Archive for the ‘Intermediate’ Category

Video Clips

August 20, 2008

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/

While this site has a host of exercises to practice your English, the “Watch and Learn” section is really a fun and useful way to practice listening.  Just click on the videos and then answer the questions that follow to test how well you understood the contents.  Watch them a few times… in any case, some of them are pretty funny!! 

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Este weblog tiene muchos ejercicios para practicar inglés, pero mi sección preferida es la que utiliza videos.  Mira los videos y contesta las preguntas al finalizar.  

What to pay attention to.. the lyrics or choreography : ¿A qué prestar atención? ¿las letras o la coreografía?

August 19, 2008

Here It Goes Again lyrics

It could be ten, but then again, I can’t remember half an hour since a quarter to four.
Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and you leave me with my jaw on the floor.
Just when you think you’re in control,
just when you think you’ve got a hold,
just when you get on a roll,
here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
I should have known,
should have known,
should have known again,
but here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
It starts out easy, something simple, something sleazy, something inching past the edge of the reserve.
Now through lines of the cheap venetian blinds your car is pulling off of the curb.
Just when you think you’re in control,
just when you think you’ve got a hold,
just when you get on a roll,
here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
I should have known, should have known,
should have known again,
but here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
I guess there’s got to be a break in the monotony, but Jesus, when it rains how it pours.
Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and you leave me, yeah, you leave me.
Oh, here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.
Oh here it goes again.
I should have known, should have known,
should have known again,
but here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.

Explanations:

  • “Jaw (mandíbula) on the floor” = Mouth wide open, suprised, shocked
  • “Got a hold” = in control.  Common phrase: get a hold of yourself man!! Meaning, calm down, get in control.
  • “On a roll” = everything is going great! Or perfect!  The expression comes from the casinos and the dice game, when you are rolling the dice and winning one after another you are on a roll.
  • “Here it goes again” referring to an annoyance or something bad that is interrupting the flow of good things happening. 
  • Sleazy = something or someone who is dirty, disrespecful.  The word can be used playfully to tease or joke with others or in a mean way depending on context. 

iPhone news…

August 19, 2008

A short article about the new iPhone.  Read, learn, and enjoy…  (For best practice read the article outloud)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/08/iphone-broken-s.html

Vocabulary and phrases:

  • guru: gurú
  • bouncy: que bota bien, como una pelota.  Materials are bouncy, but people who have a lot of energy can be described as bouncy also.
  • pony up: slang (jeriga) for when you have to pay for something when you dont want to. 
  • MAC lover: Noun followed by lover is commonly used to express a deep liking for something.  For example, I am a book lover; I love to read. Or when I tease (una broma) my brother by calling him a shoe lover, for his strange obsession with owner a lot of shoes.

Questions to consider:

  • How far did the iPhone fall when the owner dropped and broke his phone?
  • What claims does this article make about the new iPhone?
  • What are some complaints about Apple as a company?