Normas básicas de funcionamiento del hilo
1- nada de pedir que se te hagan/corrijan redacciones o se ocultará.
2- postead sobre el tema antes de preguntar alguna duda o se ocultará.
3- nada de preguntar sobre resources o se ocultará.
#1830 The hardest part will be the speaking, you'll be speaking at the computer, through the microphone. Try to know what you want to say beforehand, you'll have a few seconds (20 or so) to write stuff down (throughout most the listening and speaking part you can write stuff down, in the listening part it'll be extra important to do so).
Speak clearly and don't mix up pronouns or verbs, that's what they fixate about the most.
Don't be nervous, if you can read something like The Hobbit without much trouble and understanding everything (not all the vocabulary, obviously, there are some tough words in every other book) you'll do great.
The writing part isn't very challenging, but do REMEMBER that there are individual times for the two essays, even though it's not clarified. So if you see "1/2 essay" or "first essay" and a timer, that's the timer for the first one xd (Really obvious right now, but in the heat of the moment it may screw your exam). Maybe they've fixed that by now, but I wouldn't count on that.
Try to think and speak to yourself in English all afternoon , that'll loosen you up real good for tomorrow.
Also, time does go fast but if you're focused you will do great. If you struggle too much with something do skip ahead, maybe you'll have extra time. I did have some in the reading section, every other text at least 2-3 minutes.
Anything over 90 is a good mark, I got a 109/120 with 23 in speaking, hadn't spoken in a long while and it took me by surprise. The speaking to yourself will work beautifully for this.
Well, good luck =]
#1831 Thanks for the advise, i really needed that. So you mean is better just to be simple but clear in the speaking part? This evening i'll have look for grammar and writings at work.
Right now i'm reading Game of Thrones and i read before some other books from authors like Ken Follet or Stephen king, that's why i'm not really worried about reading. Just need to focus and read twice each answer.
On the other hand I just expect myself to have a higher mark than 90, any other mark could be a completly disaster for my future grant . I've done the sample exam they provide in their exam and i think now i know how it works.
Last, as i said i've seen one sample and i saw you've got questions where you can answer two or more choices which value is 2. Do you know if i can get half the mark if at least one of the choices is correct?. Thank you so much again ^.
#1833 hahaha, ty , i said so because in Cambridge exams even they're humans they really hard correcting.
#1832 Don't know about that... I don't remember anything about double answers, but I think they do consider those things. Remember that it's a human the one that corrects your exam, you're not in hands of an emotionless computer.
Hi people, I was writing in a forum when a doubt came to my mind. I hope you'll be able to help me 
The sentence I was writing is this:
I agree, Vicky is too complex, but the main reason because it's not played by kids is because it's a slow game and perhaps a little bit boring for people who don't love history or strategy. A less than 10 years old kid usually doesn't love anything too much, much less will love history or grand strategy games.
I'm not very confident about that two "because" too close together.
As always, I'll thank any further correction.
#1835 YES! I don't know how I've made such a stupid mistake, thank you!
#1836 I wasn't very sure about it, but I wasn't worried. The forum is international and nobody would take care of it xDDD
#1831 Your English is awesome dude.. Are you living in a foreign country? At some point, I would like to handle English like you ^^
#1838 Thanks man, very kind of you. I don't live in a foreign country, I just read a lot, watch many films and think much in English. Practice, that's the key.
#1839 The key to improve your English resides basically on what #1839 said, if you're not living in a English-speaking country you could try switching languages with everything you have, your cellphone, your TV, your PC if you want to, eventually you'll get used to understand it at the very least.
Either that or practicing by speaking with someone who actually speaks.
Hi everyone! I'm new to this thread I've a little question... would you recommend me an easy book in english to read on my Knidle? In principle I don't care the topic.
I don't have any recommendations as I haven't read many books in English, but here is some advice. Unless you are reading a children's book, an English book is going to be always tedious to read. Think about this, you don't know every Spanish word or expression, when you are reading something is very common the need for a dictionary even if it's your own language.
In an English book, this gets multiplied, you are going to find a great deal of words and expressions completely new. Also in books, there are some narrative figures not used when speaking or informal writing, so expect to find yourself don't understanding something even after you have looked up the words in a dictionary.
#1844 Try reading something for ages 8-14, don't know what but there must be some light reading in that range.
Also, penguin editorial has many a book adapted for English students.
If you have the patience for it, you can read in front of the computer, find and download the Spanish edition of the book, and every time you don't understand something read it in Spanish.
Always try to find the meaning looking in a dictionary first, use the Spanish book as a last resort, but anyway you'll find yourself stopping a lot, which probably will make the reading experience very boring.
#1843 Not bad at all, it didn't go as well as i expected because of the speaking. But at least i think listenning, reading and writing went quite good. The problem was i've never spoken in english to a machine instead of a person and i didn't even know what to say, such a shame. Anyway, I don't think i'll get more than 80 points over 120 and I was expected to have over 100 (it's the CAE mark), so at least i tried it without much practising. Thanks for asking.
Today I've bought "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. It is about a man who dies and then he just wakes up and he is eigtheen years old but he remembers all about his past.
PS. could anyone explain me the difference between anyway and either way?
#1851 yes i know, but as i said, i did a really mess in the speaking, in other conditions i guess i could've had a 25 in speaking.
#1850 There's really no a great difference between both, but regarding the fact that "either way" is more suitable when you want to refer to two possible conditions, whatsoever, I'll be a tiny bit more definite:
Either you take your attire or you'll get a cold. Either way, you shall be going out in a sec.
Another example could be this one: You do have to finish your job or leave it to your mate, either way, you'll have to go to a meeting.
You should be able to heave or realize the meaning in any case.
Greetings.
#1850 The best way to tell the meaning of each would be to refer to the situation in which you use them:
Say there's a long conversation in which you talk the most, then to introduce the conclusion of whatever you're saying you use "Anyway":
-Anyway, my sister wants you to pick Alfred from the airport.
(In Spanish it's sort of "En fin / Como te venía diciendo / Bueno, mi hermana quiere...")
Either way is just the way #1853 described it. It's a very simple expression, mainly it's "Sea como sea" in Spanish.
-[...] Either way I'm gonna smoke this joint, be it with or without you.
A few days ago, teacher gave us (my partners of english academy) homework, it was write a history. I used wordreference for some words, but here's the history, will you correct me? Thanks!
It's so poor but it's a history of 100 words approx. It's the 'prologue' of The Walking Dead haha, but a little bit changed.
#1855 Here we go. I'll go through your whole post, introduction and everything:
-->
A few days ago, the teacher gave us (me and my partners from the English academy) homework, it was a story-writing assignment. I used wordreference for some words, but here's the story, will you correct it? Thanks!
Spoiler:
A week ago, I waked up from my coma. I had been asleep for 2 months. When I got up, my arms and my legs were hurting, I couldn't walk well, so I started to crawl. A short while after, I could get up and walk.
I was in the hospital. I was really nervous because I had heard some people screaming in pain.
I fled my room after seeing such view, for a moment I thought I was in a nightmare, but nay, it wasn't a nightmare.
I started to walk through the corridors, and I saw blood marks (maybe blood stains) on the walls, I was really scared, but I didn't stop walking.
(I would say: I was in sheer panic, but I didn't manage to stop myself from going further on).
I left the hospital, and I saw a lot of dead corpses, all of them vaulted in line with each other.
Then I saw a pistol on the floor, and a zombie coming for me, so I shot myself and the nightmare vanished/came to an end.
It's so poor but it's a story of 100 words approx. It's the 'prologue' of The Walking Dead haha, but a little bit changed.
You should practice a little bit more. Watch some films and read books. Your English is comprehensible but not very clear. Work on your prepositions (on/in/by/over... ) too:
In means ''inside''. I'm in my home.
On means "over". I'm on my bed (sobre la cama) // I'm in my bed (dentro de la cama). Also on means ''ongoing action" or "status": I'm on my way, I'm on the phone,
Your verbal expression is a little bit off. You should work on that too, practice should suffice but a closer analysis at what each one means could give you more ground to express yourself.
"Applicate" doesn't exist. It's apply.
Work also on the textual connectors, you use the very basic ones without much flourish. The ''Then, I saw a pistol on the floor" is very rudimentary.
I'll give you and example of what you could do if you didn't have that 100 words limit: ''Distant screaming woke me up and made me realise that a zombie was heading right towards me, waving his arms in a grotesque view. I found a gun just lying by a corpse, took it and aimed at the zombie. My confidence shuttered when I was about to pull the trigger, and reality took down my focus. The gun was now aiming at myself, and in a flash the nightmare came to an end".
English gives you a very ample set of possibilities to express yourself, if you learn to use it you'll find that English isn't even hard, it's just very "plentiful" in expression.
Cheers mate =]
#1856 Omg, thanks! I will correct it for the next time.
Yes, I have to practice a lot, I started this year to study 'seriously'. I've done ESO english, that's all... my english is really poor. And my verbal expression sucks too. Like phrasal verbs, I learned this year some of them that I've never seen.
And I don't know why I wrote 'applicate' xD.
Thanks for the info, I don't know these prepositions does it mean, so thanks again ^.
My god... Your story was so difficult to me, nah, difficult no, impossible at the moment xD. I'm starting at Intermediate level... so pacience.
And thank you again for the answer.
Ps: when you said 'When I got up, my legs and my arms were hurting...', why past continuous? I want to say 'estaban heridas', no estaban 'hiriendose?'. It's not literal translate (traducción literal? xD) but, I don't know if you understood me.
