Confusion with 2 syllable comparatives ending in 'y'

So a common error often committed by native English speakers is with the double syllable comparative ending in 'y'. Remember, double syllable adjectives ending with 'y' should be treated as a short adjective. Hence we say 'funnier', 'happier', 'luckier' and NOT 'more funny' etc as natives often do. Remember to add the extra 'i' also before 'er' and take off the 'y'. Have a great day. 

Confusion with ‘to practice’ and other verbs for different sports

This is a very problematic word for students in our skype English classes as they all too often translate this literally wrongly when we are talking about sport. So ‘practicar deportes’ would not be translated by ‘I practice sport’ but we would say ‘I do or play sport’. Similarly, ‘practico tenis’ would not be translated with ‘practice’ but in this case we’d say ‘I play tennis’.

We use ‘to practice’ in sport or other activities to mean to go over a routine or to repeat something. For example, we would practice penalties in readiness for a penalty shoot-out. The noun ‘practice’ would be an ‘entrenamiento’. It can also be called ‘training’ in English. For example, we’d go to ‘hockey training’ as well as ‘tennis practice’. If we want to perfect routines by repeating them then we’d use ‘practice’. For example, we would say ‘we need to practice corners’.

With regard to the verb we use with different sports, the structure depends on the type of sport indicated. For team games with a ball, we employ the verb ‘play’. For instance, we’d say ‘she plays rugby, golf, baseball…’. If the sport is also a verb like ‘skiing’ or ‘sailing’ or ‘cycling’ then we have several options. First, we can say simply ‘I run’ or ‘she skies’. Second, it is possible to say ‘she goes skiing’ or ‘he went cycling’. For sports which are not verbs and do not have a ball in use then we would use the verb ‘to do’. For example we would say ‘I do karate’ or ‘I do archery’. As there are so many different sports there can be exceptions to these rules.

Use 'to be on holiday' and not 'to be on holidays'

Hi! Remember, in English we use the structure 'to be on holiday' and not 'to be on holidays'. For example, it'd be accurate to say 'we were on holiday for 2 weeks last month' and not 'we were on holidays for 2 weeks last month'. http://www.clasesinglesonline.com/

Be careful when saying ‘last day’ or ‘next day’:

So in our sessions virtually every client falls into this trap. Avoid saying ‘last day’ or ‘next day’ when you want to talk about the last or next occasion an event such as one of our Skype English classes will happen. For instance, students often say something like ‘I’d like to look at uncountable nouns next day’. The use of ‘next day’ here is a significant error. Remember that ‘next day’ and indeed ‘last day’ are direct translations from the Spanish and they don’t work in the same way in English. As alternatives we could use ‘next/last time’ or ‘in the next/last session’ when mentioning the next or last instance something will take happen. We hope that makes sense.

So which preposition should we use with the verb 'to arrive': in or at?

The preposition that comes after ‘arrive’ is often problematic. Even native speakers have trouble with this. If we are talking about arriving in a specific place name such as a village, region, country, city, park then we must utilise the preposition ‘in’. For example, ‘the England rugby team arrived in South Africa last night’ or ‘we arrived in Rotterdam yesterday’ or ‘she will arrive in the village of West Harting later’. So, when we mention the name of a specific place (village, town, city, county, country…) then we must use ‘in’ with the verb ‘to arrive’. Should the place where we arrive not be a city, village, county etc then we must utilise the preposition ‘at’. For example, ‘I arrived at the police station half an hour ago’ or ‘she will shortly arrive at the cinema’ or ‘he has already arrived at work’ or ‘when will we arrive at Madrid bus terminal?’ Note in the last example that the generic place supersedes the specific place (Madrid) with regard to the implementation of the preposition.

Separate from this is the phrase 'to arrive at a decision'. This is not to be confused with the above.
http://www.clasesinglesonline.com

How do we translate the word 'fiesta' to English?

Good evening/morning, so a lot of fiestas are taking place right now in Spain. So what would be the closest word to 'fiesta' in English? Well ultimately some loss in translation is inevitable as a fiesta in Spain is a concept that is unique to Spain. Probably, the best word would not be 'party' for 'fiestas' happening in big towns or cities as the 'fiesta' really becomes quite sizable in big towns or cities. In these cases, the most appropriate word would be 'festival'. So Pamplona/Iruña has a bull running festival in early July. Valencia has a festival in March and San Sebastian de los Reyes similarly has a bull running festival in late August. If the 'fiesta' occurs in a village then we can safely name it a 'village party' since we do have village parties in the UK, albeit very different to those in Spain. Also, in the UK, a party can be at someone's residence or in a night club (discoteca). All the best. 

Verb "to discuss" has no preposition

Good morning! So remember the verb 'to discuss' has no preposition. So we cannot say in class 'let's discuss about the new procedure in the follow-up meeting'. It would be ' 'let's discuss the new procedure in the follow-up meeting'. Have a great day.
http://www.clasesinglesonline.com/