PHRASAL VERBS IN USE

Hey all!! 


Still struggling with Phrasal Verbs? 
Some students ask me the difference between some verbs that are used with the preposition UP and the main verbs without it.. so here's a brief explanation:


A - You are probably familiar with verbs such as EAT UP and WRITE UP, which carry a meaning of completion. Here are some more examples: 

• Come on, children, finish up your breakfast. It's time to go.
• Well, let's wrap up the discussion now and vote. [(informal) finish an activity]

UP can also carry the meaning of upward movement or relating to an upper position.

• Could you lift the table up while I put the rug under it?
• Tommy, pick all your toys up from the floor and put them in your toy box.

Another meaning of UP in phrasal verbs is maintain in an upright position or strenghten, prevent from falling down or failing;

• Marian was lying propped up on a pillow. [supporting herself in an upright position]
• The minister announced new measures to shore up the economy. [strenghten or improve an organisation or system that is not working effectively or that is likely to fail]

UP can also mean increase or improve.

• This sauce is tasteless. I'll add some garlic to pep it up a bit. [(informal) make something more interesting, lively or energetic]
• We jazzed up our all-white kitchen by adding red tiles and doorknobs here and there. [(informal) make something more attractive or interesting]

KEEP UP WITH YOUR STUDIES!!

cheers, 

LESSON OF THE DAY!

HEY FRIENDS! 


Today's lesson is quite interesting!! We've talked a lot about the differences between the SIMPLE PAST and PRESENT PERFECT, and here are some other curiosities:

A - Time expressions that refer to the present, such as this morning/week/month and today, can be used with either past simple or present perfect verbs. If we think of this morning (etc.) as a past, completed time period, then we use the SIMPLE PAST; if we think of this morning (etc.) as a time period which includes the present moment, than we use the present perfect. Compare:

• I didn't shave this morning. (= the morning is over and I didn't shave) and
• I haven't shaved this morning. (= it is still the morning and I might shave later)

B - In news reports, you will often read about or hear recent events introduced with the present perfect, and than the past simple or orther past tenses are used to give details: 

• 'The film star Jim Cooper has died of cancer. He was 68 and lived in Texas...' 
• 'The US space shuttle Atlantis has returned safely to earth. It landed in Florida thia morning...' 
• 'A teacher from Oslo has become the first woman to cross the Antartic alone. It took her 42 days to make her crossing with her dog team...' 

C - In a sentence which includes as time clause with since, we generally prefer a past simple verb in the time clause and a present perfect verb in the main clause. The time clause refers to a particular point in the past:

• Since Mr Hassan became president, both taxes and unemployment have increased. (rather than ...has become...)
• She hasn't been able to play tennis since she broke her arm. (rather than ...has broken...)

Notice, however, that we use the present perfect in the time clause if the two situations described in the main clause and time clause extend until the present:

• Have you met any of your neighbours since you've lived here? (not... you lived...)

D- After the pattern It/This/That is/will be the first time... we generally use the present perfect in the next clause:

• That's the first time I've seen Jan look embarrassed. (reporting a past event)
• It won't be the first time she has voted against the government in her long career. (talking about a future event)

Notice, however, that after It/This/That was the first time... we generally use the past perfect

• It was the first time I'd talked to Ella outside the office. 

E - With time clauses introduced by after, when, until, as soon as, once, by the time and the time expressions the minute/second/moment the past simple refers to past, completed events and the present refers to future events. Compare these examples: 

• After she left hospital (past), she had a long holiday, and
• After Dominic has left school (future), he will be spending six months in India.
• The minute I got the news about Sue (past) I telephoned my parents, and
• I'll contact you the minute I've got my exam results. (future)

In the time clause in sentences like this it is possible to use the past perfect instead of the past simple (e.g. After she had left...) and the present simple instead of the present perfect (e.g. After Dominic leaves...) with the same meaning.


So guys, hope you've enjoyed!!


cheers,

Hey everybody!! sorry there weren't any posts recently, but I have been busy lately! I was very happy today when I saw that more than 90 people have already visited our blog! I'd appreciate a lot if our visitors made comments in the posts so that I'd be able to check where they come from! LOL Keep coming my friends and help me improve this blog!! Thanks a lot

HEE YA!! 

It's Sunday.. and another day of thinking: 

WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO LIVE OR VISIT IN ORDER TO IMPROVE MY ENGLISH?? 

So we present now an extremely beautiful destination: LOS ANGELES - CALIFORNIA

enjoy it!!! 

PROFICIENCY TESTS!

WHAT'S UP GUYS??


As promised yesterday, let's talk a little about Proficiency Tests!


Most students study English for years and years and receive the certificate from their language institutes and than what? 


Think about it.. you may study in the most famous English School in your country, but than you decide to study abroad or try to find a job in another country, do you really think your certificate will be enough? I'm pretty sure it won't! So.. the next step after you "finish" your English course is to prepare yourself for a Proficiency test! And there are a lot of them.. and they always depend on your goals! 


I'm going to present some of the most famous and accepted ones by the Universities and main multinational companies worldwide!


1 - TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

• It's probably the most famous proficiency test! Although it's basically used to academic purposes, a lot of companies ask their employees to sit this exam in order to get promotions or even to hire new people. It measures the ability to use and understand English at the university level and it evaluates how well you combine your listening, reading, writing and speaking skills to perform academic tasks.
• An important thing about this test is that there is no FAILING or PASSING. You basically do it and receive a score, so you don't receive a certificate. 
• Most universities only accept the score you have got in the last two years. 
• For more information, visit their website: http://www.ets.org/toefl 

2 - CAMBRIDGE - ESOL Examinations

• It's the most accepted certificate in the world. It's accepted both for academic and work purposes and it also evaluates your ability in speaking, reading, writing and listening.   
• There are tests for all levels, so don't think you must be fluent in English in order to sit their exams. 
• The most famous tests are the FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) 
• The main difference between the Cambridge exam and the TOEFL is that you can PASS or FAIL, and if you pass you receive a certificate from the Universtiy of Cambridge. 
• For more information visit their website:  http://www.cambridgeesol.org/index.html

3 - TOEIC 

• It's provided by the same company of TOEFL, the main difference is that it's used for business purposes. 
• It's possible to sit just listening and reading exams or speaking and writing exams, separately. 
• For more information visit their website:  https://www.ets.org/toeic/

Well guys, these are some of them! Now you just have to decide which one you want to get! All of them have their advantages and disadvantages and you should really see which one is worth more for you!

I hope we have helped you a little bit! 

cheers,

YO!! 


Now to finish the posts today, I'm going to put a link for a very cool website that will help you guys a lot when you're curious about English slangs!


www.urbandictionary.com


It's a nice online dictionary! It's possible to find any slang and expression that are not commonly edited in regular dictionaries!! 


Tomorrow let's talk about PROFICIENCY TESTS!! 


see u later guys!! 

LESSON OF THE DAY!

Fellow students,

Most of my students ask me: "HOW AM I GOING TO PRACTICE PHRASAL VERBS??" 

and many of them don't even know where to find more information about it! So I'm going to post some things about them!

Let's begin with a basic one: TO STAND UP

The most common meaning of this phrasal verb is normally taught in our basic classes as:

"Move from a sitting or lying down to a vertical position"

E.g: Everybody STOOD UP when the judge entered the court.

But remember that, if you have an appointment with someone and you fail to go (and usually don't tell the person and make him/her wait for you), you're STANDING him/her UP. 

"Fail to keep an appointment"


e.g.: He agreed to meet me last night, but he STOOD me UP.

Well.. remember that we also have three-particle phrasal verbs, so if we add another preprosition the meaning will change again:

TO STAND UP FOR: 
1 - Defend, support

e.g.: He's the kind of manager who will always STAND UP FOR his staff.

TO STAND UP TO: 

1 - Keep your principles when challenged by an authority
e.g.: She STOOD UP TO the police when they tried to corrupt her.

2 - Resist damage

e.g.: This coat will STAND UP TO the roughest weather conditions.

See? A lot of things to study!! I hope you liked it!! 

cheers, 

TRAVEL PLANS!

GUYS,


following yesterday's post.. I believe that most of you have joined your English schools thinking: 


"IF I KNOW HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH, I'LL BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO A LOT OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES!"


Well, at least that's what happened to me when I was 11 years old and joined my first English school! 
But now that you know already how to speak it, isn't it time to make some effort and actually GO to the place of your dreams? 


Personally speaking, the BEST way of learning English is actually experiencing it where it's spoken by everyone.. an English-speaking country!! But, there are tons of countries around the world you can choose and each one has their own characteristics! So, every once in a while, I'll post some videos about different places and than you can make up your mind! 


Of course I couldn't choose a different country to begin, my beloved AUSTRALIA!! 

Cheers mates! 

HOWDY FRIENDS!


COOL ENGLISH CENTER IS NOW ON TWITTER!! FOLLOW US @cool_center 


cheers,

IS IT EASY TO LEARN ENGLISH?

DO YOU FEEL BAD WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY THAT PHRASE AND YOU CAN'T?

WHY SHOULD YOU INSIST?

Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language.

English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Including second language English speakers, the total number of English speakers ranges from 500 million to over one billion people depending on the level of the speaker.

The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are

• United States with 215 million
• United Kingdom with 58 million
• Canada with 18.2 million
• Australia with 15.5 million
• Ireland with 3.8 million
• South Africa with 3.7 million
• New Zealand with 3.5 million.

India has the largest number of English as a Second Language speakers.

Following India is the People's Republic of China.

Modern English is the main international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio, and diplomacy.

A basic knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of fields, occupations, and professions.

Although many people learn English for their careers, still many learn English for other reasons.

Why are you studying English?

Until next time.

HEY GUYS!


Everybody knows that the only way of improving your English is practicing it! That's why I posted a test you can do to check your knowledge of the verb forms! Enjoy it! 

WELCOME FOLKS!! WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH THE MOST RECENT NEWS ABOUT THIS FASCINATING LANGUAGE! ENJOY IT!