Common Errors 5: Spelling Mistakes

Common Errors, , ,

My favourite season is undoubtedly spring. The weather starts to warm up and you can enjoy the  warm rays of the morning sun while sipping some iced coffee on the shaded terrace of a cafe.  Sometimes, if  it is a very quiet place, I take with me the exams I need to correct and  what would have been a boring task, takes on a new dimension  I can almost say I enjoy it.

So, once again, it’s all about exams. June also means exam time .

Most probably you don’t have these speling mistakes but, just in case, check  or (much better) double-check  you know how to write these words because, trust me on this one, these are real spelling mistakes from B2 students.

This is how I suggest you do it.

1. Read through the list of misspelt words

2. Look up the ones you don’t know how to spell or check the correct spelling  below the poster

3. Take pen and paper and  write down all the words on the poster  you can remember. Repeat the exercises as many times as necessary until you feel confident  you can remember how to correctly spell the words.

Correct Spelling: comfortable, professional,discussion , responsible, successful, writing, necessary, recommend, appropriate, frequently, opportunity, immediately, foreign, conclusion, beautiful 🙂

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Common Errors 4

Common Errors, ,

Here’s another post dealing with some common errors .These errors are mistakes B1/B2 students make.  I hope you find them helpful!

♥Read the sentence and identify the error

♥Rewrite the sentence correctly

♥Read the corrected version  and the grammar input after the  line

The correct form is: I couldn’t decide what dress to wear but in the end I chose the read one

In the end” means the same as “eventually”, “finally”  “after something has been thought about or discussed a lot”

“At the end“ is more physical like “at the end of the road” “at the end of the book” , though you can also say ” at the end of the day”.

Check your understanding with these exercises. Click here

Common Errors 3: Pronunciation and Grammar Errors

Common Errors, ,

This is a quick post written on a Friday afternoon!

I promised I ‘d be with you every step of the way and here I am again, with a new post on common errors I have been hearing these days during tests.

The thing is I am totally sure  most of the students I interview, don’t normally have these mistakes and though I am well aware oral exams can be  really intimidating for some students the truth is that, unfortunately, there are some mistakes you cannot make when trying to get a  degree for a certain level and being nervous is a poor excuse.

Please, make sure, but really sure 🙂 you don’t have these mistakes because they are really important. For example, make sure you know how to pronounce “man”  ( I’ve been hearing ” a men” ) or the word “nervous” that you use so often at the beginning of the exam.

Check their pronunciations here

Everybody makes mistakes  and it is OK to correct them. So, if you feel you have made a mistake, don’t be afraid to correct it. Native speakers do it all the time.

But please, double check you do not make these mistakes .(grammar input below the image)

1.”People ” is plural and  takes a plural verb

2.Here and here (exercise here)

3. After an adjective , you need to use the verb in the infinitive form

It is easier to make mistakes

It is important to learn English

4. ” news” is uncountable , you need the partitive “a piece of”  or “some”

Some good news / a piece of good news

5. “hair” is uncountable , therefore you cannot say “a hair” ( unless it is in the soup 🙂

6. Difference between used to and usually  here (exercise here)

7. Other/Another . Grammar here, Exercise here

Also, check the difference between fun and funny 

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Common Errors 2

Common Errors, ,

It’s June!

Yes, it’s June and  June means exams! Lots! Written and Speaking exams!

I’ve been hearing this mistake for a couple of days now  and I am beginning to realise it’s a false friend we don’t often pay enough attention to. So, time to fix this !

Would you like to try? Look at the photo,

1.What’s  the name  for this piece of street furniture?

2.What preposition do you use?   sitting ___

3. Now , make a simple sentence about it.

Check here 🙂

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A New Online Bilingual Dictionary : Diccionario Pedagógico Bilingüe

Dictionaries

 

There are a few online bilingual dictionaries available to learners these days. A good thing no doubt, but what do you think they have in common (quite unappealingly, mind)? Advertising.

Every time you use one of those bilingual dictionaries (or monolingual for that matter), you are exposed to ads ˗ right, left, and centre. Annoying and distracting. It seems like nothing is really free, doesn´t it?

Well, no more! There is a new kid on the block and its name is Diccionario Pedagógico Bilingüe (English-Spanish Español-Inglés). This dictionary has been edited by Francisco Sánchez Benedito and Francisco Gámez Gámez, two experts in their field.

Diccionario Pedagógico Bilingüe was seven years in the making, and had a big editorial team behind it. I joined the team in late 2009 (if my memory serves) when Francisco Sánchez Bendito offered me the opportunity to work on the dictionary, initially as a proofreader, then also as an assistant editor.

What makes the dictionary stand out among the competition, you might ask? It is, first and foremost, a learner´s dictionary. Its purpose is to teach Spanish-speaking students how to use English words correctly. To do that, it covers lots of grammatical and lexical collocations, the heart of the language. Idioms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs ˗ and even taboo language ˗ are also given special attention. The dictionary boasts almost 70,000 headwords and over 100,000 translations, a truly comprehensive work. It is not unlikely that you will find words in Diccionario Pedagógico Bilingüe that are not listed in other bilingual dictionaries.

 

So there you have it: a useful dictionary, with the expertise of a large team, freely available to everyone and… no ads! What more could you ask for?

Making the most of your dictionary

Whenever you´re browsing the internet, keep a tab open for the dictionary so that you can look up any unfamiliar words you may come across, quickly and easily.

Moreover, get into the habit of reading all senses of any given word (this goes for monolingual dictionaries too), not just the sense that fits a particular context. This will help you expand your vocabulary, at least your passive vocabulary ˗ those words you can understand when reading or listening. Using bilingual and monolingual dictionaries on a regular basis will really pay off. Take my word for it.

You can start searching the dictionary at http://diccionariopedagogicobilingue.uma.es/INDEX.PHP

This article has been written by guest blogger Javier Vallestero. Some years ago , Javier did  a round of interviews to different teachers and I was one of the chosen . You can read the interview here. 

Javier is also the proud writer of Modismos, Dichos y Refranes de la Lengua Inglesa and has collaborated actively as a proofreader and assistant editor on the Diccionario Pedagógico Bilingüe  .