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Reza and Craig talk about the Cambridge FCE exam, reported speech, British and American English and Craig tests Reza’s Spanish.

You can listen to all our podcasts at: inglespodcast.com from your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop

Carlos G comments in iTunes: ¿No podeis escribir la transcripción entera? Gracias a vosotros para todo, un abrazo Carlos. (5 stars)

An email from Esther asking about How to study for the Cambridge FCE exam.

For more exam information click here

For Cambridge exams sample papers click here 

For a Mansión Inglés FCE preparation CD click here

To do an FCE level test click here

For more FCE information click here

Gramática: Reported speech  

Present simple – past simple “I’m hungry” Craig said that he was hungry
Present continuous – Past continuous “Reza’s sitting opposite me” – Craig said that Reza was sitting opposite to him.
Present perfect simple – Past perfect simple – “I’ve made the tea.” – Craig said that he had made the tea.
Present perfect continuous – Past perfect continuous “I’ve been teaching English for 20 years.” – Craig said that he had been teaching English for 20 years.
Past simple – past perfect – “I had a really bad day yesterday.” – Craig said that he had had (he’d had) a bad day.
Past perfect – Past perfect “I had already had breakfast when you arrived this morning.” – NO CHANGE – Craig said that he had already had breakfast when I arrived this morning.
Past perfect continuous – Past perfect continuous – “I’d already been teaching for five years when I came to Valencia.” NO CHANGE – Craig said that he’d already been teaching for five years when I came to Valencia.

Modal verbs: will – would – “I’ll make the tea.” – Craig said that he would make the tea.
can – could – “I can swim” – Reza said that he could swim.
must – had to – “I must get some more milk.” – Craig said that he had to get some more milk.
may – might – I may go out this evening.” – He said that he might go out this evening.

could, would, should, might and ought to – NO CHANGE – “I could swim when I was younger.” – Craig said he could swim when he was younger. – “I would go to Australia if I had the money.” – Craig said he would go to Australia if he had the money.

Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening) – that (evening) “This evening I’m going to a disco.” – Craig said that that evening he was going to a disco.
today – that day – “today I’m playing football.” – Craig said that that day he was playing football.
these (days) – those (days) – We spend a lot of money on food these days.” – Craig said that we spent a lot of money on food those days.
now – then – “I’m learning Spanish now.” – Craig said that he was learning Spanish then.
(a week) ago – (a week) before/earlier “We went to a pub quiz a week ago.” – Craig said that they had Been to a pub quiz a week before/earlier.
last weekend – the weekend before last / the previous weekend – “Last weekend we had a party.” – Craig said that the previous weekend they had had a party.
here – there – “What are you doing here?” – Craig asked what I was doing there.
next (week) – the following (week) – “We will release another podcast next week.” – Craig said that we would release another podcast the following week.
tomorrow – the next day/following day – “The sun will come out tomorrow.” – Craig said that the sun would come out the next day/the following day.

Estudiar más reported speech here

Vocabulary Corner:British/American English

trousers (UK) (pantalones) – pants (US)
waistcoat (UK) (chaleco) – vest (US)
vest (UK) (camiseta) – undershirt (US)
tights (UK) (medias) – pantyhose (US)
nappy (UK) (pañal) – diaper (US)
knickers (UK) (bragas) – panties (US)
pants (UK) (calzoncillos) – underpants (US)

Phrasal verbs: Test Reza’s Spanish

What are the phrasal verbs for these Spanish verbs AND give an example sentence:

parecerse a alguien – take after – Reza’s takes after his mum.
alejarse – go away – Girls tell Reza to go away on Valentine’s Day.
levantarse – get up – What time do you get up in the morning?
sentarse – sit down – Please sit down, have a seat.
salir – go out – Are you going out this week?
regresar – go/come back – YOu’d better come back early.
llenar – fill in – fill in a form
cuidarse – look after – Look after my plants while I’m on holiday
despegar – take off – What time does the plane take off?
despertarse – wake up

Estudiar los phrasal verbs aquí

Send us an email, or a sound file (mensaje de voz en mp3) with a comment or question to [email protected] or contact Reza at: [email protected].

Puedes darnos estrellas y una reseña en iTunes.

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called See You Later – licensed by creative commons under a by-nc license at ccmixter.org.

FULL TRANSCRIPTION (kindly contributed by Patricia Alonso) 

R: Hello everybody! Welcome to “Aprender Inglés con Reza y Craig”, episode 16, episodio 16. How are you, Craig?

C: I’m very well, thank you, it’s been a huge week.

R: It’s been a huge week, you say? What have you been up to?

C: Absolutely nothing. Been taking it easy, kicking back, relajándome. What have you been up to? Busy?

R: I’ve been listening to our podcasts, now that we’ve got them all in one place, it’s really nice just to go back and listen to previous episodes and say “Did I really say that?”.

C: It’s looking quite good, I’m quite pleased with the way the site’s developing. I still got a lot of work to do on the webpage but I’m quite happy with the way it’s looking. If you want to go to our website and listen to this podcast, well, obviously you are listening to this podcast, but you can listen to all of our podcasts on inglespodcast.com from your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop.

R: Craig, we have a comment from Carlos G, I don’t know what the G is for, Gimenez maybe?

C: Carlos G, sounds like a rapper, are you a rapper, Carlos?

R: Carlos G, oh, Carlitos, Carlos, Charles, Carlos G… Whatever your real name is, his message is “¿No podéis escribir la transcripción entera? Gracias a vosotros para todo, un abrazo, Carlos”. Un abrazo para tí Carlos. Craig?

C: Yes, good question, Carlos, thank you. Well, you’ve probably noticed that with the podcasts that we publish from our monthly Cuaderno, that you can find at mansioningles.com, we do transcribe everything that we said in the podcast, but with these podcasts, because of time restrictions, porque es que no hay bastantes horas en la semana, no escribimos todo lo que decimos pero sí ponemos las notas de episodio con los ejemplos que decimos (do we, Reza?) y enlaces a los recursos que podéis ir a ver, practicar más sobre los temas que hablamos. Entonces, sentimos mucho pero es que no temenos el tiempo para escribir todo lo que decimos. But thank you for your stars, Carlos, Carlos gave us 5 stars, 5 estrellas, in itunes, thank your very much for that.

We also received an email from Ester, I don’t know where Ester is from, but Ester asks about how to study for the Cambridge FCE exam. Any advice Reza for Ester?

R: Well, for all people I would say the ideal think is to sign up for a class, go to a class.

C: If you can afford it, if you got the money.

R: If you can afford it, if you have the time… as well as or instead of, but preferably as well as the class, you can check out the Cambridge website, which is cambridgeenglish.org, they’ve got a lot of information about their exams and some practice material.

C: I’ll put a link to that in the shownotes.

R: Yeah, put a link. Also, you can buy practice books, exam practice books of past papers, that’s previous exams, real exams, so you can see what the format will be like and how many parts in each paper, how it’s marked… You can even buy an addition with a CD, you can do the listening, you can see the framework, el guión, for the speaking, etc. You can buy these books from Cambridge University press I think publish them, isn’t that right?

C: Yeah, you could probably get them in amazon.es.

R: You put First Certificate in English or CE Cambridge Exam Practice and you’ll see… But, Craig, one thing, what about the change in the exam format?

C: The exam’s changing in 2015, so there’s no problem this year but from next year you should make sure that any textbook you buy or any CD or materials you get are up to date and are compatible with the new format of the exam which will be changing next year.

R: January 2015 they change the format.

C: Is it January?

R: Pretty sure. Well, they say, Cambridge say in 2015, so it could be in January.

C: Yeah, you’d better check that, but I will put a link to the Cambridge website in the shownotes. And also we have a CD for sale on mansioningles.com that will give you practice for the exam if you have the level. Now, it’s very important to have the level before you start studying the technique for the exam and you can find out your level by taking or level test which is on our webpage as well at mansioningles.com.

R: How much is the CD; Craig?

C: 34 euros.

R: That’s a bargain!

C; The only thing that is not on the CD is practice for the speaking paper which is difficult to do if you’re doing self-study, so a couple of things you can do, you can go to our youtube channel which is La Mansión del Inglés on youtube and there are examples of students taking the FCE speaking test. And you can obviously go to an academy and sign up for a course and get practice speaking with a teacher.

R: Perhaps Ester doesn’t know, we should tell her that in the speaking exam Ester you will be speaking with another candidate, there must me two people, occasionally three but minimum two students doing the speaking exam at the same time. You cannot do it on your own.

C: That’s right, actually one week we should try and grab two of our students and record them on the podcast doing the actual FCE speaking test, that would be interesting to our listeners.

C: Moving on to gramática, this week indirect speech. Is it similar to Spanish the way that in English we report speech?

R: I think it is more or less, isn’t it?

C: I think it is more or less the same. The tenses obviously change, for example, present simple changes to?

R: Past simple?

C: So, if I say I’m hungry how would you report that?

R: Craig said he was hungry.

C: SO, I’m hungry, Craig said he was hungry. Present simple to past simple. What happens to present continuous?

R: Well, it’s gotta go back to past continuous.

C: Correct, so Reza’s sitting opposite me now?

R: So Craig said that Reza was sitting opposite to him.

C: Present perfect simple. I’ve made the tea.

R: Craig said that he had made the tea.

C: So goes back to past perfect simple. Present perfect simple, past perfect simple.

R: So that’s changing have to had.

C: Craig said he had made the tea.

R: Be careful, listeners, with your pronunciation. A lot od Spanish people mispronounce have and had, they’re not the same.

C: Present perfect continuous?

R: That would go back to past perfect continuous.

C: For example, I’ve been teaching English for 20 years.

R: He said that he had been teaching English for 20 years.

C: How long have you been teaching English for?

R: For exactly 20 years.

C: Really?

R: Exactly.

C: So, this podcast is offering 40 years of experience to our listeners.

R; Yes, listeners, and a lot of grey hairs between the pair of us.

C: I’m feeling old, really, I’m feeling old.

Past simple changes to?

R: Past perfect.

C: For example, I had a really bad day yesterday.

R: Oh, you’re trying to trick me eh? Craig said that he had had, I haven’t got a speech problem, I said had had, which is the past perfect of to have, had had a really bad day.

C: Which is often contracted, the first had is often contracted, isn’t it? So you probably say Craig said he’d had.

R: HE’D, right, he’d?

C: Yes, he’d had. What about the past perfect?

R: Aha, you’re still trying to trick me.

C: Still trying to trick you.

R: I would say no change because the past perfect is as far back in the past as you can go se we can’t make it any more past. So, give me an example sentence.

C: I had already had breakfast when you arrived this morning.

R: The same. Craig said that he had already had breakfast when I arrived this morning. The verb stays the same.

C: And finally, past perfect continuous.

R: Again, no change, because it’s past perfect, in this case continuous, rather than simple, but the same.

C: And my example, I’d already been teaching for 5 years when I came to Valencia.

R: Craig said that he’d already been teaching for 5 years when he came to Valencia. NO change. When I say no change I mean the verb, of course there are other things that we change, like if Craig says I and then it’s me who reports what he says then I say he.

C: Yeah, so the pronoun changes.

R: Yeah, Craig says, what do you say Craig?

C: I’d already been teaching for 5 years when I came to Valencia.

R: So when I report it I say that Craig said he’d already been teaching for 5 years when he came to Valencia.

C: And let’s look at how modal verbs change because when we report modal verbs they often change. Not always, but some do. For example, will?

R: Changes to would.

C: Let me try to think of an example. I’ll make the tea.

R: Craig said he would make the tea.

C: Very good. Can changes to?

R: Could. Here’s an example: I can swim.

C: Reza said that he could swim. Must changes to?

R: Had to, because must and have to are more or less the same, so…

C: For obligation.

R: For obligation, so when they go to the past, have to becomes had to, also must becomes had to.

C: I must get some more milk.

R: Craig said he had to get some more milk.

C: And may? What does may change to?

R: May changes to might.

C: I may go out this evening.

R: He said that he might go out this evening.

C: Right. And there are some modal verbs that do not change in reported speech and they are could, would, should, might and ought to.

R: Can you give us an example sentence and I´ll change it?

C: Well, try to change it, try if you can. I could swim when I was younger.

R: Right, no change of verb. Craig said he could swim when he was younger, He said, I said could, no change of verb, right.

C: I would go to Australia if I had the money.

R: Craig said that he would go to Australia if he had the money. The only thing I’m changing is I to he, the verb no change.

C: You should learn to appreciate Mickey Mouse.

R: Jaja. Craig said that I should learn to appreciate Mickey Mouse. And he’s right, he’s right. I have more appreciation for Tom & Jerry, I must admit, but Mickey Mouse’s not bad.

C: I might put on a Mickey Mouse video after this podcast.

R: Craig said that he might put a Mickey Mouse video after this podcast.

C: And you ought to give us 5 stars on itunes.

R: Yes, that’s right. Craig said that you ought to give us 5 stars on itunes.

Craig, up to now we’ve been talking about how verbs change to go back in time, so present simple goes to past simple, past simple goes to past perfect, etc.

C: Is that always true?

R: Well, I’m just thinking about that. When the reporting verb is present, in other words, if I say to you “He says that” instead of “He said that”, then the verb tense doesn’t change, right? Can you give me an example sentence and I’ll do it in reported speech?

C: What are you doing after the podcast?

R: Craig is asking me, that’s present continuous, what I’ doing after the podcast.

C: Ah, I see.

R: Present continuous in the original sentence and present continuous in the reported sentence because the reporting verb, Craig is asking, is present, it’s not past. But imagine, listeners, I said “Craig asked me”, then I change the verb. Craig asked me what I was doing after the podcast. Then I have to change, so only if the reporting verb is past, and it usually is, then you change the tense of the verb, but if the reporting verb (say, ask, etc) is present, you don’t change the tense of the verb.

C: But it’s, I mean it’s generally true, but I hear sometimes exceptions to that, for example you’re watching the television and a politician says “We’re going to reduce taxes” for example, and the reporter says “The primer minister said today that the government are going to reduce taxes”. So I think maybe it’s connected here to the immediate scene of the quote in the reported speech? How much time has passed between what is said and what is repeated?

R: Yeah.

C: So it’s not black and white, it’s not hard and fast rule, but as a general rule.

R: And also for things which don’t change or can’t change or are permanent don’t change the verb tense. For example, I know you know this, listeners, but the sun rises in the east. We could say Reza said that the sun rises in the east, rises present, I’m not changing the verb.

C: Always rises, t’s true.

R: It doesn’t matter when I said it, it doesn’t matter if I said it 50 years ago, still the sun rises in the east, so we don’t need to change that verb, rises, just keep it present because it’s always true, there’s no change.

C: That’s a good point. And also expressions of time sometimes change in reported speech if reported on a different day or if there’s more of a distance in time between what’s said and what’s reported. For example, this evening or this morning changes to…

R: That.

C: That. This changes to that.

R: Can you say a sentence, Craig, with that, I’ll repeat it?

C: This evening I’m going to a disco.

R: Craig said that that evening he was going to a disco.

C: Right. Today changes to that day. So, for example, today I’m playing football.

R: Craig said that that day he was playing football.

C: These days changes to…

R: Those days.

C: We spend a lot of money on food these days.

R: Craig said that we spent a lot of money on food those days.

C: Now changes to…

R: Then.

C: For example, now I’m learning Spanish.

R: Craig sais that he was learning Spanish then.

C: Good, absolutely. A week ago, for example?

R: A week before or a week earlier.

C: We went to a pub quiz a week ago.

R: He said that they had gone to a pub quiz a week earlier or a week before.

C: Very good.

R: Ah, no, I made a mistake.

C: No, you didn’t.

R: They had gone, no, it’s better to say they had been.

C: Ah, yeah…

R: Let’s do it again.

C: Ok. A week ago changes to a week before.

R: Or a week earlier.

C: Or a week earlier. For example, we went to a pub quiz a week ago.

R: Craig said that they had been to a pub quiz a week before or a week earlier.

C: Now, would be they had gone?

R: They had gone? No, they have been to.

C: Went is the past of go.

R: It’s not that thing, if you go and come back then you change it to been. I was doing that in class a couple of days ago.

C: Yeah…

R: For example, have you ever been to Disneyland, not have you ever gone. People say it but it’s wrong, you should say have you ever been.

C: Yeah, you’re right.

R: Because… Where’s John, he’s not here now because he’s gone to the shops, he’s at the shops now.

C; You’re right.

R: But I have been to the shops many times, but I’m not there now.

C: Yeah. Last weekend changes to…

R: The weekend before the last or the previous weekend.

C: Last weekend… For example, last weekend they had had a party.

R: Craig said that the previous weekend they had had a party.

C: Here changes to…

R: There.

C: What are you doing here?

R: Craig asked me what I was doing there.

C: And next week changes to…

R: The following week.

C: We will release another podcast next week.

R: Craig said that we would release another podcast the following week.

C: And finally, tomorrow.

R: That’s the next day or the following day.

C: The sun will come out tomorrow.

R: Craig said that the sun would come out the next day or the following day.

C: Or the following day. You can study more reported speech on our website mansioningles.com and I will put the link to the reported speech exercises in the shownotes.

R: Can I just say one more thing Craig? It’s good that the listeners learn the grammar but of course in real life people don’t always follow it, and listeners should be aware of this. Past simple changes to past perfect when we say said or asked, when we’re reporting verbs past. In theory yeah, but in reality sometimes people don’t change, do they? And it’s not uncommon for you to hear that if I say “I was happy” for example, “last night at the party” people might report this as “Reza said that he was happy last night at the party”. Now, it’s maybe more correct to say “Reza said that he had been happy at the party”, but people will often keep past simple as past simple.

C: Yeah, that’s true.

R: In real life.

C: SO, take it with a pinch of salt. Can you say that in Spanish? Tomalo con un puñado de… no jeje! Take it with a pinch of salt. It’s usually true but not always, there are exceptions to the grammar.

C: Moving on to vocabulary corner, and this episode I thought we could look at some differences between British and American English. Do you feel like doing some accents, Reza?

R: I sure do, boy, what you got? Jeje

C: Well, I got some trousers for you.

R: You got some pants?

C: Pants, yeah, pants in American English. Americans say pants for trousers, which is really confusing because pants in British English are…

R: Underpants.

C: Underwear, calzoncillos. How do you say waistcoat in American English? Chaleco, waistcoat.

R: To be honest and tell you, I don’t know, Craig.

C: Vest.

R: Oh really?

C: Yeah.

R: Cause to me vest is something entirely different.

C: A vest in British English you wear under your shirt, it’s an undershirt, but in American English it means chaleco. And vest in British English, camiseta, is an undershirt, in American English.

R: I would never use that word, undershirt.

C: Well, we’re not Americans, so we wouldn’t, would we?

Tights if you’re a lady, medias, in American English?

R: Pantyhose?

C: Pantyhose.

C: Yeah, with accent.

C: And if you have a baby you probably use nappies, pañal, pañales. In American English?

R: Diapers.

C: Diapers for babies. And bragas in Spanish, in British English bragas are knickers and in American English…

R: Panties?

C: Panties.

R: Craig, do you think we’ve gone enough with this vocabulary? I’m afraid to go any further, jaja.

C: I don’t think we can go any further.

R: We’ve gone this far, we’re gonna get an X rating again.

C: We can’t go further than panties.

R: Yeah.

C: And on the same topic of underwear, calzoncillos, pants.

R: That’s for men.

C: OH, I said this before, didn’t I? Pants, in American English underpants.

R: Underpants.

C: Any comments?

R: Yeah, I suppose a lot of our listeners probably prefer the American version, not all of our listeners, but those in South America are probably more used to American English.

C: Central and South America, yeah, our listeners would probably be studying American, North American English, but our European friends in the Spanish Peninsula will be studying probably in British English.

C: Moving on, I’m going to test Reza’s Spanish in our phrasal verb section. I’m going to say a verb in my horrible Spanish accent and hopefully Reza will give us the phrasal verb in English and an example sentence. Are you up for this?

R: I am, yeah. By the way, your accent’s not horrible, Craig, it’s an authentic Costa Blanca accent.

C: A London cockney Costa Blanca…

R: White Coast accent, jaja.

C: Yeah, a White Coast cockney accent from London.

R: And I’ve got an authentic Andaluz Belfast accent.

C: Jaja, Salamanca.

R: Yeah, Salamanca.

C: Parecerse a alguien?

R: Take after.

C: Yeah, parecerse a alguien, take after. Can you think of an example? Who do you tak e after in your family?

R: I take after my mum quite a lot, I have a lot of her personality in me.

C: I take after my dad more, I think, in some respects.

R: Physically? Or…

C: Both.

R: Your character.

C: In fact, my sister said the other week, I was visiting my sister, and she said my hands look exactly like the hands my dad had when he was my age. Very strange. So, she reckons I take after him. But to take after, parecerse a alguien.

R: And is your dad good with his hands?

C: No, not really, he actually breaks what he tries to repair. Alejarse.

R: That’s go away. Usually on St. Valentine’s Day, and it happened to me this Valentine’s Day, when I approach a young woman…

C: Who you fancy.

R: Who I fancy, they usually tell me to go away very quickly.

C: Go away.

R: Alejarme.

C: Years ago, in the UK I was in a disco, in a discotheque, and I asked to go to dance, you know, I’m used to being refused, but she said to me “Go away, you’re ugly” and I’ve never, I think I was 20 or 21, I’ve never forgotten that. I asked her if she’d like to dance or if I’d buy her a drink and she said “Go away, you’re ugly”.

R: God! You should have said to her, Craig, I may be ugly but I’m very rich, she might have asked you to come back.

C: I said I got the perfect face for podcasting. Jaja.

Levantarse.

R: Get up.

C: Yeah. What time do you get up in the morning?

R: Are you asking me?

C: Yeah.

R: It depends, it depends what day of the week it is, it depends when I have a class.

C: OK.

R: I get up for my students, I’d do anything for my students, Craig.

C: I know. You get up, me too, yeah. What time do you get up on Sunday?

R: Whenever I feel like it, I don’ set the alarm clock. And you?

C: I usually get up before 9 on Sunday, I like to lay in and stay in bed for a while, but I usually get up fairly early at about 8 or 8.30.

Levantarse? Oh, I jusr said that. Sentarse?

R: Sit down.

C: Sit down, please sit down, have a sit, please sit down.

Salir.

R: Go out.

C: Are you going out this week anywhere?

R: I’ve no plans, and you?

C: No, no plans. Oh, tomorrow maybe I’ll go and see a film, I want to see that new film with Leonardo Di Caprio about Wall Street.

R: Oh, The Wolf of Wall Street.

C: I’ve heard good things about it so… It’s a bit long, about three hours but maybe I’ll go out tomorrow night and see that.

Regresar.

R: GO back or come back.

C: Yeah. Example?

R: The mother said to her son “You’d better come back early”. Tienes que regresar pronto.

C: Next, llenar.

R: Well, if it’s a phrasal verb, fill in. It could also be just fill which is not a phrasal verb but as a phrasal verb, fill in.

C; Fill in a form for example.

R: Llenar el formulario, fill in a form.

C: Yeah, fill in your name, fill in your email address…

We’ve had this one before, cuidarse.

R: Look after.

C: Look after. Look after my plants while I’m on holiday, can you look after my dog.

Despegar.

R: Take off.

C: We’ve had this before. What time does the plane take off?

And finally, despertarse.

R: Wake up.

C: Wake up.

R: And what is la despertá?

C: That is the wake up firework that they throw outside your flat during the Fllas, which is coming up soon and we should really maybe speak about that in our next episode, and release that round about Fallas.

R: Yeah, but in the meantime, listeners, if you’re interested, google or look up the word depertá. It’s a Valencian word and you’ll see what it’s all about, the noisy waking up of people in the morning in Fallas in Valencia.

C: And we’ll speak about, we’ll speak more about Fallas for our listeners overseas in Central and South America may be interested in the Valencia Fallas Festival, so we’ll have a Fallas special, Fallas section on our next episode.

R: And if any of those listeners in Central and South America would like to email us and tell us about your local festival, we’ll be very interested. We might even incorporate it into our podcast and talk about it in English.

C: And you can send us your emails or your sound files, mensajes de voz en mp3, with a comment, a question, some information about your local festival, and send them to [email protected] or to Reza at [email protected]. And don’t forget please to give us a report or a review on itunes and maybe a few stars if you’re enjoying our podcasts. Thank you very much for listening, thank you to Reza and we’ll see you in the next episode.

R: Bye!

The music in this podcast is by Pitx, the track is called See you later, licensed by Creative Commons under a by-nc license at cc mixter.org.