Las vacaciones: una conversacin en

pasado simple en ingls

Aqu tienes la conversacin, luego hay un poco ms de explicacin:

Jim: Hello, Karen, welcome back! How was your holiday?

Karen: It was great!
Jim: Where did you go?
Karen: I went to Rome.
Jim: Oh, thats interesting. How was the weather?
Karen: It was nice. Warm and sunny.
Jim: Did you like the food?
Karen: Of course, it was wonderful. The pasta was amazing, and the pizza was
incredible.
Jim: Did you go by yourself?
Karen: No, I didnt. I went with my friend Jessica. She has some friends living
there.
Jim: Did you see all the famous monuments?
Karen: Yes, I did. I saw the Coliseum, and the Fontana Trevi, and all the rest.
Its such a beautiful city!
Jim: Did you visit the Vatican City?
Karen: Yes, but it was very crowded. I walked around Saint Peters Square and
looked at all the beautiful architecture.
Jim: Did you have a good time?
Karen: Yes, I did. I hope to go back some day.
Jim: How did you get there?
Karen: I got there by plane. The flight only takes a couple of hours.
Jim: Was it expensive?
Karen: The ticket wasnt very expensive, but Italy is generally more expensive
than Spain.
Karen: And you, Jim? Did you go on holiday yet?
Jim: No, not yet. But Im going to Turkey next week!
Notas sobre el vocabulario de la
conversacin
Did you have a good time? = Te lo pasaste bien?
How was the weather? = Qu tal el tiempo? (No
confundas time y weather Weather es meteorolgico, y time es
cronolgico.)
by yourself = solo/sola (sin acompaante)
get here/there/to Rome/etc = llegar a un sitio
take a couple of hours = tardar un par de horas

Una nueva conversacin en pasado simple

Bill: Where did you grow up, Bob?

Bob: I grew up in a small town in northern California. Close to San Francisco.
Bill: Oh wow. Was it nice?
Bob: Yes, it was very nice. In those days, there wasnt much tourism. And life was quiet. The forest was
beautiful, and so was the beach.
Bill: And why did you leave?
Bob: I left for the first time to go to college. I went to college in LA.
Bill: And what did you study?
Bob: I studied computer science.
Bill: Did you enjoy it?
Bob: Yeah, I did. But I never worked as a programmer. I actually ended up as a salesman, selling
computer systems to companies.
Bill: And what brought you to New York?
Bob: Well, in my last year at college, I met a girl. She was the most beautiful girl in the world Or at
least thats what I thought.
Bill: What was her name?
Bob: Her name was Laura. She studied art. She was a bit of a bohemian.
Bill: Sounds good!
Bob: It was, for a while. I moved to New York with her, and got a new job selling computer systems here.
We lived together in Brooklyn. We were happily in love for a couple of years. After we broke up, I just
stayed.
Bill: And here you are
Bob: Yeah, here I am. 10 years later.
Bill: Do you still see her?
Bob: I used to see her, from time to time. Finally, I decided not to see her anymore It usually
just brought up painful memories. Then I met my new girlfriend, now Im much happier.
Bill: Why did you break up?
Bob: Well, its a long story. What happened was
Y te dejo imaginar lo dems (o bien, sigo escribiendo otro da.) Si te gusta este tipo de conversacin,
avsame, y as me animo. Mndame un mensaje aqu.
Ahora veremos
Un poco de vocabulario

Primero, la diferencia entre college y university.

En ingls americano, usamos college para hablar de la universidad en general. La
palabra university se usa en los nombres oficiales de las universidades: Arizona State
University, Harvard University, etc. Pero por lo general, para la experiencia, se dice go to
college, study engineering in college, etc.
Luego, tambin se usa college para hablar de la facultad especfica. En una universidad tienes
varias:

My girlfriend and I both study at Oklahoma State University. Im studying at the College of Medicine,
and shes studying at the College of Liberal Arts.
Para ms sobre esta diferencia, consulta un diccionario. Es una larga historia.
Fjate tambin en la diferencia entre las preposicioneseso es cuando hablamos de la
experiencia en general, no de la institucin especfica:

I studied engineering at university. (British English)

I studied engineering in college. (American English)
Y ms vocabulario:

break up = romper (terminar una relacin)

end up = acabar (describe el resultado de un proceso)
computer science = informtica. Un informtico es computer technician, computer engineer, IT
technician, algo as.
salesman = comercial, vendedor
Conviene decir que commercial es un falso amigo. En ingls americano lo usamos para decir
anuncio. Y como al principio, Bob dice que es de a small town in California, tengo un video
sobre town, city, etc.
used to = se usa para hbitos en pasado (explicacin aqu)
from time to time = de vez en cuando
painful = doloroso

Una conversacin sobre las

vacaciones en ingls
Q: Where did you go on your last holiday?
A: I went to London. It was great!
Q: How long were you there?
A: I was there for 5 days.
Q: Did you visit the British Museum while you were there?
A: Yes, I did.
Q: Was it your first time in England?
A: No, it wasnt. I was in Manchester a few years ago for a conference.
Q: What was your favorite thing about London?
A: I really liked going to the theatre. London has some wonderful theatres!
Q: Where did you stay?
A: I stayed in a hotel in the center, near Picadilly Circus.
Q: How was the hotel?
A: It was nice, but a little bit expensive.
Q: Who did you go with?
A: I went with a couple of friends.
Q: Were the people friendly?
A: No, they werent. But sometimes people in big cities can be a bit rude.
Q: How did you get there?
A: We got there by plane, obviously. You cant drive to London.
Q: How much was the ticket?
A: The ticket cost 150 euros round trip.
Q: Did you like the food?
A: We had some very good Indian and Italian food while we were there. Typical
English food is a little bit boring.
Q: Do you think youll go back someday?
A: Id like to go back. But there are so many other places to see!