MESSAGES

Expressions used to open messages

-

Dear, hello, hi

Ways of thanking someone (agradecer)

-

Thank you, thanks for such a nice presente

Formal: It was a very kinf of you to give me such a nice present

Ways of explaining
-

I cant come to. because I have to I cant come to your party because I have
to study for my exams

Ways of inviting
-

Would you like to come?

Id like you to come.

Ways of apolising (disculparse)

-

Im so sorry for verbo (-ing)

I am sorry but

Ways of suggesting (Sugerir)

-

Why dont we go to the cinema?

How/about going to the cinema?
Shall we go to the cinema?

Ways of asking
-

Can I borrow your camera, please? Me prestas (Puedes prestarme) tu cmara

por favor? Borrow: pedir prestado
Could you lend me your camera, please? Podras prestarme tu cmara, por
favor? Lend: prestar

Expressions used to close messages

-

Best wishes, all the best, yours, love, lots of love, see you son

INFORMAL LETTER
Starting your letter
Thanks for your letter.
How are you?
How are things?
Hope you're well.

Commenting on something
I'm sorry to hear/learn ...
Thats such a good news!
I'm so pleased to hear ...
It's great to hear ...
What wonderful news about ...
Sorry Ive taken so long to write back, but
Ive got so much to tell you.
Moving the topic on
Anyway, the reason I'm writing ...
I thought I'd write to tell/ask you
Anyway, I was wondering ...
Making invitations
Would you like to + verb?
I'd like to ask you to + verb
May I have the honor of your + verbing?
Why dont we go out to..?
Ending your letter
Well, that's all for now. Write back soon
Looking forward to hearing from you again

All the best, Best wishes, See you soon, take care, Yours, Love, Lots of love
Say hello to your family from me
Dont forget to write soon
Thanking people for invitation
That would be nice.
Certainly, I'd love to...
Sure, that would be great! (informal)

STORY
Time expressions
-

before, after, during, when, while, until, first, then, next, immediately, as soon as,
suddenly, finally, in the end

SPEAKING
Part 1
Hometown:
-

Where are you from? Where do you live?

I live in Alcoy, a small city surrounded by mountains.

Can you tell me something about your town?

Its near to Alicante, and its a beautiful town with lots of things to see.

What is the most interesting part of your town?

The most interesting to me is up to the mountains and see the city at your feet.

What is the difference between life in cities and life in the countryside in your
town?
The countryside has a quiet and peaceful environment. They are living close to the
nature. And the city has a busy and stressful environment.

Can you describe some of the shops in your town?

Yes, in my town there are a lot of shops, the local shops around the town, there are
small but with beautiful things, and the biggest in the shopping center.

Family and home

-

Can you tell me about your family?

We are 4 persons, my parents, my sister and I. My father is teacher, my mother is
secretary and my sister is 4 years bigger than me and finished her studies and has
started to work in a hospital.

What does your family do together?

We often go a few days to the beach and chill there.

What do you think is better living in a flat or in a house? Why?

I prefer living in a flat, because I like the citys live and being close to everything.

Work and study

What do you do?

Im a student. Im in my 4 year at university studying Chemistry.

What kind of job would you like to have in the future?

I would like to work in a laboratory or investigation

How easy/difficult will it be for you to get that job?

Well, maybe the experience required

Can you tell me something about your university?

In the university of Alicante, there are a lof of degrees to study and all of them in
the same campus, with gym and football field.

How long have you been studying English?

I have been studying English since I was very little, and went to the nursery. And
from there I studied at school and with a native teacher.

What do you find most difficult in studying English?

I find that most difficult studying English is the speaking, the pronunciation of the
words.

Do you enjoy studying English?

Yes, I like learning English a lot, because so many of the internet is in English, and
also most of the music I listen are English too and its so useful.

Do you think that English will be useful for you in the future?
Yes, definitely. I think, English for me its important and has many advantages, such
as improvement of our knowledge, more job opportunities, and good interact with
local people when travel to other countries.

Leisure:
-

Do you have any hobbies?

Especially not, but I like jogging and go with my bike around the mountains, and I
played tennis some years ago.

What kind of music so you enjoy most?

I like pop music, in English or Spanish, and elechtronic

What are the most important qualities in a friend? What characteristics do you
admire most in a friend?

Well, I think one of the most important quality is confidence, because a friend is
someone who tells all and always is there to help.
-

What kind of sports are you and your friends interested in?
We are interested in football and tennis.

What do you and your friends like to do when you go out?

When we go out we often go to the cinema or walk around the city and then go to
dinner at a restaurant

How do you usually spend your holidays?

My family has an apartment in Denia and we always spend all the summer there.
Its near the beach and I have a lot of friends there.

Did you do anything yesterday evening/ last weekend? What?

Yes I went to the beach with my friends, and we spent the day sunbathing,
swimming in the sea and playing volleyball. And we came home at night

Future plans
-

What do you hope to do in the next few years?

I hope to finish my degree and If I dont find a job I will continue studying some
master related to my degree or travel to another country to increase my English.

What kind of job do you hope to be doing in 10 years time?

I would like to work in a laboratory or teacher of Chemistry in the university

Part 2
Giving yourself time to think
-

Thats an interesting point

Let me think

Making suggestions:
-

What do you think of this one?

Shall we go on to the next one?

How about?

What do you think of..?

Why dont we..?

Perhaps we should?

Agreeing with suggestions

-

Right.

Yes, thats true.

I think so too

Yes, I agree with you.

Thats a good idea

One argument in favour of being is that

Disagreeing politely with suggestions

-

I think it might be better to

Im not really sure about that

You may be right, but..

I mean.. (o sea)

No, thats not what Im trying to say

Giving reasons
-

For one thing..

For another..

The thing is..

I think the problem is that

Conclusion
-

So which shall we choose then?

Which do you think would be best?

Which should we choose?

Part 3
Introduction
-

The photo/picture shows ...

It was taken by/in ...

It's a black-and-white/coloured photo.

Ways of taking about the photos

-

In this photo I can see

It loos like + noun / It looks + adjective

I think I dont think it

It could/might be (podria ser)

There seems to be (Parece que hay..)

In the picture above/below ... (En la foto de arriba/abajo)

The picture above shows ... whereas the picture below shows ...
(La imagen de arriba muestra ... mientras que la imagen de abajo muestra ...)

This picture shows ... whereas that picture shows ...

Both pictures show...

There are some similarities between these two pictures. For instance, ... (Por
ejemplo)

There are a number of differences between the two pictures. For instance... (Por
ejemplo)

This photograph must have been taken in ...

Ways of talking about an object you dont know the word for
-

Its a kind of..

Its something like a

Its made of metal/plastic/wood

Its used for ing

Ways of describing location

In the foreground/background you can see ...

In the foreground/background there is ...

In the middle/centre there are ...

At the top/At the bottom there is ...

On the left/right there are ...

Behind/In front of ... you can see ...

Between ... there is ...

Part 3
Questions for taking turns
-

What about..?

What do you think?

Dont you think so?

Do you think..?

Do you like..?

Have you got?

Showing you are listening and interested

-

Im not so sure

Maybe

Yes and no.

Really

Good point

I agree/disagree.