Vocabulario En Inglés

Doris Lessing- A universal writer passes away

photo from The Guardian

The Captain laid himself down on some boards and went to sleep. When he woke, Michele was surrounded by pots of paint he had used on the outside of the village. Just in front of the Captain was a picture of a black girl. She was young and plump. She wore a patterned dress and her shoulders came soft and bare out of it. On her back was a baby slung in a band of red stuff. Her face was turned towards the Captain and she was smiling.

“That’s Nadya”, said the Captain. “Nadya…”

From The Black Madonna, by Doris Lessing

The Golden Notebook and The Grass is Singing. Have you ever read either of these books? Ever heard of them?

They were written by Doris Lessing who has passed away at the age of 94.

Doris Lessing wrote a stack of books, essays, plays, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, even a comic, in all genres, starting as a teenager. And she did it so well she won a huge big list of awards, including the Nobel Prize. Not bad, considering she left school at the age of 14!

She wrote about Africa, England, the contradictions of being human. As militant leftist and feminist, she wrote about human conditions that go beyond nationalities, race, gender or politics.

People who have lived as long as Doris Lessing have seen a lot of changes in the world. She was born in Iran when it was still Persia, lived in Zimbabue when it was still Rhodesia, and later lived in England.

The next time you are looking for a book to read, try one by Doris Lessing, in English if you can.

VOCABULARIO EN INGLÉS: LAS PALABRAS DE HOY

Words for today:

pass away = a nicer way to say to die
at the age of 94 = Notice we don’t say with 94. That’s incorrect.
a stack of books = an informal way to say a lot of books
a huge big list = an informal way to say a long list
go beyond = here, it means not limited to a race, nationality or gender
still = Remember, still gives an idea of continuity. Iran was still Persia.

Resumen en castellano

Fallece una escritora universal

¿Conoces las novelas El cuaderno dorado o Canta la hierba? Las has leído? Son de la escritora Doris Lessing que ha fallecido a la edad de 94 años.

Ella escribió sobre África, Inglaterra, y las contradicciones del ser humano. Como militante de izquierda y feminista, escribió sobre la condición humana, transcendiendo nacionalidades, raza, género o ideología.

Ella nació en Irán, cuando todavía era Peña, vivió en Zimbabue, cuando todavía era Rhodesia, y más tarde vivió en Inglaterra.

La próxima vez que estás buscando un libro para leer, pruebe uno de Doris Lessing, ¡en inglés si puedes!

Implant a chip in your head to learn English?

Implant a chip in my head? Are you crazy or something?

Wait a minute. Many of us have teeth implanted in our mouths, pumps implanted in our hearts, knees implanted in our legs… What wrong with a chip implanted in our heads?

It’s the same, right?

Or is it?

Scientists are working on projects to enablehandicapped people to move a leg or arm with the aid of a chip implanted in the brain. Other projects are aiming athelping Altzheimer victims regain areas of their brains

What about a tiny chip with artificial intelligence algorithm that would let you master a language with no effort?! What if you end up saying silly things because there is a mistake in the program? A step too far?

Personally, if I had the choice to try it out, I would! After all, if you end upspeaking nonsense, you could always have it taken out!

Meanwhile, the best way to learn a new language is by hard work and practice! Check out the English courses at www.linguasuite.com

VOCABULARIO EN INGLÉS: LAS PALABRAS DE HOY

TODAY’S WORDS:

enable	To make something or someone able to do something. The chip enables you to speak a language.	Note the grammar: It enables YOU TO speak a language.
aim at	To have as a target or goal. They are aiming at helping Altzheimer victims.	Note the grammar: To aim at DOING something
tiny	Very, very small. A tiny chip
end up	This phrasal verb gives us the idea that something happened as a result of something, or after a long time. He ended up marrying his high school girlfriend.	Don’t confuse this with “finish”. You finish your work. You end up with a broken arm after your car accident.
have it taken out	You don’t take out the chip yourself. Ouch! Too painful. You have it taken out by someone else.	We use this construction when other people do the work for us: Have your hair cut. Have your car cleaned. Have a tooth taken out.

Paper is dead! Or is it?

We certainly embrace new technologies for all the ways they make our lives easier.

Just think how hard it would be to go back to the days of looking for a pay phone on the corner or waiting for a reply to a letter sent a month ago! Life is fast!

But then again, there are still uses for paper. One thing does not necessarily mean we have to exclude the other. I love my e-book and my paper books, my old recipes handwritten on paper or torn out of newspapers…

And what about all those OTHER uses of paper? Newspaper for drying out your boots, all the way down to the toes. Paper towel in the kitchen for soaking up the oil from fried food. How many more can you think of?

Here’s one use, for fun!

VOCABULARIO EN INGLÉS: LAS PALABRAS DE HOY

	Basic Vocabulary for today
go back to the days	This means to return to previous times	Notice GO BACK TO as a phrasal verb. An easy one!
recipe	Instructions you follow in when you cook something.	NOTE: don’t confuse recipe with prescription, a paper your doctor gives you so that you can buy medicine.
soak up	This work is similar to “absorb”.	You can sit on the beach and soak up the sun.

The Glass Ceiling

Hoy vamos a mirar el vocabulario en inglés relacionado con nuestras experiencias en el trabajo, como mujeres y hombres.

Vocabulario en inglés

Business English: the glass ceiling

Know this expression? A ceiling is the top boundary of a room, opposite the floor. If it’s glass, you can’t see through it.

So the glass ceiling refers to invisible barriers that stop women or minorities from being promoted in the workplace.

Tell us about your experiences as women, or men, in your workplace!

Are women limited by the glass ceiling?

Do you think men have a more dificult experience in jobs traditionally held by women?

Is the gender debate a thing of the past?

1. ceiling	The part of the room opposite the floor.	“She painted the kitchen celing white.
2. the glass ceiling	Invisible cultural restrictions that prevent women from advancing.	She was never promoted because of the glass ceiling,
3. a thing of the past	Something that doesn’t exist in the present	Are paper books a thing of the past?
4. not even close	If you are very far from something, physically or in theory	We are not even close to achieving peace in the world.
5.the gender conversation.	This expression refers to the debate about men’s and women’s roles in our society.	Will the gender conversation ever be over?
6. juggling act	If you go to the circus, you will see a clown with 6 balls he can throw and catch at the same time.	Work and home is a juggling act for many people.
7. male	A man is male. A woman is female.	Male birds are more colorful than female birds.
8. introduce	When you meet someone for the first time, perhaps someone introduces you.	Don’t confuse “introduce” with “present”. You can present someone at an event, but you introduce people so that they will know each other.
9. bad manners	If you are not polite.	He has very bad manners; he never says please or thank you. Don’t confuse manners with education. Education refers to what you learn from books, at school.
10. a lie	If you say something intentionally not true	The politician told a lie about his finances.

In a recent article in the New York Times, some contributors expressed the conviction that we are not even close to being done with the gender conversation.

Some of the women referred to the juggling act, that women have to perform to balance work-life responsibilities. Do you think it’s only women who experience this challenge?

Other people think that the glass ceiling experienced by women in the workplace is the same glass ceiling that men experience in the home. Do you agree? Do you think people value the role of fathers, or do they suffer a glass ceiling?

One woman talks about going to a meeting with a malecolleague. She describes how the colleague did not even introduce her propertly to the client. What’s your opinión, is this sexism or just bad manners?

Is it a lie that men are more “rational” and women more “emotional”?

How important are looks for men and women to succeed in their jobs?

If you want to read the article, go to www.nytimes.com

Send us your comments! Have you eperienced the gender divide in your work experience?

Procrastinación

vídeos para aprender inglés

¡Qué rápido pasa el tiempo! Se acabó el verano y ahora parece que el curso escolar se alarga ante nosotros de manera infinita. Es decir, que tenemos todo el tiempo del mundo para prepararnos para los exámenes. ¿O tal vez no?

“Empezaré mañana”

“Empezaré el fin de semana”

“Tengo bastante tiempo libre”

El enemigo que nos hace decir estas cosas es la PROCRASTINACIÓN: postergar las tareas principales llenando nuestro tiempo con otras innecesarias “necesarias” tareas.

Todos lo hacemos. ¿Por qué negarlo? De todas formas, hay que admitir que algunos procrastinan más que otros.

Esperamos que disfrutes con este vídeo de animación, desarrollado por el Royal College of Art en 2007, que es tan fresco ahora como entonces.

¡Oh, no! ¿Esto también es procrastinar? ¡No! Vamos a utilizar este vídeo como fuente de nuevo vocabulario y revisión de gramática.

¿Cuál es tu excusa favorita para “no dejar para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy”? ¡Cuéntanos tus excusas para procrastinar! Déjanos un comentario

¿Te gustaría desarrollar tu vocabulario y tus habilidades de escucha para preparar el examen First Certificate? Inscríbete en el cursoEnglish & Certification de LinguaSuite? ¡Deja ya de procrastinar! Entra en www.linguasuite.com y encontrarás toda la información que necesitas para empezar hoy.

Anota estas nuevas estructuras gramaticales:

Avoiding doing something – evitar hacer algo
Not being able to dosomething – no ser capaz de hacer algo
Being unable to do something – ser incapaz de hacer algo

VOCABULARIO EN INGLÉS: LAS PALABRAS DE HOY

Algunas expresiones utilizadas en el vídeo para aprender inglés de hoy

Apóyate en la animación para ayudarte a entender lo que se dice y ¡RECUERDA ESTAS EXPRESIONES EL DÍA DEL EXAMEN!

¿Entiendes la segunda parte de cada expresión? Oculta la segunda columna y trata de adivinar cómo acaba la expresión. ¡No hagas trampas y no mires el significado! Después repasa cada expresión y trata de memorizarla.

Primera mitad	Segundo mitad	Significado
Descaling	a kettle	Limpiar de cal la resistencia de la tetera
Colour coordinating	your shelves	Ordenar por colores tus estanterías
Sharpening	your pencil	Sacar punta al lápiz
Getting the right	pen to work
Finding the most difficult	way of doing something	Encontrar la manera más complicada de hacer algo
Thesaurusizing	your emails	Agrupar tus correos por temas similares como si fuera un Tesauro
Staring at	the window	Mirar por la ventana
Doing	the dishes	Lavar los platos
Tidying	your desk	Ordenar tu escritorio
Creating a	fire-escape plan	Crear un plan B o un plan de contingencia
Rearranging	your furniture	Reorganizar tu mobiliario
Pairing up	your socks	Emparejar tus calcetines
Doodling		garabatear
Tapping	your pencil	Dar pequeños golpes con tu lápiz
Getting	drunk	Emborracharse
Scratching	yourself	Rascarse
Oiling	your bike	Engrasar tu bici
Picking	your nose	Sacarse mocos
Trying to avoid	the inevitable	Tratar de evitar lo inevitable
Being afraid to	finish something	Tener miedo de acabar algo
Not knowing how	to finish something	No saber cómo acabar algo