Why Certifying your English Knowledge?
¿Para que quiero tener certificaciones? ¡Sí con saber hablar me basta!
Young Learners Teachers´ Certificate, Patrick Burns
¡Certifica tu conocimiento!
Muchos alumnos me dicen que ellos solo quieren hablar inglés, pero no necesitan una certificación. Y yo siempre les pregunto; ¿y tú le dirías a un policía que sólo quieres manejar y que no quieres tener una licencia de manejo? ¿ O le dirías al director de la universidad donde estudias que tú sólo vas por el conocimiento pero que no quieres un título?
De igual manera, nosotros no sabemos cuando nos surja una excelente posibilidad de trabajo y que nos soliciten una certificación de nuestro conocimiento de inglés. Tú no tienes ni idea de todas las oportunidades de trabajo, becas, viajes, etc. que yo dejé pasar por sólo saber hablar inglés y no tener una certificación.
Grammar study; function or nomeclature?
¿Función o nomenclatura? ¡Esa es la pregunta!
According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner´s Dictionary, Grammar is the study or use of the rules about how words change their form and combine with other words to make sentences.
The first thing you have to know is how to deal with grammar, in other words; how you are going to analyze words in a sentence. For this matter, there are two…
Ways to analyze grammar:
a) According to nomenclature, this is considering the word just by itself.
b) According to function, that is considering the role of the word in the sentence or idea.
Let´s say, if somebody asks you what the grammatical role of the word PLAY is, you would say, it is a VERB. Because that is the first idea that comes to your mind.
But considering that words have different shades of meaning (uses or applications) and you were to analyze the sentence; WE WENT TO THE THEATER AND ENJOYED A BEAUTIFUL PLAY. Then, you would say that the word PLAY is a NOUN in this sentence.
Got it?
Oxford Grammar Book
Richmond Grammar for Kids
Essential Grammar in Use, Cambridge
Mac Millan Grammar in Use
This was a contribution by: Teacher Miroslav Alvarado
Teacher Miroslav Alvarado, Cambridge Certified
The Simple Present Tense (Part 1)
“¿Cómo puedo expresar las actividades que hago todos los días?”
The Simple Present is used to express habits: “I study English.” Anyway, it is important to know that certain expressions of time correspond to this tense (verbal time). They are:
- Adverbs of Frequency: They answer the question; how often. They go between the auxiliary verb and the verb/action. “I always study English.”
- Expressions of Time: They answer the question when. They go at the end of the sentence/idea. “I study English everyday.”
|
Adverbs of Frquency |
Expressions of Time |
|
Always |
Everyday |
|
Usually |
In the Morning |
|
Often |
Twice a Week |
|
Generally |
After Class |
|
Sometimes |
At 3:00 PM |
|
Seldom |
Every Now and Then |
|
Hardly Ever |
When I Have the Time |
|
Never |
Before Noon |
Then, we can say: “I always study English everyday.” But why do we say, “She always studies English everyday?” Well, to answer this we must consider that there are two auxilary verbs that we use in the Present Simple Tense:
- Do: I, you, we, they
- Does: He, she, it.
Do and Does are not used in affirmative ideas. The difference betwen having to use DO or DOES is indicated in the verb conjugation.
- After I, you, we, they; we use a verb in simple form: I work, you play, we learn, they love.
- After He, she, it; we use a verb in -S form (third person conjugation): He works, she plays, it learns.
In every tense, we have three important structures to use:
- Affirmative Structure: I like to study English. / She hates that song.
- Negative Structure: I don´t like to study French. / She doesn´t hate this book.
- Interrogative Structure: Do you study German? / Does she hate that movie?
Inside Out Mac Millan
Interchange English Course, Cambridge
New Framework English Course, Richmond
Headway English Course, Oxford
This was a contribution by: Teacher Verónica Salomón.
Teacher Verónica Salomón, Cambridge Certified
