Class Notes: Wednesday, 4 November, 2015

1. Reading and Speaking

Let's go to page 12. Read the texts and answer the questions.

1. Where did Joe go on holiday? He went to Thailand.
2. Who did he go with? He went with his girlfriend.
3. Where did he stay? He stayed in expensive hotels.
4. What was the weather like? It was lovely.
5. Why didn't he enjoy the holiday? He argued with his girlfriend and they broke up.

1. Where did Laura go? She went to Venice.
2. Who did she go with? She went with her friend Isabelle and another friend, Linda.
3. Where did she stay? She stayed in a small apartment.
4. What was the weather like? It was perfect.
5. Why didn't she enjoy the holiday? Her friend Linda didn't want to spend any money or do anything expensive.

Now let's look at the highlighted words in the text. Can you write a definition in English?

hostels -> cheap hotels for young people where you share a room and a bathroom with other people. Often, there are no sheets or towels. albergue juvenil
atmosphere -> the feeling or ambiance of a place ambiente
flirt -> act or say things to attract members of the opposite sex coquetear
break up -> end a romantic relationship romper con alguien
feel sorry for someone -> feel bad for another person because of their situation compadecerse de alguien

2. Grammar: Past Simple

Let's go to page 128. Look at the review of the past simple.

Remember! 

• Some regular verbs change spelling to facilitate pronunciation. For example, stop -> stopped; carry -> carried
• There are many irregular verbs in English. You can review them on page 164.
• The auxiliary verb for the past simple is did.

Let's do the exercises on page 129.

2A.a

1. drove  2. broke  3. spent  4. got  5. couldn't find  6. were  7. didn't know  8. found  
9. stayed  10. saw  11. went  12. bought  13. wanted  14. didn't have  15. was
16. wasn't  17. started  18. left.

2A.b

1. Did you have a good time?
2. Who did you go with?
3. Where did you stay?
4. How much did the plane ticket cost?
5. What was the weather like?
6. What did you do at night?

3. Listening

Let's go to page 13. Listen once to track 1.34.
Does Mia agree with Joe about the holiday?

Now listen again and answer the questions in exercise 3b.

1. Their relationship wasn't very good before going on holiday.
2. Joe wanted to stay in cheap hotels but Mia wanted to be comfortable.
3. Mia feels talking to other travellers is an important part of a holiday but Joe was jealous whenever she talked to other men.
4. Joe was always talking photos and Mia just wanted to enjoy seeing the sights.

Listen to track 1.35. What does Linda think about her holiday with Laura?

Listen again and answer the questions in 3c.

1. Linda thought Venice was marvellous.
2. She said that they went to lots of nice restaurants and all of the museums.
3. According to Linda, the holiday wasn't expensive at all. In fact, it was very reasonable.
4. She wants to travel with Laura and Isabel again on her next holiday.

You can listen again with the transcripts on page 118 to check your understanding.

New words

mistake -> error, equivocación
reasonable -> razonable, asequible (económicamente)
jealous -> celoso
fault -> culpa
sights -> monumentos, cosas para ver
cheeky -> atrevido, tiene mucha jeta
irritate -> irritar, molestar
keep doing something -> seguir haciendo algo, insistir en hacer algo

4. Pronunciation

Let's take a look at the pronunciation information on page 13. 

Listen to track 1.37 and repeat the sentences in 5a.

Remember, the -ed ending has three different pronunciations:

/d/ -> following voiced consonants (like b, g, l, m, n . . .) and vowels.
/t/ -> following unvoiced consonants (like ch, p, s, x . . .)
/id/ -> following verbs ending in "t" or "d" (like wanted or needed)

*Voiced  and unvoiced consonants: son consonantes con y sin  voz. Cuando decimos las consonantes con voz, vibran nuestras cuerdas vocales. Prueba decir la palabra "bat" y la palabra "pat" poniendo la mano en la garganta. Notarás que no hay vibración cuando pronuncias la "p" de pat" pero sí cuando decimos la "b" de "bat."

*La diferencia principal es cuando se pronuncia la "e" de "-ed" y cuando no. Es importante recordar que para los verbos se pronuncia únicamente cuando el verbo original acaba con el sonido "t" o "d", como "write, need, want . . ." Si no puedes distinguir o pronunciar perfectamente los otros dos sonidos, no es preocupante, solo intenta imitar los sonidos que se indican.

Let's do exercise 5b.

/d/ -> arrived, loved, stayed
/t/ -> asked, liked, parked
/id/ -> ended, invited, needed, started