Unreal Past & A Film

Wednesday 11^th March, 2015

Hi, Isabel!

Winter came back and this weekend wasn’t as good as the previous one!

Anyway, let’s be optimistic because this week is shorter.

What did we do last Wednesday?

We continued talking about regrets, and hypothesizing about the present and the past.

We revised the uses of the unreal past.

Sometimes the verb tense we use does not coincide with the time. Bear in mind that “tense” isn’t the same as “time”.

Time: present, past or future.

I wish I had Sue’s telephone number. So, I could tell her about the lecture.

“Had” is past simple tense but the time it refers to is present. It refers to a present situation.

·         When Bill and I got married, his attitude to money amused me.

·         If Bill got promoted, our standard of living would go up.

·         I wish we were better off.

·         I was so jealous when I heard about Carol’s weekend in New York.

·         I think it’s time we moved to a bigger house.

·         I’d rather my daughters married a man with money.

·         I wish I’d married my first boyfriend!

·         If I’d married Sean, I would have a better standard of living.

Tenses In bold red really correspond to past time.

Tenses in bold green, use the past but refer to present or future situations.

 Summing up

·     Use wish + past simple to refer to things we would like to be different in the present or the future (but which are impossible or unlikely)

If only I knew the answer!

I wish I knew the answer.

Wish + past perfect, to talk about things which happened and we now regret.

 (Instead of ‘wish’ you can use ‘if only’ in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, ‘if only’ is more emphatic).

 If only you hadn’t forgotten the map, we’d be there by now!

I wish you hadn’t forgotten the map.

·         We use would rather + subject + past tense to express preference.

I’d rather you left your dog outside. I’m allergic.

We can use would rather+ infinitive without ‘to’ when there is no change of subject.

I’d rather not talk about it.

·         We use the past simple after it’s time + subject to say that something has to be done now or in the near future.

It’s time (high time) the government did something about unemployment.

We can use it’s time +to+infinitive when we don’t want to specify the subject.

It’s time to finish this.

And we continued watching the film.

Carter has been promoted and starts his new adventure in business. He’s now the head of sales at the advertisement department of the magazine ‘Sports America’. Dan, the former manager finds out that he has been demoted when he comes back from playing tennis with her eldest daughter. It’s when he enters his office that he finds out that the ‘kid’ he bumped into in the corridor is going to be his new boss. Previously, Carter had met Dan’s daughter in the elevator, although he didn’t know that she was Dan’s daughter.

Carter feels exhilarated (really excited) about his new status and decides to buy a luxury sports car but he crashes it as soon as he drives off the car dealer’s. As a result, his arm ends up in a sling. He gets home to find that his wife is leaving him and …

TO BE CONTINUED!

See you on Wednesday!

Wishes & Regrets

See you on Wednesday!!!

 

Wednesday 4^th March, 2015

Hi! How’s everything?

I hope you’re enjoying the nice weather on our day! International Women’s Day.

Last Wednesday we talked about wishes & regrets.

 



One way of expressing them is using the expressions ‘I wish’ or ‘If only’

Sometimes the verb tense we use does not coincide with the time. Bear in mind that “tense” isn’t the same as “time”.

Time: present, past or future.

I wish I had Sue’s telephone number. So, I could tell her about the lecture.

“Had” is past simple tense but the time it refers to is present. It refers to a present situation.

·         When Bill and I got married, his attitude to money amused me.

·         If Bill got promoted, our standard of living would go up.

·         I wish we were better off.

·         I was so jealous when I heard about Carol’s weekend in New York.

·         I think it’s time we moved to a bigger house.

·         I’d rather my daughters married a man with money.

·         I wish I’d married my first boyfriend!

·         If I’d married Sean, I would have a better standard of living.

Tenses In bold red really correspond to past time.

Tenses in bold green, use the past but refer to present or future situations.

 Summing up

Use wish + past simple to refer to things we would like to be different in the present or the future (but which are impossible or unlikely)

If only I knew the answer!

I wish I knew the answer.Wish + past perfect, to talk about things which happened and we now regret.

(Instead of ‘wish’ you can use ‘if only’ in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, ‘if only’ is more emphatic).

 If only you hadn’t forgotten the map, we’d be there by now!

After this, we started watching the DVD.

The movie is called ‘In Good Company’. Before actually starting watching the DVD, we read something about the language used.

The plot is about takeovers(when a company buys another company), acquisitions and mergers (conglomerate of companies), as well as globalization. Although the story takes place before the crisis, there is a big number of lay-offs (people who lose their jobs) as the new managers come into the new firms.

The film is a comedy and it starts with Dan Foreman, a middle- aged top advertisement salesman for a leading company. He flies from New York to Los Angeles on business to find a home pregnancy test in the garbage (rubbish). He thinks it belongs to his elder daughter but in fact, it’s his wife who is pregnant. To make his day complete he finds out (discovers) that his company has been bought by a vast media conglomerate and that his new boss is going to be a young man half his age!

 Meanwhile, Carter, his new boss, is desperate for company after his wife left him and he invites himself for dinner at Dan’s house.

I won’t continue, as I don’t want to be a spoiler (a person who tells the end of the movies).

As for the language used, it’s full of abbreviations and ‘business bullshit’ (language of corporations with its clichés and meaningless high sounding phrases and evasions). The use of abbreviations has a double intention. On the one hand it shows the rash of the modern life and the way business is understood. Everything is so fast that there’s no time to speak slowly, with whole sentences. On the other hand, it excludes the people who don’t understand the meaning of those acronyms or abbreviations.

It’s a funny film with a lot of business vocabulary. I hope you like it!

We’ll continue watching it next day. As well as hypothesing about the past and the future…

So, see you next Wednesday!!

Phonetics & Limericks!

Wednesday 25^th February, 2015

Hello Isabel!

I’m sorry for our last class! I thought it was going to be funny to decipher phonetic symbols but, I’m afraid you didn’t enjoy it!

It isn’t as difficult as you think. It’s like deciphering a secret code. Don’t you like this type of exercises?

Now, seriously!  If you pay attention to the chart I gave you, you’ll be able to transcribe the words. In that chart, you have a picture which represents every one of the sounds.

Bear in mind that whenever you see : (colon), this means the sound is a long one. /ᴵ/ for fish (short ‘i’ sound) /i:/ for tree (long ‘i’ sound)

Do you remember what Limericks are?

They are short poems with a distinctive rhythm. The lines rhyme AABBA.

We had two limericks to transcribe:

A rare old bird is a pelican  A

His beak can hold more than its belly can  A

He can take in his beak  B

Enough food for a week  B

And I’m dammed if I know how the hell he can!  A

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There was ayooung lady from Twickenham  A

Whose shoes were too tight to walk quick in them  A

She came back from a walk  B

Looking whiter than chalk   B

And she took them both off and was sick in them  A

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Next day we’ll talk about wishes & regrets. And We’ll start watching part of the film ‘In Good Company’.

The class will be more enjoyable. I promise!

See you on Wednesday!!!