Check out conditionals!

Here's some explanation of the conditionals we use in English.  See how much you understand!  It's also been added to Daniel's Reference Pages.

Conditionals in English

0 Conditional = something which is generally true

If + simple present + simple present

e.g. If you heat butter, it melts.

 

1^st Conditional = possible

a) If + simple present + simple future

e.g. If you study hard, you will pass your exams.

b) Imperative + or/and + simple future

e.g. Finish your job and you will be happy.

c) Imperative + if/in case + simple present

e.g. Call them if you need any help.

 

2^nd Conditional = imagining, improbable or impossible

If + simple past + simple conditional

e.g. If I were (was) rich, I would buy a Ferrari.

 3^rd Conditional = past regrets

If + past perfect + conditional perfect

e.g. If I had eaten chocolate, I would have felt better.

 

Mixed Conditionals (2^nd + 3^rd )  = past & present situations together

If + simple past + conditional perfect (2^nd conditional for present + 3^rd conditional for past)

e.g. If tickets weren’t so expensive, I would have gone to the cinema last night.

 

If + past perfect + simple conditional (3^rd conditional for past + 2^nd conditional for present)

e.g. If James hadn’t fallen off his bike, he would be champion now.

How to write an essay

New link!

A great new website that I have come across is the following:

 

AutoEnglish.org

 

It's got plenty of interactive quizzes and YouTube videos, as well as useful advice for FCE and PET exams.

 

Go and check it out! 

English idioms

Idioms form an important part of any language, none more so than in English.  Try the following quiz to see how much you know:

https://www.qzzr.com/c/quiz/84631/ec36053e-b3a5-4ce2-ad22-257a2c8748cd

Useful reference for difficult English language questions

Whilst checking a student's writing, I was intrigued to find out whether grammatically it would be better to say:

1. "Simple ideas can be sometimes the best" or
2. "Simple ideas can sometimes be the best"

As we know, adverbs of frequency come before the main verb, but after the verb 'be' and the auxiliary verb.

As such, in this situation, the correct answer would be: 2. "Simple ideas can sometimes be the best"

However, 'sometimes' can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence, meaning that we could equally write: "Sometimes simple ideas can be the best".

The moral of the story then is that English does not always have a set order in how its sentences are written!

Check out the following webpage for more information:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/247921/would-i-say-i-can-sometimes-or-i-sometimes-can

Adverbs and their usage...

What are adverbs I hear you say?

Simply said, they are words which modify verbs, which means they are "added" to verbs: add + verb = adverb! 

  

Check out the following website to learn more and understand the difference between Adverbs of Degree, Frequency, Manner, Place and Time:

 

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adverbs.htm

10 Common Blog Writing Mistakes

15 Shocking Student Writing Fails

Top 10 Grammar Errors, Common Mistakes, and the Importance of Correct Grammar

Top 20 Grammar Mistakes in Journalism (or English in general!)

Remind or remember?

What is the difference between these two slightly similar words?

Well, if I take a look at the following definitions (taken from: http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-remember-and-remind/) it becomes easier:

Remember

Remember is when you think of a memory (a past experience):

• I remember the first time I ever swam in the ocean, when I was 5 years old.
• Do you remember what happened when Joe forgot to buy a present for his wife on her birthday?
• I don’t think he remembers that we met 30 years ago.

Remember is also the opposite of “forget.” You can use remember to talk about keeping something in your mind:

• Please remember to wash the dishes after you finish eating lunch.
• I was already at work when I suddenly remembered I had a dentist appointment at 9:30. I called the dentist and rescheduled it for the next day.
• I can’t remember her name. Is it Alice or Annie?

Remind

Remind is when a person or thing makes you think about something.

• My mother reminded me to wash the dishes after I finished eating lunch.
• The secretary reminded Mr. Greene that he had a meeting at 4:30.
• Josh uses the calendar on his cell phone to remind him about important dates.
• Our shopping list reminds us what we need to buy at the supermarket.

All sorted?!?

Dissatisfied or unsatisfied?

A slight difference between these words is as follows:

 

Dissatisfied applies only to people who are unhappy, frustrated or disappointed with a thing, person or situation.  Examples:

• I was dissatisfied with the service I received at the restaurant.
• She was dissatisfied with his response to her question.

Unsatisfied refers to the feeling of needing more and can be used with abstract items. Examples:

• Despite the hearty meal, his hunger remained unsatisfied.
• The meal was very small.  We were all unsatisfied at the end of it.

Things like this make English a nightmare to learn...and to teach!

 

(taken from: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/dissatisfied-unsatisfied/)

 

See also: http://www.grammarunderground.com/dissatisfied-vs-unsatisfied.html

New links!

Some new links to try out:

• For email lessons: Espresso English
• For games: TeachYa!
• For grammar: Grammar Underground
• For improving writing: Daily Writing Tips

Adjectives -ed or -ing?

A simple video to help you learn the difference between adjectives with -ed (e.g. fascinated) and -ing (e.g. fascinating)

Adjective word order in English

What is actually the correct order of adjectives before nouns in English?

Have a look at the following picture and link to the website if you need more explanation:

(taken from: http://www.theenglishstudent.com/blog/order-of-adjectives-the-white-big-dog)

 

 

Go and check out their blog: The English Student

Links to Cambridge English speaking exams

Practising speaking is difficult if you do not have much opportunity to do so in class, and do not have good examples of how it will be in the exam.

The following links show examples of KET (A2), PET (B1), First (B2), Advanced (C1) and Proficiency (C2) speaking exams taken from Cambridge English TV and eLearnEnglish:

KET for Schools (A2) exam:

PET (B1) and PET for Schools (B1) exam:

First (B2) and First for Schools (B2) exam:

Advanced (C1) exam:


Proficiency (C2) exam:

Learning English through other languages

I discovered the following website this afternoon which, if you are a native Spanish or French student, you will find very useful:

 

E Learn English Language

 

Check it out and see for yourself!

Learning English through films

A student asked me whether I might be able to recommend some films which would help in learning English.  As such, I did some research and found the following films:

• Cast Away
• Forrest Gump
• The Hangover
• The Hunger Games
• The Social Network
• Toy Story
• Twilight

They also provide some tips on the website on learning English through movies and films: 

1. Choose movies you already know. If you’re a beginner or a lower level, it’s best to choose a movie that you’ve already watched before. Why? It’s simple because you already know the plot (the main story). This time, you can focus on the language itself instead of trying to follow a new story.

2. Use Subtitles. Just because you’re using subtitles, it doesn’t mean that you’re cheating because you’re still hearing English audio. If you’re of a lower level, use subtitles in your own language until you feel more comfortable watching the movie without them. If you’re of a more advanced level, challenge yourself a little bit and step out of your comfort zone and watch a movie with English subtitles. You don’t have to follow with them word for word as this can be quite tiring, instead just use them to get the gist (the idea) of something if the speech becomes too fast or the language is too colloquial (casual language) that you can’t understand what the characters are saying.

3. Start off Little. Don’t know if you can handle watching an epic all the way through in English and understand it? Don’t watch it! Choose movie that is relatively short and avoid any movie that involves a deeper level of understanding of history or culture as its likely going to consume your thoughts and you won’t be able to focus on the language as much.

4. Break it up. If you find watching the movie in English tiring, break it up a little. Watch the movie in 30 minute parts. After you’ve watched one part, do something else. Grab a drink, eat something, check your inbox, whatever, it doesn’t matter as long as you can remain focused during the parts. Watching a full movie in only English can be really overwhelming and also frustrating especially if you’re straining yourself to understand, which is why it’s a good idea to watch it in smaller parts.

5. Listen and repeat. The beauty of watching a recorded movie online or on a DVD is that you’re able to pause and go back if you don’t understand – something you can’t do with your English teachers in the classroom. Go back to a part you didn’t understand and say it out loud. Repeat it a few times and read what the subtitles say. Verbally repeating something you hear is a great way of perfecting a natural sounding accent, this is something which is a little bit more difficult in a language classroom as it leaves us feeling silly sometimes – in your own bedroom or lounge, there’s no need for shame, repeat as much as you like until you get it right!

6. Watch Movies you Enjoy. Don’t like drama? Don’t watch them! Don’t like lovey dovey romance? Don’t watch them! There are literally thousands and thousands of movies out there and there’s something for everyone’s taste. Choose movies with the genre (kind of movie e.g. romance, horror) that you prefer as you’re more likely to take something away from it and learn. If you force yourself to watch movies that aren’t the slightest bit interesting to you in terms of story, you’re going to struggle and you may as well head back to your English language lessons if that’s the case.

7. Focus on Movies from One Country. As you know English is spoken throughout the world in different countries but when you’re trying to learn English it’s better to stick to one area as the language tends to vary as does the accent. Choose the country which interests you most and start with these movies (until you become more confident at least). Most ESL learners prefer to learn English from American movies because they’re more familiar with the culture and the accents tend to be easier to understand compared to other English speaking countries.

8. Watch them with Friends. Do you have some buddies who also want to perfect their English skills? Pair up and catch a movie together. Not only are you getting to hang out with your friends, but you’ll also be able to fill each other in on different parts you don’t understand. Want to take it a little further? Grab a coffee after the movie and discuss your opinions and favorite parts of the movie (all in English of course).

9. Keep a Movie Journal. Heard a phrase or word you loved? Want to be able to use in the future? Write it down! While you watch your movies, pause the video when you hear something that you might find useful in the future and write it down in a journal. This way you’re collecting ‘authentic’ real-life phrases that you can practice and use on your English speaking friends in the future (as long as they’re not offensive of course).

10. The Easiest and Most Effective Way: FluentU. If keeping a movie journal and looking up words in your dictionary sounds like a lot of work, and you are open to watching other fun videos, you should try FluentU. FluentU has a collection of the web’s best videos for learning English, including movie trailers, music videos, and TV shows. All videos come with subtitles, definitions, and example sentences.

(taken from: http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/learn-english-movies-films-modern-american-classics/)

Grammar rules regarding negative prefixes

I was asked in class today about whether the negative prefix 'im' is always followed by a 'p'.  Not knowing (or remembering!) the answer off the top of my head, I decided to look it up.  Thanks to Google, I found the following (taken from: http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/learn-english/grammar/negative-prefixes/):

 

Words that take im– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter m or p.

affirmative		negative
mobile		immobile
moral		immoral
perfect		imperfect
possible		impossible

Dictionary applications to help you learn English

There are many wonderful applications, thanks to modern technology, which allow us to learn English vocabulary and grammar in new and different ways.  I wanted to share some of the following, which are applications I use as a teacher:

 

1. Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus

2. Google Translate

3. Dictionary.com

4. English Dictionary - Offline

5. Urban Dictionary

 

There is a list of some other useful applications, which you can have a look at on the following website: http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/best-english-dictionary-app/

Great website for reference for English language learning and teaching

As I continue teaching, I often come across many wonderful websites.  Here is the latest one:

UsingEnglish.com

It is very useful and has a large amount of information about different aspects of English.

 

Go and have a look!

Discovering new idiomatic expressions...

Want to learn new idiomatic expressions, their origins and their meanings?  Why not check out The Free Dictionary which gives definitions and examples of their usage.

 

For example, 'Put your money where your mouth is' = Do not just talk about doing something with your money, but do it!

(taken from: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Put+your+money+where+your+mouth+is!)

 

And what is a 'quid'?  Well, have a look here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quid

 

Help for English exam preparation

If you want to see what level you are or how to prepare for the B1 (PET), B2 (First) or C1 (Advanced) exam, have a look at the following website: http://www.examenglish.com/.

The website also includes tips on learning vocabulary for the different levels of exams: http://www.examenglish.com/vocabulary/index.html

Weatherman Liam Dutton nails pronunciation of tongue-twister town, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

See how Liam Dutton pronounced the name of the longest town in the UK recently:

With a remix too:

 

Believe it or not but Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is not the longest-named place in the world - that honour goes to a hill in New Zealand called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

 

(Taken from: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/weatherman-liam-dutton-nails-pronunciation-of-tongue-twister-town-llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch/story-fnq2oad4-1227520295235)

Heard in a classroom this morning...

Commonly Spanish students misuse other and another.  Have a look at the following website for a great explanation of this mistake: http://www.hablamejoringles.com/other-y-another/

 

Equally, especially and specially are mistaken in their use.  Look at this website for an explanation of the difference: http://www.saberingles.com.ar/which/95.html

Another topic that came up this morning was that of English proverbs.  As such, it is interesting to know their equivalent in Spanish.  For example, the early bird catches the worm / Early to bed, early to rise, makes the man healthy, wealthy and wise = A quien madruga, Dios lo ayuda.(http://www.saberingles.com.ar/idioms/proverbs.html)

New links!

Check out this new website I've found: http://www.englishgrammar.org/

It contains many explanations of grammar and also includes a list of 120 common grammar mistakes: http://www.englishgrammar.org/guide/grammarguide2015.pdf

Also have a look at http://www.eslcharts.com/, which includes many useful charts for tenses, prepositions and spellings.

Sunday updates!

When you are learning English it is important to prounounce words correctly.  Have a look on the links at the right for an interactive phonetics chart (taken from Cambridge English online: http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/).

Equally, it is important not to confuse words as I have found Spanish students do.  See the page entitled 'false friends' to see which words are commonly mixed up.

Finally, to make sure that you are using the right tenses, you can check the tenses chart (taken from www.eslcharts.com) to understand more about when to use present simple, perfect, continuous and more!

Have fun in your learning!

What's the difference between formal and informal English?

Do you know when to use formal English and when to use informal English?  Have a look at the links on the right (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/formal-and-informal-language and http://www.engvid.com/english-resource/formal-informal-english/) to learn which words and expressions to use in these situations.

Are you Spanish? Perhaps you make some of these mistakes...

I am starting to create pages (again on the right, but nearer the bottom) giving information on such things as Common Grammar Mistakes, Phrasal Verbs, Pronunciation and Spelling.

Have a look at some of the errors that people like you (if you are Spanish) make and learn not to repeat them in class.  The pages will be updated over time, so check back in and see for new additions!

Keep checking for your mitsakes...I mean mistakes!

New links!

Have a look at the links I am adding to the right of the page.  From here you will be able to find many useful webpages for learning English, which are all free.

Go and have a look!

Welcome to Daniel's English blog for Spanish students learning English!

Let me introduce you to my new blog, which aims to provide help for Spanish speakers who are learning English.

I hope you find the information both useful and helpful as you start or continue your journey of learning the wonderful language that is called English.

Please feel free to comment and/or make suggestions.

Look forward to hearing from you!