In this episode Reza and Craig are joined by special guests Melissa from the USA and Becky from the UK.

Melissa is a full time student who lives in New York City, but who is studying at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
She is studying for a semester in Belfast and has come to Spain to get some sun.
Becky is from Cornwall in the south west of the UK. She lives in a very rural area famous for its cream teas and agriculture.
Melissa has travelled a bit in Europe and is visiting Spain for the first time.
Becky is visiting Reza. She’s been to Spain before.
Melissa prefers The Spanish pronunciation in Spain and Craig likes the Latin American accent.
to come across someone = to meet someone by chance
Melissa thinks that Guinness is very filling. She took a class at the Guinness factory in Ireland and now she is qualified to pour (servir) Guinness.
Clotted cream is very common in Cornwall (as well as Devon) – (to clot = coagular)
Melissa studies at a very big North American university. Students drink alcohol and party from Thursday to Sunday.
If you’re a girl, it’s very easy to get invited to ‘frat’ parties (fraternity parties – fiestas de fraternidad)
The legal drinking age in New York is 21, so Melissa is not legally old enough to drink alcohol there. However, she can drink alcohol legally in Europe.
Becky has been to America four times. She has been to New Orleans and has driven around the deep South of the US.
She has also been to San Francisco and drove down to Mexico. She has been to Alaska, too.
Becky used to teach dance and she is interested in Jazz music which is one reason she wanted to go to New Orleans.
She studied slave narratives at university. She has also been to New York.

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Gramática: MUST and HAVE TO

In Episode we covered may and might.
How about MUST and HAVE TO?
MUST and HAVE TO are more or less the same for obligation.
Tomorrow Craig will have to get up at half past seven (tendrá que…)
(to jump the gun = saltarse)
“Have you got to correct exams?” (“Do you have to correct exams?”)
Craig doesn’t have to correct many exams, but he has got to correct a few exams.
“Must we always mention Mickey Mouse in every episode?”
I really must stop smoking.
She’s going to live in the UK. She will have to learn to drive on the left. – Tendra que aprender conducir por la izquierda.
The decision of the speaker to use “must” or “have to” often depends on the internal obligation the speaker feels.
“Reza’s coming to my house and there’s no milk in the fridge. I MUST get some milk.” (Strong internal obligation).
The grammar of must:
“Must you smoke in here?” (Do not use “do”, or other auxiliary verbs, to make questions with modal verbs)
Use “not” for the negative – “You mustn’t (must not) eat in here.” / “You mustn’t smoke in bed.”
Modal verbs like ‘must’ are not followed by the infinitive – “I must buy bread.”
There is no past form of must (for obligation). The past of “You must do your homework.” is “You had to do your homework.”
Use “will have to” for future obligation. “You will have to do your homework.”

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Gramática: Should and had better for advice

“Had better’ is a fixed expression, The ‘had’ never changes its form.
The doctor said “You should lose weight.” (deberías perder peso)
“Reza, you had better lose weight or you will have a heart attack.”
‘had better’ is stronger advice than ‘should’.
Had better can imply a threat (a threat = una amenaza).
“You’d better pay us the money or we’ll burn down your shop.” (said by the mafia)
“I should have listened to my wife.” (should + have + past particple)
Contractions:
should have = should’ve
You had better = You’d better
Craig should get up earlier
He should watch less TV. He shouldn’t watch so much TV.
Students should listen to podcasts and listen to the listening on mansioningles.com
http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm
Should students watch films with Spanish subtitles?
Craig thinks that they shouldn’t. They should watch films with English subtitles.
Reza thinks that students should watch films in English first, then in Spanish, and then in English again.
Reza should tidy his house a lot more. He shouldn’t spend so much time watching TV.

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Gramática: BEEN / BEING

BEEN is a past participle of the verb TO BE (it usually translates as ‘sido’ o ‘estado’)
BEING is the present participle of the verb to be (often translated as siendo, estando)

Craig has been to many places, but he hasn’t been to Disneyland.

John is being interviewed for a job. – Él está siendo entrevistado por un trabajo.

BEEN has one syllable and is not usually stressed “I’ve /bin/ to Cuba, but I haven’t /bin/ to Brazil.
BEING has two syllables – BE-ING

Vocabulary Corner: Technology

to cut = cortar
to copy = copiar
to paste = pegar
to print = imprimir
to delete = borrar (to erase (US) / to rub out (UK) – eraser / rubber = goma
file = archivo
folder = carpeta (moqueta = carpet)
save as = guardar como
to select = seleccionar
to insert = insertar
to compress = comprimir
to search = buscar

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