In this episode: Christmas Podcast – celebrations , cava, traditional English Christmas food – Christmas pudding, turkey, mince pies and all the trimmings (con todas las guarniciones)

Craig’s going to Burma for Christmas. Reza’s visiting his family in Belfast. He’ll be eating Brussel sprouts (coles de Bruselas) and stuffing (relleno).
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Tell us a “Because of my English……” story. Because of his Spanish, Craig has made some really good friends here in Spain.

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Listener Feedback and questions:

A question from Evelina (on Facebook)

Creo que hay una falta en el curso gratis de La Mansión del Inglés at mansioningles.com – el curso básico. A conocer gente por la primera vez debería decir: “These are Manoli and Luis” en vez de “This is Manoli and Luis” ¿Porque hablamos del plural? ¿Estoy en lo cierto? Gracias.

It’s common to introduce people using the expression “This is…..” Use “This is….” even when you are introducing more that one person.

You can use ‘It’ for a person when you are at the door or speaking on the phone: “It’s Reza” / “Hello, This is Craig here, can I speak to Reza.”
Yolanda from Vinarós, north of Valencia
Hi!,
First of all, congratulations for your podcast, and thanks a lot for helping us, you both are really a perfect team!

I’d like to know if “get”, which in oral language (spoken English) is used in lots of expressions, in Spanish “comodín” (an all purpose word), because you say: get home, get better, get tickets…).
Can we use it in the same way in written language, or in which cases it had to (should it) be used?

(Note: “Set” has the most definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary (464 definitions). “Get” has 289 definitions)

become – get better
catch – get the bus, train
become ill or sick with – get a cold, get the flu
arrive at/reach – get to work, get home, get to the airport
receive – get something for Christmas.
buy – get a new mobile phone, get some shopping. What did you get (receive) for Christmas? What do you want me to get you (buy you) for Christmas?
causative – to get something done (have) get (have) your hair cut, get (have) your car serviced
get married to s.o. / get divorced from s.o.
phrasal verbs and expressions with GET – get over (recover from) /get by (manage) / get in touch / get rid of (throw away) / get the chance, get the opportunity / get ready / get paid / get arrested

What is the correct expression, “near to”, or “near from”?

Near to – 60,900,000 results in Google (It’s near to my house. / The project is near to completion.)
Near from – 455,000 results (Say ‘near to’ and ‘far from’). Reza and Craig think ‘near from’ is not correct.

Is the meaning of remind “recordar” related to a person? And remember refers to facts… (Remember – acordarse)
‘Remind’ is to make someone remember: “Remind me that I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.” – Recuerdame que mañana tengo una cita con el medico.
“I remember the day you were born.” – Me acuerdo del dia en que naciste.

Remind = recordar
Remember = acordarse
How can I say “como I told you yesterday…”, is this “como” as or like?

“As I told you yesterday.” and “Like I told you yesterday.” are both correct. “Like” is a bit more informal. Grammar books may say “As” is more correct.

Listen to Aprender Ingles con Reza Y Craig episodes 35 and episode 36 for more information on sentences and clauses.

Finally, I’ve to recognise (I have to admit) I have to improve my writing and over all listening and speaking, but, as/like I said on the top (at the beginning/before),
I have to congratulate both you and David Palencia (DAWAYINGLES.COM)

You can listen to our interview with David here. 

with his podcasts which help me a lot, I need to pass B1 level in almost next two weeks.
There are some pages to chat and write which are very useful for learners.

By the way, Craig, I live near you, in Vinaròs 160km north of Valencia city.
Best wishes. Hear from you soon! Yolanda.

A question from SONIA RUIZ NAVARRO
THERE SEEMS TO BE / THERE IS

Good morning, Reza and Craig,
I don’t know whether you have ever explained this topic, because I’m not a veteran (long-time) listener, but I would like you to do it, if not done yet (If you haven’t done so yet).
The matter is that I don’t know how to analyze grammatically the expression “There seems to be…”
I mean, is it an existential there, broken somehow by the verb TO SEEM? Is it a expression having nothing to do with the existential there? Is it used in the same way as there is – there are, I mean, singular “there seems” plural “there seem”?

“There seems to be one person waiting for you outside.”
“There seem to be three people waiting for you outside.”

And a further question: Is it always used with “to be” or could I use a different verb, like “There seems to take a long time from Cordoba to Valencia” (would that be ok?)

And finally, is there any difference with the “normal” verb to seem?

It seems there are three people waiting for you outside.”

As you can see, I’m not sure at all about how to use such expression, so I would appreciate your help so much.
Thank you!

Regards, Sonia

Instead of saying “There is…” If you say “There seems (+ infinitive TO BE), the word ‘seem’ shows that it’s not a certain fact. It appears…. (parece)

“There SEEMS to be one person.” (singular) and “There SEEM to be three people.” (plural) are both correct.

Generally we say “There seems + the verb TO BE”. There’s an exception: “There seems to occur a strange thing once a year at Christmas. People are nice to each other.” (This is a formal, literary use of ‘seem’)

Seem is followed by adjectives not adverbs: I think Reza likes biscuits. = It seems that he likes biscuits/He seems to like biscuits (seem + infinitive)

Reza seems to be happy. Reza seems to eat a lot. Reza seems to sleep all day.

More examples:

It seems good.
Reza seems crazy at times.
It seems that Sonia is excited about our podcasts.
Sonia seems to be excited about our podcasts. OR Sonia seems excited about our podcasts.

“Seems” can be substituted by “appears”.

There are some verbs (to be, look, appear, feel, seem) that go with adjectives, not adverbs)

‘seem’ and ‘seem to be’ mean the same in most cases – ‘parecer’ in Spanish.

She seems tired, but I’m not sure. – Ella parece cansada, pero no estoy seguro.

‘seem’ is like ‘appear’ and ‘look’. We use these kind of verbs to speak about the impression you get from something or someone.

For example: He seems angry, she looks sad today, Reza appears to be in a good mood this morning.

Christmas Customs:

What do you usually do on Christmas day? – Reza watches the Queen’s speech.

Did you have a Christmas tree when you were a child? Reza’s family put their Christmas presents around the tree and they open them before the meal.
Craig’s family used to open the presents as soon as they got up.

Did you believe in Santa Claus? Reza seems to remember seeing Santa Claus in the middle of the night.

Craig’s parents used to leave a present at the foot of his bed so that he wouldn’t disturb his parents.

Some families leave milk and cookies (or brandy!) out for Santa. Craig’s family didn’t do it.

Strange Christmas customs in other countries

In India they decorate mango and banana trees.

In Japan people go to KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) – They eat buckets of Christmas chicken!. Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, they break plates to signify that the year is coming to an end.
Christmas starts in Oaxaca with a parade of people walking down lantern-lit streets, and knocking on every door to re-enact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter.
Then, they break ceramic plates near the cathedral to signify the year’s end.

In Italy, an old woman leaves you a lump of coal (carbón) if you have behaved badly.

In Finland, families head to the cemetery to pay their respects. They commemorate the dead. It’s also typical for families to lunch on porridge (gachas, crema de avena) with an almond hidden inside — and the one who finds the almond sings a song.

In Poland, you set a place at the table (poner la mesa) for dead people in order to remember them.

In the Ukraine, families hide a spider web in the tree. Whoever finds it will have good luck.

The 26th of December is called Boxing Day. In the Republic of Ireland it’s traditionally known as St. Stephen’s Day.

In Caracas, Venezuela, the roads close on Christmas, so people roller skate to church.

If you have different and interesting traditions where you live, we’d like to hear about it.
If you need help with a question about grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or anything related to English, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected].

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Merry Christmas! We’ll see you in 2015!