Getting ready to start the weekend? Would you like to start the weekend with a smile? Watch this video then.

The purpose of going to school

Do you agree with Charlie's friend?

Elections

Yesterday I was watching television and, of course, there was a political debate about the next elections. Since we are going to be surrounded by this pre-electoral atmosphere, it would be nice to learn some vocabulary related to this. In yesterday’s program the political analyst mentioned the bandwagon and the underdog effect.

The bandwagon effect: it is psychological phenomenon. People basically do something just because  other people are doing it. We see this every day in consumer behavior. Here, the idea is that people are going to vote the candidate who is perceived to be the winner or who is shown to be winning. 

There is a related idiomatic expression: get/jump on the bandwagon:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/jump-on-the-bandwagon

The underdog effect is exactly the opposite of the bandwagon effect. It is when people vote for the “underdog” (the person or competitor expected to lose) out of sympathy, for example. 

Photo taken by Jugbo

If you are interested in learning more vocabulary related to this topic, please go to the following site:

http://www.learnenglish.de/vocabulary/elections.htm

                                                                                           

                                                                                                

Halloween

Ready to celebrate Halloween again? What about a great video and song to entertain you and test your listening skills?

Do they know it's Halloween

I dare you!


Photo taken by Pedro Ferreira

ing or to infinitive

I was talking to some former students on Friday and inevitably we talk about English classes, books, tutorials and of course, things/topics/grammar points that are particularly hard to understand or grasp, rather.

We were talking verb patterns and, specifically, about verbs followed by -ing or to infinitive.

Here I will just mention some of the verbs we talked about.


Like, love, hate and prefer

In the case of love, hate and prefer, there is not much difference between the -ing structure and the to-infinitive structure. However, when we are referring to one particular occasion, the infinitive is more common.

Eg I hate to do this, but you're grounded. (Hopefully s/he  does not get grounded regularly.)

In the case of like, there is a slight difference. Like + to infinitive means that you think this is a good idea. It doesn't mean you enjoy it, but you think it is a good plan, let'say.


Eg I like to get up early so I can re-read my notes before I go to class.

Remember that would like/love/hate/prefer are always followed by to-infinitive .

Remember and forget

We can use both verbs either followed by an -ing form or a to-infinitive. The big difference between this two structures is a question of time: when the action that you remembered or forgot happened.

Remember to call John.  - First you remember and then you call John. You remember something you have to do, an action which will be necessary.

Don't forget to buy mum a present. - You (don't) forget something that you have to do, that will be
 necessary in the near future.

Whereas

I will always remember meeting George Clooney. (Of course, how could anyone forget). You remember
 something that has happened; it is a memory of a past action or event.

I will never forget seeing him in hospital. - You can't forget this past memory. Again we are talking about
something that happened before the act of (not) forgetting or remembering.

In Spanish this difference is carried out in a different way. 1) Recuerda llamar a John and 2) Recuerdo haber conocido a George Clooney.

Try

Try to do this exercise. I know it is difficult. - Here I am asking you to attempt to do something difficult, to make the effort


Try writing down all the new words in sentences. Maybe you will remember their meaning more easily.
       Here I am suggesting doing something to see what will happen. It is more like do this as an experiment.

Stop

I stopped smoking. - You stop what you are doing / do. You finish that activity or action.

I stopped to smoke. - You stop doing something in order to do something else. (I stopped studying to have a cigarette.)

Here in Spanish the difference might be marked by a preposition. 1) Paré / dejé de fumar and 2) Paré para fumar.


For further information or practice,

http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omgrammar/gerundiooinfinitivo.htm

http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/ing6.cfm

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/verbs-followed-%E2%80%98ing%E2%80%99-or-%E2%80%98-infinitive%E2%80%99-2

Emailing

Well, I was going to finish writing a post I started a couple of days ago and guess what? I found this unfinished, unpublished lonely post here.

Here is an address where you can practise some email writing

http://www.better-english-test.com/unit13/index.html

Work hard my dear students!

Learn Something Every Day

This fun site called Learn Something Every Day publishes a flashcard with some text and nice drawings. Check it out. It is a fun and easy way to learn vocabulary and as they say, learn something new every day.

http://www.learnsomethingeveryday.co.uk/#

Understanding modal verbs

Understanding modal verbs is not an easy task. On the one hand, there is an easy part to learn. Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", except for ought to. Modal verbs do not change; they are the same for all persons. They require no -s, -ing or -ed form.

However, modal verbs pose a challenge for students. It is not their form which is difficult but their meanings. We can use modal verbs to express probability, certainty, willingness, deduction. Modal verbs refer to the present or the future (except for could, would) but when followed by a perfect infinitive (have + past participle), they refer to the past.

As teacher we try to simplify a very complex system. One of the reason for its complexity is that modal verbs have at least 2 meanings. Take a look at the following chart:

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/verbmodal.htm




In order to improve your use of modal verbs, click the link below and you will find a modal verb tutorial
http://www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html

Exams: getting ready?

A lot of my students and former students are getting ready to sit for different kinds of English exams. They are mainly studying for end-of-the course examinations but others are preparations either FCE exams or EOI (Official School of Languages) 3rd and 5th certificate exams.

These are days of studying, reflecting and revising mixed with a feeling of nervousness and eagerness to get this exam period over with. These are days when a lot of doubts arise. So trying to help some former students a came across a nice website:

http://www.englishpractice.com/

Something that I found particularly helpful is that they offer the possibility of downloading a pdf report called "Perfect Your Sentences: 120 Grammar and Vocabulary Mistakes To Avoid".  I think you will find this report clear and useful as it will clarify very common mistakes/doubts/last-minute confusions.  

Photo taken by Marco di Pisa

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoammannati/4748807262/

Long time, no "write"

I haven't written here for so long that I feel I bit guilty about it. Well, some of my present and former students are sitting for an important exam soon. I was thinking of how I could help them and luckily, I came across this verb tense table on the internet.

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/tenses

I hope it helps.