Subject: Subjunctive (Part 1 of 3)

One of the biggest advantages to learning English is the fact that, in English, you have a maximum of FIVE words to express any verb idea:
º the infinitive - TO BE ... TO EAT....TO PAINT
º the present simple - AM/ARE/IS....EAT(S)...PAINT(S)
º the past simple - WAS/WERE...ATE...PAINTED
º the present participle - BEING...EATING...PAINTING... and...
º the past participle - BEEN...EATEN...PAINTED

For people who are learning English, this is either a blessing or a curse. It's a blessing (what's the third person past preterit subjunctive of TO PAINT? Who cares!!), but it can cause difficulties for Spanish speakers of English for two reasons.

The first is obvious: If you're used to using a whole bunch of different words to express very specific ideas, it may feel strange, at first, to limit yourself to only a couple of words.

The second reason is the most difficult and it's the kind of problem that causes people to fail oral exams - it's EXACTLY the kind of mistake the examiner listens for, to check if you're translating or you're really using English.

Let's take idea as an example.

Imagine that you're at a party, and a drunk, obnoxious person comes up to you and starts bugging you. You ask him nicely to leave you alone, but he won't go. Then he tries to hit you! You go to the host of the party, and, in Spanish, you say....

¡QUIERO QUE SE VAYA!

This is a perfect example of when you use subjunctive in Spanish:
a) the two verbs have different subjects: (yo) quiero // (él) se vaya.
b) you can't control the result: quiero doesn't guarantee that the second action (irse) is going to happen.

But in English, you cannot say: *I want that he leaves.

Why not?

Look at the first verb: want. In English, WANT is always transitive: you always want something, or you want someone to do another action. Since you're the speaker and your want is the most important verb in the sentence, you have to complete that verb first.

I want (direct object)...

The direct object of want in this case is HIM, because a verb cannot be a direct object.

I want him (third person singular object pronoun)

So what happens with the second verb? Ah. Since HIM is already the direct object of WANT, it can't ALSO be the subject of LEAVE. It can't do both jobs. As a result, WANT doesn't have a subject, which means it must be infinitive:

I want him to leave.

This is correct English: Two verbs, but only ONE possible subject, so the second verb has to be put into the infinitive. Spanish looks at this situation and sees a philosophical problem; English looks at the situation and sees structural problems with the verbs.

It's worth remembering tthis is the kind of mistake that examiners listen for, especially in First Certificate speaking exams. Remember, it's called the First because it's the first Cambridge exam where you must show that you can communicate without translating. And it's especially important to use common verbs like WANT, HOPE, LIKE properly.

If you're not sure how to organize the information after the verb, a quality English-only dictionary like the Oxford University Press series of dictionaries will describe what verb patterns to use, depending on how you use the verb. (In the Oxford dictionaries, verbs that need infinitives after have the V+[TO- inf] code after them.)

Some thoughts about practising over the summer...

I know, I know, I know....

Today is the 10th of June, which means that a lot of you are finishing classes this week. Those of you who are writing the First Certificate will be happy when Saturday afternoon comes. And I know that everyone has big plans for the summer, that they're going to find an intercambio or watch movies or fall in love with someone from an English-speaking country. (If they're VERY lucky, they might have the chance to do all three.)

I'm doing a list of ways to study for one of my clients, but let me just say this: Whatever you do, make it fun. Fun funciona. Fun in the sun, 'cause it's summer! Seriously, though - even if you only choose to do one thing to practice, enjoy it. Have fun with it. It could be watching SpongeBob SquarePants in English (yes, it's weird, but the images are so strange the language kind of becomes irrelevant, don't you think?) It could be learning songs by Amy Winehouse or Lady Gaga or Madonna. Whatever you choose, choose something that will make you smile and have fun. You're more likely to continue doing it.

Interview: Ken Gomez, the Genius behind the ENGLISH LEARNER'S NOTEBOOK

Ken Gomez worked as a product designer for twenty years before he took the plunge and became a CELTA-certified teacher last year. Now he's combined his two talents and created the ENGLISH LEARNER'S NOTEBOOK, which is on sale at Booksellers (c/Fernandez de la Hoz, 40 - Metro Iglesia or Gregorio Marañón) in Madrid.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ken this morning and to ask him to tell me more about the NOTEBOOK.

SS: This is fabulous! Where did you get the idea?

Ken Gomez: I studied a CELTA last year at Hyland Language School - I'd been working as a designer, but work was slipping away. While I was teaching, I was watching the students and how they learned, and I thought: If we gave them a notebook with templates, that might be helpful. So I spoke to Catherine Morely, I spoke to the people at Hyland, and they thought it was a good idea.

After all, every student needs a notebook, so if you have a tool, if you have templates, it's even better. It helps the students make their own English book as well! And it makes it easier for students to get into the habit of writing down the information they need.

SS: How has the reaction been so far?

Ken Gomez: I haven't had a lot of reaction yet, because the book's only been out for a couple of months; I've just had the reaction of some students and some teachers, but it's been really positive. Right now it's only on sale in Madrid at Booksellers, but I have someone in distribution looking at it. And people will be able to buy the book through the website (http://www.enleno.com) shortly.

SS: Any plans for a second edition yet?

Ken Gomez [laughing:] We still have to get through the first edition! But yeah, I've already started getting feedback from some teachers, and I already have some ideas about what to do with the second edition.

THIS is cool:

Two teachers from Madrid, Ken Gomez and Catherine Morely, have worked together to create one of the most interesting tools I've ever seen for English students: http://www.enleno.com. Their English Learner Notebook may just be the best €8 you ever spend in an English classroom: it's designed to help you organize all the vocabulary, notes, pronunciation, verb tenses and other information that you could ever learn in class.

Be sure to come back and visit the blog tomorrow; I'll have a new post that features information about Ken and The Notebook.

If you're looking for a private teacher....

Now that summer is here, there are a lot of students who are looking for private teachers. Some students just want someone to talk to; others need to find a teacher who has a firm understanding of grammar and linguistics. While you're certainly welcome to contact me about classes (e-mail me at stop.spanglish (at) yahoo (dot) es!), I know that the Stop Spanglish way of teaching isn't for everyone, and that you may be looking for different things in a teacher.

I've often thought about how the relationships between students and teachers work, so here are some thoughts that I had. I hope these help you find a teacher you really like.

You have the right to have a teacher who answers your questions and who helps you. You do not have to tolerate a teacher who talks endlessly and who doesn't listen to you.

You have the right to ask for help with specific skills. If you're the student, you're the boss. You are the person who understands your needs the best, and while the teacher is there to help you, he or she can't possibly understand everything you need. You have to be assertive and clear about what you want to do.

You have the right to a teacher who acts in a professional manner: someone who is on time, someone who understands the material they are going to teach you.

You have the right to ask for homework. But if you do, you also have the obligation to actually DO that homework.

Remember that teachers don't do this work for fun. Many of us have rent and bills to pay and it's very insulting when students cancel at the last minute (and we don't get paid), or when students try to get us down to a lower hourly rate. Do you ask your lawyer to reduce how much he charges? Do you ask your gestor not to be expensive? True English teachers are trained professionals who are worth the money you pay. Remember: a lot of people pay their cleaning ladies a measly €12 per hour, and a lot of cleaning ladies can't even read and write properly. You can pay €12 an hour for English classes, but beware: you get what you pay for.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, so if you want to make a comment or a suggestion, I'd love to hear from you.

Making sense of phrasal verbs: Introduction

If there's one thing about English vocabulary that makes students wince, it's phrasal verbs.

I'm not the best person to talk about the history of phrasal verbs (if you're really interested, you can check out this University of Toronto web page: http://tinyurl.com/35gftf5), but I do know from experience that it's hard to teach students phrasal verbs.

When learning phrasal verbs, don't panic. Over the summer I'll post information on hints and tips on how to remember and use phrasal verbs. Before we start, however, there are a couple of pieces of information that you should remember:

a) When you learn a phrasal verb for the first time, make sure you understand if it's transitive or intransitive. Intransitive verbs are verbs that do not need direct objects: with the verb and the subject alone, the verb makes sense: Elvis died. The sun is coming up. But some verbs don't make sense if you don't include a direct object: *I want. *She has to buy.

The problem is that some phrasal verb combinations can have transitive and intransitive meanings. Take the example of put off:

Transitive - to procrastinate: She put off her tax return until the very last minute.
Intransitive - to distract: I can't concentrate! That noise is putting me off!

b) Make sure you know WHAT or WHO the direct object is. This can make a big difference in the meaning of the verb:

I put my back out last week playing tennis. (to dislocate a part of the body)
The company put out a press release announcing the changes. (to broadcast)
The firefighters were unable to put out the fire. (to extinguish)
If you want the bus to stop you need to put your arm out and wave. (to extend from the body.)

In this case, you have two meanings that can only be used with parts of the body (dislocate/extend), one that refers to information (broadcast) and one that talks about an object (to extinguish a fire.) This technique works best if you....

c) Learn phrasal verbs within a specific context. Most students cannot remember the meanings of phrasal verbs if they learn them from long lists, and if you take a look at your textbooks, you'll notice that most of them only show you the phrasal verbs that you would need to talk about a specific idea.

As an example, observe these phrasal verbs that talk about appearance:

People are always mistaking Diane for her sister. It's hard to make out the difference if you're looking at them from a distance, but the sister is usually more made up (look out for the bright lipstick) and because she's a little bigger, she needs to let out her skirts and trousers.

Can you make a list of thea meanings and the direct objects (if needed) for each of these phrasal verbs?

In the next post about phrasal verbs, we'll look at how to predict what a phrasal verb means by looking at its particle.
TODAY'S VOCABULARY:
to wince: to pull your body or face back because you are in pain or because someone has hit you.
to check something out: to take a look at something.

Back again!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the delay in posting new things. I've just moved house and will be house-sitting in La Latina this summer. Moving and blogging really don't go well together.

More information soon...

Football English

World Cup time is almost here!!

Want an easy way to practice your English listening? BBC Five Live Radio is going to be broadcasting EVERY (yup, all of them!) match of the World Cup, live from South Africa.

You can hear the games for free (in English) by clicking on:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/fivelive

Thursday's Word Challenge

Here's one to test your memory and your vocabulary: How many words can you think of that have four or more syllables? Do you know where the stress goes in each word?

One more thought about exam techniques...

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post about exam techniques:

If you have to do an oral exam (and almost everyone has to do some kind of speaking task), whatever you do....DON'T BE QUIET. It's fundamentally important to try to do the task as best you can, even if you think you're going to sound like a fool.

Why? Examiners cannot tell the difference between someone who's too scared to talk and someone who doesn't understand the task. In the end, a silent candidate is someone who is not doing what he or she was asked to do, and that means guaranteed failure.

So...take a deep breath. Smile. Talk, talk and talk some more, and if you're doing the exam with a partner, be sure to talk to your partner, too. After all, your failure is NOT guaranteed (unless you stay quiet, of course...)