martes, 20 de noviembre de 2012

Real English series: Introducing yourself and astrological signs

We are posting two new Real English videos this week in this series specially intended for lower level students.

In the first video people in the street are asked about their name, how they spell it, and sometimes they are asked to introduce other people to the interviewer.

Excuse me, what’s your name? Hi, I’m XXX.
Can you spell your name? or
How do you spell your name?
Can you introduce your friends to us? This is XXX.



You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do some excercises on this video on the Real English site here.

The second video will be a lot more complicated for Básico 1 students. People in the street are asked about their astrological sign and their personality, together with some other questions revising names and spelling.

However, they are asked the question What are Geminis like?, ie, What kind of person are Geminis?, Tell me about their personality, which is really confusing for language learners at (almost) all levels.

Most of the times we answer this question by using adjectives that describe personality, although some other answers are also possible.
What are Geminis like? They are cleverkind and understanding.
What are Geminis like? They enjoy being with one or two people and dislike big groups.

Never include the preposition like in the answer, as the meaning would change completely.
What's she like? She's like her sister. (=She and her sister have a similar personality.)

The answers to this question in the video are suitable for intermediate or strong Básico 2 students, as the meaning of some of the adjectives used by the people interviewed demand a good grasp of English.

What’s your astrological sign?
What’s your name?
Can you spell it?
What’s your astrological sign?
What are Aquariuses like? They are honest and hard-working.



You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do some excercises on this video on the Real English site here.

If you wish to learn the astrological signs in English, here is the list in the same order as it appears on the video together with the phonetic transcription for pronunciation purposes.

Capricorn / ˈkæprɪˌkɔː / --- Aquarius / əˈkweəriəs / --- Pisces / ˈpaɪsiːz /
Aries / ˈeəriːz / --- Taurus / ˈtɔːrəs / --- Gemini / ˈdʒemɪnaɪ /
Cancer / ˈkænsə(r) / --- Leo / ˈliːəʊ / --- Virgo / ˈvɜː(r)ɡəʊ /
Libra / ˈliːbrə / --- Scorpio / ˈskɔː(r)piəʊ / --- Sagittarius / ˌsædʒɪˈteəriəs /