Usually, Used to, Be/Get Used to

 Let's try to see the main differences among these three forms, according to the tense and the meaning, and to the following form. 

The first difference is the TENSE they are used and it's meaning:

• USUALLY is for any tense but it's very likely to see it with present simple or habitual present and it's related to how frequent you do an action:
• She usually goes to work on foot
• USED TO is only past and it has the meaning of having done something in the past but you don't do it anymore, that is, habits or actions you stopped doing them.
• She used to go to work on foot but now she goes by car
• BE/GET USED TO: it's used for any tense as the form "used" is taken as an adjective, not a verb, so the tense is shown in the verbs "be" or "get".
• She's not used to going to work on foot anymore as she goes by car

The other remarkable difference is the form following the expression, especially between "used to" and "be/get used to":

• USUALLY+ present simple or other tenses: I usually had fish during my last holidays (pay attention it doesn't mean I don't do it now, just it was something habitual in that time)
• USED TO + infinitive:  I didn't use to have fish when I was a child (this fact happened in the past but not now)
• BE/GET USED TO+-ing form: I got used to having fish when I was in my twenties (notice that TO is a preposition here and not part of the infinitive, so it's followed by -ing form)

There is a little difference between using BE or GET in this last form: "to be used to" means you're familiar with that action while "to get used to" means you're in the process; if you want to practise with this, do this exercise

Just to finish with this difficult point, there is a blog with an entry in Spanish which works with more differences among these forms. If you feel confident enough to fgo a bit further with this matter, visit this link.

You should practise with written exercises but first have a look to this explanation in Test English and then do these exercises:    exercise 1  (there are 2 more exercises)    exercise 2    exercise 3

Once you've understood this, practise with these questions but do it as oral practice:

• What did you use to do as a child in your free time?
• What do you usually do to relax?
• What won't you get used to doing as an elderly person?

Revision of Tenses: Present Simple for Habits

I found this video by chance and I think it's a good example to practise with present simple. We usally think it's something we've already learnt but if you listen to these two people (by the way, British and American accent) you'll see there are many ways to improve your English, as when you're using such easy tenses as present simple. It's a bit long but I think it's worth a visit.

Once you've seen it, try to practise on your own by recording yourself while describing your daily routines. Remember to look up all the necessary vocabulary lke your profession or hobbies.

Just keep in mind this is a very usual topic: to speak about yourself, your hobbies, what you usually do... and it gives you clues onwhat to ask to the other people.

See you!

Learning English with Songs

 Everybody loves music and when you sing you feel better, don't you? But the fact is that when you're singing a song in another language this can help you in many ways: improving your vocabulary, fixing grammar structures and having better pronunciation.

But not everybody likes the same kind of music and maybe the songs you love are not the best for starting learning English. That's the reason why I've taken a selection based on the simplicity rather than kind of music. If you want to practise with a song, first try to find it with LYRICS (la letra) on the internet; then, try to choose ballads or slow music to be able to follow it as a karaoke, and finally try to sing it without looking at the lyrics. When you've done this, you'll see you've learnt new words, some structures and you'll be able to pronounce those words better. 

So let's start with these simple ones and little by little you can add as many songs as you fancy.

Old classic ones

• Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley : very slow and good for starting with pronunciation
• Father and Son by Cat Stevens : imperative and some typical expressions ("take it easy")
• What a Wonderful World by Louis Amstrong :  use of adjectives
• My Heart by Celine Dion : just Titanic!

 Modern singers

• What about Us? by Pink : present tense 
• Wake Me Up by Aviici : a bit more rhythm
• 7 Years Old by Lukas Graham : past and future tenses, comparatives 
• Someone like You by Adele : beautiful song, isn't it?
• The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars : with typical forms such as "wanna" (want to) or gonna (going to)
• Roar by Katty Perry : past tenses
• Perfect by Ed Sheeran : different tenses (past, present and future)

If you practise listening skills with songs you can go to these links: 

• Learn English with Songs : filling the gaps exercises
• This blog has a lot of exercises: click here
• ESL Video : with different videos and exercises

Improving your skills in English

 If you want to improve your skills, this is a summary with good links to help you:

LISTENING

• Elllo.org
• Test English
• This page has a lot of information on this topic
• British Council

WRITING

• Cambridge: Write and Improve
• Another tool for writing: Grammarly
• Hemingway app
• British Council
• Samples of wrting for B2: the ones for EOI (Asturias) and these ones for FCE Cambridge

READING

• You can use graded readings (with different levels of difficulty):  English E-reader
• Read many different texts, like news, articles, etc: CNN news, ESL Gold (articles for learning English- USA)
• Reading exercises: Test English B2
• British Council

SPEAKING

• Use different samples from CCAA, but not all of them have oral part : EOI Alcalá de Henares
• Record your speech and check it later
• Use Google oral messages or turn on subtitles on MEET: you should use any programme to convert an oral message into words; if the app/programme doesn't write your own words, that menas you haven't done it properly; try it again until your message is identical.
• Use a compilation of typical phrases for oral practice: This blog entry is a very long list so check it and take the expressions you feel more confortable with.

Hope this may be useful for you. Keep on enjoying English!