– Reading Personal Information (Lectura Información Personal)

“Hello! My first name is Pierre and my surname is Shaw. I am twenty-five years old. I was
born in Berlin but I live in a quite small town called Loutraki. It is located in Greece. I live
in a big apartment with my wife and my two children. I have a daughter and a son. My
daughter’s name is Susana; she is three years old.

My son’s name is Paul; he’s three months old. My wife’s name is Emily; she is Spanish. I
am a lawyer and my wife is a pilot. We have lived in Greece for four years. I love living
here but my wife misses Barcelona a lot; her parents live there. We are moving to Spain
next year in October.”

– Reading Present Progressive (Lectura Presente Progresivo)

Family Celebration in Ecuador

Hello this is Jack reporting from the Annual Family Celebration in Quito, Ecuador. People
are having a wonderful time. Most men are cooking a traditional dish called Fanesca. Some
women are playing hide-and-seek with their children. The elderly are listening to old music
and telling stories from the past.

I am here with Mario Velasco, the event organizer, and I want to ask him a couple of
questions:

Reporter: Mario, how long is the event?

Mario: Well, it started yesterday at 7 am and it’ll finish tomorrow at 9 pm with a concert.
Reporter: Is this event meaningful for Ecuadorian families?
Mario: Yes, absolutely. Just look at the people. They are laughing, dancing or just relaxing.
Reporter: Thank Mario for your time and for the event.

That is all for now. I am Jack Baker. Bye-bye.

– The Family (Ejercicio sobre la familia)

Reporter: Welcome to a new episode of “Famous People’s Families”. Today we are going
to talk about the family of the new pop star Frank Coleman. Hello Frank. Do you have a
large or a small family?
Frank: Hello. I would say small. My family consists of my wife, my son, my parents and
my two sisters.
Reporter: What about your extended family?
Frank: My father has twelve siblings and my mother seven. So I have ten uncles and nine
aunts, but to tell you the truth I only see them at Christmas.
Reporter: Do you get along well with your sisters?
Frank: My sisters’ names are Rose and Rachel. I love my family more than anything, so
we get along well. I call them every week. It is a very close relationship.
Reporter: Tell us about your parents.
Frank: Well, they are my heroes. My mom’s name is Ivana. She is from Russia. She is 62
years old and is really beautiful. My father’s name is Ralph. She is a dentist. They make a
lovely couple.
Reporter: Would you like to have more children?
Frank: Yes! Actually, Elizabeth, my wife, is pregnant. We are exited and happy. My
parents don’t know yet. We are going to tell them tomorrow.
Reporter: Wow, that’s really good news. Thank you Frank for being here and for telling us
about your family.

– Adjetivos comparativos (Australia vs. The United States)

Reporter: Mary, please tell us what you think about Australia and The United States.
Mary: Well, they are really nice countries and I love both of them. They are quite different,
though.
Reporter: Tell us about those differences.
Mary: For starters, the US is larger than Australia and there are more people there than in
Australia.
Reporter: What about the food?
Mary: I love Australian food, especially Cabanossi; it is a type of sausage. Food in
Australia is more traditional and spicier than in the States.
Reporter: I’ve heard that Americans drive faster than Australians.
Mary: Yeah, that’s right. Roads in the US are usually safer and bigger than in Australia so
people can drive faster.
Reporter: Is it true that people in Australia are taller and thinner than in the US?
Mary: I don’t know. Probably you are right, but I am not sure.
Reporter: Finally, lets talk about men.
Mary: Men are most of the times more handsome in Australia. However, my husband is
American and he is pretty attractive.
Reporter: Thank you Mary for your time.

– La personalidad y la descripción física

Dear Francesca,

I arrived in Liverpool two days ago and I just met my roommates. I have three roommates.
Bill is from Switzerland; he is tall and heavy; he has got hazel eyes. He is friendly and
outgoing. Suzanne is gorgeous; she is from Cape Verde so she speaks Portuguese and
English quite well. She seems to have a strong personality; I think we will get along well.
Felipe comes from Peru. He is short, thin and athletic. He loves sports, especially rugby. He
is reserved so he doesn’t talk much.

I am so excited because tomorrow we are going to the Beatles museum. I hope you are
having a great time in The Bahamas. Tell me about all what you’ve done there.
Love,
Arnold

– Lectura conversación sobre los cumpleaños

Anastasia: Tomorrow is Raul’s birthday.

Rebecca: Isn’t it next week?
Anastasia: No, I looked at his Facebook profile and confirmed that it is tomorrow.
Rebecca: We must do something to celebrate his birthday.
Anastasia: Yes. How about a surprise party on Friday?
Rebecca: Great idea. What time?
Anastasia: I think at 7 pm it is fine.
Rebecca: I think it is too early, how about at 9?
Anastasia: OK. But I have to work early on Saturday, so I can’t stay for the whole party.
Rebecca: No problem. And whom should we invite?
Anastasia: Well, his wife and his parents.
Rebecca: We should also invite his friends from work.
Anastasia: Sure, where is the party?
Rebecca: Well, it will be in your house, right?
Anastasia: I do not know. I should ask John first.
Rebecca: OK. Let me know as soon as possible to start organizing everything.

– Presentaciones formales en inglés (conversación)

Mr. Allen: Good morning Ms. Green I’d like you to meet Mr. Hernandez from Raff Market
Research.
Ms. Green: Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hernandez. I’m Rita Green.
Mr. Hernandez: Pleased to meet you, too.
Mr. Allen: Mr. Hernandez is a market researcher. He’s been analyzing our company for 2
years for a research project.
Ms. Green: That’s wonderful. Would it be possible to talk about your research project next
week?
Mr. Hernandez: Oh, sorry I’ll be at a symposium in San Francisco. What about tomorrow
in the morning?
Ms. Green: Let me talk to my assistant to check if I can fit you in tomorrow morning. My
secretary will let you know today.
Mr. Hernandez: It was nice meeting you. I look forward to discussing the findings of my
research.
Ms. Green: That’ll be great. I hope to see you soon, Mr. Hernandez. Goodbye.
Mr. Allen: Goodbye Ms. Green.
Mr. Hernandez: Goodbye Ms. Green. Have a good day.

– Routines in English (Rutinas en inglés)

My friend Mathew has a very hectic life. For starters, he has three jobs. In the morning he
works as a teacher, in the afternoon as a taxi driver and at night as a singer. Mathew wakes
up at 4 am, he takes a shower, gets dressed and goes to school. He doesn’t have time for
breakfast at home so he has breakfast at school. Mathew teaches 5th grade. He loves
children so enjoys his work.

At 12:30 Mathew always has lunch with his coworkers. Then he goes to his father’s house
to pick up his father’s taxi and begins working as a taxi driver. He is a good driver and likes
talking to passengers about politics and sports. Mathew has a rock band; at night the band
plays some music at a local bar. After singing for two hours, he goes back home, has dinner
and watches a little TV.

Mathew’s wife is pregnant; so he will quit two of his jobs soon. He wants to share a lot of
time with his family in the future.

– My favorite things (Mis cosas favoritas)

Hello, I am Ross from Glasgow and I want to tell you about my two favorite things.

My car is my second favorite on my list of favorite things. I am a single father and I have 4
small children. Because of that, I need a mode of transportation to take my children to
school, to the movies, or to visit their mother and her new husband in a city near Glasgow.

First place on my list is my phone; what I mean is, my smartphone. I use it all day. In the
morning I use it as an alarm to wake up; then I listen to music on the bus when I go to
work; in the afternoon I send messages to my friends and my girlfriend on Facebook or
WhatsApp. Right now I am studying French and I use some of the apps on my phone to
improve my French.

– My uncle’s mansion (La mansión de mi tio)

I do not own a mansion, but I have an uncle who does. I guess it can be given the name
“mansion” because there are more than ten bedrooms and a total of eight bathrooms. It has
two living rooms and a large hall that leads to the terrace. The kitchen is huge and well
equipped. There are three floors in this mansion. As much as I always loved it when I was a
kid I was terrified of walking around at night because of how big it was. Now that I go back
there for parties and for family gatherings I feel a lot of nostalgia and I’m reminded of how
much fun we had running in the halls of my uncle’s mansion.