Taking a Short Break

Hello, Dear Students!

I apologize for the lack of content lately!  I've been incredibly busy with classes and with my degree legalization process, as well as preparing documents in order to apply to my Master's program.

I'm going to be taking a very short break from the blog to give myself some time to work on my grad school application.  I'll be back with regular, brand new content on November 1st!

Happy Studying!

Wednesday Reading: Budapest Foodies Hope Cuisine Can Help Heal Anti-Migrant Prejudice

Good morning, dear students!

So today I have this amazing article for you to read that I hope will lift your spirits for the week.  It's about how restaurants and kitchens in Europe are changing their menus to serve food from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Eritrea in an attempt to combat xenophobia that many Europeans are expressing toward migrant arriving to Europe from these countries.

A few words you might need to know are:
Bustling
Eateries
Surpass
Heal

There is also the option to listen to the radio report of this story, found right below the title of the article on the website!

What do you think of this project?  Would you be interested in eating those foods?  Do you think sharing food is a good way to decrease racism and xenophobia?  Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wednesday and Happy Studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: In, On, At

Good morning, dear students!

I hope your week is off to a great start!

I have a small graphic for you today to explain the difference between three really tricky prepositions:  In, At, and On. 

It can be difficult to remember when to use which of these, as the rules are varied.  Study this graphic to help you feel more comfortable with them!

Which of these prepositional uses always confuses you? Let me know in the comments!  These are hard to master completely, but I will be focusing on preposition corrections during October to try to help all of my students improve their usage of these words!

If you're interested in the source of this graphic or more information in how to use these prepositions, click here to go to the source site!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Concurso!

Good morning, dear students!

I want to give you a heads up about a little contest I found on Facebook!  Check out the image below and see if it's a contest you're interested in entering.  The Facebook page connected to the contest is here.

This could be a great opportunity to study abroad!  If you'd like to enter and want help creating a short (max. 30 seconds) video to enter the contest, please let me know and we'll work on it this week!  

Let me know if you decide to enter the contest, and good luck!

More information ca be found here.

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students, and happy Monday! 

I'll keep this short today-- I challenge you to do something amazing and terrifying.  Whether it's applying for a new job, joining an English-speaking book club, applying to study abroad-- Anything!  If it matters, if it makes you nervous, it's probably because you care.  And if it terrifies you then it must be something really big.  Frame it differently-- Don't you want to do something REALLY BIG that you CARE ABOUT A LOT??  Everyone does!  So let's talk about it this week-- what's the big goal that you're going to set for yourself, and how can we work together to get you there!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

12 Ways to Stay Motivated

Good Morning, dear students!

I hope your week is going well!
I found this cool little infographic with some great tips on staying motivated, and I wanted to share it with you.

Many of my students have very demanding, challenging jobs.  Most of you also have family responsibilities and hobbies and avid social lives!  I'm always impressed with the effort you put in to add another project to your plate-- learning English requires lots of time, patience, practice, and  motivation.

Check out this infographic for a few ideas on how to maintain your motivation and keep up with your busy, demanding lives!

So what do you think?  Which of these would be a good idea for you to incorporate in your schedule?  Do you have any other tips or advice on how you stay motivated?  Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: Battle of the Commonly Misspelled or Misused Words

Good morning, dear students!

I hope your week is off to a good start!

I have a cool graphic for you guys today.  It compares the definitions of words that are commonly spelled incorrectly or used incorrectly in English. Take a look and see if any of these words are words that you confuse sometimes!

This graphic comes from a site called YourDictionary, a site I found recently that I would like to recommend to all of you.  This online dictionary offers dictionary and thesaurus services, and can even show you a word in a quote or example and give you a word list.  Here's an example of a dictionary entry!  This is a great tool to use, because sometimes very formal dictionaries use complex words in the definition of the original word, and the whole definition-seeking process gets really complicated. 

Enjoy the graphic and the new dictionary tool!  And tell me in the comments, which pair of these words is the most easily confused?  Which pair was new for you?

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  Your Monday Motivation today comes from my childhood (and maybe yours, too!).  What was your favorite movie/cartoon as a child?  My favorites were Pocahontas and Lion King.  Many children's movies and cartoons have inspiring stories, morals, and advice that we hope children absorb as they're entertained.  Just because we're adults now doesn't mean that we can't find inspiration in the simple, beautiful stories of our childhoods!  I hope you have a great start to the week and spend some time thinking about your favorite little motivational quote!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Chilenglish

Good morning, dear students!

Happy Friday!

I hope you've all had a great week and are ready to begin a relaxing weekend!
Check out this video by Woki Toki-- It's technically an advertisement for EnglishFirst, but there's a lot of truth to it!  (And make sure you come to class next week to avoid any potential embarrassment with English faux pas!)

Happy Friday and Happy Studying!

Wednesday Reading:

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a very short article from Buzzfeed about the final episode of Don Francisco's ''Sabado Gigante'', and how U.S. politicians thanked Don Francisco for his decades on the air.  The article introduces several videos, one from Hillary Clinton and another from President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama.

A few vocabulary words that might be new for you are:

Farewell
Household
Launched
Century

Happy Reading (and watching) and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: The Difference Between Less and Fewer

Good morning, dear students!  

Today I want us to take a quick look at the difference between LESS and FEWER.  The two words are often confused (even by native English speakers), but there is a simple rule that will help you remember when to use each one. 

Remember the difference between countable and uncountable nouns?  Here, the rule states that verbs that are countable (and can be plural) must use ''fewer''.  For example:

Mary has fewer friends than Jessica.

You should eat fewer cookies if you're trying to lose weight.

They have fewer students in grade 7 than in grade 8.

Meanwhile, ''Less'' is used for nouns that are uncountable (and thus are never considered plural).  For example:

Next time, you should drink less wine.

I have less patience than she does.

We will take less time on the metro than in traffic.

There is some debate (if you didn't know by now, there are several current debates about English language usage) about what the rule should be.  If you're interested in learning an alternative rule, you can read more here.  

So which should you use for the following nouns:

Tacos
Computers
Knowledge
Potato Salad
Beer
Friends
Animals
English


Leave your answers in the comments and we'll talk about them in class!

Happy Tuesday and Happy Studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students! Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend celebrating Fiestas Patrias!  I also hope you're ready to get back to work this week in English classes.  Learning a language can be uncomfortable (and it's definitely outside of most people's comfort zones).  It can also lead to unpredictable results (I never thought as a fourteen year old girl in Spanish class that I would live in Chile one day).

Think about what you want to achieve in English before the end of this year- we have about 15 weeks left!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!

I hope you've all had a great weekend! What did you do?  I had a relaxing weekend at home in Santiago and made a fun trip to a winery with a few students (pictures to come!).  Think about the progress you've made in English so far this year.  Are you happy with it? What would you like to change?  Mondays are great days to take a look at your priorities and plans because it's the beginning of the week!  Great goals take time to accomplish, but we all have time, and it's passing us by every second.  Are you using your time wisely and in a way that will help you to accomplish your dreams?

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Happy Friday!

Good morning, dear students, and happy Friday!

I hope you've all had a great week and are ready to relax this weekend!  I found this great article about Spanish speakers and the challenges they face when they learn English, and I thought you could all appreciate it!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/gretaalvarez/sufrimientos-por-los-que-pasan-quienes-hablan-espanol-y-t#.yl521ENN3

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Get Endorsed for ''English'' skills on Linkedin!

https://cl.linkedin.com/in/rachellaycook

Good morning, dear students!

Something might be missing from your Linkedin!  Has anyone endorsed you for English on your profile?  Would you like to have a native speaker endorse you?  Connect with me on Linkedin!  I'm more than happy to endorse all of my students on their English skills in order to develop your professional profile!  It's always great to grow your network and get others to vouch for your professional abilities!

If you have any questions or would like to request a personal review of your English to add to your page, please just let me know in the comments, an e-mail, or in our next class!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Experiences and Opportunities!

Good morning, dear students!

I just wanted to leave you a quick post with a few interesting opportunities regarding travels or studies abroad and other interesting opportunities to immerse yourself in English!

1) TOEFL:  If you've been thinking about taking the TOEFL, what are you waiting for?  It's an intense test and requires several months of preparation, but a high TOEFL score looks great on your CV and Linkedin, and it's usually one of the first steps to applying to an English-speaking University.  Click here to get more information about TOEFL test dates in Santiago, Chile to begin setting your goals!

2) Study Abroad:  Are you interested in studying English in another country to experience immersion, but can't dedicate an entire semester to a university program?  There are many options available around the world to visit for short English courses that also provide you with the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in English-- a great experience that's hard to create in Chile! There are also many courses at universities around the world that allow you to study for one or more semesters that focus purely on English.  The options are almost endless!  Check out programs for Edinburgh, Vancouver, Texas, and Maryland.  A simply google search will find you hundreds of other options, and of course I'm always more than happy to help you find a program abroad that fits your needs!

3) Language Exchange:  Are you limited to staying in Santiago but still want to gain experience speaking to Gringos in English?  This language exchange group is a great opportunity to take advantage of!  Go, get paired with a Gring@, and spend 50% of your time speaking with them in Spanish and 50% of the time speaking with them in English.  Everyone wins, and it's always hosted in a bar in case you need a little liquid courage (i.e. alcohol).  Sign up here!

Did you see any opportunities that interest you?  I hope you did!  If this list didn't have anything interesting for you but you're still interested in seeking out a program or activity to practice English more, let me know in the comments or in our next class.  I'm more than happy to work with all of my students to help them find new ways to experience English!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: For vs. Since

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a little graphic to show you.  It's from Best British School (which has a great facebook page to follow, by the way).

The difference between ''For'' and ''Since'' is very big but can feel very tricky until you know the rules.  These two words are really important when using the Present and Past Perfect, and the Present and Past Perfect Progressive tenses.

Check out the graphic below for more information:

So remember that ''For'' is used to talk about an amount of time:

• I have lived in Chile for three years.
• I have been teaching English for three years. 
• I have been a fan of Beyonce for years!

And remember that ''Since'' is used to talk about an action from it's starting point:

• I have lived in Chile since November 2012.
• I have been teaching English since November 2012. 
• I have been a fan of Beyonce since I was 12 years old!

Any questions?  Tell me in the comments how long you've been studying English!  Try saying it both ways, with ''for'' and ''since''.  If you have any questions, leave them in comments or bring them with you to your next class!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

 

Wednesday Reading: Charts Show How Hurricane Katrina Changed New Orleans

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a really great article from National Geographic.  It includes data charts to show how much the city of New Orleans has changed after the damage from Hurricane Katrina ten years ago.

Check out the article here, and tell me what you think!

Here's some vocabulary that might be new for you:

Makeup
Overhauled
Arguably
Note:  A charter school is a colegio subvencionado.
Enrolled
Flooding
Note:  A startup is a new, small business or company.


What other new words did you learn in this article?  Was any of the data surprising to you?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: Embarassing False Cognates (and how to avoid their tricks)

Good afternoon, dear students!

Today I have a series of images for you to check out to help you learn about false cognates.  What’s a false cognate? 

Well first, what’s a cognate? 

A cognate is a word that looks very similar to another word in another language, and they mean the same thing.  For example, Additional and Adicional are cognates of English and Spanish.  There are (fortunately) a lot of cognates between these two languages.  However, there are a few that are ‘’False Cognates’’—words that look like cognates, but in reality mean very different things.

False Cognates are tricky.  If you use one that you think is a true cognate, people will misunderstand what you are trying to say.  Sometimes they can lead to embarassing mistakes.  Like REALLY embarassing. 

Because I love you all so much, today’s mini-lesson is just on embarassing false cognates and how to avoid using them incorrectly.  Most of them are embarassing because they imply some type of sex joke (it’s shocking, I know).

Let’s take a look!

Preservativo – Preservative

A preservativo is a condom in English.  A preservative is a conservante, something used in foods to make them last longer.  VERY.IMPORTANT.DIFFERENCE.

Preservativo: Condom

Preservative:  Conservante

Embarazada—Embarrassed

You are going to be super embarrassed if you use this one incorrectly.  Embarrassed is Avergonzado;  Embarazada is pregnant.

Embarrassed:  Avergonzado;  Embarrassment:  verguenza

Embarazada:  Pregnant;  Embarazo:  Pregnancy

Molestar—Molest

This is a reaaaalllly important mistake to avoid.

In Spanish, you use ‘’molestar’’ for annoy or bother.  In English,  to molest is to touch someone in a sexual manner without their consent.  It’s a serious crime, so it’s important to be careful not to accuse someone of a sexual assault when you’re trying to communicate how much they are annoying you or bothering you by talking on the phone too loudly.

Molestar—to Annoy, to Bother

Molest— Abusar sexualmente

Have you ever used one of these false cognates incorrectly?  I have!  I hope that you remember to laugh at your mistakes-- it's super normal to say crazy things while you're learning your second or third language, but it's also important to learn from them and try not to commit the same mistake again. 

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!

I hope that you've all had a great weekend and feel refreshed to get back to work!  Remember that good things take time, that big goals are made up of small goals, and that with steady, focused work you can achieve more than you ever thought!

I can't wait to see you all in class this week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  This week we'll be looking at some challenging material in our classes.  Most of my students are comfortable with making mistakes in front of me, but I want to remind you all that mistakes are proof that you are trying!  I don't mind mistakes at all from my students.  I've been through the language-learning process, too.  I understand the desire to go through a class with zero mistakes, to feel like you've done a perfect job, and to be proud of yourself for understanding the material easily.  That's not a realistic expectation to have about language learning, though.  In fact, some of the rules in Spanish that I remember best are because I've made SO MANY MISTAKES with them.  If anything, an error (and a correction from a teacher) is an opportunity for your brain to store more information about a rule or definition.  This means you're more likely to remember that information in the future.  Let's change our attitudes about mistakes-- they're common, they happen, and they're necessary.  Our goal should always be to overcome them, but an additional goal should be to embrace them when they happen. 

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Making Words Plural

Good morning, dear students!

I have a graphic to show you today, from www.allaboutspelling.com.  It shows the general rules for how to make most nouns plural.

It can be difficult, even for native speakers, to know when a noun needs to have ''s'', ''es'', or a big change when we change it from singular to plural.  Look at this chart below to remind yourself of the rules!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Reading: Why do Nouns Exist?

Good morning, dear students!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

I have a quick, interesting read for you today.  It's about English, but more than just English, it's about Language.  All languages have certain things in common, such as nouns.

Why do nouns exist?  They give us a way to name things, of course.  In this TED-Ed Blog entry, a writing teacher explains the importance of nouns, as well as the different types.

Click here to read this quick piece.

The TED-Ed blog is a great blog to read short entries in English about all kinds of topics.  The focus isn't always on language, but I encourage you to check it out once or so per week.  You'll definitely learn new vocabulary, and you might learn some interesting facts about languge.  or dinosaurs.  or tectonic plates.  Who knows?

Did you learn any new vocabulary in this article?  Leave your new discoveries in the comments and bring them with you to class!

Happy Reading!

Tuesday Quick Tip: The Pronunciation of -OUGH-

Good afternoon, dear students!

I have a great little entry for you today about the pronunciation of the letters ''ough''.  It's quite a popular combination of letters in English, if you didn't know, but can produce  A LOT of different sounds. Check out this sentence below:

''A rough-coated, dough-faced thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough.  After falling into a slough he coughed and hiccoughed.''

There are 9 different pronunciations of ''OUGH'' in this sentence.

WHATTT.
I know.

Let's look at them in order (I've done the best I can to give you a phonetic pronunciation for Spanish speakers):


Rough:  Rahf
Dough:  Doh
Thoughtful:  Thahtful
Ploughman:  Plawman
Through:  Thru
Scarborough:  Scarborah
Slough:  Slaw
Coughed:  Coft
Hiccoughed:  Hikapt



Why can one combination allowed to make so many different sounds when it comes to pronunciation?  Who knows.  I don't.  I just know you have to pronounce these things correctly if you want to be understood, so here we are, dear students.

What other words have you come across lately that end in ''OUGH''?  For those of you working on pronunciation in your English classes right now, we'll be reviewing LOTS of these words over the next two weeks, because there isn't a rule to show you how each one should be pronounced.  Somewhere in the United States, a 9-year-old child is studying these words because we have to memorize the spelling and pronunciation for lots of words in English-- especially these tricky ones.  Take heart in knowing that if small children can learn it, so can you, you genius adult professional!

Check out this video from the old show, ''I Love Lucy'', (a personal favorite of mine), where Lucy is trying to correct Ricky's pronunciation (for the record, Ricky is a Cuban immigrant so the show makes a lot of jokes about how difficult English can be).

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  Happy Monday!  I hope you've all had a great weekend.  What are your plans for the week?  It's beginning to feel a bit more like spring outside, which is always an energy booster.  I hope you're all feeling motivated to jump into some intense classes this week-- I've had allllll weekend to plan your classes, and I think you're going to be really pleased with them!  If we're going to do the same amount of work this week, let's work to make ourselves stronger-- in English, in our careers, in our personal relationships.  It's the same amount of work as being miserable, if you ask Carlos Castenada.

For the first half of Monday, I'll be waiting for my refrigerator delivery in my new place.  If I've canceled a Monday morning class with you, I'll be e-mailing you Monday evening/Tuesday to reschedule class, if it's possible. 

I hope you all have a great start to the week!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you're all ready to start the week after a nice rainy weekend!  Society tells us the normal, proper way to do things, but that isn't always what's best for us or our hearts.  That pressure can weigh heavily on our minds as we try to pursue the things we WANT for ourselves.  Stay strong-- many people living their ''normal'' lives are bored to death, and they wish they could go back in time and make different decisions about their life paths.  Whatever it is that you're working on, dreaming of, or planning for, go at it with your full heart, normal or not.  That, of course, includes your English goals, study abroad dreams, and professional aspirations!  I hope you start off this Monday encouraged and ready to work!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Reading Practice: Delta Will Ban Big Game Trophies as Airline Freight

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a very short article for you, but I think it will give you some very interesting vocabulary words and phrases!  It should only take you 10-15 minutes to read through it, so no excuses!

By now, maybe you've heard of Cecil the lion.  He was killed recently by a big-game hunter.  Many people were outraged and saddened by his death.  Delta Airlines has decided to ban big-game trophies on their planes as a result of this public outrage. 

Here's a list of some vocabulary that I think will be useful for you:

no longer:  I will no longer help you with your homework.  (meaning:  I won't help you any more in the future). 

effective immediately:  I have sent you a new list of office rules, effective immediately. (meaning:  These rules are valid starting now).

so-called:  His so-called law degree is actually just an online course certificate.  (meaning:  He calls his certificate a law degree, even though it isn't a law degree.  So-called is a way to imply that someone lied or exaggerated about something).  

Try using these phrases in your own sentences in the comments!  What do you think about this article?  Is it a good choice for Delta to make?  Do you think big-game hunting is acceptable?  

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: ''To Work'' + Prepositions

Good morning, dear students!  Today I have a quick tip for you!
Did you know that changing the preposition that follows the verb ''to work'' can change the context of your sentence?

Check out the diagrams below to see how different prepositions help to communicate different ideas when we pair them with ''to work''!

Most people work for a company.  As you see above, Michelle works for Coca-cola.  Thousands of people work for Samsung.  I work for myself. 

We can use ''for'' to name a specific company (or an individual, if you are employed by a single person and not a company).  We can also use ''for'' to begin a description of companies.  

• I work for a large tech company.
• She works for a social media company. 
• A lot of people work for non-profit organizations.

''To work with'' is used to explain the people at your job.  It can be used to explain who your coworkers are, or it can be used to explain the type of clients you help.  If I say that Samuel works with Christian, you know they are coworkers.  If I say that Samuel works with engineers, you know he has to collaborate with them at his job.  If I say that Samuel works with children, you know that he is surrounded by children at his job.

''To work in'' is used to tell people about your industry.  Mining, Education, Healthcare, Architecture, Construction, Design, Tech, Sales, and Customer Service are all ''areas'' or ''industries'' that help give a broad description of our jobs.  We must use ''in'' if we are going to give this broad description.

So what company do you work for?  What industry do you work in?  Who do you work with?

I work in education.  I work for myself, and I work with Chilean professionals that want to study English. 

Try to describe your work in the comments!  Leave your questions there, too, and we'll hash out any problems in our next class!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've had a great weekend!  It's still cold but we're moving towards spring.  What goals are on the horizon for you?  What kind of negative thoughts creep into your mind about how to achieve them?  This week I'm going to work hard to spend extra energy on positive thoughts.  I hope you'll join me!  I can't wait to see you all this week and get to work on some interesting lesson plans!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

English Is Crazy!

Good morning, dear students!

I hope you all had a busy, successful Monday!  I had some great classes with my Monday students yesterday-- I worked with several people on craaaaazy pronunciation rules.  Pronunciation in English can be very difficult, because English is a mixture of old languages that never quite mixed well.  Because of that, we have a lot of words that don't sound the way we think they should.  Check out this video-- It's a recitation of a poem that makes fun of this problem in the English language.  You'll see how many words can look like they should rhyme, but they actually sound very different!

I'm going to be focus on making pronunciation corrections this week, so be ready!  Our classes won't be nearly as tough as this poem, but this should give you a good idea of how common and large the problem of pronunciation in English really is.

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've all had a great weekend and are ready to get back to work!  Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors, makes a great point with this quote.  What do you want to be?  

I want to be a teacher that motivates my students, innovates teaching techniques, and pours herself into her work.  So that's what I'm going to ''pretend'' to be!

I hope you are all ready to set yourselves up for a great, busy, and successful week!  It's the last week of July.  Soon it will be August, and soon after that it will be Spring!  The year is passing quickly and many of you have goals just on the horizon!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Thursday Music Mini-Lesson: Viva La Vida, by Coldplay

Good morning, dear students!

I have an easy song for you today!  I don't expect you to learn a lot of new vocabulary from this one (although you might!).  This is a nice song to listen to and let your brain relax-- it isn't full of complicated vocabulary or obscure grammar structures.  However, I do think it's great practice to listen for each individual word.  Have a listen (or two) and tell me what you think!

Are there any words that you don't know in this song?
Remember that Wordreference is a great resource when you're looking for definitions, translations, and usage examples!

Did you like this song?  Are you a fan of Coldplay, or not?  What do you think this song is about?

Leave your questions and opinions in the comments so others can compare theirs!  We'll talk about any questions or interesting observations in our next class!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Reading: Why the Pig is the Most Loved and Most Loathed Animal on the Plate

Good morning, dear students!  Today I have an interesting NPR article for you.  It's about pigs!

How different cultures and religions view pigs is an interesting phenomenon.  Throughout history, some cultures have loved pigs.  Others, in the past as well as today, loathe them.  Why do you think that is?

This article shines some light on the subject, and hopefully you'll come out of it with some new vocabulary words!

NPR

Do you enjoy pork?  It's very popular in the southern U.S.-- in fact, it's my favorite meat.  However, it seems to be a bit less popular in Chile (although you guys have a cut of pork called the plateada de cerdo that my boyfriend is a pro at cooking!)  Some of my friends don't eat pork, either for religious resitrictions or due to their own personal preference.  Do you or anyone you know follow these restrictions?

Here are a few words I've chosen from the article that might be new for you:

Sow
Litter
Thrive
Roots
Seed
Scraps (of food)
Scavenging
Carrion
Cuisine


What other words were new for you?  Leave them in the comments below, and we'll discuss their definitions in the next class!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

CV and Linkedin Translations!

Good morning, dear students!  Today I wanted to let you know about a promotion I'll be doing over the course of the next few months.  While translations are not my primary focus (I much prefer teaching!), I often do small translations for my students.  I always have requests to translate documents like CVs and application letters, e-mails, and Linkedin Profiles.  I know this is a service that many people need, but it's such an easy thing to put off and procrastinate.  Right now, I'm offering to translate your CV or Linkedin for 15.000 CLP, regardless of the amount of text it includes.  If you would like to have both translated, I will translate the pair for 25.000CLP.  If you're interested, don't hesitate to e-mail me, or mention it in our next class!

Remember, my e-mail address is :  Rachellaycook@gmail.com

And don't forget to connect with me on linkedin!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!!  I hope you've all had a lovely long weekend (or almost long weekend, for those that had to work on Friday).  What are you going to happen to this week?  I had a lot of time this weekend to plan some cool stuff for this week, so I hope you're all ready for some interesting lessons this week.  We're getting closer and closer to the end of July, and we're already in the second half of 2015.  What are you going to happen to this week?  in the next 5 months?  I'm excited to see you all!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: What's the Difference-- Very vs. A lot of

Good morning, dear students!

So what's the difference between ''very'' and ''a lot of''?

Check it out:

''Very'' modifies adjectives and adverbs.  It works the same way as ''muy''.
We can say that Chileans are friendly people, but if I want to emphasize the adjective and make it stronger, I would say that Chileans are very friendly people.

''A lot of'' should be used to talk about a big quantity of a noun.

Chile has a lot of copper;  South America has a lot of countries;  I have a lot of students.


Questions?  Try out a few sentences on your own below in the comments, and bring your questions with you to your next class!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've all had a great weekend!  I spent mine relaxing in bed and avoiding the rain.  What did you do?  It's the beginning of a short week!  It's very cold and that can make it difficult to stay motivated, but remember that we're halfway through the winter and moving quickly towards spring!  What goals do you hope to achieve before then?  What methods are working to help you achieve them, and what methods might need to change?  I look forward to discussing that with you this week in our classes!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Thursday Music Mini-lesson: Hotel California

Good morning, dear students!

I hope you're having a great week so far!  Today I have a song for you by The Eagles.  

''Hotal California'' is a pretty famous song.  Do you already know it?  The pronunciation is very clear and there are some really interesting words in the song.  

Do you like this song?  What words were difficult for you?

There are a lot of references made to the Mexican-American culture that prevailes in the Southwest U.S., such as colitas (in this case, ''colitas'' refers to the tiny end of a cigarrette, usually of marijuana/ the flowery end of the marijuana plant, or other types of generic desert flowers-- the meaning can go both ways here).  The mission bell is also mentioned.  These bells come from the religious settlements that the Spanish established during their colonization of Mexico.

Other words that may be new for you are:

shimmering     sight      dim     heaven     hell     plenty     courtyard     sweat     alibi

feast                 beast     steely  knives     


Hotel California is a very strange song.  There are a lot of theories about the meaning about it. If you liked the song or want to discuss it in class, I'd love to hear your theory!!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Reading: Why Sit-down Meals May Be Just as Unhealthful as Fast Food

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have an interesting news article for you from NPR.

It's an interesting read, because there is a lot of information online and on television today about how unhealthy fast food is.  Everyone assumes that sitting down at a table and eating from a plate probably means getting better food and fewer unhealthy ingredients.

This article talks about this misconception.

Interesting vocabulary words for this article include:

Regard     Fast food joint     Dug     Recall     Intake     To scarf     Convivial

Dine         Questionnaire      Labels  Aware    Kick in   Own          Old-fashioned

What did you think of this article after reading it?  Did the information surprise you?  What other words were new for you?  Leave your comments and questions in the comments section below, and bring your opinions to class!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: What's the difference? Actually vs. Actualmente

Good morning, dear students!

So what's the real difference between the words ''Actually'' and ''Actualmente''?

These words are hard for both English speakers and Spanish speakers.  

They are considered false cognates-- both of them look very similar, so it's easy to think they mean the same thing.  However, in this case it isn't true!

Check it out:

If you want to talk about what you're doing at the moment, ''actualmente'' in Spanish should be translated as ''currently''.

The same is true for the words ''actual'' and ''current''-- these are the adjectives.

For example:

Barack Obama es el presidente actual de los Estados Unidos.
Barack Obama is the current president of the United States.

If you use ''actually'' the same way as ''actualmente'' is used, the listener will not understand that you are talking about ''right now'' or ''current'' things.


Additionally, if you want to emphasize the truthfulness of something, or make a correction, ''Actually'' is a great way to start your sentence.

For example, if someone tells you that Valparaiso is the largest city in Chile, you should respond,
''Actually, Santiago is the biggest city.  It has 7 million residents.''

''Actually'' in this case doesn't mean ''currently''.  It's similar to saying ''De hecho''.

Got it?  Try out a few sentences on your own!  Bring them with you to class or leave them here in the comments!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  I hope you've had an AMAZING weekend celebrating Chile's championship win in the Copa America!  Chile has had a rough history in football, and a difficult 2015 in general, but this victory seems to really be a turning point in people's attitudes.  I hope that you feel invigorated, excited, and proud after watching the selection work so hard to achieve this!  I hope that you feel ready to run full-speed at your own goals, too!  What is your sparkling life, and what are you doing to pick it up?

Happy Monday and happy studying!