THE SPEAKOUT 2nd EDITION STUDY BOOSTER FOR

SPANISH-SPEAKING LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

How can I become more confident in English? Why arent I making faster progress? When will I be
able to move up to the next level? Every language learner wants to know the secret to making the
fastest progress in the shortest possible time. So what does the perfect learner need to do to get
ahead? The answer is practise, practise, practise.
The Speakout 2ndEdition Advanced Study Booster for Spanish-speaking learners of English gives
you all the practice you need to help you get the most out of your English language course. With
a focus on the particular challenges that Spanish-speaking learners of English face, the Study
Booster complements the material in the accompanying Students Book and Workbook and is
divided into five main sections which provide extra exercises to help you improve your grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, writing, reading and listening. You can work through the different
sections in sequence, or just focus on the areas that you find particularly difficult.
All the answers to the exercises are provided in the key at the back of the book so you can check
your own work. You dont have to do every exercise in the Study Booster to successfully complete
the course, but remember that the more you do, the faster youll progress!

CONTENTS

Common challenges for Spanish-speaking learners of English 37

Grammar 34
Vocabulary 45
Pronunciation 56
Writing 67

Speakout 2nd Edition Advanced Extra exercises 8

Grammar Extra 827
Vocabulary Extra 2857
Pronunciation Extra 5867
Reading and Listening Extra 6887
Writing Extra 8897

Answer keys 98117

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 COMMON CHALLENGES FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING LEARNERS
OF ENGLISH

GRAMMAR these clauses, we must use the pronoun who for people and
which for inanimate objects, whereas in Spanish we can use
Word Order que in both cases.
The most usual word order in English is subject + verb + Termin el cuadro en el que haba estado trabajando durante
object and this tends to be more rigid than in Spanish ms de un ao. He finished the painting (which/that) he had
where we can start statements with the object. However, been working on for over a year.
word order does change in some more complex structures Mi marido me compr narcisos, que son mis flores
in English, for example inversion for emphasis or cle favoritas. My husband bought me some daffodils, which
sentences, and this can cause problems for Spanish are my favourite flowers. NOT My husband bought me
students. daffodils, that are my favourite flowers.
Pocas veces he visto cuadros tan bonitos. Seldom have I Grammar Extra Unit 3.2 Exercises 1 and 2.
seen such beautiful paintings.
Fue a mi hermana a quien viste ayer, no a m. It was my
sister you saw yesterday, not me.
The passive voice
The order of adjectives in noun phrases when there is more The passive voice is used more frequently in English than in
than one adjective is also fixed in English and it can be Spanish. One reason is that there is no English expression
difficult for students to know which adjective to put first. equivalent to se hace, se vendi, etc. Consequently, the
passive voice is used in these cases.
Era una bella mujer irlandesa de ojos grises. She was a
beautiful, grey-eyed, Irish woman. Se ha rodado una pelcula interesante sobre los Beatles. An
interesting film has been made about the Beatles.
Grammar Extra Unit 3.1 Exercise 1; Unit 4.1 Exercises 1
and 2; Unit 7.1 Exercise 2; Unit 10.1 Exercises 1 and 2. Grammar Extra Unit 5.2 Exercise 1.

Verbs followed by ing or infinitive Causative verbs

In English some verbs are followed by the -ing form of the In English, to talk about something someone did for
verb and some by the infinitive. This can be a problem for someone else they use a causative verb, have or get. This
students because there is no rule. structure can be difficult for Spanish students because there
is no equivalent in Spanish.
Mencion que iba a salir el sbado. He mentioned going
out on Saturday. Voy a cortarme el pelo maana. Im going to get my hair cut
tomorrow. NOT Im going to cut my hair tomorrow. (unless you
Se ofreci a ayudarme a hacer la cena. She offered to help
do it yourself)
me cook dinner.
Arregl mi coche la semana pasada. I had my car repaired
Some verbs can take either the infinitive or gerund but their
last week. NOT I repaired my car last week.
meaning may change.
Acurdate de volver a dejar las llaves en la mesa. Grammar Extra Unit 5.2 Exercise 2.
Remember to put the keys back on the table.
Me acuerdo de haber vuelto a dejar las llaves en la mesa. Concession
I remember putting the keys back on the table.
Using linkers to show concession or contrast in speaking
Grammar Extra Unit 2.2 Exercises 1 and 2. and writing can be difficult for Spanish students because
they can be followed by grammatical structures which are
different from those used in Spanish.
Participle Clauses
A pesar de lo mucho que me gusta correr, no soy muy
Participle clauses can cause difficulties for Spanish students
rpido. Much as I enjoy running, Im not very fast!
because the structure isnt always the same in English. For
Suspend el examen a pesar de estudiar muchsimo. I failed
example, in English the present participle is used aer
my exam despite studying really hard.
prepositions while in Spanish we use the infinitive.
Despus de hablar con su madre, decidi dejar su trabajo. Grammar Extra Unit 6.2 Exercises 1 and 2.
Aer talking to her mother, she decided to quit her job.
Al or la alarma, salieron del edificio. On hearing the alarm Simple, progressive and future tenses
they le the building.
Although English has simple, progressive, perfect and
Grammar Extra Unit 7.2 Exercises 1 and 2. future tenses as we do in Spanish, the use of these tenses
is not always identical in the two languages. For example, in
Spanish the present simple can be used for an action which
Relative clauses
is taking place at this moment but in English we use the
In English, some relative clauses dont require the use of a present continuous.
relative pronoun where Spanish does. Also note that in
Vaya! Llueve mucho! Wow! Its raining a lot! NOT Wow! It
non-defining relative clauses we cannot use the pronoun
rains a lot!
that, which can be very confusing for Spanish students. In

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 Also, in Spanish the present simple can refer to the future Estbamos intentando mantenerlo en secreto pero Mike se
when English uses will or going to. fue de la lengua. We were trying to keep it a secret but Mike
Nos vemos maana. Ill see you tomorrow. ended up spilling the beans!
El ao que viene me jubilo. Im going to retire next year. John nunca dice lo que piensa, siempre mira los toros desde la
In Spanish the present continuous can be used for activities barrera. John never says what he thinks, he always sits on
that started in the past and continue in the present but in the fence.
English the present perfect continuous is used for these
Vocabulary Extra Unit 1 Exercises 4 and 5; Unit 2
activities. Exercises 1, 2 and 6; Unit 5 Exercises 1 and 2; Unit 7
Cunto tiempo llevas viviendo aqu? How long have you Exercises 4 and 5; Unit 8 Exercises 2 and 3.
been living here? NOT How long are you living here?
Grammar Extra Unit 1.1 Exercises 1, 2 and 3; Unit 6 Collocations
Exercises 1 and 2; Unit 8 Exercises 1 and 2. Collocations are combinations of words which are frequently
used by native speakers. Its important to use the correct
Modal verbs collocation in order to sound as natural as possible and
Spanish speakers oen have problems with modal verbs. demonstrate mastery of English.
For example, there is a tendency to use can incorrectly with Se produjeron muchos accidentes debido a la lluvia intensa.
the function of deduction or interpreting evidence but in There were a lot of accidents due to the heavy rain.
English the verbs commonly used are may, might or could. Hay una pequea posibilidad de que Jane apruebe su/el
Sarah tiene bolsas en los ojos, puede que est cansada. examen. Theres a slim chance that Jane will pass her exam.
Sarahs got bags under her eyes, she may/might/could be tired.
Vocabulary Extra Unit 2 Exercises 4 and 5; Unit 4
NOT Sarahs got bags under her eyes, she can be tired.
Exercises 1 and 2; Unit 6 Exercises 4 and 5; Unit 7 Exercise 1;
Also, the difference between have to and must is oen Unit 10 Exercises 1, 4 and 5.
confusing for Spanish speakers as both can express tener
que hacer algo. English uses the verb must to impose an
obligation and have to to speak about an obligation.
Prefixes
Greg, tienes que tomar la medicina. Greg, you must take the English and Spanish prefixes do not correspond exactly,
medicine. which oen results in students making mistakes.
Los bomberos se tienen que arriesgar todos los das. Rieron a los nios por su mal comportamiento.
Firemen have to take risks every day. The children were told off for their misbehaviour. NOT
malbehaviour
Grammar Extra Unit 1.3 Exercises 1 and 2; Unit 5.1 Qued completamente irreconocible despus de la ciruga
Exercises 1 and 2. esttica. She was completely unrecognisable aer her
cosmetic surgery. NOT irrecognisable
Past simple and Present Perfect
Vocabulary Extra Unit 3 Exercises 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9.
Spanish students are oen confused about when to use
the past simple and present perfect. One important reason
for this is that in Spanish the present perfect is compatible Prepositional Phrases
with expressions of finished time, e.g. hace media hora and Prepositional phrases in English and Spanish do not
is oen used to refer to the recent past. In English, however, correspond exactly and this can be a challenge for Spanish
it is important to distinguish between a finished action students.
(past simple), an indefinite time in the past (present perfect) Se dirigi hacia el centro de la ciudad. He set off in the
and speaking about an action that started in the past and direction of the town centre.
continues in the present (present perfect). No pudieron tomar una decisin hasta que todos estuvieron
He terminado de trabajar hace media hora. I finished work de acuerdo. They couldnt make a decision until everyone
half an hour ago. NOT I have finished work half an hour ago. was in agreement.
He trabajado mucho esta maana, pero esta tarde no he
Vocabulary Extra Unit 5 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 6
hecho casi nada. I worked really hard this morning, but this
Exercises 2 and 3; Unit 7 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 9
aernoon Ive hardly done anything. NOT Ive worked really
Exercises 7, 8 and 9.
hard this morning but this aernoon Ive hardly done anything.
Grammar Extra Unit 4.2 Exercises 1 and 2. Multi-word verbs (phrasal verbs)
Phrasal verbs can be difficult to learn because their meaning
is oen very difficult for Spanish speakers to guess, although
VOCABULARY the context oen helps the meaning to be understood.
No puedo cenar contigo, me ha surgido algo en el trabajo. I
Idioms and sayings cant have dinner with you this evening, somethings come up
English idioms and sayings can be difficult for Spanish at work.
students because they are fixed expressions with meanings No s cmo puedes soportar a tu jefe! I dont know how you
that are not usually obvious. Sometimes, the context can can put up with your boss!
help us to understand the meaning.

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 Vocabulary Extra Unit 1 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 2 Compound adjectives
Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 4 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 5 In English it is possible to form compound adjectives in a
Exercises 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9; Unit 6 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 9 way that we cannot in Spanish.
Exercises 2 and 3; Unit 10 Exercises 7, 8 and 9. Los planos del arquitecto para el nuevo centro comercial son
demasiado ambiciosos. The architects plans for the new
Suffixes shopping centre are over-ambitious.
English and Spanish suffixes do not correspond exactly, Sus consejos son bien intencionados aunque a veces ella es un
which oen results in students making mistakes. poco condescendiente. Her advice is well-meaning even if
La foto era engaosa, el hotel era completamente diferente shes a bit patronising at times.
en la realidad. The photo was deceptive; the hotel looked Vocabulary Extra Unit 3 Exercise 3; Unit 9 Exercise 3; Unit 9
completely different in real life. Exercise 1.
Trabaja para una organizacin benfica. He works for a
charitable organisation.
Vocabulary Extra Unit 7 Exercises 2 and 3.
PRONUNCIATION
Verbs with multiple meanings Weak forms in auxiliary verbs
Some verbs, for example make, keep, take and set have While in Spanish vowels are always pronounced in the same
multiple meanings in English which cannot always be way, in English auxiliary verbs are oen pronounced with a
directly translated into Spanish. Consequently, these verbs weak vowel form, // or //. This can make listening difficult
can cause lots of confusion among Spanish speakers. for Spanish speakers and make speaking sound unnatural.
El manual de instrucciones no tiene sentido! The instruction El ao que viene por estas fechas, habr terminado todos los
manual doesnt make sense! exmenes. By this time next year, Ill have /v/ finished all
Andaba tan rpido que no le poda seguir el ritmo. She was my exams.
walking so fast I couldnt keep up with her! Iba a estudiar medicina, pero he cambiado de opinin. I was
/wz/ going to study medicine but I changed my mind.
Vocabulary Extra Unit 1 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 2
Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 4 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 7 Pronunciation Extra Unit 1 Exercises 1A and B, 2A and B,
Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 8 Exercises 7, 8 and 9; Unit 10 3A and B; Unit 6 Exercises 1A and B, 2A, B and C. Unit 10
Exercises 7, 8 and 9. Exercise 3A.

Words with similar meanings (synonyms) Silent letters

English has a lot of words with similar meanings and it English has got a higher number of silent letters than
can be difficult for Spanish students to learn them, and Spanish; these letters can cause lots of pronunciation
sometimes to know which one to use in the correct context mistakes.
in terms of collocation or semantic precision, especially at Le ped al banco una hipoteca para comprar una casa. I
advanced level when it is important to use a wide range of asked the bank for a mortgage /md/ to buy my house.
vocabulary. (silent t)
Puedes echarme una mano para mover el armario? Es muy Mi hijo se niega a comer ningn tipo de verdura. My son
complicado! Can you give me a hand to move this wardrobe refuses to eat any vegetables /vedtblz/. (silent e)
its really cumbersome/awkward!
Me sent muy incmodo cuando me pregunt cunto ganaba. Pronunciation Extra Unit 9 Exercises 1A, B and C, 2A and B.
I felt really cumbersome awkward when she asked me how
much I earned. Linking in connected speech
Vocabulary Extra Unit 10 Exercises 2 and 3. In connected speech when one word ends in a consonant
and the next word begins with a vowel, they oen link
together and sound like one word. This can cause difficulties
Time expressions for Spanish students both in understanding connected
Some expressions to talk about time are different in speech and in producing natural sounding speech
English and Spanish. Spanish speakers should be aware themselves.
of inappropriate expressions and incorrect or literal Su nueva empresa ha tenido mucho xito en el ltimo ao.
translations. Their new business has really takenoff in the last year.
Desde el principio estaba claro que su matrimonio no iba a Todos los nios dijeron la respuesta al mismo tiempo. All the
durar. It was clear from the outset that their marriage children shoutedout the answer at the same time.
wasnt going to last.
Estar trabajando en este proyecto por ahora. Ill be working Pronunciation Extra Unit 1 Exercises 4A, B and C; Unit 9
on this project for the foreseeable future. Exercises 5, 6A and B.

Vocabulary Extra Unit 6 Exercise 1; Unit 8 Exercises 1 and 6.

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 Similar sounds: // /z/ and /s/ both in understanding connected speech and in producing
natural sounding speech themselves.
Some consonant sounds can be problematic for Spanish
speakers because English contains sounds which are similar No cambiar nada si estudio o no porque voy a suspender el
to but different from Spanish sounds. examen. It wont make /wnmek/ a difference if I study or
not, Im still going to fail the exam!
Es interesante conocer los asuntos sociales de otros
pases. Its interesting to learn about social issues ltimamente mi abuela est pasando por una mala poca.
/sljuz/ in other countries. My grandmothers /rnmz/ had a really bad time
/btam/ recently.
Recientemente, ha habido un aumento del paro. There has
been a rise /raz/ in unemployment recently. Pronunciation Extra Unit 1 Exercises 5A and B; Unit 4
Soy alrgico al marisco. Im allergic to shellfish /elf/. Exercises 6A and B; Unit 5 Exercises 1A and B, 2A and B,
3A and B; Unit 9 Exercises 5, 6A and B.
Pronunciation Extra Unit 4 Exercises 3A, B and C.

Word Stress (unstressed vowel sounds)

Intrusive sounds in connected speech
In unstressed syllables in English the vowel is oen spoken
In connected speech an extra sound is added to mark as a // or // sound. This can cause difficulties for Spanish
the difference between two vowel sounds. This can make students because in Spanish we always pronounce vowel
listening difficult for Spanish speakers as words are sounds in the same way.
pronounced slightly differently and can also make speaking
El protagonista no era muy convincente. The lead actor
sound unnatural.
wasnt very convincing /knvns/.
Alguna vez has estado en San Francisco? Have youever
La pelcula mostraba Italia desde una nueva perspectiva. The
/juwev/ been to San Francisco?
film showed Italy from a new perspective /pspektv/.
No me gusta la idea de comer carne cruda. I hate the ideaof
/adrv/ eating raw meat! Pronunciation Extra Unit 2 Exercises 2A and B; Unit 10
Por qu nadie me escucha? Whyis /wajz/ it that nobody Exercises 1A, B and C, 2A and B.
ever listens to me?
Word stress (prefixes and suffixes)
Pronunciation Extra Unit 8 Exercises 2A and B, 3A and B;
Unit 9 Exercises 5, 6A and B. When a prefix or suffix is added to a word in English, the
word stress sometimes changes and sometimes says the
same. It can oen be hard for Spanish students to know
Heteronyms which syllable to stress.
In English some words are spelt the same but pronounced El centro de la ciudad es muy moderno. The town centre is
differently. This can be confusing for Spanish students. really modern (Oo).
Tenamos asientos de primera fila en la pera. We had front La biblioteca necesita modernizar sus ordenadores. The
row /r/ seats for the opera. library needs to modernise (Ooo) its computers.
Jane y Peter tuvieron una fuerte discusin por dinero. Jane Queremos renovar la casa el ao que viene. We want to
and Peter had a huge row /ra/ about money. renovate (Ooo) the house next year.
Pronunciation Extra Unit 7 Exercises 4A and B. La reforma cost mucho ms de lo que esperbamos. The
renovations (ooOo) cost much more than we expected.
Double contractions Pronunciation Extra Unit 3 Exercises 3A, B and C; Unit 7
In spoken English the contracted form of have is oen used Exercises 1A, B and C, 2A, B and 2C.
alongside the contracted form of would or the negative
contraction of other modal verbs. This can make listening
difficult for Spanish speakers and it can also make speaking
sound unnatural. WRITING
Habra estudiado ms si hubiera sabido lo importante
que era. Idve /adv/ studied harder if Id known how
Use of gerunds
important it was. The use of gerunds can be different in English and
Ella no habra ido a la fiesta si hubiera sabido que l iba a estar Spanish. For example, in Spanish we use the infinitive aer
all. She wouldntve /wdntv/ gone to the party if shed prepositions but in English they use the gerund.
known he was going to be there. Al escuchar el timbre, el perro empez a ladrar. On hearing
the doorbell, the dog started to bark.
Pronunciation Extra Unit 2 Exercises 1A, B and C. Nadar es el mejor ejercicio para todo el cuerpo. Swimming is
the best total-body exercise.
Consonant clusters in connected speech
Writing Extra Unit 10 Exercise 3.
Two or more consecutive consonant sounds (consonant
clusters) are much more frequent in English than in Spanish.
In connected speech one consonant sound is oen lost
(elision) which can cause difficulties for Spanish students

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 Phrases to support your opinion Descriptive language
Some phrases used when supporting your opinion can lead At higher levels it is important to demonstrate a wide
to confusion because Spanish speakers tend to translate range of vocabulary, particularly in descriptive pieces of
them literally. writing. This can be difficult for Spanish students because
Por otra parte, le respeto mucho. On the other hand, I some words are almost identical but have slightly different
respect him a lot. NOT On the other side, I respect him a lot. meanings.
Para empezar, es demasiado caro. To start with, its far too Le ech una mirada a la mujer y sonri. He glanced at the
expensive. NOT To start, its far too expensive. woman and smiled.
Tuvimos la suerte de vislumbrar un leopardo y su cachorro tras
Writing Extra Unit 2 Exercises 2A and B; Unit 10 la espesura. We were lucky enough to glimpse a leopard and
Exercises 2A and B. her cub through the foliage.
Metaphorical language can also be difficult for Spanish
Time linkers students as the ideas might not directly translate.
It is important to use time linkers in narratives to sequence El bosque estaba cubierto de campanillas. The forest was
events and make your writing more cohesive. Some time carpeted with bluebells.
linkers are followed by grammatical structures different
from those used in Spanish which can cause Spanish Writing Extra Unit 3 Exercises 1A, B, C, 2 and 3; Unit 5;
students to make mistakes. Unit 8; Unit 9.
Despus, nadie poda recordar exactamente lo que haba
pasado. Aerwards, nobody could remember exactly what Phrases to describe cause and effect
had happened. Some phrases used to describe cause and effect can lead to
En cuanto pagaron, salieron del restaurante. As soon as they confusion because Spanish speakers tend to translate them
had paid, they le the restaurant. literally.
No podan soportar la idea de comer carne. Por eso, se
Writing Extra Unit 5 Exercise 5.
convirtieron en vegetarianos. They couldnt bear the idea of
eating meat. Therefore, they became vegetarians. NOT For this
Informal expressions they became vegetarians.
When writing informal emails or letters, Spanish speakers
Writing Extra Unit 4 Exercises 2 and 5.
must be aware of inappropriate expressions and incorrect
or literal translations. It is important to remember who your
target reader is and adjust your register accordingly. Capitalisation
Est loca por los caballos. Shes crazy about horses. Some rules about capitalisation are different. For example,
NOT Shes crazy for horses. in English when writing a title all the words are capitalised
Se piensa que es lo ms. He thinks hes the greatest. except articles and conjunctions. Nationalities, languages,
NOT He thinks hes the maximum. races, months and cardinal points are capitalised as well.
Ella trabaja los sbados. She works on Saturdays.
Writing Extra Unit 1 Exercises 1A, 4A and B.
Mucha gente britnica y alemana vive en las costas
espaolas. Lots of British and German people live on
Linkers of contrast the Spanish coasts.
Some linkers of contrast are particularly difficult for Spanish
Writing Extra Units 110.
students because they are followed by grammatical
structures which are different from those used in Spanish.
A pesar de no tener una cita, se fue a la fiesta. In spite of/ Punctuation
despite not having a date, he went to the party. NOT Despite There are some differences between English and Spanish
he didnt have a date, he went to the party. punctuation. One of the main differences is the use of the
Por el contrario, yo dira que la comida esta buensima. On colon in Spanish when starting a letter, and the use of the
the contrary, Id say that the food is delicious. comma in numerals.
Estimados seores: (colon in Spanish) Dear Sirs, (comma in
Writing Extra Unit 2 Exercises 2A, B, 3, 4A and B. English)
No me lo puedo creer, acabo de ganar 50.000 en la lotera! I
Phrases to describe trends dont believe it Ive just won 50.000 on the lottery!
Figurative language is oen used to describe trends in
Writing Extra Unit Units 110.
English, which does not always directly translate from
Spanish.
Los beneficios de su empresa se dispararon el ao pasado.
Her companys profits soared/rocketed last year.
Las temperaturas en el desierto se desploman despus del
anochecer. Temperatures in the desert plummet aer nightfall.
Writing Extra Unit 6 Exercises 3 and 4.

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