Saturday, January 31, 2009

Expressions to watch out for! THE - GO TO

There are some common mistakes with the use of the article "the". Sometimes the confusion is derived by the fact that there are certain expression that don't follow the normal pattern and other time the confusion comes from literally translating the expression from Spanish.

Article THE:

We use "the" to point out a specific person, place or thing when it is not a proper noun. (if the noun is already a proper noun such as New York it already is specific so we don't need the article  "the")

When we talk about going to a place if we know where we are going we use "the" when we  don't know where we are going to we use the article "a", for example:

Where are you going?
I am going to the party. (The specific party you were invited to and the person you are speaking to knows about.)
I am going to a party. (You will go with some friends and find a good party to go to but you don't know which one it will be yet)

This pattern is followed in most of the cases.

Common nouns 

I am going to the movies.
I am going to the party.
I am going to the supermarket.
I am going to the park.
I am going to the pool.
I am going to the restaurant.
I am going to the beach.

The article "the" is not used with proper nouns:

I am going to New York
I am going to Paiz
I am going to MacDonalds
I am going to Xetulul
You will see it used when the  article "the" is part of the name and in some exceptions:
We are going to The United States of America.
She went to the Great Lakes.
I will go to the Canary Islands

SPECIAL CASES

The tricky part comes in with some words which don't take an article: 

When we refer to places where more than just going to the building is implied, the meaning of the word goes beyond the place to a more abstract meaning and is something done as a lifestyle, we don't use "the" like school, college, church or situations such as class, mass, lunch. 

I am going to college. 
I am going to school.
I go to school at 8.00 AM.
I go to work everyday.
I will go to lunch at 1.00 pm
When will you go to class?
We go to mass every Sunday.
I don't go to church.

In a case when you are literally just going to the building you can use "the" for example:

I forgot my backpack, I am going back to the school. (You are literally going to the building)

I realize education is important, I am going back to school. (In this case the meaning of school is beyond the building)

INCORRECT
I am going to the college
CORRECT
I am going to college.        
I am going to Front Range Community College. 
I am going to university.
I am going to San Carlos University 
I am going to The University of Kansas. ("the" is part of the name)
Article "THE" and time expression.
These common errors are an interference of the native language Spanish when translating literally what we want to say. Therefore by all means, try to think in English.
Expression of time that take the: in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon.
Expression of time that DO NOT take an article: at night, at noon, at midnight.
Expressions of time that DO NOT take an article nor  the preposition at: tonight, tomorrow, yesterday
Expression of time that can be used with "the" if you want to refer time, described by a limiting phrase or implicit in the conversatio: next month, next year, last year, last month.


INCORRECT
The next week I am going to Tikal.  
CORRECT
Next week I am going to Tikal.

INCORRECT
I will call you at the night. 
CORRECT  
I will call you at night.

INCORRECT
The last week was my birthday.  
CORRECT
The last week of the month is my birthday. -specific week-
or Last week was my birthday. -plainly last week-

INCORRECT
The next year I'm going to Las Vegas.
CORRECT
The next year after I turn 21 I am going to Las Vegas. -a specific year-
or Next year I'm going to Las Vegas. -plainly next year-



Try this website for more on use and non use of articles: http:/owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslart.html

IN YOUR CIAV PROGRAM REFER TO: Course 5, Course 8: workbook page 20

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Improve Listening Comprehesion by watching TV

Even though I am a big advocate of reducing the amount of time people watch TV daily, I do have to say that it is a great tool for improving your listening comprehension.

Find a program that you like and stick to it day in and day out until you are able to understand it without too much effort.

When I was 17 and took the TOEFL I got a score of 607, which is on the highest bracket, yet I had a hard time understanding the TV shows in English! I made it a job to watch daily this particular show that caught my attention.  At first I had no idea why people were laughing at the jokes but little by little (probably over a month period) I was able to start laughing together with the recorded laugh! I remember thinking -"When I am on the living room and there is a TV going on in another room, if the program is in Spanish, I can pick up everything being said. I want to get to the point were the same would go for a program in English."

Well, practice makes perfect, so take everyday half an hour to watch a TV program in English. If you don't have cable TV in English get a couple of movies that you like and watch them in English with no subtitles. If you need the extra help at the beginning then set the subtitles to English. Make sure you get a movie you like because you will be watching it over and over until you can pick everything being said.

Review your notes on stress and intonation and pay close attention to the stress and intonation used by the characters. As you watch repeat the dialogs mimicking the stress and intonation.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Improve Listening Comprehension and Fluency Through Songs


One fantastic way to improve listening comprehension and fluency is working with songs.

When you are listening to a song in Spanish or your native language you usually understand without any effort everything the singers is saying. When listening to a song in English if you have to pause and really pay attention to pin point every word, it means you need to improve your listening comprehension skills.

I will say it again and again: Practice makes perfect! Take time daily to practice your English and follow this fun and simple activity:

1. WRITE DOWN THE LYRICS TO THE SONG

While listening to a song write down its lyrics, pause and play as many times as you need (you are lucky when I was learning English we only had records and cassettes so it was harder to rewind!).

2. USE YOUR DICTIONARY

If you can't figure out a word, try finding it our in a dictionary and figuring out the correct one by context.  Check your spelling using your dictionary.

3. COMPARE YOUR LYRICS TO THE ORIGINAL ONES

Find the lyrics on the CD Booklet or on the web. Here are some sites you might find useful: lyrics.com and subingles.com.  (please know that we preview all links but we cannot control the content of any of them. Use caution when opening a new browser window not affiliated with ciav.com)

4. SING ALONG

Sing the song until you know it by heart, mimic the pronunciation an intonation. Record yourself!

IMPORTANT:For the purpose of this exercise be selective with the songs you choose. Make sure they are use Standard American English   (Rap and Hip Hop, although very popular, are not the best genres for this exercises for practical reasons: use of slang, adult content and non standard grammar usage).





Saturday, January 3, 2009

CIAV - ACADEMIA DE INGLES DE MAYOR COBERTURA EN GUATEMALA

ADICIONALMENTE A LAS MAS DE 30 SEDES CONTAMOS CON CAPACIDAD DE COBERTURA CON SEDES MOVILES:

Con la sedes móviles podemos llegar básicamente cualquier población de la República donde se requiera nuestro servicio y se cuente con un número mínimo de alumnos de 15.  Todos los programas son directamente supervisadas por un sede CIAV  y todos los beneficios de maestros capacitados, evaluaciones, material son proveídos como en un sede CIAV.

Friday, January 2, 2009

PROGRAMA DE EMPRESAS CIAV



PLAN EMPRESARIAL: En este plan se envía al maestro para impartir el curso en las instalaciones de la empresa, CIAV se encarga de enviar a la empresa todo el material a utilizar (Material Audiovisual, hojas de trabajo, exámenes y otros). 

PLAN CORPORATIVO: En este plan los alumnos asisten a las diferentes Sedes de CIAV en la República y se integran a los diferentes grupos que ya existen.

PROGRAMAS DE BENEFICIOS: CIAV ofrece la oportunidad a empresas de contar con un programa de beneficio a sus trabajadores. Estos programas pueden incluir descuentos para los trabajadores y/o la familia de los trabajadores.

Empresas
 con quienes trabajamos y  hemos trabajado:  

CIUDAD 
CAPITAL:
MayorpitS.A.
Ciese.
Sercadsa/Soinsa.
MerckS.A.
Cropa Panalpina.
Hotel Camino Real.
Hotel Holiday Inn.
Variedades de Guatemala.
Dirección de Hidrocarburos.
Ministerio de Energía y Minas.
Instituto Nacional de Bosques.
Fibrasol.
Politur (INGUAT).
LlamasaS.A.
Volvo.
Compassion International.
Bancafé.
Rayovac.
Segeplan.
Secretaría de Asuntos Administrativos y de Seguridad de la Presidencia de la República.
INTECAP.
CAPOKCarretera al Salvador.

DEPARTAMENTOS:
Controladores AereosAeropuertoMundo Maya, Flores, Petén.
Hotel Camino Real, Petén.
Fundesa, Petén, Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu, Sololá.
NPVPetén.
OlmecaFraijanes.
Procter & Gamble Industrial, Escuintla
INTECAP, Escuintla, Cobán, Izabal, Zacapa, Chiquimula, Quetzaltenango, Mazatenango, Retalhuleu, Sololá. 
TERPAC, Puerto Quetzal.
SIESAChimaltenango
Municipalidad de Santa Catarina Mita,Jutiapa.
Defensores de la Naturaleza, Petén.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

PROGRAMA DE COLEGIOS CIAV

El Programa de Colegios CIAV brinda a la institución:
Metodología CIAV
Maestros especializados
Supervisores Experimentados
Maestros Sustitutos
Material Didáctico de comprobada efectividad
Bateria de Evaluaciónes
Certificación de Alumnos
Beneficios adicionales para Padres de Familia y Maestros.
Colegios Certificados por Programa de Colegios CIAV

CIUDAD CAPITAL

Colegio Activo Bilingüe

ColegioActivo Bilingüe Mixto Sterling

Colegio Católico San Pablo

Colegio Vanguardia Juvenil

Colegio Mixto Evangélico Gilgal

Colegio Bilingue en Computación

Colegio Bilingue en Computación 

Colegio Integral Guatemalteco

Colegio Mixto Atlántida La Montaña

Colegio Mixto El Castillo

Colegio Bilingüe Rossell

Colegio Coactemalan

Colegio Rayito de Sol

Colegio Bethania

Colegio Blaise Pascal

Colegio Nuestra Señora de los Angeles

Colegio Bilingüe Didáctico

Instituto de Formación Secretarial

Liceo Buenos Aires

Liceo Francés

Liceo Mixto en Computación Rotterdam

Liceo Centroamericano

Liceo SalesianoLiceo Pinares

EN LOS DEPARTAMENTOS:

Liceo Bilingüe Los Angeles (Chimaltenango)

Liceo Centroamericano (San José Pinula)

Centro Educativo Petén (Sta. Elena, Flores, Petén)

Centro Educativo El Bosque(Poptún, Petén)

Liceo Maya(Sta. Elena, Petén)

Colegio Mixto Camino del Saber (Fraijanes)

Colegio Maya (Mazatenango)

Colegio Nasari (Mazatenango)

Colegio Carrousel (Mazatenango)

Colegio Liceo Nazareth (Nueva Concepción, Escuintla)

Colegio Bartolomé (Tiquisate, Escuintla)

Colegio La Infancia (Asunción Mita, Jutiapa)

Colegio Nuevo Milenio (Jalapa)

Colegio Mundo Interactivo (Mazatenango,Suchitepequez)

Colegio Perpetuo Socorro (MazatenangoSuchitepequez)

Colegio Cristiano Generación Josué (Chiquimulilla)

Colegio Blessing (Chiquimulilla)

Colegio Privado Jorge Romero Imeri(StaLucía Utatlán, Sololá)

 Colegio Maria Montessori (Cuilapa