Tag: Fun for all

Expression Sessions - Time

Expressions Sessions – Time

Expression Session
Expressions sessions - Time

The CAE, C1 exam is full of expressions. Here are just a few that are important, not just for the exam, but because we use them all the time!

  • play for time – delay something until you are ready
    • The actors aren’t ready yet. You’ll have to play for time with the audience for at least another 15 minutes.
  • take your time – spend the time you need to complete something OR – slow down.
    • Stop rushing! Take your time. We still have another hour before they arrive.
  • have a great time – Used to tell someone to enjoy themselves OR to express that you enjoyed yourself. It can also be used with other adjectives: bad time, good time, an ok time.
    • Have a great time at the wedding. I’m sure it will be fun!
    • We had such a good time going through the old photos.
  • do something to pass the time – To do something to keep busy while you are waiting.
    • How about we play a game to pass the time while we wait for the food to be ready?
  • make up for lost time – to enjoy something as much as possible now because you didn’t have the opportunity or didn’t want to do it before.
    • Every time I go to the US, I make up for lost time with my best friends and we talk for hours about everything that has happened since we last saw each other.
  • arrive in good time – finish a journey faster than expected.
    • Although there was some construction on the road, they made it in good time to the party.
  • be on time – to arrive somewhere at the exact time or earlier than the time that was arranged.
    • I have to leave now if I want to be on time for the theatre.
  • make time for something – to block off or organize some time to complete something or to be with someone.
    • She had a really busy morning but she made some time for us to have a coffee.
  • did something in no time – to do something in very little time or very quickly.
    • The shipment will be ready to go in no time.
    • The children finished their homework in no time and went to the patio to play.
  • did something time after time – to do the same thing over and over again, repeatedly.
    • I have to tell me children to pick up their wet towel off the floor time and time again.
  • time flies – used to say that the time spent doing something has gone by very quickly.
    • I can’t believe it’s already 7:30! It’s true that time flies when you’re having fun.
  • ran out of time – To have no more time to finish something or to get somewhere.
    • We are running out of time. The deadline for the tenner is this Friday.
Vocab Rehab: Collocations with money

Vocab Rehab – Collocations with money

English Vocabulary: Vocab Rehab
Vocab Rehab: Collocations with money

#Collocations are words that go together in a certain language. All of the words above collocate with the word money. Let’s take a look at their meanings.

  • to fork out money – To unwillingly pay an amount of money.
    • Fork out some money for the drinks!
  • to sink money into – to spend or invest a large amount of money on something.
    • She sank all her money into that new car.
  • to extort money – to obtain money for force or threat
    • The gang has been found guilty of extorting money from the local shops.
  • to funnel money – to send money directly and intentionally to someone or some place.
    • The Managing Director funneled money from the business to his closest friends.
  • to hoard money – to collect large amounts of money and keep it for yourself.
    • It was quite common for WWII victims to hoard money at home since a lot of their money was taken from them unwillingly during the war.
  • to squander money – to waste a large amount of money
    • Betting on games is the quickest way to squander your money, especially if you do not know how it works.
  • to shell out money – to pay money for something, especially when it is unexpected or not wanted.
    • The government shelled out money for vaccines that can not be used.
  • to siphon off – to dishonestly take money from someone or something.
    • She lost her job when they found out she was siphoning money from the community resources.
  • to pay out money – to pay a lot of money to someone
    • The company was forced to pay out money to the client because they didn’t want to go to court.
  • to withdraw money – to take money out
    • I will withdraw the money from the cash machine later this afternoon so I have cash for the dinner.

off the cuff, episode 7: The elephant in the room

off the cuff: The elephant in the room

off the cuff: a learning podcast

Que quiere decir el ‘Elephant in the room’? ¿Por que tintan el río de Chicago verde este mes? ¿De donde viene St. Patrick? Todas las respuestas y más en este episodio de #offthecuff

Vocabulary

  • March Madness- the time period in March when the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) college basketball tournament takes place in the US.
  • The ides of March – March 15, best known as the day Julius Cesar was assassinated
  • The elephant in the room – an obvious problem that no one wants to talk about
  • To march – to walk through the streets, usually to protest something.
  • Lockdown – an emergency situation where people are not allowed to leave. See episode 1 of off the cuff.
  • To feel at ease – to feel relaxed or comfortable with someone or about something.
  • Amnesty Day – to not have to follow a rule or law for that day. See episode 6 of off the cuff
  • St. Patrick’s Day – a day to celebrate the Irish Patron Saint (Patrick) who brought Christianity to Ireland.
  • Parades – to walk or march somewhere, usually as part of a public celebration.
  • Dye – to change the color of something using a specific liquid
  • Punishment – to make someone do something they don’t want to do because they have done something wrong
  • Gaelic – a Celtic language spoken by some people in Ireland and an official language of the Republic of Ireland
  • Famine – A situation in which there is not enough food for a large amount of people, causing illness and death
  • To find your roots – to find your family origins, the place they came from and the customs that they held in order to feel connected to them.
  • Blow something away – to be very surprised by something
  • Rowdy – noisy and possibly violent
off the cuff: a month of Tuesdays

off the cuff: A month of Tuesdays

off the cuff: a learning podcast

This month on #offthecuff we explore the similarities that many religions do to prepare for their celebrations, such as fasting, but most importantly, we discover that February is really just a month of Tuesdays. Listen to find out what we mean and check the long list of vocabulary below.

  • Nippy – when the air is cold.
  • A different ballgame – an American phrase meaning that two things are very different from one another
  • If you say so – Here this expression is being used to say that since the speaker doesn’t know the answer, they trust what the other person has said.
  • Savory- Salty or spicy, but not sweet.
  • Pancake Tuesday – A holiday in Ireland that is the day before Ash Wednesday where people eat a lot of pancakes in preparation for their fast during Lent.
  • Ash Wednesday – A Roman Catholic holy day where palm ashes from the previous year are put on the forehead in a shape of a cross to mark the beginning of Lent.
  • Lent – a six week period leading up to Easter. This usually involves fasting and giving something up in preparation for Easter.
  • Shrove Tuesday – The name given to the day before Ash Wednesday by the Christian community which is usually used for prayer or confession.
  • To fast – to not eat a certain food for a period of time  
  • Judaism – The name of the religion of Jewish people
  • Cleansing – to clean yourself emotionally or rid yourself of something unpleasant.
  • Stuff yourself – to eat too much
  • To give up something – to stop doing something
  • Amnesty – a fixed period of time where you are not punished for doing something wrong.
  • Saint Patrick’s Day – A holiday to celebrate the life of Saint Partick (March 17th) who is Ireland’s Patron Saint who was thought to have brought Christianity to Ireland.
  • To be gypped – To be cheated, to get less than you paid for.
  • Dry January – A fast where people give up alcohol for the month of January.
  • Trendy – modern and with the latest fashions
  • Fad diets – a diet that is very famous for a short period of time.
  • To impose something on someone – to force someone to do something
  • Burnout – having no energy or enthusiasm because you have been working too hard or living in a stressful situation for a long time (in a pandemic, for example)

Gluten Free Crepes

Cooking in English: Gluten Free Crepes

Recipes in English

In Spain it’s called Carnival, in the US it’s Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, Christians refer to it as Shrove day and in Ireland it’s referred to as Pancake Tuesday. Tuesday (Feb. 16th) or the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday signifies the last day to party or eat too much before we enter into the fasting phase of lent (Cuaresma).

As Clare is from Ireland, she has prepared her version of Pancake Tuesday with this delicious recipe for Gluten-Free Crepes, which are very similar to pancakes.

  • Self rising flour – flour containing a substance that makes cakes swell when they are cooked
  • Raising agent – something added to cause the flour to be lifted up or become higher
  • Trials and errors – a way of achieving an aim of solving a problem by trying a number of different methods and learning from the mistakes that you make
  • Pseudo-cereal – a fake cereal
  • Binds – to make a mixture stick together in a solid mass
  • Sieve –  /sɪv/ to put a liquid or powder through a sieve
  • Pinch of … – a small amount of something that a person can hold between their first finger and thumb
  • Free range eggs – eggs that come from chickens that were not kept in cages
  • Spongy – soft and able to absorb or having already absorbed a lot of liquid, like a sponge
  • Lumpy – containing little balls of flour or mixture
  • To set – to leave a mixture to become hard or solid
  • At least – the minimum
  • A squeeze of… – to press something firmly 
  • To wilt (down) – to soften from the heat, to cook leaves
Como mejorar tu inglés

¿Por qué no hablo bien inglés?

Fun for all

La mayoría de nuestros estudiantes identifican la habilidad para  hablar inglés,  “speaking“, como su punto débil y también el que más les gustaría mejorar.  La capacidad para hablar en inglés muchas veces va ligada al carácter más o menos tímido del alumnado. Una gran parte se siente acomplejado al hablar en inglés por creer que no lo hacen todo lo bien que debieran.  Mejorar esta confianza es un aspecto clave en nuestra metodología. Este puede ser tema para otro “post“.  

En este artículo quiero hablar sobre algunas cualidades necesarias para “hablar bien inglés”. Todos estamos de acuerdo que el conocimiento de vocabulario, cuanto más amplio más potencial para expresarnos tendremos,  y de la gramática, que nos indica cómo estas palabras se ordenan, son fundamentales. Pero hablar bien requiere de otros elementos. Algunos de ellos son:

  • pronunciación: conocer la fonética inglesa, es decir los diferentes sonidos que componen este idioma, e intentar reproducirlos de la mejor manera posible es un buen inicio. Mis alumnos saben que soy un fan de la fonética y recurro a ella constantemente. Sólo así podremos saber cómo pronunciar palabras como “coro” en inglés, “choir”  /kwaɪər/ . Los diccionarios tienen sus transcripciones fonéticas, es nuestra tarea conocer los distintos fonemas para que éstas nos sean útiles.
  • entonación: hablar bien inglés no consiste en pronunciar bien todas las palabras individualmente. Las palabras se conectan “link” unas con otras , nuevos sonidos aparecen o desaparecen y al igual que tenemos acentos “stress” en las palabras, también están las palabras que se acentúan en las frases. Normalmente se acentúan las palabras que son más importantes para transmitir el significado de la frase, pero no siempre. No es lo mismo la entonación de una pregunta que la de una frase positiva o una negativa.
  • fluidez: es importante no dormir al que te escucha con silencios interminables en los que uno intenta encontrar la palabra o expresión correcta.  Es fundamental aquí liberarse y no preocuparse demasiado por cometer errores. Algo que me ha sorprendido recientemente es hablar con gente dotada de una fluidez total y un nivel de inglés bajo. Esto puede ocurrir cuando llevas viviendo en un país de habla inglesa durante 20 años y has aprendido a comunicarte pero no has aprendido nunca inglés.
  • habilidades comunicativas: este es un punto que normalmente pasa desapercibido pero es fundamental y viene a poner el foco no tanto en la cantidad de inglés que uno lleve dentro sino en la habilidad para interactuar y  transmitir, como sea, lo que uno quiere decir. Si entendemos que lo fundamental es comunicarse, o sea, hacerse entender, quizás habría que trabajar este punto tanto o más que los anteriores. Aquí la creatividad que tenga el comunicador será fundamental al igual que su falta de timidez o ganas de comunicarse. 

Espero este artículo os haya ayudado a reflexionar sobre lo que significa “hablar bien en inglés” y sobre todo os de alguna pista para mejorar vuestro “speaking“.  – Javier Palomo, Profesor en la Cámara de Comercio de Álava

Pronunciation - linking words

Linking words

Fun for all

This is a great explanation of how we use to join words in English. This was created by #hancockmcdonald and I often use his work to teach pronunciation, specifically linking words. Can you tell what they are really saying and why it is written the way it is?

In English we often link a word that ends in a vowel sound with the following word that starts with a consonant. For example: tooth ache sounds like two theik.

We also link words that end in a vowel with the following work that starts with a vowel. For example: sore eyes sounds like sore rise.

This is why it can be so difficult sometimes to understand people when they are speaking. Linking words can help you improve your listening, so start learning more about them today.

Click here to learn about vowel sounds.
Click here to sign up for an English course today.

How to carve a pumpkin

Fun for all

Carving pumpkins is an easy and fun way to decorate your house for Halloween. Follow these simple steps and please send us your pictures!

First you want to cover your table well. You will also need two bowls, some spoons, a marker and some sharp knives.

Next you need to draw a circle around the top and carve out the circle. Keep the top as you will use it later!

Here comes the messy part! Take out and separate the seeds from the insides of the pumpkin. Don´t throw away the seeds. We will use them later!

After I use my hands to clean as much as possible, I use a spoon to scrape the sides so that the inside of the pumpkin is nice and clean. Plus, this way it is less likely to burn. This is also a good time to clean the outside of the pumpkin and dry it so it is ready to be carved.

Draw a face, an animal or anything you want on the front of the pumpkin. Faces can be happy, scary, silly, or simple. It is much easier to carve triangles and squares than to carve circles.

Use a knife to cut out the drawn pieces on the pumpkin. Once you have carved your pumpkin, stick a small candle on the inside and see how it lights up. Put the top back on for an added glow.

Don’t forget those pumpkin seeds! Clean them well and dry them completely. Add some olive oil and salt and roast them in the oven for 15 minutes at 175ºC. You can also add other spices such as cayenne, curry, cumin, etc.

Shepherd’s / Cottage Pie

Recipes in English

Clare brings us a truly versatile dish that all adults and kids will love. Perfect for these cold days and even better as left overs! Don’t forget to check some new vocabulary down below.

Vocabulary

Stroke – /
Sheep – oveja
minced beef – carne picada
brought up – criada
chopped – picado
sauté – salteado
without further ado – sin mas demora  
diced – en dados
pick something out – sacar con dedos
hail storm – granizado
where the hell is… donde coño esta…
beef stock – caldo de carne
don’t be mean to your mashed potatoes – usa una buena cantidad de patatas
pressure cooker – olla exprés
kettle – tetera
thingamajig – chisme, cosa
lumps – grumos
potato masher – pasapures
creamy – cremosa
sealed – cerrado
crispy – tostado, crujiente


Wear a mask – and learn some swear words

Fun for all

Listen to Mrs. Potts swearing (usando groserias) while telling you to wear a mask. What do you think this line means: ‘Wear a mask! Wear a mask! Get your head out of your a$$!’
There’s not only a great message and vocabulary for you to learn, but some cultural references as well, such as the name Karen. Click here to learn about what this reference means.

Vowel sounds

Fun for all

Vowel sounds can be very difficult in English as there are several different sounds. Use this chart to learn the long, short and other vowel sounds. Remember most online dictionaries will have the option of listening to the pronunciation of a word.