Gerunds in English

Today we are going to look at gerunds in English. Firstly, what is a gerund?

Well, the answer is that it is the “-ing” form of the verb.

Look at some examples of the gerund as the subject of a sentence:

Reading helps you learn more.

Flying makes me nervous.

Cleaning up after yourself is good manners.

Let's now take a look at the “gerund” as a complement after the verb “to be”:

One of the hardest things in life is studying.

One of my main duties in my old job was attending meetings.

One of life's pleasures is having breakfast in bed.

Now look at some examples of the gerund after a preposition:

He's very good at communicating with people.

You can learn a lot by listening to your teachers.

There's no point in sitting down as the meeting will be over soon.

Some verbs, including some phrasal verbs, are followed by another verb in the gerund form. Here are some examples:

I love going to the cinema at the weekend.

He avoided talking to her at the party.

You'd better give up smoking. It's bad for you.

After the race had finished she kept on running.

I ended up staying at the party until the end.

Now you have learnt a little bit more English, join us to practice and learn Engish. Aulaglobal makes English easy.

Common words used with Present Perfect

Today we are going to look at some common words in English that are often but not always accompanied by the present perfect. These words are:

already, still, yet, not yet, still not and never.

In the dialogue between Joe and Susan we can clearly see their uses within a spoken conversation.

Joe: Have you eaten yet, Susan?

Susan: No, not yet. I haven’t had a chance all day.

Joe: It’s such a pity that you work so hard all day but you still haven’t had a holiday this year.

Susan: I have never taken my holidays in the summer but I like going on holiday in October. Have you been on holiday yet this year, Joe?

Joe: Yes, I have already been on holiday twice this year, but I still have a few days left which I might take at Christmas time.

Susan: Has your boss agreed to pay you for your holidays?

Joe: No, he still has not! He told me to come back to him after the summer to talk about it again.

Joe: And what about you Susan, any decisions for the summer yet?

Susan: I’m afraid I haven’t even thought of it yet.

Now let’s take a look at where and when to uses these words.

already is used to refer to an action that happened sooner than expected. It is used in affirmative sentences in the present or the past but never in the future.

yet refers to an action that is expected in the future. It is NOT used in the past. If we ask about something expected to happen, we always place “yet” at the end of the sentence.

still is used when we want to say that and action which started in the past is still happening in the present. Often, when we use “still”, it refers to an action happening longer than expected.

never means the action has not happened any time before now. Remember it is always placed before the main verb.

Finally not yet and still not are used as opposites to positive affirmations as seen in the dialogue.

I really hope this has been helpful! To learn more about English: Aulaglobal, your English centre in Lorca.

Have an amazing Sunday!

British and American English

English is spoken all over the world in many different ways with many different words. The two countries with the most distinctive word differences and the most widely taught are British and American English.

The three major differences between British and American English are spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Today let’s look at some of the differences between them.

Firstly, let’s look at differences in spelling.

A lot of words ending in or containing “-our” in British English end in or contain “-or” in American English, for example, colour-color, humour-humor, favourite-favorite…

A lot of words ending in “-ise” in British Englishend in “-ize” in American English, for example recognise-recognize, patronise-patronize, etc.

Words which end in “-re” in British English end in “-er” in American English. Here are some examples: centre-center, metre-meter, fibre-fiber.

Next let’s look at some very common vocabulary differences. There are lots more but these ones are very useful when travelling!

	British English	American English
	pavement	sidewalk
	nappy	diaper
	trousers	pants
	petrol	gas, gasoline
	lift	elevator
	flat	apartment
	chips	French fries
	film	movie
	trainers	sneakers

Finally, when it comes to pronunciation, it is important to remember that the “r” sound in American English is generally more pronounced than in British English.

Words ending in “r” in British English are normally pronounced with an open “r” at the end. Let’s look at the word “car” which when pronounced in British English sounds almost like ”cah”.

North American English speakers are considered to be rhotic speakers and they pronounce a rhotic consonant in all instance, while non-rhotic speakers only pronounce ”r” before vowels. Bear in mind though that this may not always be the case as English has many different accents.

4 PHRASAL VERBS: TO GET

Level: B1+ - B2

For today’s fun grammar tip we are going to look at PHRASAL VERBS with the verb TO GET. Today’s phrasal verbs with TO GET are: - to get away - to get over - to get along with - to get on/off The first one, “to get away”, means to escape from someone or to take a holiday. Let’s look a couple of examples: •John managed to get away from the police. •I really feel I need to get away; I work too much. In the next examples “to get over” means that you feel better after something has happened or that you have overcome something: •I hope you get over your cold soon! •Max needs to get over his fear of heights before we go hiking. “to get along with” means that you have a good relationship with someone. For example, •I get along with my sister very well. •I didn’t use to get along with Jack but now he’s my best friend. “to get on” and its opposite, “to get off”, are normally used for all forms of transport except for cars and taxis. With cars and taxis we use the phrasal verbs “to get in” and “to get out”. •Be careful when you get off the bus! •As I got on the plane, I remembered I had forgotten my passport! Remember that most phrasal verbs have more than just one meaning so start just learning the basic ones first and work your way up

Animal kingdom. N. Science

Nuestros alumnos de Primaria están estudiando en Natural Science los distintos reinos animales en los que se agrupan los seres vivos.

 Siempre les recomendamos que estudien haciendo esquemas porque un esquema sobre cualquier texto sirve para poder entender las ideas y conceptos principales con las menores palabras posibles, que estarán relacionadas entre sí mediante flechas, cuadros o cualquier tipo de diseño. Los esquemas deberían ser la última parte de estudio de cualquier texto que tengamos que estudiar. 

Así que ha llegado el momento de hacer esquemas porque la unidad ya la hemos trabajado en Aulaglobal.

Aquí os dejemos ejemplos de esquemas del Animal kingdom que os pueden servir de repaso y ayudaros a hacer vuestros propios esquemas:

30th, January. School Day of Non-Violence and Peace

DENIP: School Day of Non-violence and Peace
1. The "School Day of Non-violence and Peace" (DENIP), founded in 1964 and also known as World or International Day of Non-violence and Peace, is a pioneering, non-state, non-governmental, non-official, independent, free and voluntary initiative of Non-violent and Pacifying Education, which is now practised in schools all over the world and in which centres of education, teachers and students of all levels and from all countries are invited to take part.

2. It advocates a permanent education in and for harmony, tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights, non-violence and peace.

3. It is observed on January 30 or thereabouts every year, on the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi. In countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it can be observed on March 30 or thereabouts.

4. Its basic message is: "Universal Love, Non-violence and Peace. Universal Love is better than egoism, Non-violence is better than violence, amd Peace is better than war".

5. The method of teaching this activity of education in values should be one of experiences and it can be freely applied in each centre of education according to its own teaching style.

6. Friends of DENIP are those persons who, by accepting the spiritual, individual and social supremacy of universal love, non-violence, tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights and peace above their opposites, advocate the diffusion of the principles which inspired the day.

Llorenç Vidal
Founder of DENP
English translation by the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" (Majorca).
Now I encourage you to watch, read and listen to this song: Heal the world: http://youtu.be/VGwo6ZdEYMs

"Heal the World" is a song featured on Michael Jackson's hit album, Dangerous, released in 1991. The music video features children living in countries suffering from unrest.
In a 2001 Internet chat with fans, Jackson said "Heal the World" is the song he is most proud to have created. He also created the Heal the World Foundation, a charitable organization which was designed to improve the lives of children. The organization was also meant to teach said children about how to help others.

Here is the famous song :http://youtu.be/VGwo6ZdEYMs

Make, do, have and take Collocations

Make, do, have and take Collocations

There are some general rules for this, but mainly you need to remember lots of fixed expressions, the famous collocations

Look at the information in the table and try to study it by heart.

make	do	have	take
a mistake a profit/loss money/millions a fortune friends war a noise/sound a mess fun of someone a phone call progress a difference an effort food breakfast lunch dinner a choice a decision a suggestion your bed ajourney	-the ironing -the housework -your homework -business -well/badly -wrong/right -your best damage/harm -sb a favour -something -anything -nothing -Your hair -shopping	a look dinner a headache a party a picnic a barbecue an appointment fun trouble sth in common	a photo advantage of sb care of sb place sth into account your time time no notice of sth part in sth the opportun

Make is also used with most nouns for ways of speaking/planning. For example, you make a complaint, a promise, an offer, a threat, a speech, an apology, a point, a confession, an accusation, a suggestion, an arrangement, a decision, a plan, an appointment.

But, have is used with most nouns which involve a two-way discussion. For example, you have a conversation, a chat, a discussion, an argument, a fight, a row, a meeting, an interview.

We also often use have + a + verb (where the verb and the noun are the same). For example, have a look, a rest, a sleep, a drink, a walk, a go.

Os recomiendo que al estudiar estas collocations hagáis un mind map agrupando los diferentes usos. Os dejamos un ejemplo para que lo completéis vosotros:

Aulaglobal tu centro de inglés en Lorca: Desde infantil hasta Bachillerato. Preparación :Centro preparador de PET/FCE de Cambridge ( Cambridge Eglish Exam Preparation Centre