Learning English in your spare time is really helping you, but what happens when you need to use it at work? We’ve been studying for ages and yet do not speak fluently. Time to speak more English if we want to speak better English.

Here are some easy ways to practice your English at work:

Try to use English at work every day: you can start slowly but steadily, do something in English as part of your work, send a mail, make a phone call, book an appointment, etc. Start with easy tasks and increase difficulty gradually. Have some of your colleagues help you when preparing and/or to check your message.

Interact on social networks in English, especially in professional ones, where you get to practice vocabulary related to your field. Interacting means to get actively involved, not just read and share, so follow specialised/professional blogs, news, media and write comments, participate in groups, report news, express your point of view, etc.

Do you have a foreign co-worker? Make friends with him/her. Take advantage and try to have casual conversations first, before moving into more professional ones.

Or just do it the other way around, some people feel more confident when they know the subject they are talking about. Do whatever feels right for you.

You don’t have a multicultural work environment where you get the chance to practice your English skills? Create one!! agree on a day/time and try to get your team involved in communicating in English for that time span. Or do a regular progress meeting in English, to get used to speaking it in a “safe” environment at the work place. Certainly, you don’t want to start on it with that very important meeting at the client, but you’ll be better prepared and more confident if you’ve already had some practice.

Probably some days you just won’t feel like it, or you’ll have too much workload to focus on English but keep it mind and create a habit. The most important thing is that it becomes a regular practice and not something that feels awkward.

Easy, peasy!

Fun y funny son palabras que usamos muy a menudo cuando hablamos en inglés. Tienen significados parecidos aunque estas palabras nos resultan confusas cuando las tenemos que utilizar en una frase.

Common mistakes:

 My weekend was funny, I had a funny time with my friends.
 My weekend was fun. I had a fun time with my friends.

 Our trip to London was funny and exciting, we did lots of funny activities.
 Our trip to London was fun and exciting, we did lots of fun activities.

 We went to see a comedian, he was really fun.
 We went to see a comedian, he was really funny.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre fun y funny?

Fun es un nombre incontable (uncountable noun) que significa que algo nos hacer sentir bien y disfrutar, o lo que es lo mismo “you enjoy doing it” “you have a good time doing it”

E.g.
We had so much fun together at the theatre.
It was fun to go to a theme park with all my friends.
Playing games is not my idea of fun.
Time flies when you are having fun.
Have fun!

Fun también se utiliza como adjetivo de manera informal, sobre todo en inglés hablado (informal spoken English)

E.g.
It was a fun day with all my friends. We did lots of fun activities and we had a great time.
Jake is a fun guy, I always have a good time with him.

El comparativo y superlativo de fun en este caso sería:

Riding a bicycle is more fun than skating.
Travelling is one of the most fun things you can do.

Funny es un adjetivo que significa divertido, porque algo te hace reír, “it makes you laugh” (pueder ser una persona o una situación, una broma…)

E.g.
We watched a comedy last weekend, it was really funny, we laughed a lot.
We all laughed when he started telling jokes, he’s a funny comedian.
Do you know any funny jokes?
I find some comedians very funny.
A funny thing happened in the office the other day.
Jake is a funny guy (he makes me laugh)

El comparativo y superlativo de funny sería:

His new book is funnier than the previous ones.
She’s the funniest person I know, she knows many jokes.

Se puede usar fun y funny también en frases negativas

E.g.
Going to a dentist is not fun!
Doing a long boring exam is not fun.
Nobody laughed because his joke was not funny.
An accident is never funny. (Well, it’s not supposed to be funny)

Funny puede tener también el significado de extraño, sorprendente, inesperado o difícil de explicar (‘strange’, ‘surprising’, ‘unexpected’ or ‘difficult to explain or understand’)

She was wearing a funny hat (strange, weird).
That’s funny (strange, surprising), I think my glasses were here a minute ago.
I have this funny feeling that something is going to happen (difficult to explain).
This place smells funny (strange, weird).
He has some funny ideas about love (strange, difficult to understand)
What’s that funny noise (strange, unexpected)?

In short, en resumen

Fun things > make you happy / make you feel good.
Funny things / people > make you laugh.

Y ahora una pequeña prueba, a little test

Are the following situations fun or funny?

A party with your friends is…
A clown is…
Playing a game is…
Visiting new places is…
A friend tells you a great joke. The joke is…

VER RESPUESTAS CORRECTAS

Bueno pues esperamos que os haya gustado el post and you had a fun time reading it. 😉