Cambridge Exams - June 2009

For those students who will be sitting their Cambridge First Certificate and Advanced exams next week don't forget that you can do some online activities on the Flo-Joe website. The corrections are also available online so you can see how well you are doing.

FCE Practice Test > > >

CAE Practice Test > > >

Happy studying and good luck to you all x x

The Grammar Aquarium

While searching the net for intersting links for my TOEIC students, I stumbled across this fantastic website for studying and practising grammar and vocabulary. You should really have a look when you get a few spare minutes! Remember, it's good to be more autonomous in your learning!

Go to the Grammar Aquarium >>>

More Links for Autonomous Learning

A colleague of mine has set up a new website for students of English as a foreign language. It is called Aulablc and it contains links to other sites where you can practise your English online. Interesting links and activities are organized according to level making the site very easy to use. There are FCE and CAE sections on the site which are particularly interesting for students who wish to sit a Cambridge examination in the near future. So, when you have a spare moment, check out Alistair's new site, www.aulablc.com !

Causative Have

A common mistake that Spanish speakers of English make is to say 'I have cut my hair'. This is a direct translation from the reflexive construction in Castellano 'Me he cortado el pelo'. When you say this in English, the implication is that you cut your own hair and that you didn't go to a hairdresser's. In English we like to specify that somebody else did the action for us, and we have a special construction just for that. It is known as the Causative Have.

FORM: HAVE + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE

USE: We use the causative have when we arrange for someone else to do something for us.

EXAMPLE: I have had my hair cut.

This construction isn't only used to talk about getting a haircut. We can use it in any situation where somebody arranges for another person to do them a service or a job. It can be used in a variety of tenses and with a variety of subjects.

LOOK!

I had my nails done before the wedding.

(I went to a salon and a beautcian painted my nails)

I'm having the house painted on Saturday.

(Some decorators are going to paint my house)

Fred needs to have his car repaired.

(He needs a mechanic to repair his car)

Kelly has her legs waxed once a month

(She goes to a beauty salon and someone waxes her legs for her)

In more colloquial and spoken English the verb 'have' can be replaced by the verb 'get'.

Ex. I need to get my legs waxed / I'm getting my hair cut / Fred got his teeth whitened at the weekend

Sweet Dreams

Sometimes when we are asleep we see images playing like a movie in our heads. These are called dreams. If we are lucky these dreams will be sweet and make us happy. Unfortunately though at some point in our lives we all have a few nightmares!

I don't know about you, but I find dreams fascinating! I have a dictionary for dream interpretation. If you are interested in finding out what your dreams may symbolise you should check out this website!

Today though I would like to focus on the dreams that we have when we are awake! Our dreams and ambitions for the future or our hopes and wishes for things to change in our lives.

When we talk about things that we would like to be different in our current situation we can use two different constructions; IF ONLY and I WISH followed by the past simple (or sometimes a past continuous).

If only I could speak fluent Italian!
I wish I were rich and famous!
If only I had my own business!
I wish it wasn't raining!
If only I didn't have to get up early every day!
I wish I could drive!

For more about this you should check out our earlier posts on wishes by putting 'wish' in the search bar for this blog.

English Exams

In three weeks some of you will be sitting an exam in English, either the Cambridge First Certificate, the Advanced or the Proficiency. Hopefully, you will pass this exam with flying colours! (If you fail it though, you can always resit it at a later date). However, I hope that everyone is successful and to help you study and revise for these upcoming exams I have found a few links to websites that can help with exam preparation.

Cambridge ESOL > > > (This is the official site for the Cambridge exams where you can find out general information about the exams and what is expected of you and you can download practice papers.)

Flo-Joe > > > (This website contains advice and practice for all parts and levels of the Cambridge Exams. A lot of the site is free of charge but if you want to have full access you will have to pay a subscription fee.)

Splendid Speaking > > > (This website aims to help you with Paper 5, the oral test. It contains useful phrases and vocabulary, tips and podcasts of people doing speaking tasks with tapescripts and comments.)

Fullspate > > > (This site has some tips and set phrases to help you improve your writing in Paper 2 of the FCE and the CPE, although it is also worth a look if you are doing the CAE.)

Hope this helps! Happy studying and lots of luck in June!

Something, nothing, anything, everything ?

Today we are going to look at a grammar point which causes many problems for learners of English; the difference between the compounds formed from some, any, no and every.

someone / somebody, something, somewhere

We use the above primarily in affirmative sentences, although they can be used in questions of invitation when the speaker expects an affirmative answer.

I'd like to go somewhere quiet on holiday next year.

Someone called for you while you were in the shower.

Would you like something to eat?

anyone / anybody, anything, anywhere

We use the above in questions and negative sentences. They can also be used in affirmative sentences when we want to say whichever, wherever, when we don't mind.

Is anybody staying in your spare room at the moment?

Julie never wants to go anywhere, she is really boring.

-What do you want to eat tonight?
-Anything, I'm not bothered.

nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere

We use the above in questions and affirmative sentences to convey a negative meaning, They are usually used as subjects of a sentence or question. They cannot be used in conjunction with a verb that is already in the negative.

I fell in the street and nobody stopped to help me!

My landlord has thrown me out of the flat and I have nowhere to go!

Nothing to wear? Don't worry we can help you!

everyone / everybody, everything, everywhere

We use these compounds in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences when we want to be inclusive.

I left an egg boiling while I was on the phone and when I went back in the kitchen it had exploded and there was egg everywhere!

Does everybody have a holy communion in Spain?

I still don't have everything I need, I'll have to go back to the supermarket again.

Finally here is a little riddle to help you remember the difference.

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could ...

So If you think that you have understood all of that, you should try to do this quiz. Good luck!

Online Supplementary Material

If you study in the actual academy of the BLC, you no doubt have a coursebook. Did you know that each suite of coursebooks has it's own website where you can access games, revision quizzes and tests based on the level and the individual units of your book? You should know this because the web address comes on the front or back cover of each student book. If you didn't know, don't fear for I am hear to inform you!

Click here....

If your book is a HEADWAY book > > >
If your book is a CUTTING EDGE book> > >
If your book is a NATURAL ENGLISH book > > >
If your book is a GOLD book > > >
If your book is a NEW ENGLISH FILE book > > >

If you are following a business book you can also benefit from online resources.

Click here to see the MARKET LEADER website > > >

Have fun learning and testing your own progress from the comfort of your own home, or from your work desk when you have a few spare minutes.

More Movie Mania

If you are interested in watching trailers of films but would like some activities and exercises to do at the same time you should check out this website. You can choose from many different trailers and there are different tasks like gap-fills and grammar exercises for you to do while you watch.

Plans for the Future

In January we often start thinking about the coming year. Perhaps we don't resolve to change anything in our lives, but we may start making plans for the next twelve months. Perhaps you will talk about these plans in English class or with your English-speaking friends and to do so you need to know the best way to go about it.

Generally Spanish students tend to use the 'will' form to talk about their plans and intentions. However, while people understand what you are saying, it is not the most correct way to express yourself. You need to use either 'be going to' or the present continuous.

If we have decided what we want to do or we are intending to do something we can use 'be going to'. It doesn't matter how far in the future this plan is, it could be within a few weeks or even at the end of the year.

I'm going to buy a house this year.
I'm going to study English twice a week.

If we have made more concrete personal arrangements and have a date and place in our diary for the event we can use the present continuous.

I'm meeting with my bank manager tomorrow at ten to discuss mortgages.
Julie and Tom are getting married on the the 3oth of August.
I'm having lunch with Bob tomorrow.

Students often confuse these two forms. The meaning is very similar but the form is different. Note that with 'be going to' the lexical verb is in the infinitive form but in the present continuous the lexical verb is in the ing form.

A Present Perfect Christmas

We haven't looked at any grammar in a while so I thought we could combine a little Present Perfect with yet, already and still with the topic of Christmas.

The Christmas period can be a very hectic one because we have to get a lot of things ready before the big day on the 25th of December. Look at this check-list. What have you already done? What haven't you done yet? What do you still need to do?

• Buy a turkey
• Buy presents
• Send Christmas cards
• Wrap presents
• Make a Christmas cake
• Decorate the tree

1. I haven't bought a turkey yet, but I'm going to get one next weekend.
   
2. I have already bought the presents, they cost me a fortune!
   
3. I have already sent Christmas cards. I took them to the post office last week.
   
4. I haven't wrapped the presents yet, I'm still looking for some gold wrapping paper.
   
5. I haven't made a Christmas cake yet, because I still haven't bought the dried fruit.
   
6. I have already decorated the tree. It looks beautiful!
   

Notice the position of the adverbs in the sentences. Yet always comes at the end in negative or interrogative sentences. Already always comes between the auxiliary verb 'have' and the past participle. Still comes after the subject of the sentence and before the auxiliary verb. It can be used to mean the same as yet (sentence 5) or to emphasise that an action remains in progress (sentence 4).

Now practise.

A or An ?

Many students, even those with a pretty high level of English, wrongly believe that they should use 'an' before a noun / compound noun beginning with a vowel and 'a' before a noun beginning with a consonant. However, this is just not the case. Observe:

(i) a university
(ii) a euro coin
(iii) an heirloom
(iv) an MOT test

(vi) a one-way street

The actual rule for choosing the correct indefinite article is based on the sound of the first letter and not on whether it is a vowel or a consonant. In the words 'university' and 'euro' the beginning sound is the consonant sound 'y' and in 'one-way street' the beginning sound is a 'w' and therefore these words are preceded by 'a'. 'MOT' and 'heirloom' both begin with an 'e' vowel sound and so take 'an' as the indefinite article.

So what should you put before these words? Feel free to post your answers in the comments box!

a. umbrella
b. envelope
c. hour
d. european city
e. helicopter
f. unicorn
g. honest gentleman
h. FBI agent
i. hotel
j. egg

Studying that's fun to do!

Students often ask their teachers for ways of improving their level of English outside of class time but can be less than enthusiastic when it comes to completing extra homework exercises or studying their list of irregular verbs. Englishfile, a series of coursebooks from Oxford University Press, has an excellent website where students can learn vocabulary, pronunciation, practical language and grammar in a fun and interactive way. I'm particularly addicted to the skating game / race against time. So if you are looking for a more fun way of brushing up on / practising your English at home you should check out the following address...

http://www.oup.com/elt/englishfile/

...then choose your level and away you go!

I couldn't disagree more! redux

"I can't live without my morning coffee!"

"I can. The only time I have coffee is after a meal."

We've now already looked at how to agree with a positive or negative statement someone has just made. And we've looked at disagreeing with positive statements. Now, last but not least, we're going to look at disagreeing with negative statements.

Like disagreeing with positive statements, the key here is the emphasis you place on the word "I". By stressing the different subject pronoun, you're highlighting the contrast with the other person's opinion. We also usually follow this up with a statement of our own opinion or likes.

Of course, like the other forms we've looked at, you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that you need to use the positive to establish the contrast with the original negative statement. You CANNOT use a contraction in the response.

Let's look at some examples:

"I'm not going anywhere on holiday [AmEng vacation] this year."

"I am. I'm going trekking in the Himalayas. I can't wait!"

"I haven't got any money."
"I have. Don't worry, I'll spot you some cash."

"I couldn't possibly go on a TV reality show."
"I could! I think it would be fun!"

"I've never run a marathon."

"I have. It's a lot of work and you have to train hard. But it's very satisfying to finish."

Notice that in the last example, although there is no "not/n't", the word "never" functions like a negative and so the response is in the positive.

I couldn't disagree more!

"I hate coffee!"

"I don't! I'd die without it!"

We've now already looked at how to agree with a positive or negative statement someone has just made. Today we're doing to look at disagreeing with positive statements.

The key here is the emphasis you place on the word "I". By stressing the different subject pronoun, you're highlighting the contrast with the other person's opinion. We also usually follow this up with a statement of our own opinion or likes.

Of course, like the other forms we've looked at, you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am not/isn't/aren't, can't/couldn't, don't/doesn't/didn't, haven't/hasn't/hadn't, shouldn't, won't, wouldn't, etc. Notice that you need to use the negative to establish the contrast with the original positive statement.

Let's look at some examples:

"I'm a Man U supporter."
"I'm not!. I support Man City."

"I'd really like to try bungee jumping."
"I wouldn't! Are you crazy? You could kill yourself!"

"I've always wanted to travel to China."
"I haven't. I prefer to stay in Spain."

I couldn't agree more! redux

"I really can't stand hot weather!"

"Me, neither!"
"Neither can I!"
"I can't, either!"

Last time we looked at agreeing with a positive statement someone has just made. Today we're doing to look at agreeing with negative statements.

All three of these forms can be used in informal English to agree with a negative statement another person has just made.

Of the three, "Me, neither." (often "Me, either." in more informal English, especially in North America) is the easiest to use, as you don't have to worry about the auxiliary verb.

For "Neither ___ I." and "I ___ not/n't, either." you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that with "neither" you don't need to add "not/n't" because neither already carries a negative meaning.

For example:

"I don't like U2."
"Neither do I." / "I don't, either."

"I haven't been working really hard lately."
"Neither have I." / "I haven't, either."

"I shouldn't really spend all my money on a Caribbean cruise."
"Neither should I." / "I shouldn't, either."

"I didn't do anything Saturday night."
"Neither did I." / "I didn't, either."


These forms can also be used for other people than yourself. Let's adapt the last example:

"We didn't do anything Saturday night."
"Neither did we." / "We didn't, either."

"I'm not doing anything on Saturday night."
"Neither is Mary." / "Mary isn't, either."

I couldn't agree more!

"I think pizza is the best food on earth!"

"Me, too!"
"So do I!"
"I do, too!"

All three of these forms can be used in informal English to agree with a positive statement another person has just made.

Of the three, "Me, too." is the easiest to use, as you don't have to worry about the auxiliary verb.

For "So ___ I." and "I ___, too." you need to use the appropriate auxiliary: am/is/are, can/could, do/does/did, have/has/had, should, will, would, etc. Notice that we do NOT use a contract of the auxiliary in the answer.

For example:

"I'm a big U2 fan."
"So am I." / "I am, too."

"I've been working really hard lately."
"So have I." / "I have, too."

"I should really do an intensive English course."
"So should I." / "I should, too."

"I went to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So did I." / "I did, too."

You'll notice than in this last example, because there is no auxiliary verb in the original statement, you need to use "do" as your auxiliary, as in the pizza example above. Because the original statement was in the past, we use "did".

These forms can also be used for other people than yourself. Let's adapt the last example:

"We went to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So did we." / "We did, too."

"I want to go to the cinema [AmEng the movies] on Saturday"
"So does Mary." / "Mary does, too."

Less and fewer

+ or -

Before we start, I should confess that what I'm going to talk about is a grammar mistake which lots of native speakers make, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You probably all know that more is the comparative of much and many. You probably also think that less is the opposite of more. Well it is, so you're right. However, more also has another opposite: fewer.

Technically, we use less with uncountable nouns and fewer with countable ones. For example:

• I wish I had less work to do. I'd really like to go to the swimming pool this afternoon. [work is uncountable]
• I have fewer friends here in Madrid than I do back home. [friends are countable]

However, according to answers.com: "...less is used in some constructions where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were being followed. Less than can be used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles. Less is sometimes used with plural nouns in the expressions no less than (as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter) and or less."

'I want' never gets

Although you might say '"I want" never gets.' to a child (or Big Brother participant) to show them that you should ask for thinks politely, the fact is that we use 'I want' A LOT in everyday speech. A common grammar mistake for Spanish speakers involves this phrase.

Here's an example:

• Native speaker: I want you to eat all your vegetables, young man!
• Spanish speaker: I want that you eat all your vegetables, young man!

When you see the two side by side, the influence of the Spanish verb + que + subjunctive structure is clear. In English, the verb pattern for want is simple, and IT DOES NOT CHANGE when you add an object to the sentence.

want + (object) + to infinitive

Of course, when you add an object you change the meaning of the sentence. To wit,

'I want to go.' means I will be the one who (hopefully) goes.
'I want you to go.' means that you will go.

Now, I want you to go away and practice: write 10 sentence with want + object + to infinitive and post them as a comment.

Wish III - regrets

Well, we've already looked at "I wish" and "wish" plus the past to talk about wishes for the present or future. Today we're going to talk about regrets. You regret something (or regret doing/having done s'thing, or regret not doing/having done s'thing) when you look back at the past and think to yourself, "Why, oh why did I (not) do that?!", "What on earth was I thinking?"

For example, when I was in high school, I had the opportunity to go to a Talking Heads concert. At the time I liked them, but wasn't super crazy about them. They later released a concert film called Stop Making Sense, which I absolutely adored. I then realized [BrEng realised] that I'd missed a really great show. I have always regretted not going to that concert. I wish I'd gone to that concert!

WISH + PAST PERFECT*
=
something you regret doing or not doing in the past

My other regrets:

• I wish my father had taught me Spanish as a child, things would have been much easier when I moved to Spain.
• I wish I'd studied more at school.
• I wish I had visited my sick friend in the hospital more.
• I wish I hadn't let my cat scratch up all the furniture. Now I'll have to get it re-upholstered.

I sincerely hope you don't have any regrets, but if you do, feel free to share them in a comment.

* Both past perfect simple and continuous are possible.