In this episode, you’ll learn how to ask for technical help and complain politely in an email.
Voice message from Melina from Argentina – book recommendation (B2?)
She’s already read Harry Potter.
The Magicians – Lev Grossman
1st book of a trilogy
– An American boy from New York finds a magical land
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Post-apocalyptic world children fight to the death until there’s only one left. A way for the government to control the public.
Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie
Most people know the story. Nice book to read to your children
-Peter loses his shadow. He goes back to Wendy’s house to get it.
Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
A memoir by an Irish-American who spent his childhood in poverty with an alcoholic father.
Animal Farm – George Orwell
-A satire related to the Russian Revolution and the Stalin era.
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
An English woman who is tired of being single.
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
A Tamil man writes about his childhood experience of being in the sea on a boat for months with a Bengal tiger.
Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Stories of a brilliant London detective as told by his friend and colleague Dr. Watson.
Voice message from Marcelo Fernandez from Argentina on the Argentinian flag
Marcelo asked about his pronunciation of ‘separated’ – perfect!
“The sun is called the Sun of May because it is a replica of an engraving on the first Argentine coin, approved in 1813, whose value was eight escudos (one Spanish dollar)”
– Wikipedia
Thanks to Marcos Forgiarini who also answered the question and mentioned that the flag of Uruguay also has a sun for the same reason.
Voice message from Mamen (you’re not a pain in the neck!)
We spoke about emails in general in episode 93 https://inglespodcast.com/93 – How to start and finish emails. We spoke about indirect questions in episode 50 with Nicola. https://inglespodcast.com/50
To purchase – comprar (pronunciation /PURchase/
Template – plantilla
Complaining 
Unfortunately, I was disappointed to discover that…,
The issue I’m having is…., (issue – problema, asunto) The challenge I’m facing is…..
I’m sorry to say that…..,
There appears/seems to be a problem here.
I’m afraid I’m not happy with…
I’m having problems with…
I’m afraid to say (that)…
Asking for help
Could you please…,
I was wondering if you could…
Would it be possible for you to…
Would you mind explaining…
I’m a bit confused about…
Could you please clarify…
I’m not sure how to…
I would appreciate your help with…
I’m having difficulty in…(gerund)
I can’t seem to…/I can’t manage to…/I’m not able to…
I would (I’d) be grateful for…
Other tech vocabulary
A step by step guide
An instructional video
Some hand holding
Screenshots
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. Do you have a question for us or an idea for a future episode?
Do you need to write emails in English for your job? What challenges are you having?
Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast
Send us an email with a comment or question to [email protected] or [email protected].
If you would like more detailed show notes, go to https://www.patreon.com/inglespodcast
Our lovely sponsors are:
Pedro Martinez
Manuel García Betegón
Maite Palacín Pérez
Sara Jarabo
Carlos Garrido
Zara Heath Picazo
Lorena
Lara Arlem
Mamen
Juan Leyva Galera
Corey Fineran http://www.ivyenvy.com/
Mariel Riedemann
Jorge Jiménez
Raul Lopez
Rafael
Maria Gervatti
Manuel Tarazona
Agus Paolucci
Néstor García Mañes http://nestorgm.com/ Luces Extrañas
Juan Carlos
Rafa Bancells
Beatriz Sanchez
Jose Luis Arregui
Miren Ful
We want to thank Arminda from Madrid, Alberto from Granada and Angélica Bello from Madrid for continuing to transcribe full transcriptions. We now have full transcriptions for episodes 131 to 142, and episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 thanks to Angélica.
On next week’s episode: The Difference Between AS and SINCE (a question from Nacho from Elche – and a surprise giveaway from Nacho)
The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’
For level B2 I strongly recommend reading:
Terry Deary´s Horrible Histories collection (20 amusing and short books)
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (various books, aimed to children but worth reading)
That stuff helped me a lot, it´s aimed to teenagers in general, but it´s appropriate for Spanish B2 students.
Another brilliant writer: Paula Hawkins: “The girl on the train” and “Into the water”. Both written in an inteligible style.
Cheers!
Francisco.
Thanks for those suggestions, Francisco. Although I haven’t read “The girl on the train”, I have seen a good film adaptation of it.
Just one little correction: we say “aimed AT/TOWARDS” not “to”.
Thank you Reza!
By the way, I started to read “Game of thrones” in English but…I gave it up, it´s so difficult to me..it was the same with another one: “The suicide club”.
Hello Craig and Reza, I’m Ana from Mexico
I have a wonderful book for recommend, Three dark crows by Kendare Black the genre is fiction but the story is very interesting I love it, also is very easy to read.
Thanks a lot guys I really appreciate your work and week after week I learn a lot of English how never before.
Take care ????
Thanks for your recommendation, Ana. We’ll mention it on a future podcast, along with one or two more we’ve received.
Hi everyone
I found this way of getting in touch with this wonderful community. Just to tell you my current experience reading books in English. Some time ago I bought “My Friend Muriel”, a shabby yellow paperback. At lastI started to read it. Maybe there are a lot of Scotch words and also old ones, but I think I ‘m able to understand the core of the writing and that is rewarding. Besides I can write, paint and even sneeze on it, for it’s very old to be resold.
Thanks for your comment Marcelo. We’ve been getting quite a few comments and recommendations for books, so we’ll speak about this again in a future podcast.
thank you so much for all the recommendations! i’m going to be so very busy reading 🙂
That’s our intention, Melina! Happy reading:)