Learning languages

A How people learn

I prefer reading in
English to listening.

reading speaking listening writing

I have a good ear but English

learning people speak very fast.
doing from
exercises mistakes
I like speaking in English.
skills However, pronunciation
is hard, especially vowel
distance sounds and intonation.
learning practising as
much as possible Studying phonetics helps
you pronounce words.
self-study LANGUAGE
LEARNING
motivation I need to concentrate when
I revise for my exams.

language word I study English by distance

systems class learning. Motivation is really
important for self-study.

My tutor always tells me

vocabulary pronunciation when I’m right and wrong.
content grammar
words: words:
grammar noun, pronoun, I don’t like to make
adjective, preposition, mistakes in my writing.
verb, adverb conjunction

That’s English! materials

include lots of practice activities
to do at home. You need to
practise a lot to improve.
B Using the dictionary
word class countable / definition example
uncountable

cook (n) (C) A person who prepares food. Lori is a fantastic cook.
headword
to cook (v) To prepare food. Cook the vegetables for five minutes. opposite
cool (adj) 1. Low in temperature. I’d love a nice cool drink. Ant: warm.
synonym Syn: chilly, chilled. 2. Fashionable. I think your shoes are
really cool.

different meaning of a word

When I see a word I
don’t know, I look it up You need to read the
in the dictionary. I always look at example sentences
You have to be the word class. carefully.
careful to choose the
correct meaning.

C Useful expressions
• Las siguientes expresiones son útiles cuando surge algún problema de comunicación.
Sorry, I don’t understand. Could you say that again, please?
What does ‘bus driver’ mean? Could you speak more slowly, please?
How do you say ‘ascensor’ in English? Could you speak louder, please?
Permission: can can’t may may not Advice: should shouldn’t
A can can’t may may not

No, you
can’t.

May I go
outside?

• Podemos usar can y may para expresar permiso. May es más formal que can.
You can use a dictionary but you can’t talk in the exam.
Can I borrow a pencil, please?
Excuse me sir, may I leave the room, please?
- Yes, you may. (más formal) / Yes, you can. (más informal)
- No, you may not. / No, you can’t.
• Recuerda que también usamos can para expresar habilidad y posibilidad.
Joanna can speak four languages fluently.
Frank can’t come to school today because he’s ill. You should drink
plenty of milk.
B should shouldn’t You shouldn’t go
to bed late.

• Usamos should and shouldn’t para dar y pedir consejo.

What should I do to learn English quickly? - You should practise a lot, you should write new
words in a notebook and you shouldn’t be shy.

C Modal verbs
• Can, may y should son modal verbs. Los modal verbs:
- tienen la misma forma para todas las personas.
- van seguidos del infinitivo sin to.
- forman las preguntas colocando el verbo modal antes del sujeto.
- forman frases negativas colocando not después del verbo modal.

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

Can Liz can go home early today. You cannot speak on the Can Tina bring a French
(permiso) You can only smoke outside. phone in the cinema. friend to class?
We can’t speak Spanish in Can the students work in
the English class. pairs?
May You may use your mobile Students may not use their May I come in?
(permiso [formal]) phones now. books during the exam.

Should You should revise every day. You should not worry about Should I listen to English
(consejo) Greg should pay more making mistakes. radio?
attention in class. Jackie shouldn’t be so shy. Should the baby go to
sleep?

• Cannot y should not tienen formas negativas contraídas. No hay contracción para may not.
• La forma negativa no contraída de can se escribe como una sola palabra: cannot
(NO You can not talk in the exam).
 Exercises

1 R
 elaciona las dos partes de cada diálogo. Luego, escribe de qué aspecto del aprendizaje
de una lengua están hablando en cada caso.
1 I love American literature. a  Why don’t you keep a special notebook and look
2 Getting vowel sounds right is the hardest at them often?
thing in English. b They’re not so bad. They’re quite similar to
3 I can never remember new words. Spanish.
4 I find conditional sentences really difficult. c  Me too. The important thing is to learn from them!
5 You can learn a lot from English songs. d Yes, you need to be very motivated.
6 It’s hard when you don’t have a teacher. e I find it helps if I play the CD again and again and
then I record myself.
7 I hate making mistakes.
f  I prefer English authors. I’d love to read novels by
Dickens in English one day.
Example: 1-f reading g Yes, but you need to have a good ear.
2 ………………………… 4 ………………………..… 6 ……………………………
3 ………………………… 5 …………………….……. 7 ……………….…….…….

2 Ordena las palabras de las frases.

1 very Keith lucky is – he good has languages ear a for. .........................................................................
2 I reading prefer speaking to – bit I’m shy a. ..........................................................................................
3 listen I like to when exams to revise music I for....................................................................................
4 mistakes Making language is a of new part learning............................................................................
5 important The is communicate thing to – worry don’t right if wrong or you’re..................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
3  scribe debajo de cada palabra la abreviatura que corresponde a su categoría gramatical.
E
Ten en cuenta el contexto.
Example: I can learn foreign languages at home easily, but my sister can’t.
pr v (aux) v adj n prep n adv conj adj n v (aux)
You speak too
1 fast when you get nervous.
…… …… …… …… …… ….. …. ……
2 I love fast cars. A good race can be really exciting.
…… …… …… …… …… ….. …. …… …… …… ……
3 Shall I book tickets for a theatre play or do you prefer to watch the race?
…… …… …… …… …… ….. …. …… …… …… …… …… …… …… …… ……
4 I lost my watch in the pool yesterday. Swimming can be expensive!
…… …… …… …… …… ….. …. …… …… …… …… ……
4 Escribe los nombres de las diferentes partes de esta entrada de diccionario.
1 2 3
study ( n) (C) plural: studies. 1. A room where you go to learn or work on something. 4
My father was in his study. 5
2. 
A report about something. 6
Nearly all studies show that smoking is dangerous 5
2 4 5 7 8
stupid (adj) Not intelligent. That was a really stupid decision. Ant: clever. Syn: unintelligent

1 …………… 2 ………….. 3 …………… 4 …………… 5 …………… 6 …....…… 7 ………… 8 …………

5 Completa las conversaciones con las expresiones adecuadas.
1 Where are you going today? — Sorry, I don’t understand. You speak very quickly! ………..…….?
2 How did your exam go? — Sorry, I can’t hear you. ………..…….?
3 I ate some delicious fish last night. Its name in Spanish is ‘lubina’. How ………..…….?
4 I met Jake last night. He’s at university in Bristol now. You’re from Bristol, aren’t you?
— Sorry, I wasn’t listening. ………..…….?
5 Our camping holiday was a complete disaster. It poured all weekend. — Poured? What ………..…….?
Exercises
1 Escribe las preguntas que hacen los personajes. Usa can o may.
Can I borrow your dictionary, 1 .............................................. 2 ..............................................
please? ..........................................… ..........................................…

borrow turn on take

3 .............................................. 4 .............................................. 5 ..............................................
..........................................… ..........................................… ..........................................…

use bring touch

2  scribe lo que se puede y no se puede hacer según la situación. Usa can / may o cannot /
E
may not y las expresiones del recuadro.
take photos pay cash borrow 20e wear jeans use a flash touch the paintings drink beer
wear shorts borrow 100e drink water look at the paintings pay with a credit card

Example: In a museum : You may take photos but you cannot / may not use flash.

1 At school : …………………………………………………………………..……………………………

2 In this shop : ………………………………………………………………………………………

3 In a museum : ……………….....…………………………………………………………….

4 From a friend : ……………………………….……………………………………………………

5 In class : ……………………………………………………………………………………………
3  scribe consejos para un estudiante de inglés. Completa las frases con You should o You
E
shouldn’t y escríbelas en la columna correspondiente.
have a vocabulary notebook try to learn five new words every day try to speak too fast
buy a good bilingual dictionary try to make English-speaking friends worry about making mistakes
worry if you don’t understand native speakers forget to do your homework
You should have a vocabulary notebook. You shouldn’t worry about making mistakes.
1 ……..………………………………….……. 4 ....…………….…………………………………..........
2 ...……………………………………….…… 5 ....…………….…………………………………..........
3 ...……………………………………….…… 6 ....…………….…………………………………..........
4 Ordena las preguntas y escribe respuestas adecuadas.
Example: I want to take pictures for my family album. expensive / I / buy / camera / an / should?
Should I buy an expensive camera? – No, you shouldn’t.
1 My sister loves art. should / the / Prado Museum / visit / she ?
………………………………………………………………………................……………………………………
2 My parents don’t like hot food. go / an / they / Indian / should / to / restaurant ?
………………………………………………………………………................……………………………………
3 Keith isn’t good at learning languages. try / Chinese / to / should / learn / he ?
………………………………………………………………………................……………………………………
4 Paula and Ken are afraid of flying. they / Vietnam / honeymoon / should / for / go / their / to ?
………………………………………………………………………................……………………………………
5 Pete loves good food and drinking cider. holiday / Asturias / visit / he / during / Spain / should / his / in ?
………………………………………………………………………................……………………………………

VOCABULARY
Learning languages
Exercise 1
1 f. reading 2 e. pronunciation 3 a. self-study
/ vocabulary
4 b. grammar 5 g. listening 6 d. motivation
/ self-study 7 c. learning from mistakes
Exercise 2
1 Keith is very lucky - he has a good ear for
languages.
2 I prefer reading to speaking - I’m a bit shy.
3 I like to listen to music when I revise for exams.
4 Making mistakes is part of learning a new
language.
5 The important thing is to communicate - don’t
worry if you’re right or wrong.
Exercise 3
1 You speak too fast when you get nervous.
pr / v / adv / adv / conj / pr / v / adj
2 I love fast cars. A good race can be really
exciting.
pr / v / adj / n / art / adj / n / v (aux) / v / adv
/ adj
3 Shall I book tickets for a theatre play or
do you
v (aux) / pr / v / n / prep /art / n / n / conj
/ v (aux) / pr /
prefer to watch the race?
/ v / prep / v / art / n
4 I lost my watch in the pool yesterday.
Swimming can
pr / v / adj / n / prep / art / n / adv /
/ v(aux) /
be expensive!
v / adj
Exercise 4
1 Headword 2 Word class 3 Countable /
uncountable 4 Definition 5 Example 6 Different
meaning 7 Antonym 8 Synonym
Exercise 5
1 Could you speak more slowly, please? / Could
you say that again, please? 2 Could you speak
louder, please? 3 do you say ‘lubina’ in English?
4 Could you say that again, please? 5 does
‘poured’ mean? / does ‘pour’ mean?
Answer Key
GRAMMAR
Permission: can can’t may may
not
Advice: should shouldn’t
Exercise 1
1 Can I turn on the TV, please? 2 May I take a
photo, please? 3 May I use the toilet, please?
4 Can / may I bring my dog with me, please?
5 Can / may I touch the animals / the monkey,
please?
Exercise 2
1 You may / can wear jeans but you may not /
cannot wear shorts. [*]
2 You can pay cash but you cannot pay with a
credit card.
3 You may / can look at the paintings but you may
not / cannot touch the paintings. [*]
4 You can borrow 20 € but you cannot borrow 100
€.
5 You may / can drink water but you may not /
cannot drink beer. [*]
[*] Es más probable que se utilice ‘may’ si quien
habla tiene cierta autoridad.
Exercise 3
1 You should buy a good bilingual dictionary.
2 You should try to learn five new words every
day. 3 You should try to make English-speaking
friends. 4 You shouldn’t try to speak too fast.
5 You shouldn’t worry if you don’t understand
native speakers.
v 6 You shouldn’t forget to do your homework.
Exercise 4
1 Should she visit the Prado Museum? Yes, she
should.
2 Should they go to an Indian restaurant? No,
they shouldn’t.
3 Should he try to learn Chinese? No, he
shouldn’t.
4 Should they go to Vietnam for their honeymoon?
No, they shouldn’t.
5 Should he visit Asturias in Spain during his
holiday? Yes, he should.