THE GRAMMAR CORNER/ SUCH / SO

THE GRAMMAR CORNER

Hi my favourite friends, today we're going to check these two words (SUCH,  SO) and its use in English because it's very important to use them well.

Hola mis amigos favoritos, hoy vamos a revisar estas dos palabras (SUCH,  SO) y su uso en inglés porque es muy importante utilizarlas bien.

**SUCH: tan.  Utilizamos such delante de un nombre + adjetivo.
Ejemplo: Luca is such a good man that everybody wants to be his friend!
Traducción:  ¡Luca es un hombre tan bueno que todo el mundo quiere ser su amigo!


**SO:  tan/tanto.  Utilizamos so delante de adjetivos o adverbios.
Ejemplo:  It's so hot today that I haven't gone out >  Hace tanto calor hoy que no he salido.

***And that's the easy way to use these words.  Simply, right?

**Here you can see more sentences/  Aquí podéis ver más frases:

-The exam was so easy that all students passed it : El examen fue tan fácil que todos los estudiantes lo aprobaron.
-Peter is such a good teacher that his pupils adore him:  Peter es un profesor tan bueno que sus alumnos le adoran.
-The travel to Egypt was so exciting that I would come back again:  el viaje a Egipto fue tan emocionante que volvería otra vez.
-It was such an awful travel that I didn't like it:  fue un viaje tan horrible que no me gustó.

AND  NOW IT IS YOUR TURN / Y ahora os toca a vosotros.

WRITE IN ENGLISH
*Lisa es tan guapa que todos los chicos están enamorados de ella.
*Es un libro tan interesante que lo he leído dos veces.
*Hace tanto frío que no quiero ir al cine.
*Fue una obra de teatro tan bonita que felicité  a los actores.
*Boby es un perro tan listo que a veces parece que habla.
*La película fue tan divertida que estuve riéndome casi una hora.

SOLUTIONS !

-Lisa was so pretty that all boys were in love with her.
-It's such an interesting book that I have read it twice.
-It's so cold that I don't want to go to the cinema.
-It was such a nice play that I  have congratulated the actors.
-Boby is such a clever dog that it sometimes looks like talking.
-The film was so funny that I was laughing for one hour.

SEE YOU!!!

SPANISH POETRY AND MORE... / POESÍA ESPAÑOLA Y MÁS...

Hi my dear friends, I told you once that I was going to post poetry on the blog and as there's a long time I haven't published anything, here you can see something new.  Enjoy it!

Hola mis queridos amigos, os dije una vez que iba a escribir poesía en el blog y como hace mucho tiempo que no publico nada, aquí podéis ver algo nuevo. ¡Disfrutadlo!

**THE AUTHOR:  Angel Luis Romo
This Spanish writer was  born in Salamanca.  He is an engineer, a music composer and a writer.  He is an excellent poet and a wonderful narrator who writes novels and short tales.  He has written poetry books like "Hilando Lunas" (2004 by Vitruvio ), "Se diría que nadie" (2005 by Vitruvio publisher), a book of tales "Relatos" (2004 by Kharmos publisher) ,         the funny novel   "El archivo expiatorio" (2006 by Egartorre libros) and plenty of "micro-tales" on the Internet webs.
He has won several poetry and tales awards such as "La lectora impaciente" from Gandía town with his "Xiang Poems",Poetry Award City of Jerez , Group ADV Tales Award, Tales about Madrid "Madrilízate" Award and  he has collaborated with a lot  of publishers and newspapers.

Angel Luis Romo is a writer with a lot of sensibility and with a huge perfection on his writing.  You can get really touched by his poems and stories!

Please, follow this writer, he is one of the best Spanish  poets at the moment, believe me!!!

**from the book "Se diría que nadie" here you are a beautiful poem:

MISIÓN
dedicated to Victoriano Crémer

La paloma se fue todo hacia el este
para llevar mensajes de esperanza.
La paloma coja partió con brío,
llegó en un vuelo firme, sin descanso,
y halló sombras, ningún destinatario.
Vio brasas de coronas de agua, círculos
que ascienden para ser más tarde nubes,
y estampidos metálicos,
mas no de alumbramiento.
Lo intentó, pero en vano. Los mensajes
no se entregaron

Disimuló a su vuelta la cojera
parando en las cornisas.  Trae las patas
tiznadas de polvo gris ceniciento.
Viene triste, las alas impregnadas
de ese olor a humo del desenlace.

**from the book "Hilando Lunas"

DÉJAME

Déjame escuchar
los latidos de tu corazón
para empezar un poema.
Deja que mi cabeza
repose en tu cálido seno,
para escuchar el mar
y poder oler su espuma.
Déjame abrazar
tu hombro de violetas,
para tener un hermoso sueño
en el que tú aparezcas.

** from the novel  "El archivo expiatorio"

Todo estaba dispuesto para la gran cita.  iba de acá par allá, estirándome el frac, colocándome la pajarita, al espejo a mirarme, al atril a contar las hojas y revisar anotaciones, no paraba quieto.  Mi primer concierto con la sinfónica ...

ALL THE BOOKS by Angel Luis Romo CAN BE FOUND IN "LA CASA DEL LIBRO" -SPAIN-

I hope you will like these posts and that you will read more about this interesting author.

See you!

EASY COOKING/ A DELICIOUS RECIPE / Cocina fácil y rica.

Hey my friends, I'm back!  I can only write with my left hand and so I write very slowly but today I'm going to post a very easy summer recipe for you to cook it !

¡Hey amigos, he vuelto!  Solo escribo con la mano izqda así que voy muy despacio pero hoy voy a publicar una receta de verano muy fácil para que la cocinéis.

EASY COOKING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS / cocina fácil para chicos y chicas
**STICKS OF PRAWNS AND MANGO / Brochetas de gambas y mango

INGREDIENTS:
*2 wooden sticks per person (this is to present the recipe, of course)/ 2 brochetas(palitos) de madera por persona.
*2 mangoes
*300 gr of  prawns (gambas) or Dublin bay prawns (langostinos)
*2 tomatoes
*sweet corn (maíz dulce)
*salt, olive oil, ground pepper (pimienta molida)

**Peel the mangoes and dice them (cortar en dados).
**Put into a pan (cazuela) a quarter of the mango pieces and 1dl of water.  Cook it softly for about 20 minutes on a low flame.
**Grill the rest of the mango pieces.
**After these 20 minutes cooking, add a teaspoonful of olive oil, a bit of salt and a little of ground pepper.
**Grind (triturar) the mix and you'll get "a mango sauce".

**Wash, peel and cut the tomatoes.  Grill them.
**Peel 300 gr of prawns and grill them too.

**Prepare the sticks as follows:
-1prawn
-1 grilled piece of tomato
-1 piece of mango

Serve like this:  the mango sauce on the bottom of your dish, put the stick on and the sweet corn next to it.

ENJOY YOUR MEAL!!!

***A TRICK:  Instead of prawns, you can use pieces of chicken or turkey and pineapple or peach instead of mango.

THE GRAMMAR CORNER / Question tags (preguntas finales o coletillas)

Hi my dear friends, here I'm again but I think I won't be able to post anything on this blog for 15 days more or less because of my hand right operation in hospital, so look at this grammar corner about Question tags .  See you!

Hola queridos amigos, aquí estoy otra vez pero creo que no podré publicar en este blog durante 15 días más o menos por causa de la operación en el hospital de mi mano derecha, así que mirad ests rincón de la gramática sobre preguntas finales o coletillas. ¡Hasta pronto!

QUESTION TAGS.
Estas son las "coletillas" que decimos al final de frases para conseguir la aprobación o no de la persona con la que estamos hablando.  En español nos basta con decir ¿verdad?  ¿no? y ya las tenemos pero en inglés no lo hacemos así.

*Travelling is great, isn't it?   Viajar es estupendo ¿verdad?

**Para hacer una "question tag" en inglés, debemos fijarnos en el verbo de nuestra frase porque si está en AFIRMATIVO, la "question tag" la tendremos que hacer en NEGATIVO y al revés.
Además las "question tags" las haremos directamente con los verbos TO BE, CAN, COULD, MUST, SHOULD, pero con el resto de verbos usaremos la partícula correspondiente al tiempo en el que esté nuestro verbo principal.
Ejemplo:  Cervantes wrote "The Quixote", didn't he?  : Cervantes escribió el Quijote ¿no? /  Lucy doesn't speak German, does she?: Lucy no habla alemán, ¿verdad?

MORE EXAMPLES
*England isn't as warm as Spain, is it?/ Inglaterra no es tan cálidad como España ¿verdad?
*He hasn't been abroad, has he? : Él no ha estado en el extranjero, ¿verdad? > en los tiempos compuestos, la question tag la hacemos con la primera parte, es decir con el auxiliar HAVE, como en esta frase.

*Switzerland must be a very expensive country, mustn't it?Suiza debe de ser un país muy caro ¿verdad?
*You have been to Asturias before, haven't you? Has estado en Asturias antes, ¿verdad?
*George Orwell's real name was Eric Blair, wasn't it? El nombre real de G.O. era Eric Blair, ¿verdad?
*They didn't go to the match yesterday, did they? Ellos no fueron al partido ayer, ¿no?
*John is scared of flying, isn't he? A Juan le da miedo volar, ¿verdad?
*Lewis had never been to the USA, hadn't he? Lewis nunca había estado en USA, ¿no?

**En las "questions tags" no se usan ni NOMBRES PROPIOS ni NOMBRES COMUNES, solo PRONOMBRES PERSONALES.

MORE SENTENCES / Más frases.

**They work very hard,  don't they?
**Prague is a very fashionable city, isn't it?
**Mary can't swim, can she?
**They learnt a little Chinese last year, didn't They?
**My son didn't like musicals, did he?
**You won't go to University,  will you?
**You would prefer coffee, wouldn't you?
**Paul shouldn't drink alcohol,  should he?
**The baby isn't crying now,  is he?
**You have read very much, haven't you?
**Your parents spent ten days in Florida, didn't they?
**She doesn't like travelling,  does she?

SEE YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!
LOOK AT THE BLOG anyway, THERE ARE A LOT OF INTERESTING POSTS! 

SUMMER NIGHT PARTIES WITH A CELEBRITY LOOK/FIESTAS DE VERANO NOCHE COMO UNA FAMOSA

Hi everybody, here I'm again, and looking at a long summer weekend (in Spain), I want you to take notice of some ideas if you want to attend a night party without spending a lot of money but with a celebrity look!

Hola a todo el mundo, aquí estoy otra vez, y mirando hacia un largo puente veraniego (en España), quiero que toméis nota de algunas ideas por si queréis asistir a una fiesta por la noche sin gastar mucho dinero pero con la apariencia de una "famosa".

*WOULD YOU LIKE TO WEAR FASHION  BUT NOT EXPENSIVE CLOTHES AND GO TO A NIGHT SUMMER PARTY?
*PAY ATTENTION TO THESE IDEAS, PLEASE!!

**ALL THE CLOTHES AND SHOES THAT I RECOMMEND,  CAN BE BOUGHT IN SHOPS LIKE:  ZARA, BERSHKA, MANGO, SFERA, FÓRMULA de El Corte Inglés, NAF-NAF, BIMBA & LOLA, AMERICAN VINTAGE,  MARY PAZ shoes.

** A MUST:  DUNGAREES (mono), especially black dungarees.  You can solve a party look by wearing dungarees!  This "little black dress" is a fashion solution!  Don't doubt and have one in your wardrobe!

**LONG BLACK SKIRTS combined with white or grey blouses.  You can also wear a body or a beautiful T-shirt!

**BLACK ETHNIC LONG DRESSES.  Combined with a golden necklace you'll be fashion and lovely!!

**WHITE SHORT DRESSES.  If you don't want to wear black dresses, you can choose a white short dress, with black or white sandals or blue summer shoes.  It's a perfect option too.  White colours will  suit everybody perfectly!!

**LITTLE HANDBAGS.  Golden, grey or black little handbags are "a must" for your summer night parties.  Combine them with the clothes named before and you will be really in fashion!

**PRINT (estampados) LONG DRESSES  (blue and green).
**RED SHORT DRESSES.
**ANIMAL PRINT LONG DRESSES.

BEING FASHIONABLE  HASN'T TO BE EXPENSIVE!  TAKE NOTICE OF THE IDEAS BEFORE AND YOU'LL BE NOT ONLY  IN FASHION BUT REALLY BEAUTIFUL!

ENJOY THE SUMMER AND BE HAPPY!

THE GRAMMAR CORNER /IMPERATIVES, INFINITIVES AND -ING FORMS/ El rincón de la gramática/imperativos, infinitivos y formas terminadas en -ing.

Hi again and welcome to this new English grammar corner, today we're going to see how to use imperatives, infinitives and -ing forms.
Hola otra vez y bienvenidos al rincón de la gramática inglesa, hoy vamos a ver cómo utilizar los imperativos, infinitivos y formas terminadas en -ing.

**IMPERATIVES
We use imperatives for giving advice and instructions.
Utilizamos los imperativos para dar consejos e instrucciones.

-Run early in the evening, it's better
-Meet me at six o'clock.
-Always wear comfortable shoes.
-Never run at midday in summer.

TO DO NEGATIVE SENTENCES IS EASY TOO.  Put DON'T before the verb and you've got it.
Para hacer frases negativas, es fácil también.  Se pone DON'T delante del verbo y lo tenéis.

-Don't come late.
-Don't tell Peter.

**INFINITIVES WITH "TO"
We use infinitives with to:
*After verbs like : hope, want, have, would like.
-I hope to see you soon.
-She doesn`t want to go home.
-They have to stay at the hotel.
-Would you like to have a drink?

*After something, anything, nothing.
-Would you like something to drink?
-Have you got anything to wear?
-There is nothing to eat.

INFINITIVES WITHOUT "TO".
We use infinitives without "to" :
*after the special verbs, can, could, will, would.
-I can speak English.
-Could you speak slowly?
-It will snow tomorrow.
-What would you like?

*after Let's...
-Let's go dancing!
-Let's play cards!
-Let's sing a song.

**-ING FORMS.
We use -ing forms:
*after the verbs like (when it is a hobby or sport, if not you'll put infinitive with TO), love, hate, enjoy.
-I love swimming.
-Lucy likes playing basket.
-I hate skating.
-Paul enjoys playing with his friends.

*in progressive tenses.
-I'm writing a book.
-What are they doing?  They are having lunch.

*after all prepositions.
-I'm good at running.
-Thank you for coming.
-Before going out, study.

NOW, IT IS YOUR TURN!  WRITE IN ENGLISH.

1-¡No comas caramelos!
2-Ven aquí por favor.
3-¿Te gustaría venir a mi fiesta?
4-Mary tiene que pintar un cuadro.
5-Hará calor mañana.
6-Después de comer, iremos al cine.
7-Me encanta ir al teatro.
8-¡Vamos a ver una peli!
9-Espero verte mañana.
10-Quiero salir con mis amigos esta noche.
11-¡Estudia más!
                                               **********************************


SOLUTIONS 

1 Don't eat any sweets!
2 Come here please.
3 Would you like  to come  to my party?
4 Mary has to paint the painting.
6 After having lunch, we will go to the cinema.
7 I love going to the theatre.
8 Let's go and see a film!
9 I hope to see you tomorrow.
10 I want to go out with my friends tonight.
11 Study more!


SEE YOU!

FASHION / CASUAL TRENDS/WOMEN AND MEN Moda/ Tendencias "casual" Mujer y Hombre

WOMEN AND MEN SUMMER FASHION TRENDS  / Tendencias de moda de verano para mujer y hombre.  CASUAL WEAR

Hi everybody, let's look at some fashion trends "IN SUMMER, BE CASUAL".
Hola a todo el mundo, veamos algunas tendencias de moda:  "EN VERANO SÉ CASUAL/SPORT".

In my opinion, summer is a casual season.  Although we were working, we don't need to be formal.  Casual wear is permitted in summer offices.
En mi opinión, el verano es una estación informal /sport.  Aunque estemos trabajando, no necesitamos ser formales.  La moda sport está permitida en las oficinas en verano,

TAKE NOTICE OF THESE IDEAS
Tomad nota de estas ideas.

FOR WOMEN / PARA MUJERES
**Wear organic or eco-materials like  cotton, linen and even bamboo.
**Sand (arena) colours (beige, light brown, chocolate, light orange, dark green).
**Brown T-shirts combined with beige shorts and beige leather sandals.
**Casual skirts.  Short, long, beige, green colour with long white blouses and leather belts.
**Big brown leather handbags.


**Short print (estampado) white and green dresses.  
**Orange, yellow or even purple bracelets.
**Long brown jackets.
**Straw hats (sombreros de paja).

You can wear all these clothes only one colour or combined among them.

Play with colours and clothes.

If you have to work this summer, try this "casual wear" at the office.  It is an urban style that will suit you perfectly!!

**You can eliminate the elements quite casual as straw hats and leave them to go out with friends, for example.

**FOR MEN
It is the same.  Try the casual wear.  It's perfect for you!! 
**Use organic materials like cotton, linen and even bamboo.
**Use sand colours (brown, beige, dark green) in trousers and shirts.
**Leather belts.
** Pirate trousers.
**Beige or brown leather shoes without socks.
**White long shirts.
** Big print (estampadas)  T-shirts.
**Straw hats (sombreros de paja)

**You can eliminate the elements very much  casual at work like straw hats or pirate trousers which you can wear to go out with friends.

SEE YOU !

CINEMA / RACHEL WEISZ

Good morning eberybody, today we are going to look at cinema again because I like it very much and I suppose that many of you too.  I like films but  also actors and actresses.  I have already posted about Tom Hanks, Keira Knightley and others like Michelle Pfeiffer.  Today it is the turn of Rachel Weisz, a lovely actress who started her career in   theatre acting and nowadays is one of the most succesful actresses in the world despite her youth!

Buenos días a todo el mundo, hoy vamos a mirar al cine otra vez porque me gusta mucho y supongo que a muchos de vosotros también.  Me gustan las películas pero también los actores y actrices.  He publicado sobre Tom Hanks, Keira Knightley y otros como Michelle Pfeiffer.  Hoy le toca a Rachel Weisz, una encantadora actriz que empezó su carrera en el teatro y hoy en día es una de las actrices de más éxito del mundo a pesar de su edad.

**BEAUTIFUL English actress Rachel Weisz started her career on the British stage (escenario).  She was born in London  in 1970 but now is property of Hollywood.  Her family is Jewish (judía) and her parents fled (huyeron) to England to escape persecution during the Second World War. Her mother is Australian and her father Hungarian.

**RACHEL was educated at a private school and attended the prestigious Cambridge University in which she became interested in theatre and founded with some other partners an amateur group called "Cambridge Talking Tongues" .  The troupe performed at the Edingurh Fringe Festival and won an important student award. 
After graduating, Weisz began to be cast (conseguir papeles) in theatre and television.  Her first opportunity stage role (papel) came in 1994 when she performed in a production of British playwright (dramaturgo) Noël Coward's comic play "Design of Living"  which was a success (éxito).

**After that, Rachel began to get roles in films with established actors and directors such as Bertolucci's production "Stealing Beauty" (1996).   With Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler in "I want you" (1998).

**But she didn't catch the public's eye until she acted in a spoof (parodia) horror film.
In "The Mummy" (1999) Weisz played librarian Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell.  This Steven Sommers film was seen as a low-budget (bajo presupuesto) horror but surprisingly it was a blockbuster hit (gran éxito de taquilla).
Its sequel "The Mummy Returns" (2001) was even more successful.

**The following was a series of quality fims such as  "Enemy at the Gates (2001),    "About a Boy" (2002), "The Shape of things" (2003), "Runaway Jury" (2003), "The Constant Gardener" (2005) for which Weisz won an Oscar for her supporting role.  In 2006 she starred in "The Fountain" a Darren Aronofsky's arthouse.
She  also starred in an off-beat (excéntrico) British movie "The Brothers Bloom" (2008)  .
The director Aronofosky was his partner until recently.  The couple have one child.

Weisz's most recent movie "The Whistleblower" (2010) was set in post-war Bosnia.

Recently, she has just married the actor  Daniel Craig.

ON HOLIDAY AND SURGERY OPERATION

ON HOLIDAYS AND A SURGERY OPERATION .
**Hi my dear friends, after spending 8 fantastic  days on the beach, just now I'm going to the mountains for a fortnight (15 días) before an operation on my right hand (on the Carpian tunnel).

I'll post on the blog all the suggestions, advices, readings, grammar exercises, etc until  the day I'll be operated in hospital (18th August).  After that date I won't be able to write for two or three weeks so you can look at the posts already published and at the same very moment that I could write, I will come back again.

Thank you so much for your support to this blog, not only in Spain but in a lot of countries around the world.

I hope you will look at the blog anyway!

Have a good summer everybody!!  Plenty of kisses!!!

DE VACACIONES Y UNA OPERACIÓN QUIRÚRGICA
**Hola mis queridos amigos, después de pasar 8 fantásticos días en la playa, justo ahora me marcho a la sierra otros 15 días antes de la operación en la mano derecha (del túnel carpiano).

Publicaré en el blog todas las sugerencias, consejos, lecturas, ejercicios de gramática etc hasta el día en que me operen en el hospital (el 18 de agosto).  Después de esa fecha no podré escribir durante dos o tres semanas así que podéis consultar las páginas ya publicadas y en el mismo momento que pueda, volveré.

Muchas gracias por vuestro apoyo a este blog no solo en España sino en muchos países de todo el mundo.

Espero que consultéis el blog de todas formas.

¡Que tangáis un buen verano!  ¡Un montón de besos!

EN CONGÈ ET UNE OPÉRATION CHIRURGICALE
**Salut mes chers amis, après 8 jours fantastiques à la plage, maintenant je pars pour la montagne 15 jours avant l'opération à ma main droite.

Je publiérai des  suggestions, des  conseils, des lectures, des exercices, etc  jusqu'à le jour où je serai opérée à l'hôpital (le 18 Août) .  Après cette date-là je ne pourrai pas écrire pendant deux ou trois semaines, alors vous pouvez consulter et regarder les pages déjà publiées et je retournerai après.

Merci beaucoup à tous pour votre appui à ce blog,  non seulement ici en Espagne mais aux pays du reste du monde!

J'espère que vous regarderez le blog de toute façon!!

Je vous souhaite un bon été!  Grosses bises!!

SUMMER EYES FASHION /ojos a la moda en verano

Hi my dear ladies, here I'm again to share with you some of the last summer  eyes trends. But I must tell you that you have to be really daring!!
Saludos mis  queridas amigas, aquí estoy otra vez para compartir con vosotras algunas de las últimas tendencias del verano para nuestros ojos.  Pero debo deciros que tenéis que ser ¡realmente atrevidas!

**WHAT ABOUT YELLOW?
¿Qué tal el amarillo?

**Yes my dear friends, yellow is a very fashion colour this summer and believe me, it's very beautiful!
Sí amigas mías, el amarillo es un color muy de moda este verano y creedme, ¡es muy bonito!

**Yellow is a  vital colour, it is also stimulating and make you feel better because it is very similar to the sun rays.  The effect on you is going to be possitive and bright!

**Try a yellow make-up or a yellow cream and you'll be plenty of optimism!!  Of course, I'm talking about a soft yellow colour!

HOW TO DO IT!

EYES: you have to apply a very thin yellow line just on your upper(superiores) eyelashes (pestañas) roots (raíces) to illuminate your look (you can do it with an eye pencil or an eye shadow) .  Then apply on your eyelid a very soft yellow shadow or a natural one.
A light  yellow shadow is fantastic to hide (disimular) red eyes or eyelids with a lot of little veins (venitas). Look for your yellow shadows in "BOURJOIS", "YVES -SAINT- LAURENT" and "ASTOR".

FACE:   After(después) making you up with your usual make-up(maquillaje)  or  powder (polvos compactos) and  to illuminate your face, put a little touch of light yellow make-up  or powder on your forehead (frente), cheeks (mejillas) and chin (barbilla) .  You will look really bright!!  Look for your yellow make-up or powder in "NARS", "L'ORÉAL", "YVES SAINT LAURENT" or "BOURJOIS".

NAILS (uñas):  Paint your nails yellow, although it is better if you have a sun tan (bronceada) and on your feet nails may be nicer.  "CND Colour" has a fantastic  nail polish (esmalte) in yellow. And surely you'll find it in BOURJOIS and ASTOR. 


LIPS (labios) :  you can use a yellow  wet effect gloss  on your lips too!!  "GLAM SHINE FRESH"  by L'Oréal has got it.

As we have been talking before, fluor colours are a "must" this summer and yellow is one of them.  Don't be afraid of yellow!!  You will get very surprised if you try it!!

SEE YOU!!