Vocabulary

British and American English. The same, but different

British and American people speak the same language English, but with some small differences.

Vocabulary

Some words are different in American English, for example Americans say zip code, not postcode, vacation, not holiday, and cell phone, not mobile phone. Some words have different meanings, for example in British a purse is a thing where women have their money and credit cards. In American English a purse is a woman´s bag.

Greetings

It´s time for bed / Good night

↓↑

Useful words and phrases 

bye / goodbye

fine

hello / hi

sorry

thank you / thanks

very well

How are you? / What do you do? / What about you?

Nice to meet you

See you / See you then

Days of the week

They begin with a capital letter.

Numbers

13 and 30, 14 and 40, etc. are similar, but the stress is different, e.g. thirteen, thirty, fourteen, forty etc.

-ee is a long sound, but -y is a short sound

Phone numbers.

We say the digits separately. 0 = Zero or oh

mobile phone

Hello/ Hi / Is that Jennifer? This is Rob.

High numbers

100  a/one hundred

1000 a /one thousand

1000000 a/one million

Abbreviations

PC, a Personal Computer

VIP, a Very Important Person.

UK, the United Kingdom

EU, the European Union

DJ, a Disc Jockey

USA, the United States of America

PDF, a Portable Document Format

NBA, the National Basketball Association | National Basketball Association (NBA).
And others: USB, DVD, ATM (cajero automático)

The World. All over the world

Countries, continents, nationalities and languages. The word for a language is usually the same as the nationality adjective, e.g in Italy the language is Italian

↓

Continent	Adjective
Africa	African
Asia	Asian
Australia	Australian
Europe	European
North Amererica	North American
South America	South American
America	American
Country	Adjective
	-ish
England	English
Ireland	Irish
Poland	Polish
Scotland	Scottish
Spain	Spanish
Turkey	Turkish
Sweden	Swedish
	-an
Germany	German
Mexico	Mexican
The United States / The USA	American
	-ian
Argentina	Argentinian
Brazil	Brazilian
Egypt	Egyptian
Hungary	Hungarian
Italy	Italian
Russia	Russian
	-ese
China	Chinese
Japan	Japanese
The Czech Republic	Czech
France	French
Switzerland	Swiss
The U.K	British / Britain

The compass

North, South, West and East

Useful word and phrases

flag

language

excuse me / I´m not sure

Where are you from? I´m from…

Arrive / Arriving / Arrivals

Checking

holiday / business

In a hotel → the lift or elevator, a single or double room, suites, luxury rooms

the bar, the ground floor / planta baja/ I have a reservation / Can I have you passport, please? / Enjoy your stay / Conference centre / Wi – fi connection / Room service / Free parking

↓↑

Personal Information / Useful word and phrases

name / surname / first name

address / postcode / neighbourhood / hometown

age / How old are you? I´m 22

My family composed by …. / single, married, divorced, widow/er/ alone

an identity card / student

hobbies and interests

what else / more / plus ….

Reception/ receptionist

a coin / credit card / a purse

a key / keys

a diary

↓↑

Classroom language. Open your books, please

«Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty» Henry Ford, American businessman

Useful word and phrases

letter

the teacher says:

learn / practise

book / go to page / do exercise / read the text, please ← What page is it?

Intructions in you book → complete, underline, match, circle, cross, cover the text,

number, tick, cross out, mark, point.

board / look at the board / the picture

door / Close/Open the door/window, please

Work in pairs / groups / ask your partner

Answer the questions

Listen and repeat

Stand up / Sit down

wall

chair

Turn off your mobile/computer

desk

table

Please, stop talking!

You say:

Sorry, can you repeat that, please?

Sorry I´m late.

I don´t understand / I don´t know / I can´t remember

Can I have a copy, please?

How do you spell it/that? What´s ….. in English?

Excuse me

Can you help me, please?

What´s this in English?

Verbs

↓↑

Work and play

Jobs

major (carrera)

a worker

qualifications / skill / personal qualities

A writer´s room. Things

«My favourite things in life don´t cost any money».

a writer / a journalist / a newspaper / a magazine / advert or notice / a photo

an opinion / people discussing attitudes, arguments, the pros and cons of  … about …

an article / a text  / a report / a story / a true story / about….

an interview / a radio interview

online advice /  a quiz

scissors

a dictionary

a lamp

pencils

pieces of paper

printer

a file

glasses / sunglasses

headphones

a stamp

a ticket

a tissue

an umbrella

a wallet

a  watch

receipts

tidy / untidy

actor / actress

musician

politician

singer

an administrator

an architect / a builder / building

a chef / a cook

a dentist

a doctor

an engineer

a factory worker

a flight attendant

a hairdresser

a lawyer

a (bank) manager

a model

a nurse

a pilot

a policeman / policewoman

a receptionist

a shop assistant

a soldier

a teacher

a vet

a waiter / waitress

uniform comfortable / jacket / skirt / trousers / tie / bow tie (moño)

In multisyllable words, final -er / or is pronounced →/ə/ e.g. doctor, teacher. Final -ian is pronounced → /ʃn/ e.g. musician

a / an + jobs

We use a / an + jobs words → She´s a model. Not She´s model

Stars and Stripes

Colours and adjectives

What colours is it ?

Red + Green + Blue: White

Red + Green: Yellow

Blue + Yellow: Green

Red + Yellow: Orange

black + white: grey

white + red: pink

red + green: brown

Common adjectives and their opposites

bad / good

big / small

dangerous / safe

dirty / clean

easy / difficult

empty / full

expensive / cheap

far / near

fast / slow

high / low

hot / cold

long / short / long life

old / young / new / elderly /centenarians

rich / poor

strong / weak

wrong / right

Adjectives for appearance

nice

blonde / dark

beautiful / ugly

fat / thin ← slim (ni gordo, ni flaco) ← weight

tall/ short ← height

Positive adjectives for appearance → beautiful, good – looking, and attractive can all be

used for women, but for men we only use good – looking, attractive or handsome

famous

healthier

↑↓

The Body

head, neck and shoulders

eyes /ears / nose / hair

stomach / ache

arms  / hands and wrists

knee

ankle

foot / heel and toes

↑↓

Health / Medical problems

illness / elderly /centenarians / long life / measuring health an happiness

healthier ( physical and mental health) / illness / medical problems / advice /online advice

sleep / take a nap / talking about illness and advices

feel sick / get sick

Word focus: feel medical problems

mother to be / deliver a baby / ongoing

pharmacist / customer

↓

Medical Problems / Dialogues

Things I love about Britain

Sports / Competitions

Wordbuilding: words forms, sport venues and equipment, competition words

sportsman / sportswoman

a footballer

rules

wrestlers

Word focus: like ← talking about your interests

Talking about interests

personal qualities / skill and knowledge

an article about adventurers / accidents / qualities for an expedition / survival expert / geographical features / an opinion about … / a true story

climbing / expedition

cave /  Thai cave / trapped in the cave. There were football players with their coach / missing flood / diving experts to rescue

Collocations

Wordbuilding: Verb + noun collocations

Food

Fast food

Slow food

cheese

Modes of transport

Verbs transport words

↓

going on a journey (real life – functions) → terrible or bad journey / to work or university

rush hour / pick hour

traffic jam

an accident / rainning

subway stopped

a problem with my car / bike / motorbike

people discussing attitudes, arguments, the pros and cons of electric cars / animals for transporting / dog sledging / ricksshaw in Kolkata (Calcuta)

↑

a girl travelling by train in India / railways

passengers

ferry

an article / a text  / a report / a story / about transport in the future / about  how people travel around the town

lane

trip

commute / commuters

seat belt

road works

petrol station

speed limit

pedestrians

catch

take

pick up

miss

drop off

get on / off

go by

stop / rank

(boleto) fare / price

change / receipt

gate / platform

book / check in

Nature and animals

worm (gusano)

underwater

shallow / bank / seashore / seaside

environment / pollution

recycling

Animal qualities:

bat

bee

bird

horse

giraffe

lion

owl

mouse

Cerebro Bilingue

Bibliography:

Life.  Pre Intermediate. By John Hughes, Helen Stephenson and Paul Dummett.

English File. Elementary  By Christina Latham Koening, Clive Oxenden, Paul Seligson /

Third Edition. Descargar