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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Tuesday Quick Tip: Who vs. Whom

Good morning, dear students!

Today I want to continue our Tuesday Quick Tip theme of pronouns.  Do you remember the lesson quick tip from last week about subject and object pronouns?  You might want to review it before looking at this Quick Tip.

Today I want us to talk about the difference between the words ''Who'' and ''Whom''.

Even native English speakers confuse these two interrogative pronouns, but there is a simple way to decide if you need to use ''who'' or ''whom'':

So if your question is about a subject, you must use ''Who'' -- Who gave you that necklace?
If your question is about an object, you must use ''Whom''-- From whom did you get that necklace?

''Whom'' can be considered very formal today.  Most native English speakers don't use ''whom'' correctly, if ever, and it is widely accepted to always use ''who'' no matter the circumstance.  This isn't correct in written English, but with speaking it is common.


Try out some sentences below in the comments!  We can talk about this more in class if you have any questions!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Thursday Music Mini-Lesson: Born To Die by Lana del Rey

Good morning, dear students!

I have a cool lyrics video for you today.  I hope you enjoy the song, and more importantly, I hope you learn some new vocabulary or phrases!

The song is ''Born to Die'', by Lana del Rey.

Let's look at a few important notes:

1) Remember that in English, ''Nacer'' is ''To be born''.  In Spanish, the verb is the action of a baby.  In English, it is something that happens to us, but not something that we actively do.  So I can say that my baby will be born in the summer, or that I was born in November.  The important thing to remember is that along with ''born'', we must put some version of ''to be''.

2) ''In the meantime'':  translation
3) ''The pouring rain'':  translation


What did you think of the song?  Did you have any other vocabulary words or phrases that you didn't understand?  Leave your questions and opinions of the song in the comments, and we can talk about it in our next class!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Challenge

Good morning, dear students!

Today I'm leaving you with a two-for-one deal.  This NPR article is very short, but has some good vocabulary.  It's accompanied by a GREAT video about a man in Nepal trying to rebuilt after the recent earthquake.

Here's a list of a few words that you might need to know for the article:

1) in ruins:  translation
2) salvage: translation
3) plight:  translation
4) remoteness:  translation
5) shattered:  translation


If you'd like, you can watch the video here first, but it is also available on the NPR article.

What other new vocabulary did you find in the text and the video?  Tell me in the comments or in our next class!

Happy Wednesday and happy studying!