GRAMMAR TIP: However vs Although - by Kaplan Blog

Hi everyone!

Today's grammar tip comes from a fun and great English Blog created by Kaplan International Colleges. In this post, you can find what the difference between However and Although is. So here it is for all of you:

However and although are two English words that both loosely mean “but”. Unfortunately, knowing exactly when you should use however vs although is something that most native English speakers would struggle to explain.

The difference between “however” and “although”

The main difference between these two words is that however can stand by itself at the beginning of a sentence, with a comma after it. Although can’t do this.

The words also have slightly different meanings:

Although means “in spite of the fact that…”.

However means “but”.

The actual rules about whether to use however or although are quite complicated, but there is an easy rule that works in almost all situations... Read the full post and find some exercises here!

Post originally written by Chase for http://kaplaninternational.com/blog/

British words VS American words - Vocabulary Exercise + video

Hi everyone!

Today I'm here to share with you an exercise about British words VS American words. Here I don't talk about how they're pronounced differently (of course they are), but about how the same things are called differently depending on the country where you live.

Find the American word with the same meaning as its British synonymous. 

You can take up to 5 minutes.

Below are the answers for this exercise. 

Don't look at them until you're absolutely sure you have finished.

And before I finish writing this post, I want to share with all of you a fun video I've found on YT about some of these words and how different they are. Enjoy!

New Accent Reduction Series - Accents with Amy.. and Alex!

Hi guys!

I'm back with some resources that I hope you like. As you may know already, Amy Walker is an American actress, singer, writer and teacher of accents with and incredible gift. She has recently launched a new Accent Reduction Series to ESL Speakers. This series is completely in-depth and it is composed by several videos, some of them are for free and you can find them in her channel in YouTube, and some of them are for rental and purchase, and are available on 21accents.com and vimeo.com/amiablewalker.

This series works the different vowel sounds, the consonants, the rhythm and the melody. It is very useful if you're an actor, or if you just want to get a nice and clear american accent.

So here they are, directly from her website 21accents.com, Accent with Amy - American Accent Tutorials:

Fun, In-depth Tutorial for the Standard American Accent – Accents with Amy 

Accents w Amy! Learn in real time. Hear first-hand how quickly you too can sound like a standard (neutral) American with Amy’s fun, unique techniques. Speak and learn along with us!

Diphthongs “A” “I” “U” 

Part 5:

diphthong eɪ (say, day, thanks, favorite, play)
diphthong aɪ (rice, wild, child, time)
diphthong uː (you, few, view, human, usual)

Schwa and long ä | Basis of American Vowel sounds

Part 4:

Vowel “ə” (the, love, was, today, money, word, for, for you, forever)
Vowel “ˈɔ” (always, all, party, darling, awesome)

American “T” and “S” | Accents with Amy

Part 6:

“T” (time, tint, trick, after, afternoon, tape, hat, mat, between, best, left)
“S” (sip, sand, same, sale, serious, stretch, smart, smile, pass, mass, pace, juice)

American “oh” “oo” “ow” ( oʊ uː ʊ æʊ) | Accents with Amy

Part 3:

diphthong oʊ (oh, no, grow, phone, home, road)
long uː (room, bloom, move, blue, you)
short ʊ (good, book, cook, would, wooden, look)
diphthong æʊ (how, now, out, about, house, powder, shout)

“ee” and “i” ( iː v. ɪ) – American Accent Tutorial | Amy Walker

Part 2:

Long iː (me, need, reason, tea, people)
versus: short ɪ (pick, lift, win, dinner, mint)

“a” and “eh” (æ and e) – fun, essential tips! – American Accent Tutorial | Amy Walker

Part 1:

Short æ (back, have, cat, can, man)
versus: e (bend, men, head, every, left)

The goal is that by listening to any difference between the correct way and another way, you will develop your ability to hear any differences in your own speaking -thereby learning faster and more completely.

Hope you enjoy the videos!

See you!

Studying English Abroad: Tips to Improve Fast while Being Abroad

Hi everyone!

So now that summer is almost here, and we're all ready for it, I thought I'd write a post about studying abroad. Do you have your trip already planned? I do!

For those of you who haven't traveled abroad to learn English, here is all you need to know:

TIPS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH WHILE STUDYING ABROAD

DON'T HANG OUT WITH PEOPLE FROM YOUR COUNTRY

When you travel abroad, you're likely to get along with people from your country more than with other people. Why? Because you share the same culture. You share the same language, know probably the same kind of food, have a lot of things in common. That's a problem.

If you feel comfortable with them, you're

more possibly gonna end up hanging out just with them, speaking in your own language and using English just in your classes at school. But then, you will go back to your country feeling like living abroad didn't help you very much with your English (or any other language). 

While if you get to meet people from other countries who you don't share a culture with, you are gonna end up speaking English all the time, and you will come back to your country feeling like you really "worked your fingers to the bone" and improved a lot, and you can get to know different cultures, really interesting people and wonderful places. And you will have friends all over the world after your coming back home!

DON'T SPEAK YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE!

This is specially hard for foreign speakers with a very low level of English but, hey!, you can make mistakes while speaking in English. That's how we all learn, by making mistakes. Try to meet people who don't speak your own language and try to get some native speaker friends, that will help you a lot!

STAYING IN A HOST FAMILY IS ALWAYS BETTER!

It will help you much more with your English than staying on your own, and it is always important to have someone caring about you when you're out of your country. They will help you if you need it and they will make your experience more enjoyable, because they probably know interesting places to visit and fun things to do.

GO TO CLASS!

It is hard to attend your classes when there are lots of things you want to do, but it is important for you to go to class. You've paid for the classes and you have to go to your school everyday, or you may not be able to get your certificate at the end of the course, or even worse, you may not learn anything at all.

CHOOSING YOUR ENGLISH SCHOOL CAREFULLY

The quality of teaching has to be good so you can learn as fast as possible. You should check if your school is accredited by the institution of the country you're gonna study in. For example ACCETS for schools in the US and the BRITISH COUNCIL for school in the UK.

I will write a post about different English schools that I would recommend for you to study at. 

I hope you find these tips useful and that you learn a lot while being abroad, as it's the best way to learn!

See you!

NEXT GENERATION - Short Video Contest for Spaniards!

Hi there!

I got some news for those of you in Spain! The University of Cambridge has organised a short video contest for Spanish people in High School.

I invite all of you in Spain to participate. And if your video is chosen, you can win a trip to New York City!

I've chosen my favorite, a very fun short that always makes me laugh, Can you choose yours?

Here it is:

If you like this one too, you can vote for it here: http://www.thenextgeneration.es/ver_video.php?id=241

And to read all the conditions and terms, including which the prices are:

http://www.thenextgeneration.es/

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

GRAMMAR POST FIVE: Present Perfect

Hi everyone!


Here I come with the fifth grammar lesson of the blog, hope you find it easy!

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc. Examples:

I have seen that movie twenty times.
I think I have met him once before.
There have been many earthquakes in California.
People have traveled to the Moon.
People have not traveled to Mars.
Have you read the book yet?
Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.



You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event. Examples:


I have been to France.*

*This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.

I have been to France three times*.

*You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.

I have never* been to France.

*This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.

I think I have seen that movie before.
He has never traveled by train.
Joan has studied two foreign languages.
A: Have you ever met him?
B: No, I have not met him.

The affirmative form of the Present Perfect is formed with the verb "To have" in present tense as an auxiliary verb and the form in Past Participle of the principal verb. Example:


I think I have seen that movie before.
He has traveled by train.
Joan has studied two foreign languages.
I have been to France three times.

The negative form of the Present Perfect is formed with the present tense of the verb "To have" in negative  and the form in Past Participle of the principal verb. Example:



He has not traveled by train.
Joan hasn't studied two foreign languages.
I have not been to France three times.

The interrogative form of the Present Perfect is formed with the verb "To have" in present tense at the beginning of the question and the Past Participle of the principal verb. Example:


Haven't you seen that movie before?
Have you ever met him?
Has Joan studied two foreign languages?
Has he traveled by train?

MOVIE POST THREE: Les Miserables

Hi everyone!

Today's movie post is about one of the most watched musical of all times, based on the book "Les Miserables" from Victor Hugo. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards this year, and won three of them. Starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter and some other great artists, and directed by Tom Hooper, the awarded director of "The King's speech". Here it goes a short synopsis:

"Several years after the French Revolution, things are going bad in the country once again as a new king rises to the throne. The rich remain rich and the poor are as bad off as ever. Amid this setting, Jean Valjean finds himself in prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread as well as for numerous escape attempts. There, he has been constantly harassed by prison guard Javert. Valjean is finally released, but when he returns to society he finds himself an outcast and unable to find work. He begins to turn into the thief he was unfairly labeled as. But after a religious epiphany, Valjean resolves to break his parole, create a new identity, and start his life over. 

Six years later, Valjean has become the mayor of a town and a successful businessman, but his world is turned upside down when Javert arrives in town as the new police inspector. Valjean becomes consumed with worry that he will be recognized. Unfortunately, this distracts him from the plight of one of his employees, Fantine. Harassed by the other workers and an evil manager, Fantine loses her job and is forced to become a prostitute in order to support her young daughter Cosette. Eventually Valjean learns of her plight, but he is too late to save her. Fantine dies, but not before Valjean promises to locate Cosette and care for her. But unfortunately, Javert discovers Valjean's true identity. Now on the run, Valjean must stay one step ahead of his nemesis if he's going to keep his promise."

And here it goes the trailer:
















Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway: I DREAMED A DREAM



FANTINE
There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Les Miserables, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried, A HEART FULL OF LOVE

MARIUS
A heart full of love
A heart full of song
I'm doing everything all wrong
Oh God, for shame
I do not even know your name
Dear Mad'moiselle
Won't you say?
Will you tell?
COSETTE
A heart full of love
No fear, no regret
MARIUS
My name is Marius Pontmercy
COSETTE
And mine's Cosette
MARIUS
Cosette, I don't know what to say
COSETTE
Then make no sound
MARIUS
I am lost
COSETTE
I am found!
...

Hope you like it and see you soon!