CA6 - General Comments

PRONUNCIATION

As usual, a few difficult words appeared in this exercise. Here you have a list with some of the trickiest words for CA6. As you can see, many of them are related to health topics. I recommend you use the online audio dictionary http://www.howjsay.com to hear the pronunciation and practice.

headache

primary

composed

since

That's very cold!

fever

pressure

university

plane

temperature

worried

disease

enough

medicine

breathe

retired

eye

patient

EXCELLENT EXPRESSIONS

In this section, you’ll see many excellent expressions that you used in CA6. In general, your work for this activity was exceptional! You should all be very proud! I recommend you have a look at the phrases here because I’m sure you’ll find something new or useful.

Excellent questions

• Good morning, Doctor. You're new, aren't you?
• I had an appointment with Dr. Garcia. Where is he?
• Do you have any allergies?
• Doctor, what's happening to me?
• How long have you been having these symptoms?
• How long have you had this problem?
• Do you have any health problems or any previous illness that you have to tell me?
• Do you have a sedentary job?

Excellent sentences

• Dr. Mateo has been transferred to another hospital. I think I’m going to be your new doctor.
• Perhaps if you have high cholesterol you should eat lean meat.
• If the symptoms persist, come back in one week.
• If these pills don't work, you can come here again and we can try another treatment.
• You only have the flu. It's very common these days and it's not serious.
• I need to know something about you so I will ask you some questions.
• Sometimes I'm dizzy and I feel very bad in general.
• I need to visit the specialist. I want to visit the cardiologist.
• I feel really bad and sometimes I feel that I'm going to die.
• I'm starting to think that I won't be able to fly.
• I have the feeling that my heart is accelerated.
• I am not convinced.
• I'm going on holidays next week. I need Calmozene.
• My old doctor always prescribed me Calmozene.
• I have heart palpitations and a big pain in my chest.

CORRECTIONS

Finally, we’ve reached the corrections section! Because this is your last activity, you won’t have an error correction exercise. Let me simply give you some comments and corrections for several of the sentences I encountered while listening to your conversations.

1. How many times you have the symptoms? --- How long have you had the symptoms?

REASON: The expression “how many times” refers to repetition = “quantes vegades.” Here, however, the doctor wants to ask about a period of time, not a repetition, so the correct expression is “how long.” // The verb is also incorrect. The sentence is missing the auxiliary “have” (the verb tense is present perfect).

2. Do you follow any treatment actually? --- now, currently, these days…

REASON: What do you remember about the word “actually”? It DOES NOT mean “actualment.” It’s a false friend and it means “en realitat.” There are several correct options to refer to the present time (you can see them above), but “actually” is not one of them.

3. I recommend Tranquil because it is a natural medicine and it don't affect the stomach. --- …it doesn’t affect…

REASON: The pronoun “it” uses the auxiliary “does/doesn’t”. Always be careful and make sure you use the correct verb conjugation with the correct pronouns! Verb conjugation is actually much easier in English, because the only difference is that in the present the pronouns “he/she/it” use an “s”!

4. You are married or have children? --- Are you married or do you have children?

REASON: The word order at the beginning of the question is incorrect: when making a question with the verb “be”, you need to invert the regular order. The verb “be” goes before the person. // The second part of the question is missing its auxiliary verb. You need to add its auxiliary verb because it is a different verb (it’s not the verb “be”). Let me give you an example:

--- Are you hungry or thirsty? --- In this sentence, the verb “are” is the main verb for both parts of the question. We don’t have to repeat the verb. [Are you hungry or are you thirsty?]

--- Are you tired or do you want to continue walking? --- In this question, we have one part with the verb “are” and another part with the main verb “want” so we need to include the correct auxiliary for “want.”

5. I come here because I go to vacancies I need another pill because the previous doctor recet me a pill that don't feel good. --- I’m here because I’m going on vacation/holidays and I need another pill because the previous doctor prescribed me a pill that/which made me feel sick.

REASON: There are several mistakes in this sentence. Many of the words aren’t English. Other parts of the sentence can be improved by using more specific words. I suggest a complete rewrite.

6. Doctor please, could you take me the pressure and temperature? --- Doctor please, could you take my pressure and temperature?

REASON: Somehow, this was a typical mistake in this activity. When we talk about blood pressure or temperature, we never say “take me the” or “take me my”. We simply say “take my.”

7. I have 31 years old. // I have 25 years old. --- I am XX [years old].

REASON: This is another mistake some students made--and it's an elementary mistake! Don’t forget! In English we never say “have” an age. We ARE our age.

8. I work for about eight hours for a day. --- …about eight hours a day.

REASON: The original sentence had an extra word. We never say “work XX hours for a day.” Simply eliminate “for.”

9. Every week you come to visit me and every week I say you the same. --- …and every week I tell you the same.

REASON: We can’t use the verb say + pronoun. This structure isn’t correct. We can, however, use the verb “tell.” What’s more, the verb “tell” has a sense of explanation, so it’s a better option.  Here are a few links with more information on how to use say and tell.

10. Sorry to treat you of you, but could you take me my blood pressure please?

REASON: See sentence number 6 for the explanation about “take me my blood pressure.” // The first part of this sentence is a literal translation from Spanish or Catalan: Sento tractor-te de tu. --- Tutejar-te. This concept doesn’t exist in English! In English, we only have the pronoun “you” to refer to other people, so this part of the original sentence doesn’t make sense.

11. My problem is that I have afraid of flying. Really I have a panic of flying. --- My problem is that I am afraid of flying. I feel panic when I fly.

REASON: The original is a literal translation from Catalan or Spanish (tinc por, tinc pànic). This structure doesn’t exist in English. You need to use the verb “be” with the adjective “afraid”: I am afraid. Another option is to use the noun: I have a fear of flying. With the word “panic” you also have different options: I feel panic / I feel panicked.

12. I'm sorry but I have afraid needles and injections. --- I’m sorry but I am afraid of needles and injections / I have a fear of needles and injections.

REASON: Here the same reason applies as number 11. Always remember that English is a different language, so you can't make literal translations from Catalan or Spanish because most of the time these translations will be incorrect.

13. Perhaps one day this drug will make you any secondary effects. --- Perhaps one day this drug will give you side effects. // will cause side effects.

REASON: This is a typical mistake most of you made, but it’s a simple one to correct! When talking about the unwanted effects of a medicine, we say side effects, not “secondary effects” (another literal translation).

14. I think that I will gonna faint from one moment to the next. --- I think that I will faint from one moment to the next.

REASON: The word “gonna” isn’t really a word. It’s a shortened form of “going to”, and it’s not an appropriate thing to use in the English classroom because it is very informal (like slang). In this sentence there are two future forms: “will” and “going to” (gonna). You only need one future form. The correct one to use is "will."

15. First you have to take the Tranquil and then the Calmozene if it doesn't play. --- …if it doesn’t work.

REASON: A medicine doesn’t “play.” A medicine works.

16. As you know, I am new in this town and I would like to meet you better. --- … I would like to know you better.

REASON: The verb “meet” has several meanings: to see someone for the first time / to arrange a meeting with someone. In this sentence, you need the verb “know” instead of “meet.” The verb “know” means that you learn about the person, and that’s what the doctor wants to do in this sentence: learn about the patient and understand him better.

Summer Reading

Summer is here and it's time to lie on the beach, soak up the sun, and read a good book!

If you would like to take advantage of your summer holidays to keep expanding your English knowledge, I recommend you check out these adapted books for learners of English.

The level you studied this semester is B.1 in the European Common Framework. It corresponds to an intermediate, the Cambridge English exam PET (the First Certificate is B.2 level).

In the following links you'll find book titles for all levels. You can order these books online, or you can find them in your local bookshop or even your library!


Macmillan Graded Readers
In this website, your level corresponds approximately to Intermediate. Macmillan offers over 80 different titles for Intermediate level!


Penguin Readers
If you have a look at the levels they offer, you'll see that you're approximately a Level 4 (the blue), which corresponds to B.1 level in the Common Framework.


Oxford Bookworms Library
Here you have six different levels (from Starters to Stage 5).


Saber Inglés
Here you have a list of free books in English that you can download and read from your computer or your ebook reader. These books haven't been adapted for students, so they're in the original format.


Amazon
You can also find many adapted books on Amazon (at lower prices, too!) Here's a link to Amazon Spain with the search for "Macmillan Graded Readers." Be sure to check that the level you order is the correct one! Here's another link for the search "Heinemann Graded Readers."


Well, I'm sure that with all the books these websites offer you'll find something interesting to read this summer! In my case, I'm reading A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin... I'm almost halfway through but it's taking me a very long time because I'm not enjoying the story very much so I keep leaving it and leaving it... Oh, well! I'm sure you'll have more luck than me with the books you choose!