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¿Quieres mejorara tu inglés antes de tu próximo gran paso?,
¿Te has dado cuenta de lo que saber inglés te puede aportar tanto a nivel profesional como personal, pero no tienes tiempo o la determinación necesaria para hacerlo? ¿te apetece hacerlo de una forma divertida y rápida? ¡Este es tu blog!
La idea es aprender inglés a través de series, películas, vídeos, charlas, canciones y pequeños documentos teóricos que a mí me han ayudado a aclarar dudas comunes. Sin más, espero que os sea de ayude y disfrutéis. Un saludo!

Si tenéis alguna duda, sugerencia,...y queréis poneros en contacto podéis mandarnos un mail a marta.hernandez.rubio@gmail.com.

lunes, 26 de marzo de 2012

Comedy is translation.

Good morning my friends!
In the middle of this weather madness, at least here in The Island, let´s talk about something serious: comedy. I´m not joking, comedy is, first of all communication and above all, comedy is criticism. To the society, to the way the things work in our world...


Comedy takes the base metal of our conventional wisdom and transforms it through ridicule into a different way of seeing and ultimately being in the world.  



I leave you today with this talk by Chris Bliss, where he explains what comedy is, starting with his last and for me better quote:


So my suggestion to those of you out here who are seriously focused on creating a better world is to take a little bit of time each day and practice thinking funny, because you might just find the question that you've been looking for. 



"Every act of communication is an act of translation." 


- Ever since I can remember...: desde que puedo recordar.

- Time after time (una y otra vez), whenever I set out to share some great truth with a soon-to-be (a punto de ser) grateful recipient (receptor, ¡no recipiente!) , it had the opposite effect. 
Interestingly, when your opening line of communication is, "Hey, listen up, because I'm about to drop some serious knowledge on you," it's amazing how quickly you'll discover both ice (en este caso, frialdad) and the firing squad (pelotón de fusilamiento).


- Finally, after about 10 years of alienating friends and strangers alike (del mismo modo)...


- What I want to talk about is the unique ability that the best comedy and satire has at circumventing (sortear/ burlar) our ingrained (arraigadas) perspectives. It takes the base metal of our conventional wisdom (sabiduría) and transforms it through ridicule into a different way of seeing and ultimately being in the world. 


They were lifted verbatim (textualmente, palabra por palabra) from Palin's own remarks (comentario).

- It just so happens that Stewart's brand of funny doesn't work unless the facts are true. And the result is great comedy that's also an information delivery system that scores markedly (notablemente) higher in both credibility and retention than the professional news media. 


- A great piece of comedy is a verbal magic trick, where you think it's going over here and then all of a sudden (de repente) you're transported over here. And there's this mental delight that's followed by the physical response of laughter, which, not coincidentally, releases endorphins in the brain. And just like that, you've been seduced into a different way of looking at something because the endorphins have brought down your defenses. 


- And the comedy comes along, dealing with a lot of the same areas where our defenses are the strongest -- race, religion, politics, sexuality -- only by approaching (abordar) them through humor instead of adrenalin, we get endorphins and the alchemy of laughter turns our walls into windows, revealing a fresh and unexpected point of view.


- Remove it (sácalo) from your household (casa).


- Misdirection (El llevarte por el camino incorrecto) isn't the only trick that comedy has up its sleeve (have something up one's sleeve: to have a secret or surprise plan or solution to a problem.


- ...comedy has as communication is that it's inherently viral. People can't wait to pass along that new great joke. 


- But it's when you put all of these elements together, when you get the viral appeal (atractivo) of a great joke with a powerful punchline that's crafted from honesty and integrity, it can have a real world impact at changing a conversation. 


- ...when the policies necessary to aDDreSS (tratar -un tema-) climate change were unequivocally beneficial for humanity in the long run (a la larga) regardless of (a pesar de) the science. 




It´s communication that doesn't just produce greater understanding within the individual, but leads to real change. 

sábado, 24 de marzo de 2012

Recuts, what if...?

A re-cut trailer, or retrailer, is a parody trailer for a movie created by editing footage from that movie or from its original trailers. 
They generally derive humor from misrepresenting the original film.
I discovered them trough this parody of The shinning, one of the most scariest movies I´ve seen and here is presented as a romantic comedy...



This is one of my favourites. Taxi driver as a single man in "the city" looking for love...



And the scary Mrs Doubtfire...

martes, 20 de marzo de 2012

Try something new for 30 days, do you dare?

¡Muy interesante propuesta, oye!


Is there something you've always meant to do, wanted to do, but just ... haven't? Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days.

¿Te ha pasado alguna vez?...Osea, ¿cuantas veces?, ¿cuantas cosas llevas postponiendo desde que tienes uso de razón? 
Desde Funny_English te proponemos que sigas esta idea de Matt Cutt, que pruebes a hacer algo nuevo durante 30 días! Es el tiempo perfecto para que te de tiempo a hacer algo de provecho, sin ser demasiado como para rechazar la propuesta de plano, ni aburrirse del asunto.
¿Quien sabe? Igual te sorprende el resultado.



- I felt like I was stuck, in a rut: sentí que estaba atascado, anquilosado.


- It turns out: resulta que...


- Memorable: memorable, notable.


- To do/start something from scratch: empezar de cero.


- Sleep-deprived: privado de sueño, sin dormir.


- I learned that when I made small sustainable changes, things I could keep doing, they a¡were more likely to stick (quedarse, mantenerse).


- Give it a shot!: Give it a try/ give it a chance!



And for those of you interested in SEO, Social Media,...


Matt Cutts is an engineer at Google. He works on search at Google, specializing in search optimization. He's a friendly and public face for helping webmasters understand how Google's search actually works, making hundreds of videos that answer questions about SEO. 

jueves, 15 de marzo de 2012

The clues to a great story.

Andrew Stanton has made you laugh and cry with movies like Toy Story and WALL-E, he sure knows how to tell a story and in this TED talk he shares it with us.


I think this is the better talk I´ve come across in Ted. It contains great revelations about story telling and about life, that can also be extrapolate and applied to the social-media world in wich we are living in today. It can be used in the construction of the Internet image of your company and in the construction of the relationship with your audience.



A major threshold is passed when you mature enough to acknowledge what drives you, and to take the wheel and steer it.
I really firmly believe that you are born with a temperament and you are wired (programado) a certain way, and you don´t have any say about it. All you can do it´s learn to recognize it and own it (adueñarte de ello, hacerte cargo).


Enjoy it!



- ...and an old man nursing a beer: un hombre mayor cuidando de una cerveza.


- to point out: señalar (literal y figurado).


- punchline: gracia/remate de un chiste.


- that deepens (profundiza) our understandings of who we are as human beings.


- Mr Roger always carried in his wallet a quote from (una cita de) a social worker.


- ...is probably the greatest story commandment (precepto/mandamiento) wich is make me care (haz que me importe).


- but something has caught you (atrapado) and you´re drawn in (involucrado) and you care (y te importa). That´s not by chance (eso no es por casualidad).


- So it got me thinking: así que me hizo pensar.


- and he is summoned (llamado, convocado) by his rich uncle.


- to pass away. morir.


- making a promise that this story will lead somewhere is worth your time (te llevará a un sitio que merece la pena/ que le deciques tu tiempo).


- A well told promise is like a pebble (piedrecita, chino) being pulled back in a slingshot (siendo estirada hacia atrás en un tirachinas) and propels you foward through the story to the end (te impulsa hacia adealnte a través de la historia hasta el final).


- It´s the most inclusive approach you can take: es el enfoque más inclusivo que puedes tomar.


- It confirmed something that I kind of have a hunch on (tener una corazonada), that the audience actually wants to work for their meal.


- We are born problem solvers (nacemos siendo solucionadores de problemas).


- engaging the audience: captando, atrayendo a la audiencia).


- Editors and screenwriters have known this all allong (todo el tiempo, desde el principio, fue frase del día, ¿recordáis?).


- widget (chisme, artefacto).


- all well-drawn characters have a spine: todos los personajes que están bien dibujados tienen una espina dorsal (una esencia).


- the character has un unconscious goal that they are striving for (to strive for something: esforzarse por lograr algo).


- Michael Corleone, his spine was to please his father (agradar a su padre).


- I took to this like a duck to water (take to something like a duck to water: to learn how to do something very quickly and to enjoy doing it).


-...but a major threshold is passed (pero un enorme umbral es transpasado...)


- and I was completely hooked on screenwriting (¡frase del día!)


- outcome: resultado.


- we were just a group of guys just going on our guts (siguiendo nuestros instintos).


- and I thought that epitomized (personificaba, tipificaba) perfectly...


- we had naively thought (habíamos inocentemente pensado).


- Off to bed: I´m going off to bed/ to work (me voy a la cama/ al trabajo...).


- We all live our lives conditionally, we´re all willing to play by the rules, as long as certain conditions are met.


- the vail was lifted: el velo era levantado.


- A strong theme is always running through a well-told story.


- you are compelled to pass it on (te ves forzado a compartirlo).


- the best stories infuse wonder: las mejores historias te infunden admiración, asombro.


- to pinpoint (localizar, ubicar con exactitud).

miércoles, 14 de marzo de 2012

Dive in: Word.

Muy buenos días de miércoles!
Hoy vamos a sumergirnos en la misma palabra.
Let´s dive in the word "word"!




Word.
1. Palabra (sustantivo femenino).
- 'greenhouse' se escribe todo junto: `greenhouse' is written as one word.


- una palabra de seis letras: a six-letter word.


- ¿cómo se dice `perro' en alemán?: what's the German ~ for `dog'?


- dame un sinónimo de `holiday': what's another ~ for `holiday'?


- en otras palabras, es decir (introducing a reformulation): in other words.


- un anuncio mal redactado:  a badly worded advertisement.

- en toda la extensión de la palabra: in every sense of the word.


- no son más que palabras: it's all talk.


- en pocas palabras, es un cobarde: in a word, he's a coward.


- palabra por palabra: word for word.


- yo no sabía ni una palabra del asunto: I didn't know a thing o anything about it.


- no entendí (ni) una palabra: I didn't understand a (single) word.


- sin decir (una) palabra: without a word.


- comerse las palabras to gabble.


- ¡estás tergiversando lo que dije!: you're twisting my words!


- tragarse las palabras: to eat one's words: I was forced to eat my words: me tuve que tragar lo que había dicho.

- gastar saliva: to waste words.


- medir las palabras: to weigh one's words.

- con (muy) buenas palabras: in the nicest possible way.


- decirle a alguien cuatro palabras bien dichas: to tell somebody a few home truths.


- eso ya son palabras mayores:
        - (refiriéndose a un  insulto, acusación): those are strong words.
        - (refiriéndose a una propuesta excesiva) that's taking things too far.


- quitarle las palabras de la boca a alguien: to take the words right out of somebody's mouth.


- tener la última palabra: to have the final say.


- tener unas palabras con alguien: to have words with somebody (coloquial).


- dirigir la palabra a alguien: to address somebody.


- recomendar a alguien: to put in a good word for somebody.


- lo resumió en pocas palabras:, she summarised it in a few words.


- Juan es hombre de pocas palabras: Juan is a man of few words.


- corre el rumor, se dice, se comenta: word/rumour has it that...


- hacer correr el rumor: to put the word out/ about that.


- si quieres que te ayude no tienes más que pedirlo: if you need a hand just say the word.

- a palabras necias oídos sordos: take no notice of the stupid things people say.


- las palabras se las lleva el viento: actions speak louder than words.


-de palabra: by word of mouth: In local business success what really works is the word of mouth (el boca a boca).


- es el último grito en moda: it´s the last word in fashion.


- palabra clave: key word.


- palabra compuesta: compound word.


- palabrota: bad o naughty o rude word.


- juego de palabras: wordplay, pun.


2. Promesa (sustantivo femenino).
- (compromiso) me dio su palabra: he gave me his word.


- no tiene palabra: she never keeps her word.


- una mujer de palabra: a woman of her word.


-cumplió con su promesa: she kept her word.
 rompió su promesa: she broke her word or she went back on her word.


- nunca falta a su palabra: he never breaks o goes back on his word.


- te lo aseguro: you can take my word for it.


- se lo devolví, ¡palabra!: I gave it back to her, honest! (coloquial).


- tomarle la palabra a alguien: le tomé la palabra y le pedí un préstamo: I took him up on his offer and asked for a loan.


- palabra de honor: word of honor, without a word of a lie.


3. Habla (speech).
- el don de la palabra: the gift of speech.


- un acuerdo de palabra: a verbal agreement.


- no me dirigió la palabra: she didn't speak to me.


- dejar a algn con la palabra en la boca: me dejó con la palabra en la boca (me interrumpió): he cut me off in mid-sentence.


- (no me dejó hablar) he didn't give me a chance to open my mouth.


- me quedé sin palabras: I was (left) speechless.


- no encontrar las palabras, no saber qué decir: to be lost for words.


- poner en boca de alguien (algo que no ha dicho): to put words into somebody's mouth.


- una advertencia: a word of warning.


- ¡yo no dije nada!:  I didn't say a word! 


- se fue sin decir nada: she left without a word.


- no me creo una palabra: I don't believe a word of it.


- no habla ni una palabra de inglés;she doesn't speak a word of English.

- pedir la palabra (en ceremonia, asamblea, formal): to ask for permission to speak.


- pido la palabra: may I say something?, I'd like to say something.


- tener/tomar la palabra: to have/to take the floor (formal).


- ceder(le) la palabra a alguien: to give the floor to somebody (forml), to call upon somebody to speak.


- (turno para hablar) right to speak.


- hablar con alguien de or sobre algo: to have a  word with somebody about something.


4. Mensaje, recado.
- enviar un mensaje (mensaje no como sms!):  to send word.


- dejó un mensaje/recado a su secretaría: she left word with her secretary that...

domingo, 11 de marzo de 2012

Facebook in real life.

Hi everyone!


We all know what Facebook is, we all use facebook, in our own personal way, be it actively posting photos and making comments on our friends' walls or passively just prying into (fisgonear) other people affairs. We all assume this is "normal" as Facebook is in our dayly life but if we step outside and take a look at it from the distance, it may result a little weird.


These two Facebook parodies show how weird would our Facebook behaviour be in real life.


#Foodforthought.




- We sat next to each other in Maths, we didn´t get on, remember?
Nos sentabamos al lade en "mates", no nos llevabamos mucho, ¿te acuerdas?


- You want to skip this step?
¿Quieres saltarte este paso?


- How about if we say...?
¿Qué te parece si decimos...?


- What are you looking for? Friendship, dating, wathever you can get?
¿Qué estás buscando?, ¿amistad, citas o lo que sea?.



- Wicked!
 Cool, good, great.

The lazy song, by Bruno Mars.

Or what Sundays are for.


Os dejamos esta perfecta canción de domingo, pero en su versión alternativa oficial. No cojáis ideas! Don´t try this at home!


#FelizDomingo!





Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed 
(solo quiero estar tirado en la cama)
don't feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
(deja un mensaje cuando suene la señal).
Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything


Uh, I'm gonna kick my feet up and stare at the fan
(Voy a poner mis pies en alto y mirar fijamente al ventilador)
Turn the TV on
Throw my hand in my pants
Nobody's gon’ tell me I can't, nah


I'll be lying on the couch just chillin in my snuggie
(Estaré tumbado en el sofá, relajándome en mi bata-manta)
Click to MTV so they can teach me how to dougie
(pondré la MTV, para que puedan enseñarme como hacer dougie (hip hop dance movement)
Cause in my castle I'm the freakin man
(soy un fenómeno)


Oh Oh, yes I said it
I said it
I said it cause I can
Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
don't feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything


Chorus (estribillo).


Tomorrow I wake up, do some P90X
(haré algo de ejercicio. P90X is a workout revolutionary system).
With a really nice girl have some really nice sex
And she's gonna scream out, "this is great" (Oh my god this is great)
I might mess around and get my college degre
(mess around: entretenerse, pasar el rato, hacer el tonto)
I bet my old man will be so proud of me
(apuesto a que mi padre estará muy orgulloso de mí)
I'm sorry pops you just have to wait


[Chorus]


No I ain't gonna comb my hair
Cause I ain't going anywhere
No no no no no no no no nooo
I'll just strut in my birthday suit
(Tan solo me pavoneará en mi traje de los cumpleaños)
And let everything hang loose
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahhh

viernes, 9 de marzo de 2012

Why videos go viral?

Kevin Allocca is YouTube's trends manager. 
Yes, he watches YouTube videos for his job and he has deep thoughts (profundos pensamientos) about silly web video. In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral.




- So we're going to talk a little bit today about how videos go viral and then why that even matters.


- Any one of you could be famous on the Internet by next Saturday.


- And of that, only a tiny (diminuto) percentage ever goes viral and gets tons of views (montones de visitas) and becomes a cultural moment. 


- it seems to have just sprouted up (brotar/ reproducirse) out of nowhere.


- What's important is that an individual or a group of tastemakers took a point of view and they shared that with a larger audience, accelerating the process.


- But what's important here is the creativity that it inspired amongst this techie (tecnológica), geeky (obsesos de la Informática), Internet culture. 


- And who could have predicted any of this?
(¿Y quien podría haber predicto nada de esto?).


- In a world where over two days of video get uploaded every minute (más de dos días de video se suben cada minuto), only that which is truly unique (solo aquello que es verdaderamente único) and unexpected can stand out (sobresalir) in the way that these things have. 


- When a friend of mine told me...


- And so this approach holds for anything new that we do creatively. 
(Así, este enfoque/propuesta apuesta por cualquier cosa que hagamos de forma creativa).




En @Funny__ENglish nos quedamos con esto:
Tastemakers, creative participating communities, complete unexpectedness, these are characteristics of a new kind of media and a new kind of culture where anyone has access and the audience defines the popularity. 
No one has to green-light (dar luz verde) your idea. And we all now feel some ownership (propiedad) in our own pop culture. And these are not characteristics of old media, and they're barely true of the media of today, but they will define the entertainment of the future.

miércoles, 7 de marzo de 2012

Subjuntivo para beginners.

El subjuntivo es, recordemos, ese modo verbal que en español usamos para indicar incertidumbre, subjetividad o posibilidad.


El subjuntivo tiene un uso muy escaso/limitado en inglés, se considera un registro muy formal o literario, por lo que cuando en inglés queremos expresar incertidumbre, subjetividad o posibilidad recurrimos a formas auxiliares. Veamos cuales:


1. May/might: Se utilizan con valor de subjuntivo en expresiones que indican probabilidad
-He may not come. (Puede que no venga).
-He might still get here in time. (Puede que todavía llegue a tiempo).


2. I wish.../ If only...(más enfático este último).


- Para expresar un deseo o anhelo de dificil realización o para expresar el deseo de que algo sea diferente a cómo lo es en el presente. Tomar la forma: If only/ I wish+ past simple.


-I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow. Ojalá no tuviera que trabajar mañana.
-I wish I were rich! ¡Ojalá fuera rico!
(Aquí, por ejemplo, su uso equivale a la expresión española "¡ojalá!").


- También podemos utilizar estas dos expresiones seguidas de un past perfect para expresar arrepentimiento por algo que sucedió en el pasado:


-I wish you hadn't told me he is married. (Ojalá no me hubieses dicho que está casado).


- O podemos usar "I wish" y "If only" seguido de "would" + infinitivo para expresar el deseo de que alguien cambie su comportamiento, tanto en el presente como en el futuro.


-I wish you would start caring about your future. (Ojalá empezases a preocuparte por tu futuro).


3. Con los verbos auxiliares: suggest, recommend, ask, insist, vital, esencial, important, advice + that+ subjuntivo.


-We recommend that every applicant apply for the job in person.
-It is essencial that each passenger pass through a security check.
-My wife and I felt it was vital that Johnny go to a good school.


4. Utilizar determinados adjetivos (siempre con el onjetivo de entender la necesidad o la importancia de algo) como: vital, willing, preferable, eager, essential, important, neccessary,..
-It's necessary that youy applied for this job trough our website.


5. What If/ Suppose /Supposing. 
Para hacer preguntas sobre una situación irreal o imaginaria en el presente o en el futuro y sobre sus consecuencias


- En el presente: What if / Suppose /supposing your idea doesn´t work? What would you do? (¿Y si tu idea no funciona?, ¿qué harías?).


- En el pasado: What if she had refused, how would you have felt? (Suponte que ella lo hubiese rechazado, ¿cómo te habrías sentido?).


6. Would rather.
- Para indicar nuestras preferencias sobre lo que nos gustaría que hiciese o no hiciese otra persona. Would rather+ past simple.
I would rather you didn't talk to me anymore. Preferiría que no me hablases más.

-  Pero, cuando queremos expresar nuestras preferencias sobre lo que nosotros mismos preferiríamos hacer o no, utilizaremos un infinitivo en lugar de un simple past.
I would rather not say. (Preferiría no decirlo).


6. As if / As though.
Para indicar que la apariencia de algo no se ajusta a la realidad. 
-They behave as though / as if they were better than you. (Se comportan como si fuesen mejores que tú).


7. En las frases negativas, ‘do’ no se usa.
-It was suggested that the government not raise taxes at the end of the year.


8. El verbo ‘to be’ tiene formas especiales para el subjunctivo (I be, you be, we be, they be...)
-The Prime Minister insisted that he be photographed with the President.


9. Después de "if" y "wish" se usa "were" (incluso para la primera persona).
-If I were you I would go and see him. 
-I wish you were here.


Speaking of wich...
(hablando de lo cual, ahora que lo menciono...)


viernes, 2 de marzo de 2012

Somewhere only we know.

¡Muy buenas tardes de viernes!
Espero que tengáis un fin de semana fantástico por delante (as we do!).
Os dejo este vídeo de esta preciosa canción de Keane, con letra para ver qué podemos aprehender de ella.


Qué tengáis un finde genial, si es posible, somewhere only you both now.




I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand 
I felt the earth beneath my feet
(me sabía el camino como la palma de mi mano)
Sat by the river and it made me complete


Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old (to get old: hacerse mayor) and I need something to rely on (confiar)
So tell me when you're gonna let me in (dejar entrar -en sentido figurado-).
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin


came across (encontrarse con algo/alguien) a fallen tree
I felt the branches (ramas) of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of
(¿es este el lugar con el que he estado soñando?)


Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and i need somewhere to begin


And if you have a minute why don't we go
talk about it somewhere only we know
this could be the end of everything
so why don't we go
somewhere only we know