A TRICK TO CONVERT TEXT TO MP3

Hello everyone,

I am always saying that translators are not good at all.  But I want to share with you a tool which is quite interesting and it is inside the Google Translator web.

OPEN HERE

Just copy and paste the text you want to listen and click on the Speaker icon to listen it in English or Spanish.  

It's easy and it's worthwhile.  Just try it and check it!

IRREGULAR VERBS

Come on! It isn't so difficult, although you have to learn them by heart, to work with them one time and another time will help you to remember and identify these irregular verbs.

 Open this other website, and you will have those Irregular Verbs with their pronunciation.

Here you will find a website with ANOTHER LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS, and if you want to learn more about English grammar you will find as well many other grammar chapters on the left of that page.

Good luck!

STORIES AND READINGS IN ENGLISH

Choose among these websites: 

• PRESENT TENSES
• PAST TENSES 
• FUTURE TENSES 

And enjoy reading and learning verb tenses and vocabulary!

You have at least four or five stories with vocabulary to be learnt in every one of them and all the answers at the end of each webpage.

DO YOU SPEAK FLUENTLY? DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IT?

- What do you think about this video? 

- Do you agree or disagree? In what aspects? 

- What would you say it is very important to speak fluently? 

- When speaking, what do you think you are good at and bad at? 

- Other comments. 

GERUND OR INFINITIVE?

Gerunds can be used:

As the subject of a sentence (smoking is bad for you, drinking too much is unhealthy)

As the object of the sentence (after verbs like enjoy, hate, spend, stop etc)

After preposition and phrasal verbs and as the complement of a verb (His hobby is collecting stamps; he will keep on trying until he succeeds; she is great at swimming)

Infinitives are used:

As the subject of the sentence in formal or older style English (To err is human)

As the object of the sentence (after verbs like agree, decide, forget, try etc)

To express purpose; why someone does something (I am studying to pass my exam)

After adjectives which express wishes or personal feeling about the importance of something or make a value judgment (This is easy to understand)

The infinitive without to is used:

After most modal verbs (You mustn't smoke, He could run really quickly)

After make and let (You made him walk away, let me see that)

Remember:
A gerund is the name for an "-ing" form which acts like a noun.
The infinitive is another word for the base form of the verb, with or without "to".

Gerunds and Infinitives
There are some verbs which can only to followed by the -ing form:
I enjoy playing football (NOT to play)
He finished singing (NOT He finished to sing)

Verbs normally followed by -ing

1	Admit		7	Excuse
2	Avoid		8	Finish
3	Detest		9	Forgive
4	Dislike		10	Imagine
5	Enjoy		11	Suggest
6	Escape		12	Understand

After many verbs we use the infinitive:
Decide - She decided to study English
Pretend - They pretended to like the food
Start - It started to rain

Verbs normally followed by the infinitive

1	Ask		9	Help
2	Afford		10	Learn
3	Agree		11	Need
4	Choose		12	Pretend
5	Expect		13	Promise
6	Forget		14	Refuse
7	Remember		15	Want
8	Try		16	Would like

Some of the verbs that are followed by the infinitive can be followed by an object + infinitive:

Help - She helped him to do his homework
Remind - He reminded her to lock the door

Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the -ing form with no change in meaning:

Love - I love to swim /swimming
Like - I like to shop / shopping

But, although some verbs can be followed by both the infinitive and -ing with no great change in meaning, there are some verbs where the meaning does change, these include:

Stop - I stopped smoking (I quit); I stopped to smoke (I stopped what I was doing so that I could smoke)
Remember - I remembered writing the e-mail (a memory); I remembered to write the e-mail (I didn't forget)

Now practise it 

OPEN HERE

PHONETICS

 

THE PHONETIC CHART:  This chart will help you to hear the sounds of English by clicking on the symbols.

And now, DOWNLOAD THIS VOWEL PHONETICS CHART 

AND THIS CONSONANT PHONETICS CHART (A)

AND (B)

PRONUNCIATION VIDEOS

How many English alphabet letters and sounds are in the English Language?  Watch this video to start getting familiar with them. 

CLICK HERE.

Have a look at this videos from the BBC learning English and watch all the pronunciation tips.  CLICK HERE to get access.

And now, it's time to do same practice and some exercises about it.   Go into the 5 Units and the 5 Quizzes.  OPEN HERE.  

THE ALPHABET

Learn the alphabet.

CLICK ON HERE

Free pictures

 Pay attention to the pictures and photographs you choose from the Internet, many of them have authors' rights, so it is a good solution to go to these possible sites and choose one from there.

http://search.creativecommons.org/
 http://www.gettyimages.es

INFORMAL TALKS

 I enclose you a file with your list of useful expressions to start up and keep on an informal conversation.  These are some of your findings, but of course it is only a good example.

Best wishes,

Loli

VERB TENSES

PRESENT	PAST	PAST PARTICIPLE
study	studied	studied
be	was / were	been
have	had	had

VERB TENSE	EXAMPLE
IMPERATIVE	Study English, please.
PRESENT SIMPLE	I study English twice a week.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS	I'm studying English at the Adult Center. I'm going to study English.
PRESENT PERFECT	I have studied English for many years.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS	I have been studying English for many years.
PAST SIMPLE	I studied English at school.
PAST CONTINUOUS	I was studying English when the phone rang.
PAST PERFECT	I had studied English before moving abroad.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS	I had been studying English during my childhood.
FUTURE	I will study English in the future.
FUTURE PERFECT	By 2015 I will have studied English for 3 years.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS	By 2015 I will have been studying English for 3 years.
CONDITIONAL	I would study English if I had some more time.
CONDITIONAL PERFECT	I would have studied English if I had been there.
CONDITIONAL PERFECT CONTINUOUS	I would have been studying English during all my life, but nowadays it's not possible for me.
VERBAL PERIPHRASIS	EXAMPLE
HAVE TO	I have to study English.
HAD TO	I had to study English last year.
USE TO	I use to study English in the evenings.
USED TO	I used to study English when I was young.

Here you will find ANOTHER VERBS TENSE REVISION CHART.

AND HERE ANOTHER ONE.

Choose whatever you want, the question is to get familiar with them.

And if you need to reinforce some of the tenses at a basic level,

revise this website

or this other one.

ADJECTIVES FOR DESCRIBING

Good evening everyone,

   In this attached file I enclose a lot of adjectives you can use for describing people.  You have enough room in the right column to write down the explanation or an example to clarify the meaning of each word.  We will work with it in class.

    Afterwards, it would be good to do a deep and thorough description of yourself in both physical and psychological aspects as well as in personal and labour situations.  Remember that to write a well-balanced one you have to make an introduction about the subject, a core part and a conclusion or ending. 

    Have in mind that some of these adjectives can also be used to describe situations or ideas.

    If you try to do your best, we will know the best of you.  Take care,

    Loli

INFORMAL TALKS

After these working weeks, I enclose you a file with your list of useful expressions to start up and keep on an informal conversation.  These are some of your findings, but of course it is only a good example.

Best wishes,
Loli

LINKING WORDS AND PHRASES

I recommend you to have a look at this sheet everytime you do a writing, a composition, a report or a speaking.

OPEN HERE.

Here you will find another good CONNECTOR SUMMARY

And here another web about Connectors,  If you click in the red arrows you will get into another page and you will find them with their audio and their Spanish translated, as well as with several sentences with audio where those connectors are used.

LANGUAGES ALL OVER THE WORLD and English, of course!

Greeting people and saying bye bye

IDIOMS

OPEN this interesting file.