Tips to Achieve a Top Grade in the Spanish GCSE Writing Exam
This summer is the first set of the new style Spanish GCSE exam. The new “higher” tier exam involves three questions. You are given two options for the first two questions.
The first question is to write approximately 90 words responding to 4 bullet points. This may be in the style of a letter to a friend or an email.
The second question is a longer, more open written task of approximately 150 words in which you only have 2 compulsory bullet points to respond to. This could be a blog article, an email or an article for a magazine.
The third question is a translation from English into Spanish of a minimum of 50 words.
Tips to get top marks
8 fun ways to continue your language learning over the summer!
Despite the fact that summer is a busy time – it is also the ideal time to focus on learning a language – many people are off work, have more free time and the weather is better to get out and about doing different things. As most people learning a new language know, if you take a break from learning you really notice the difference when you come back to it and find that you have forgotten many things that you knew so well before. This is why it is really important to keep your learning going over the summer months. Here we will look at some fun ways you can keep learning over the summer: Continue reading
Spanish Football Phrases
Join in with the locals by discussing football!
A great way to start a conversation with the locals in Spain would be to discuss a football match. It is worth pointing out to start with that some football related words vary depending on country and region.
Here are some key words and phrases to start you off.
Remember, some of the endings will change depending on whether they are male or female.
Spanish positions / titles:
football player – el/la futbolista
coach – entrenador/a
captain – el capitán
goalkeeper – portero/a / el guardameta Continue reading
8 Speaking Exercises You Can Do On Your Own to Improve your Spanish
Speaking is the most important skill to master to become fluent and communicate effectively with people. However it is also the most difficult skill to improve compared with reading and writing.
Myths about improving speaking
1) You have to be in a classroom.
2) You have to live in a Spanish-speaking country.
This is just not true. Thanks to technology today you can easily improve speaking a foreign language from the comfort of your own home on your own.
8 speaking activities you can do on your own:
Why Watching Disney Films in Spanish is a Great Language Learning Tool!
Everyone has a favourite Disney film or one that they have seen before and know so well. Why not turn watching a Disney movie into a fun way to learn or improve your Spanish?
Many people are finding that by signing up to Disney Plus they can watch their favourite Disney films in Spanish with either Spanish or English subtitles. You will be amazed how many new words you pick up!
In today’s blog post we will teach you how to get the most out of watching movies to learn Spanish. Continue reading
How to Learn Spanish with Instagram – Top Tips!
As you already know Instagram is a social media platform known for sharing photos and short video clips.
Why is Instagram good for learning Spanish?
• Visual: As it is a visual app it is a brilliant way to learn a language. Seeing an image related to the Spanish word is a great way to make it stick out in your mind and you will find that you will memorise words more easily this way and also retain them in your long term memory. Continue reading
10 Ways to Enjoy Learning Spanish As An Adult
Many people think that learning a foreign language is best done as a child or when you are younger when your mind is more receptive to picking up new words and your memory is better. However, is this really true? Investigations have shown that adults do actually learn languages better than children.
Yes children pick up words quickly but with languages they are also easily forgotten if not used regularly and this is the case at any age!
In fact there are many advantages to learning a language as an adult which we will discuss in this blog post. Not only that, we will also give you tips as to how to enjoy learning a language later in life. Continue reading
How to Speak Confidently With Native Spanish Speakers
It is a scientific fact that Spanish people speak much faster than English people. Most learners notice straightaway how fast Spanish people speak. Even if they think they are slowing down to help you, they don’t realise that this is still probably too fast for you to keep up.
In this blog post we will teach you some little tricks to make a conversation with a native speaker much easier for you to deal with.
Why is listening to natives so difficult for learners?
The reason that learners of Spanish find listening to native speakers so hard could be for several reasons.
7 Creative Spanish Writing Practice Ideas
Many people think that writing in Spanish is too difficult and they will never get the hang of it. This is a complete myth. If you start small and build on that regularly then over time you will find that you find it easy.People do not realise that being able to write in Spanish is a crucial part of improving your Spanish.
It teaches you to put into practice what you have learnt. It helps you try out your own sentences and helps you become fluent and eventually able to say whatever you want in Spanish.
In this blog post we will look at some creative ways that you can get good writing practice in Spanish.
How to say that you don’t understand or are unsure in Spanish
When you are a beginner language learner you are often unsure about what you are saying and whether a) it is correct and b) if you are pronouncing it correctly. It is probably the first time you have actually spoken the words that you have learnt to a native speaker. It is only natural for language learners to have these doubts when they first start speaking in the target language.
Similarly, when you listen to their reply you may think you’ve understood what they’ve just said to you, however you may not be 100% sure. You will probably find it difficult to keep up with what they are saying – as we all know how quickly Spanish people speak!
In this blog post we will go through some useful expressions for you to say that you don’t understand or are unsure of what someone has said to you. If you learn some of these phrases they will help you keep the conversation going. There is nothing to be embarrassed about when saying that you don’t understand or asking for clarity – Spanish people like helping learners improve their Spanish! Continue reading
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