to Spain
    b.
    after he moved to Spain
  3. He was offered a treatment for his disease by
    a.
    Newell's Old Boys
    b.
    Barcelona
  4. Messi's best season with Barcelona was
    a.
    2004-2005
    b.
    2005-2006
    c.
    2008–2009
KEYS FOR THE TEST IN THE COMMENTS OF THIS ENTRY.

18/9/12

¿Cómo estudiar Inglés? Trucos para estudiar mejor.

HOW DO I STUDY ENGLISH?


Learning strategies or study skills determine the approach for achieving the learning objectives. The strategies are usually tied to your needs and interests to enhance learning and are based on many types of learning styles.
Here are some strategies that can help you be successful in your studies.

Set small, achievable goals (establece pequeñas metas)

Start with small steps to reach higher targets.
  1. For example, try to learn 5 new English vocabulary items every day. (Aprende 5 nuevas palabras cada día )
  2. Set a 30 minutes study session every day.
  3. Learn the lyrics of an English song every now and then. (aprende la letra de una canción de vez en cuando)
  4. Read a short English text every day. (Lee algo en Inglés cada día)
Setting small targets is much better than setting huge goals that you cannot achieve. Remember that "small drops of water make the mighty ocean"

Plan your studies

Planning your studies gives meaning to your work. If you know all the steps necessary to achieve a goal and these steps are written down on a piece of paper, it will be easy for you, then, to see the whole picture.

Be motivated (Motívate, lee algo que te guste, ve una película de tus actores favoritos...)

The secret to success is that you should be motivated to learn. Try to avoid boredom by having fun in what you do. Try to find a positive aspect to studying English.
  1. Read about what you are interested (hobbies, fields of interest...) in English.
  2. Watch your favourite films in English
  3. Listen to your favourite English songs and learn the lyrics.
  4. Write your diary in English.
  5. Read about your favorite stars in English websites...
Remember, we learn better and fast things we really want to learn.

Manage your time (Aministra el tiempo)

In order to manage your time successfully, having an awareness of what your goals are will assist you in prioritizing your activities. Time management provides you with the opportunity to create a schedule that works for you, not for others. This personal attention gives you the flexibility to include the things that are most important to you.

Set a reward for yourself ( Premiate al terminar de estudiar)

Set a reward for yourself that you can look forward. For example, when you reach a goal, give yourself a reward:
  1. Watch a movie.
  2. A delicious snack.
  3. Meet your friends.
  4. Go to the café.
 

17/9/12

BUSINESS ENGLISH: Qualifiers to sound more POLITE

(Si eres un hombre o mujer de negocios, necesitarás este vocabulario sencillo pero muy útil para suavizar tu tono mientras estés tratando con un cliente, y así conducir las negociaciones hasta tu terreno, siempre deberás evitar frases muy directas y cortantes: el precio es muy alto, es un problema, demasido tarde y sustituirlas por : es un poco difícil conseguirlo, tal vez sea un pequeño inconveniente... Abajo tienes más ejemplos y las frases usadas en Inglés. ¡Buen Negocio!)

If you often attend meetings and negotiations as part of your job, you will know how important it is to avoid direct disagreement.
A disagreement can occur if we make a very direct and simple statement to express what we’re thinking. Statements which are too direct can sound confrontational and as a result the person you’re negotiating with may be offended or get upset.
Look at these very direct statements:
  • The price is high.
  • It’s a problem.
  • I’ll be late.
  • There might be delays with the delivery.
  • We have to make changes.
  • It’s difficult to do.
All of the above statements are too direct for a polite negotiation. They may say what you are thinking, but they can sound impolite or aggressive and may lead to a direct disagreement.

Qualifiers will ‘soften’ a direct statement

In order to sound more diplomatic we should soften our direct statements. One way of doing this is by using qualifiers – words which we put before another word to make it sound less direct.

Here are some common ‘softening’ qualifiers in English:
  • a little
  • a bit
  • a little bit
  • slight
  • slightly
  • short
  • small
  • one or two.
Now let’s use these qualifiers in sentences:
  • The price is a little high.
  • It’s a slight problem.
  • I’ll be a little bit late.
  • There might be one or two short delays with the delivery.
  • We have to make one or two small changes.
  • It’s a bit difficult to do.

14/9/12

EXÁMENES DE INGLÉS PARA BACHILLERATO


Este volumen os permitirá realizar exámenes creadoss por diferentes profesores en institutos para comprobar el nivel, repasar y estudiar la asignatura en 1º Y 2º de  Bachillerato. El libro incluye las soluciones y propuestas-consejos para realizar las redacciónes de los exámenes.


THIS BOOK CONSTITUTES A FANTASTIC AND NECESSARY GUIDE FOR THOS STUDENTS IN 1ST AND 2ND YEAR OF BACHILLERATO. THROUGH THE DIFFERENT TESTS THEY WILL TEST THEIR ABILITIES IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE.

 

EXÁMENES DE INGLÉS PARA BACHILLERATO
 
Haz click en la portada del libro para adquirirlo en formato papel o Ebook.

13/9/12

What is a plural NOUN?

Plural nouns are nouns which are always plural and have no singular form. They are often things which have two parts joined together, e.g. trousers (trousers have two legs), or scissors.
Some plural nouns refer to a group (of people or things). An example of this is police.
Plural nouns always take a plural form of the verb, so we say:
  • My trousers are wet.
  • The goods were stolen.
  • The police are here.
Sometimes we use some with a plural noun. In other cases we can say a pair of. Here are 10 plural nouns and examples of how we use them.

10 plural nouns

  • scissors
  • some scissors,
  • a pair of scissors
  • trousers
  • some trousers,
  • a pair of trousers
  • clothes
  • some clothes
  • headphones
  • some headphones,
  • a pair of headphones
  • refreshments
  • some refreshments
  • sunglasses
  • some sunglasses,
  • a pair of sunglasses
  • goods
  • some goods
  • outskirts
  • on the outskirts
  • headquarters
  • at headquarters
  • at our headquarters
  • surroundings
  • in nice surroundings
ACTIVITY 1:

What is the correct plural of the word?

  1. How many (person) study English as a second language?
  2. Five (woman) opened a computer service company.
  3. Even (child) enjoy learning on the Internet.
  4. Most basketball players are 6 (foot) tall or more.
  5. Which breed of (sheep) produces the finest wool?
  6. My (tooth) are sensitive to the cold.
  7. At daylight savings time, we have to change our (watch) .
  8. The boys went fishing and caught 10 (fish) .
  9. There are 10 (man) in the Maintenance Department.
  10. The (wife) keep their (knife) on the (shelf) .
  11. (Goose) are water birds.
  12. (Piano) are difficult to move .
  13. There are some (policeman) in my house!
  14. I've lost my (luggage) .

 

ACTIVITY 2:

Write down the correct form of the plural:

  1. city - .
  2. house - .
  3. boy - .
  4. family - .
  5. life - .
  6. photo - .
  7. phone - .
  8. sandwich - .
  9. nurse - .
  10. elf - .
  11. phenomenon - .
  12. criterion - .
  13. village - .
  14. toy - .
LOOK FOR THE KEYS IN THE COMMENTS OF THIS POST.
Las soluciones en los comentarios de esta entrada.

12/9/12

COLOUR IDIOMS

Colour idioms are very common in English. We’ve chosen ten common ones for this list.
At the bottom of the page there is a little quiz to see how many you can remember.



black and white

Thinking of everything or judging everything in a simple way and seeing it as either good or bad.
The situation isn’t as black and white as it seems; it’s much more complicated.

to black out

To darken by putting out the electric lights or covering over the windows.
Londoners had to black out their windows during the German bombing raids at the beginning of the war.

to black out

To lose consciousness.
He blacked out after standing up for three hours in the parade. A doctor had to attend to him.

to be blue in the face

To be very angry or upset; to be excited and very emotional.
She argued with her husband until she was blue in the face but he wouldn’t see her point of view.

to be green

To be inexperienced and/or immature.
He’s a bit green – he still believes that someone is going to come and help him out of his situation. He doesn’t realise he has to do it himself.

the grass is always greener (on the other side)

When a place that is far away or different seems better than the place where we are now.
He must be crazy to leave the company; he’s got a great job and a great salary. He really should stay where he is but he can’t see it – the grass is always greener on the other side.

to be green with envy

To be very jealous and full of envy.
I was green with envy when I heard that she was going on holiday to Spain for a week while I had to stay and work.

to be in the red

To have debts.
The company has been in the red for two years now. We now owe over $500,000 to our suppliers and the bank.

red tape

Excessive bureaucracy.
Many businesses complain about the amount of red tape that they have to deal with in Russia.

to come out of the blue

When something happens without a warning and by surprise.
His decision to leave the company came completely out of the blue. No one expected it at all.

10/9/12

TEN BASIC PHRASAL VERBS FOR BEGINNERS IN ENGLISH

Here are 10 important phrasal verbs for elementary learners of English.
If you're learning English and you're in the beginner level you must learn this basic Phrasal verbs.

wake up

To stop sleeping. I wake up at 6 o’clock every morning.
[irregular verb] The verb wake is irregular: wake, woke, woken.
I woke up at 7 o’clock yesterday morning.


get up

To get out of bed. I always wake up at 6.30 and then I get up at 6.40.
[irregular verb] The verb get is irregular: get, got, got.
Yesterday I got up late.

speak up

To speak more loudly. Speak up, please! I can’t hear you.
[irregular verb] The verb speak is irregular: speak, spoke, spoken.

hurry up

To go more quickly. We are late. Hurry up!
You’re so slow. Please hurry up!

give up

To stop a habit. I want to give up smoking. It’s unhealthy and expensive.
[irregular verb] The verb give is irregular: give, gave, given.
I gave up smoking last year. I feel much healthier now.

wash up

To wash the plates, cups and cutlery. My wife cooked the dinner and afterwards I washed up.

slow down

To go more slowly. Don’t drive so quickly – slow down!
You’re speaking too quickly. Please slow down!

break down

When a car or machine stops working. Old cars often break down.
[irregular verb] The verb break is irregular:break, broke, broken.
My car broke down yesterday and I was late for work.

look out

To be careful, to pay attention. Look out! The floor is wet.

grow up

When a child is bigger and becomes an adult. My daughter is growing up fast.
[irregular verb] The verb grow is irregular: grow, grew, grown.
He grew up in London but now he lives in Paris.


via speakspeak.com

8/9/12

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS


KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS. This is the first book of a series of Cheap Graded Readers for Students. Due to the difficult times we are living in we cannot spend too much money in school books, so this is our economic proposal.

This books has also activities carried out by INTERMEDIATE students ( A2, B1, Bachillerato 1, 2) or by those who want to update their "English" reading comprehension .This book can be use in the English classroom in an easy and effective way, since the students can dowload the book at home and print it for the cheapest price. They don't have to wait to get the book for two weeks , they will get it in five minutes!





KING ARTHUR LEGEND
If you want to read the book press the cover.
 
 
Nota para España:
Este libro pertenece a una nueva colección de lecturas graduadas para el estudiante de Inglés. La Leyenda del Rey Arturo, está destinado a estudiantes de nivel intermedio (A2, B1) y alumnado de Bachillerato 1º y 2º o Escuela Oficial de Idiomas.
 
Esta nueva colección pretende ofrecer versines muy económicas para que el alumnado pueda descargar desde casa una copia del libro y poder leeerlo sin tener que desemb