APRENDIENDO INGLÉS GRATIS

COOKING AND LEARNING ENGLISH. THE GRANDMOTHER’S CAKE.

2013-01-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Cooking is a good way to keep updated our English. A lot of products have their description in several languages. But another way and more tasty is cooking with recipes in English.

Here are one of my favourites.

The grandmother’s cake.

Ingredients:

1 liter of milk.

5 spoonfuls of sugar.

1 “flanin” packet or custard powder.

5 packets of plain and preferably square biscuits (y usually do with marie buscuits.)

300 g of plain chocolate.

500 ml of whipping cream

50 g of finely grated coconut.

Preparation:

1. Whip the cream with 2 spoonfuls of sugar.

2. Melt the chocolate (You may use the microwave or boil in some water)

3. Boil ½ liter of milk and when the milk comes to the boil add the custard powder packet with 3 spoonfuls of sugar, and toss it for about 5 minutes before removing it.

4. Pour some milk into a bowl and dip the biscuits in it but only for a little while.

5. Use a largish dish that isn't too shallow and make layers of milk-moistened biscuits alternating with layers of the chocolate cream, the whipped cream, and the liquid crême caramel.

6. The top layer should be one with chocolate.

7. Sprinkle the grated coconut on the top.

8. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

CURSO DE INGLES GRATIS DE LA UNED

2012-11-25T09:24:00.000-08:00

A continuación dejo un enlace a un curso de ingles basico de la UNED.

http://ocw.innova.uned.es/epica/ingles/inicio.htm

Espero que os sea de utilidad.

Conectores y conjunciones en Inglés - Conjunctions and linking words

2012-11-11T16:17:00.001-08:00

Conjunctions are used to link at least two ideas. They help to create continuity or ‘flow’ in a text. A sentence containing a conjunction needs two parts.

Sirven para unir ideas enlazando oraciones y creando distintas relaciones entre ellas. Ayudan a crear continuidad y fluidez en el texto. Se pueden agrupar en las siguientes categorías:

1. Conjunctions of addition and replacement. Add more information to what is already there. Unen algo a lo ya mencionado añadiendo información

And – y. Ideas are often linked by and

Also – También, además. Used to add an extra idea or emphasis. We don’t usually start a sentence with also. We are concerned not only by the costs, but also by the competition. He plays the piano and also sings

Too – También. Goes either at the end of the sentence, or after the subject.

As well as – También. Often used to mean in addition to. Can be used at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. As well as the cost, we are concerned by the competition. We are interested in costs as well as the competition.

In addition – Además. To start a sentence with a phrase that means also.

Moreover – Además, por otra parte. The contract moreover stipulates that... (el contrato estipulaba además o por otra parte que.... Marketing plans give us an idea of the potential market. Moreover, they tell us about the competition.

Furthermore – Además. Furthermore , we need to consider his motives.

Further = Furthermore – Más, además.

Besides – Además, excepto. Often used to mean as well as or in addition to. There are five others coming besides you. No one knows besides you

Apart from -

Not only...but also... - no solo...sino también.... To give emphasis. We are concerned Not only by the costs, but also by the competition

Not only...but...as well - no solo...sino...también

No sooner...than... - apenas...cuando...

2. Conjunctions of comparison and contrast ideas.

To link two ideas that are considered to be similar.

In the same way, in a similar way, similarly – De manera parecida o similar, similarmente, igualmente

Likewise- Asimismo, de la misma manera

Just as- Así como, de la misma manera que.

Both...and... - Tanto...como... / ambas cosas

To link two ideas that are considered to be different.

But – Pero. She was fired, but they were not la despidieron a ella pero no a ellos

However – Sin embargo, no obstante.

But is more informal than however. It is normally used at the beginning of a sentence.

- He works hard, but he doesn’t earn much.

- He works hard. However, he doesn’t earn much.

In contrast, on the other hand, on the contrary – Por el contrario.

Instead – En vez de, en lugar de. I watched TV instead of doing my homework.

Nevertheless, nonetheless – Sin embargo, no obstante. She didn’t like the price. Nevertheless, she bought it anyway.

Yet – Pero, sin embargo. I like it, yet it could be improved.

Still – Aún así, de todos modos. They say it's safe, but I'm still scared, I don't think it will work; sitll, we can always try (no creo que funcione; pero bueno, igual podemos intentarlo)

Even so – Aún así. I know you don’t like vegetables, but even so you must eat them.

Neither … nor – Ni.....ni. she neither knows nor cares! (¡ni sabe ni le importa!)

To contrast one idea with another. Indican una objeción o reparo a lo dicho anteriormente.

Though, although, even though – Aunque. Although it was hot, se went out with a pullover.

Despite / in spite of - A pesar de. In spite of the hot, she went out with a pullover.

Notwithstanding

Whereas - Mientras que, en tanto que. I really like fish, whereas my wife can't stand it. (A mí me encanta el pescado, mientras que mi mujer lo odia).

While – Mientras, mientras que. While you were asleep (mientras dormías)

Unlike- A diferecia de. Unlike in the UK, the USA has cheap petrol.

3. Conjunctions of exemplification, restatement and summarising

Conjunctions of exemplification.

For example / for instance – Por ejemplo. There are many ways of interesting young children in reading. For instance, regular trips to the library have been shown to greatly increase children’s awareness of books.

Such as- Tal como.

Namely – Especificamente, concretamente. Namely refers to something by name. There are two problems: namely, the expense and the time.

Conjunctions of restatement (reafirmación) and summarising: That is, to put it another way, in other words, to sum up, in brief (en resumen), in short, in summary, to summarise, in a nutshell (en pocas palabras, en resumen), to conclude, in conclusion.

We normally use at the beginning of the sentence to give a summary of what we have said or written.

4. Conjunctions of cause and condition

Conjunctions of cause highlight a cause-effect relationship between two ideas or give a reason why something happens or is the case.

Due to (debido a) and owing to (debido a, por motivo de).

Due to and owing to must be followed by a noun. If you want to follow due to and owing to with a clause (a subject, verb and object), you must follow the words with the fact that.

Ex: Due to the fact that oil prices have risen, the inflation rate has gone up by 1%.

Thus– Así, por consiguiente

Therefore –Por tanto, por eso.

So – Así que, por lo que.

Hence – Así que. You are going to be late, hence run!

Because / because of – Because can be use at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. Because it was raining, we carried the umbrellas

For this reason – Por esta razón

As – Ya que, porque, aunque

As a result – Como resultado, como consecuencia.

Consequently - Consiguientemente, por consiguiente

Since – Como

Conjunctions of condition outline or suggest the conditions under which something happens or is the case and include terms such as:

Unless – A menos que, a no ser que.

In that case - En ese caso

That being so - Siendo ese el caso.

If – Si bien. If literacy levels are to improve, more resources have to be put into teacher training.

5. Conjunctions of time

Conjunctions of time locate or sequence ideas in time. Ideas or events can be located in real world time or text time. Examples of conjunctions of time include:

The former – El primero, la primera.

The latter – El último.

The former and the latter are useful when you want to refer to one of two points. Marketing and finance are both covered in the course. The former is studied in the first term and the latter is studied in the final term.

Lastly – Finalmente, por último.

The first point – El punto primero.

The following – El siguiente. The following people have been chosen to go on the thaining course.

After – Despues.

Afterwards – Despues, luego, más tarde.

Before – Antes, anteriormente.

Previously – Previamente.

Prior to – Antes de

At present – En el presente.

Second(ly), third(ly), finally are useful way to list ideas.

LEARNING ENGLISH WITH SMART TV - APRENDIENDO INGLES CON SMART TV

2012-09-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hace tiempo que no escribo en el blog, la razón es que en vez de buscar videos en youtube para agudizar mi oído, algunos de los cuales luego compartía en este blog, ahora que he cambiado de televisión puedo ver en el smart TV, noticias en inglés y poner dibujos animados a mis hijos también en inglés. La verdad es que es una buena manera de mantener vivo el idioma, y sobre todo para los más pequeños el poder ver los dibujos de clan desde pequeños en ingles es un favor que espero que me agradezcan cuando sean mayores.

La verdad es que debemos aprovechar las oportunidades que nos ofrece la conexión a Internet de la televisión para aprender, mejorar o mantener nuestro inglés.

November 25 - The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

2011-11-25T03:42:00.000-08:00

This day is an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

LESSON 26: HERO - MARIAH CAREY

2011-11-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

Mariah Carey - Hero

LESSON 25: DO YOU SPEAK AMERICAN?

2011-11-24T13:05:00.001-08:00

LESSON 24: DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?

2011-11-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

LESSON 23: Compound adjectives for describing people in English

2011-10-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Soft-spoken
Self-conscious
Well-behaved
Left-handed
Right-handed
Middle-aged
Middle-class
Easygoing
Good-looking

Strong-minded. Decidido.
Hard-working(worker. Muy trabajador.
Thick-skinned.Poco sensible.
Soft-hearted.Compasivo,bondadoso,no muy estricto.
Hot-headed. Impetuoso,irascible

Other compound adjectives for describing people.

Cool-headed. Imperturbable.
warm-blooded. De sangre caliente.
cold-blooded. De sangre fria.
old-fashioned. Anticuado, pasado de moda.
Kind-hearted. De buen corazón, bondadoso.
hard-hearted. De corazón duro, despiadado.
hard-headed. Testarudo, cabezota.
hard-hitting. Implacable, feróz.
hard-boiled,hard-bitten. Endurecido,insensible.
strong-willed. Con mucha fuerza de voluntad.

LESSON 22: Motor vehicles. Differences between American and British

2011-10-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

Tara lives in England and she has a car. Tammy lives in the USA, and she has an auto. She also sometimes calls this a car, but for her this is also a car. Tara calls it a 'railway carriage'. Though Tara and Tammy are both drivers, there are many differences between their vehicles. Did you notice the real difference? Tammy's steering wheel is on the left, because unlike the English, Americans drive on the right-hand side of the road. But the main difference is in the language that Tammy and Tara use to describe cars and driving - this can be very confusing.

Let's start from the bottom and move up. This vehicle is on the road surface. For Tammy, the road surface is the pavement (here is Tammy walking on the pavement). In England, the pavement is the place on the side where pedestrians walk. Tammy calls that the sidewalk. So Tammy drives on the pavement in the USA, but Tara would be arrested for driving on the pavement in England. There are a few other things for drivers to watch out for. In the USA this is a freeway. In England it is a motorway. Neither freeways nor motorways have what the English call traffic lights, and the Americans call traffic signals; and the middle light is called 'the yellow light' in America but 'amber' in England.

But let's go back to the motor vehicle. Tammy and Tara agree that the wheels have tyres. But Tara spells the word 'tyres' and Tammy spells it 'tires'. Things don't get better as we move up. Look at this part of the vehicle. What does Tara see? She sees a bumper with number plates. Tammy sees something different. She sees a fender with license plates. For Tara, the short form of 'number plates' is 'plates'. when Tammy wants to be brief, her license plates are called 'tags'.

Tammy and Tara agree that their vehicle has an engine. Tara's engine uses petrol, and she gets it from the local garage or petrol station, but Tammy's engine runs on gas, or gasoline, and she gets it at a filling station. Her car has a gas pedal which makes it go faster. (Which is why Americans say 'hit the gas' when they mean 'speed up.') Tara's car has an accelerator to make it go faster. And where is the engine? For Tara it is under the bonnet. Over in America Tammy thinks a bonnet is a good-looking hat, like the one she's wearing now. Her auto's engine is under the hood.

When Tara wants the car to go backwards, she reverses. Tammy backs up. Perhaps this is because things are also different at the back of the car. Tara's car has a boot. Tammy's car has a trunk. And remember,if Tammy is going to stop the car 'momentarily' it means she will stop IN a moment. But for Tara in England, when she stops momentarily, she stops FOR a moment and then carries on driving.

It's just as well that Tammy and Tara don't drive in each other's countries, because there might be a minor traffic accident. Or as Tammy would say, 'a fender-bender'.

LESSON 21: LITTLE BRITAIN

2011-10-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

LESSON 20: THE GERUND IN ENGLISH (EL GERUNDIO EN INGLÉS)

2011-10-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

El gerundio inglés se forma añadiendo la 'ing' (sin 'to') al infinitivo del verbo.

To play------> playing

TERMINACIONES

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en consonante precedida de una sola vocal pronunciada más fuerte, la consonante última se duplica:

To sit ------> sitting

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en '-e' muda, ésta desaparece.

To drive----> driving

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en 'ie' cambia a 'y' + 'ing'

To lie ------>lying

USO DEL GERUNDIO

- Como sujeto en una expresión cuando nos referimos a hechos en general.

Reading English is easier than speaking it. Leer inglés es más fácil que hablarlo

Smoking is bad for your health. Fumar es malo para la salud.

Reading is a good way for learning new vocabulary. Leer es una buena manera de aprender nuevo vocabulario.

Swimming is easy. Nadar es fácil

Going to parties is fun. Ir a fiestas es divertido.

- Como complemento directo (objeto directo) de ciertos verbos y expresiones: like, dislike, love, enjoy, deny, suggest, consider, miss, admit, avoid, finish, imagine, practise, stop (pero no stop to, que va seguido de infinitivo), remember (pero no remember to que va seguido de infinitivo)…

His hobby is painting. Su hobby es la pintura

I enjoy reading. Disfruta leyendo.

She loves dancing. Le encanta bailar.

She loves playing the piano. Le encanta tocar el piano.

He enjoys cooking. Disfruta cocinando.

I want to avoid speaking to them. Quiero evitar hablar con ellos.

They remember seeing her leave an hour ago. Recuerdan haberla visto salir hace una hora.

Have you finished doing your homework? ¿Has terminado de hacer los deberes?

- Cuando a un verbo precede de forma inmediata una preposición (in, at, of, to, for, from, while, after, before, by, without,…).

I’m good at drawing. Se me da muy bien dibujar.

We’re tired of waiting. Estamos hartos de esperar.

Did he give any reason for arriving so late? ¿Dio alguna razón por haber llegado tan tarde?

After swimming I felt cold. Después de nadar me sentí resfriado

They had difficulty in finding a parking place. Tuvieron dificultad para encontrar una plaza de aparcamiento.

Before going to bed he turned off the lights. Antes de irse a cama el apago las luces.

She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road. Ella lo evito caminando por el lado opuesto de la carretera.

We arrived in Madrid after driving all night. Llegamos a Madrid después de conducir toda la noche.

He told the joke without laughing. Contó la broma sin reírse.

- Después de ciertos adjetivos.

He’s afraid of going by plane. El tiene miedo de ir en avión.

I’ am interested in visiting the museum. Yo estoy interesado en visitar museos.

He is clever at skateboarding. El es hábil con el monopatín.

The girl is crazy about playing tennis. La niña esta loca por jugar al tenis.

I’m worried about making mistakes. Estoy aburrido de cometer errores.

- Después de ciertos nombres seguidos de preposiciones.

What is the advantage of farming over hunting?. Cual es la ventaja de cultivar sobre cazar.

There’s no point in waiting any longer. No sirve de nada esperar más.

He is in dubt about buying a new car. Duda sobre comprarse un nuevo coche.

There’s a real reason for winning the contest. Hay una razón real para ganar la competición.

- Se utiliza frecuentemente después de los verbos 'to go' y 'to come'

Come sailing with us next Saturday. Ven a navegar con nosotros el próximo sábado

- Detrás de ciertas expresiones: get/be used to, can’t help, can’t stand, don’t/doesn’t mind, it’s no use, look forward to, …

I can’t imagine them playing golf. No me los imagino jugando al golf.

They are getting used to working with computers. Se están acostumbrando a trabajar con ordenadores.

It’s no use complaining. No merece la pena quejarse

- Siguiendo la estructura VERB+PREPOSITION+ING FORM: insist on, think of, dream of/ about, participate in, approve of, talk about, agree on, feel like, work on, decide on/against, apologise for, believe in, depend on, get on with, pay for...

I’ve always dreamt of living in Paris. Siempre soñé con vivir en Paris.

I am working on improving my English. Estoy trabajando para mejorar mi inglés.

- En algunas expresiones de prohibición.

No smoking. Prohibido fumar

- Se emplea para obtener la forma progresiva de los verbos.

I am reading a book. Estoy leyendo un libro

LESSON 19: IRREGULAR VERBS

2011-10-11T04:49:00.000-07:00

LESSON 18: Word Stress in Sentences

2011-10-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Many words in spoken English are unstressed and this makes then hard to hear. In order to understand word stress, you need to know about content and function words.

• Content words are the big words: In general are stressed and they are fairly easy to hear. They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

• Function words are the little words. In general are unstressed, and sometimes they can be very hard to hear. They are articles (a, an, the), pronouns (you, she), prepositions (in, on, at) , and helping verbs (have, is, does, did, will)

LESSON 17: English pronunciation

2011-10-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

LESSON 16: PRONUNCIATION HAMBURGUER

2011-10-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A HAMBURGUER

LESSON 15: PRONUNCIATION THE SCHWA

2011-10-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

The phonemic symbol for this sound is:

Interesting links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/schwa/

LISTENING EXERCISE: SUSAN BOYLE

2011-01-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

LESSON 12: Different pronunciations

2011-01-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

LESSON 11: YOU SHOULD NEVER DRINK WINE BEFORE THE PRESS CONFERENCE

2010-12-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Nicolas Sarkozy just had lunch with the russian president Vladimir Putin and it seems that he had more to drink than water.

LESSON 10: HAPPY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

¡ FELIZ NAVIDAD !

Feliz Navidad Yoko,
Feliz Navidad Julian

Ya es Navidad,
y ¿qué has hecho?
otro año se acaba
y uno nuevo va a empezar.
Y ya es Navidad,
espero que te diviertas,
el que está cerca y el querido,
el viejo y el joven.

(ESTRIBILLO)
Y unas muy muy Felices Navidades
y un feliz Año Nuevo,
dar esperanza es bueno,
sin ningún miedo.

Y ya es Navidad,
para los débiles y los fuertes,
para los ricos y los pobres,
es mundo está tan mal repartido.

Y unas Felices Navidades,
al negro y al blanco,
al amarillo y a los rojos,
que se paren todas las luchas.

(ESTRIBILLO)

La guerra a terminado,
si tú lo quieres
la guerra ha terminado...

LESSON 9: YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH BETTER THAN SILVIO BERLUSCONI IN FEW DAYS

2010-12-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

LESSON 8: BAD GRAMMAR

2010-12-19T13:16:00.001-08:00

LESON 7: I LIKE SPONGEBOB

2010-11-08T01:22:00.000-08:00

we must buy chinese products

Debemos comprar productos chinos

LEASON 6: ALWAYS FASTEN YOUR SEATBEALT

2010-08-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

YOU MUST FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT

Debes abrocharte el cinturon de seguridad.

In the car.

En el coche.

You always remember us.

Vosotros siempre nos lo recordais.