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How to Write an Amazing Essay in Spanish

Has your teacher asked you to write an essay in Spanish? Essays are probably the most common type of homework around the world. Teachers want you to write essays because they’re a way to improve your abilities when you’re learning a new language. 

Writing essays may not seem like fun, but it actually improves your cognitive abilities! The act of researching, organizing, and writing pushes you to increase your knowledge on different topics, strengthens your critical thinking skills, and advances your ability to communicate and express your thoughts.

With all these benefits in mind, it’s no wonder you want to write a great essay in Spanish. But there are times when your ideas vanish and your mind goes blank—you wonder, where do I begin and what steps do I follow? 

Even if you’re a pro when it comes to writing in English, writing an essay in Spanish can be a challenge. In this blog post, I’ll help you overcome this small hurdle to help you make your Spanish essay cohesive, persuasive, and as professional as possible.

Are you ready to write an amazing essay in Spanish?

Basics and Benefits of Writing Essays

Strong writing skills are important for school, college, and a professional career. It’s likely that Spanish is not your first language, but if you’re learning the language then writing a research-fueled Spanish essay gives you all sorts of advantages. It enables you to practice grammar, spelling, vocabulary, as well as synthesize your ideas and thoughts surrounding the topic you’re writing about.

Writing a terrific essay in Spanish requires planning, organization, and structure. Having a process saves you time and once you’ve established a system that works for you, the writing comes easy! 

How to Structure an Essay in Spanish

Similar to when you’re telling a story, your essay should follow a traditional story arc. This means that you start with an appealing introduction, after which you develop your idea within the body of the essay, and finally, you close your thoughts or argument with a summary and conclusion. 

Let’s take a deeper look at these 3 parts of an essay in Spanish:

1. Introduction

Start your essay with a summary of the topic you’ll cover throughout your piece. The introduction reflects the argumentative line that your whole essay follows. It should be brief but not too short. I recommend making the intro 10% of your whole essay. 

A good introduction gives enough information by stating a problem or the reason why you’re writing the essay and why the reader should be compelled to read it. 

Some writers choose to write the introduction after they’ve written the body and conclusion. I think it’s a good strategy that allows you to summarize and evaluate the body of your whole essay before you aim to highlight important points in your introduction. 

My biggest advice is to make it clear what the reason for your essay’s existence is, so that your reader can feel excited to know more, and invited to learn from you. 

This is the main part of your essay. I recommend that you dedicate 80% of your whole essay to the body. This critical section develops the core ideas of your essay in Spanish as it’s where you present the main ideas and their arguments in relation to the topic you’re writing about. 

This part requires you to do research from reputable sources, fact checking, and tying all your ideas together in a cohesive way. 

3. Conclusion

The remaining 10% of your essay in Spanish should focus on bringing the essay to a close. You want to summarize all the main ideas of your topic and establish your final posture on it. 

Preferably, leave no loose ends and make sure the ending of your essay has the ability to create a discussion or invite the reader to find out more about the topic. 

Steps to Follow to Write an Essay in Spanish

Every writer has a unique system that works for them. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. 

The steps and path you follow for writing an essay in Spanish depend on the knowledge and fluency you have of the language as well as your familiarity with writing. 

Nevertheless, I recommend some basic steps that will help you if you’re a beginner when it comes to writing an essay in Spanish. 

1. Define a Topic

Choose a topic of interest to you. If the topic is not assigned by your teacher, go for a current issue or interesting topic that will inspire you to research as much as possible. Check the local media, or go online and find out what topics are available for you to discuss.

2. Do Your Research

This aspect is critical—you must find reliable sources of information for your essay. Go to a library if possible, find academic papers online, and gather as much documentation as possible that helps you understand the central themes and patterns of your chosen topic.

As a plus, if you do your research in Spanish, you’ll see other essays in Spanish that will help you develop your own Spanish writing style, tone, and personality.  

3. Determine Your Position

After you’ve gathered enough research, you’ll begin to see an angle or position you can take in relation to the information. The angle or position you take is essentially your “point.” Ask yourself, “What’s my point in writing this?” When you’ve answered that, you’ve discovered your position. 

To support your position, your research should include quotes, statistics, and any relevant information you can find from credible sources. 

4. Draft an Outline

This step is vital for organizing your arguments and ideas. Since Spanish is not your first language, an outline will allow you to translate words or phrases. In addition to listing Spanish notes in your outline, keep this basic process in mind:

• Know your audience
• Gather all notes, research, and supporting materials
• Organize them into a cohesive flow 
• Be sure to organize by how each subtopic relates to the main topic and to each other

5. List Spanish Words and Terms

Since you’re writing an essay in Spanish, it’s only befitting that you have a list of specific words and terms you want to include in it. 

Draft a list of terms that are relevant to your essay in Spanish, whether they’re reminders in your outline or they’re unfamiliar terms that beg to be further researched. 

The terms you choose allow you to set a tone and define whether you’re using standard Spanish, informal Spanish, or literary and formal language. 

The tone you choose to follow in your essay guides your word choice. 

Here’s a list of words and phrases in Spanish that can help with your writing:

6. Write the Body of Your Essay

Focus on fully developing your argument with relevant examples and evidence to support your position. Each paragraph should focus on only one argument along with supporting evidence, and the flow from one paragraph to the next should sound natural and rational. 

Spanish is a richer language, so don’t be afraid of writing longer sentences than usual, but make sure you combine them with short dynamic phrases. It’s essential to keep your reader interested! 

7. Write an Engaging Introduction

Once you’re done with the body of your essay, start writing the introduction. The purpose of your intro is to set a tone and prepare the reader for what follows. 

Putting together your introduction at the end allows you to absorb what you’ve written and define how to present the topic and express your point. 

8. Summarize and Conclude

The conclusion is your essay is an opportunity to tie all your points together and restate the main argument. Since some essays are meant to be objective, I recommend you include a paragraph or sentence that stimulates reflection and enriches the reader’s perspective on the topic. 

9. Final Edits and Proofreading

This final step is the second most critical when it comes to writing an essay in Spanish! Edit for correcting typos, punctuation, grammatical errors, and spelling. 

I recommend you share your Spanish essay with a native speaker who can proofread it before you turn it in. Another person’s perspective can help you spot an error or a section that lacks cohesion. 

A Few Final Tips

Read your essay as many times as possible.

I find myself making changes to essays after reading them at least 4 or 5 times. You need to check your essay for: 

• readability
• consistency
• transitions between paragraphs, 
• unnecessary fillers, and 
• adequate adverbs and adjectives.

Think and write in Spanish, if possible

By drafting an outline, doing your research, and organizing your ideas in Spanish from the beginning, you fully immerse yourself and make writing an essay in Spanish more efficient. 

On the contrary, by writing and researching in English with the goal of translating, you’ll end up in a tough spot with way much more work than intended. 

Ready to Write Your First Essay in Spanish?

I hope by sharing my essay-writing experience in this blog post that you feel more confident about writing your essay in Spanish. I know it can be frustrating and challenging at times, but don’t be afraid to make mistakes and correct them later. 

The truth is, the more comfortable you feel speaking Spanish, the more your writing skills in Spanish will improve. 

If you’re ready to take the next step and work on your speaking skills, join us at Homeschool Spanish Academy! You can sign up for a free trial class with one of our native, Spanish-speaking teachers. Before you know it, you’ll be speaking Spanish and writing essays like a pro!

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Learn Spanish with free, communicative lessons

Talking about your School and Classes in Spanish

Hola and welcome to our site. In this lesson, we will cover a list of common words, questions and phrases that can be very useful to talk about your school and classes in Spanish. We have included many audio examples, as well as two listening activities for you to read, listen and practice this important topic. Let’s start…

Vocabulary Introduction: About my school and classes in Spanish

We will begin this lesson by reading and listening to some questions related to the school. They have been divided in two sections: one regarding general things about the school, and another about school work and expressions in Spanish that you may need to interact with other students or your teacher.

Talking about your school in Spanish

Here are some common questions people may ask about your school in Spanish, as well possible ways to reply to those questions. Most of these questions are very basic with SI/NO answers, whereas others will include Spanish question words like “Cuándo, Cómo…”, etc. Click on the Play button to listen to their pronunciation.

Talking about your classes in Spanish

Next, we will learn a list of phrases and questions related to things that students say about their school and classes in Spanish, including class activities, the classes they like and opinions about their teachers. Listen to the examples and then move on to the first listening activity in the lesson.

Listening Activity No. 1: Talking about school and classes in Spanish

Key phrases in the conversation:.

• ¿Ya estás lista?… means “Are you ready?”
• Me parece buena idea means “It sounds like a good idea to me”
• “Ya había escuchado eso” means “I had heard that before”

Listening Activity No.2: School in Spanish-speaking countries

In Latin America, some countries organize their education system into Preschool, Primary School and Secondary School. In that scenario, middle and high school are part of secondary school . During secondary school (la secundaria), we take some very useful classes, including both Spanish and English. There, we learn the grammar rules for our own language and how to use it properly.

Related Spanish Worksheets:

• The Classroom in Spanish – PDF Worksheet

• Books / Audiobooks
• Learning Method
• Spanish Culture
• Spanish Grammar
• Spanish Travel
• Spanish Vocabulary and Expressions
• Study Guide

Spanish Essay Phrases: 40 Useful Phrases for an Impressive Writeup

7  Comments

May 30, 2019

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Do you need to write a lot of essays in Spanish? If you do, don’t worry. It's about to get a little bit easier for you because here in this article, we’ve listed many useful Spanish essay phrases that you can readily use in your essays.

Feel free to pepper your essays with the words and expressions from this list. It would certainly elevate your essays and impress your teachers. You're welcome!

Get the PDF ( + MP3!)

No time to read now? Then you might opt to get the list in PDF instead. If you sign up to the newsletter, you'll get the list of Spanish essay phrases in PDF format plus free audio files. 

Spanish Essay Phrases

Additional Resources

You can also check out the following resources:

84 Spanish Expressions for Agreeing and Disagreeing

Common Spanish Verbs

Expresiones útiles para escribir en español

Looking for more Spanish phrases? Check out this e-book with audio!

Try to use the essay phrases in Spanish that you learned in this lesson and write a few example sentences in the comments section!

About the author 

Janey is a fan of different languages and studied Spanish, German, Mandarin, and Japanese in college. She has now added French into the mix, though English will always be her first love. She loves reading anything (including product labels).

VERY VERY useful !! Gracias

Amazing! This will definitely help me in tomorrow’s spanish test 🙂

Sounds good

Thanks for the assistance, in learning Spanish.

Amazing article! Very helpful! Also, this website is great for Spanish Beginners.

It’s easy when you put it that way

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Essays in Spanish

In our site we have over 150 essays in Spanish (full and free) that you can check to inspire yourself for your homework or assignments and use them as example essays.

Our essays are simple and short, so they are really good for Spanish classes for students that speak English as a native language. They can be good for middle school, high school, college, or any language learning classes.

Each essay is written around a topic that it’s included in the title. You can check our homepage to find our latest essays published, or use our search form in the right sidebar (you should use keywords or topics in Spanish).

For an easy start, here we include some of the essays in Spanish but with the title (topic) translated to English so you can find a match for your interest.

List of essays in Spanish

• Example essay about  family in Spanish
• Example essay about  discrimination in Spanish
• Example essay about  violence in Spanish
• Example essay about  what is life in Spanish
• Example essay about  peace in Spanish
• Example essay about  global warming in Spanish
• Example essay about  myself and my life in Spanish
• Example essay about  Mexico in Spanish
• Example essay about  Donald Trump in Spanish
• Example essay about  corruption in Spanish
• Example essay about  innovation  in Spanish
• Example essay about  Aristotle  in Spanish
• Example essay about  homosexuality  in Spanish
• Example essay about  smoking  in Spanish
• Example essay about  sports  in Spanish
• Example essay about  life projects  in Spanish
• Example essay about  technology  in Spanish
• Example essay about  love  in Spanish
• Example essay about  racism  in Spanish
• Example essay about  bullying  in Spanish

Please use the comments area below in this post if you can’t find the essay you were looking for! – you can write in English if your Spanish isn’t the best 🙂

2 comentarios en «Essays in Spanish»

Odio la escuela

Aquí hay un ensayo escrito en español sobre el ataque del 11 de septiembre La mañana del 11 de septiembre de 2001 fue la mañana en que el mundo entero hizo una pausa y contuvo la respiración. Cada 11 de septiembre desde entonces, la gente de todas partes se detendrá para recordar. Esa fue la mañana en que terroristas de Arabia Saudita secuestraron cuatro aviones estadounidenses diferentes, pensando solo en la misión suicida que tenían por delante y en lo que tenían que hacer para llevarla a cabo. De alguna manera subieron a los aviones sin ser detectados y en algún momento del vuelo se revelaron.Se hicieron con el control del avión, amenazando a los pasajeros con una bomba. Sin embargo, lo que los pasajeros no sabían es que no había ninguna bomba. Los terroristas tenían planes diferentes para los aviones ese día. Su estrategia era estrellar los cuatro aviones contra diferentes edificios, matando a tantas personas como pudieran. El primer avión, el Vuelo 11 de American Airlines, se estrelló contra la torre norte del World Trade Center. Otro avión, el Vuelo 175, voló hacia la torre sur del World Trade Center y también estalló en llamas. El tercer avión secuestrado, el vuelo 77 de American Airlines, se estrelló contra el edificio del Pentágono.Mientras tanto, personas de todo el mundo miraban las noticias. Miles de personas sabían de este ataque, pero solo algunos podían ayudar. Otros solo podían ver las noticias y contener la respiración, esperando lo mejor. La mayoría de las personas intentaron llamar a sus familias y algunas de esas personas se pusieron en contacto con ellos. Algunas de esas personas estaban en el Vuelo 93. Juntos estaban tratando de averiguar qué estaba pasando. Alguien debe haber juntado las piezas y sabía que tenía que hacer algo. Varios pasajeros intentaron retomar el control del avión, pero solo provocaron que el secuestrador hiciera volar el último avión contra el suelo en Pensilvania. El resultado fue devastador. Las torres norte y sur del World Trade Center se derrumbaron y muchos bomberos arriesgaron sus propias vidas para intentar salvar a otras. Según el sitio web de la CNN, más de dos mil personas fueron gravementeheridos y casi tres mil personas perdieron la vida. La razón principal del ataque fue el intento de Al Qaeda de desestabilizar las economías occidentales. Tal vez también estaban tratando de enviar un mensaje sobre algo. Nueve años después del ataque, mi papá recuerda ver las noticias y ver los aviones golpeando los diferentes edificios y destruyendo tanto. También recuerda que muchas personas murieron en todos los accidentes. Cuando mi mamá piensa en el 11 de septiembre, recuerda que venía a recogernos a mi hermano y a mí de la escuela. Ella vino alrededor de las 11:30 a buscarnos porque solo nos quedamos la mitad del día en ese entonces. Mi mamá estaba haciendo mandados antes de eso y no había oído hablar del ataque. Luego se enteró de que también tenía que buscar a mi hermana, porque los dejaron salir temprano. Cuando llegamos a casa, mi mamá dice que encendió la televisión para tratar de averiguar qué había sucedido. Lo descubrió con bastante facilidad porque el ataque estaba en todas las noticias. Mi hermana, Emily, estaba en segundo grado cuando ocurrió el ataque. Ella recuerda que su clase estaba almorzando cuando los padres de todos llegaron y los llevaron a casa. También recuerda que todos los padresestaban asustados por algo, pero ella no sabía lo que había sucedido. Estaba en el jardín de infantes el 11 de septiembre y no recuerdo nada de ese día, aparte de lo que he escuchado desde entonces. Después de ver el video en clase, me di cuenta de la destrucción que realmente fue el ataque. Causó el colapso total de dos torres en el World Trade Center. Tantas personas estaban atrapado dentro de ambos edificios y casi ninguno logró salir. Los que lo hicieron definitivamente son extremadamente afortunados de estar vivos. Sin embargo, solo unas pocas personas en el primer piso lograron salir. No había esperanza para las personas en los pisos superiores, lo que empeoró este día. Desde el ataque de 2001, la economía nunca se ha recuperado por completo. El principal efecto económico a largo plazo del ataque fue la guerra en Irak. Nuestros soldados han estado allí durante nueve años y no se está volviendo más fácil para nadie. Enviamos más y más tropas para ayudar a luchar en la guerra, y la economía sigue siendo mala. Definitivamente también ha sido una lucha financiera para el gobierno. En mi opinión, nada bueno salió del 11 de septiembre. Comenzó otra guerra más para que nuestros soldados pelearan, y muchas personas ya han perdido la vida. Todos los años a partir de ahora todos se detendrán por un momento para pensar y lamentarse por el ataque del 11 de septiembre de 2001.

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Spanish essay example and how to write it.

Today, I will share a  Spanish essay example   in the end of the article and talk about the steps and hacks to help you craft the perfect Spanish essay.

As an experienced writer, I understand how hard it can be to write in a language different from your mother tongue. But, know that learning  how to write a good Spanish essay  has more to do with following a structure than it has to do with understanding the language.

Of course, you need to have a basic understanding of spelling and grammatical practices; as well as a vast vocabulary to avoid sounding monotonous. 

However, learning  how to write a Spanish essay  is not impossible if you follow these simple steps:

• Draft an outline 
• Create a list of words and terms 
• Start writing the body of your essay
• Write the introduction 
• Formulate the conclusion 
• Proofread and edit 

As you can see, learning how to write a good Spanish essay requires a lot of planning and organization. And although it might be counter-intuitive at first, following the structure above will save you a lot of time. Plus, once you have the system down, you will be able to create exciting pieces without breaking a sweat!

Before we dive in, I always recommend you do a little research. So, look up  Spanish essay examples  online and analyze the way the writer structured the piece. Bonus points if you can find useful examples of essays within your topic of choice. The idea is not to copy what others are saying but to understand  how to write a Spanish essay  that is well crafted, appealing, and informative — all at the same time. 

Now that you have done your homework; it is time to start writing your essay by following the steps I mentioned earlier:

1. Draft an outline

An outline is vital when you are learning  how to write a Spanish essay , as it will allow you to organize your arguments and ideas. Plus, given that you are not writing in your first language, an outline will help you translate keywords or phrases from English to Spanish (if need be).

As you can see from the Spanish essay example, I have shared it after the text . You must keep it simple. Nonetheless, make sure you have enough information to elaborate on 6-7 paragraphs. Also, do not forget to include any quotes, statistics, or other information (from credible sources) that could support your arguments.

2. Create a list of words and terms 

I always recommend that before you start writing, you create a list of keywords or phrases that are vital to your essay. More often than not, these terms will appear as part of your outline, but, in other instances, these could be hard-to-translate terms. 

You do not need to write every word or term you will be using throughout the piece as you can always use a English-Spanish dictionary if you cannot recall a specific term.

The list is a way of double-checking. keywords to make sure you are using the correct term in Spanish and not using a literal translation. For instance, in the list of our Spanish essay example, the word “ must-have ” is not translated to “ debes tener ,” as that would be a literal translation. Instead, the phrases “ cualidades indispensables ” is used, which would be the appropriate term in Spanish.  

3. Start writing the body of your essay

The body of the essay is where you fully develop your argument. It might seem odd, but you should ignore your essay’s introduction and go straight to the body . 

If your goal is to master  how to write a good Spanish essay  make sure your body has a good flow in between paragraphs, so they do not end up being separate mini-essays. It is also essential that each body paragraph contains only one main argument or claim. However, this central idea can (and should) be supported by approximately 5 to 6 other sentences.

Spanish essays are usually wordier/more complicated than your average English essay as the language is richer. So, do not be afraid to write longer sentences to get the message across.  

Lastly, do not forget to add relevant examples, evidence to support your arguments, and quotes from experts or credible sources (i.e., academic books and journal articles).   You can see one example of a quote here.

Let’s be honest, most students do not do that, but shows the teacher you have put effort to research your topic.

 Go back to our Spanish essay example and dissect each paragraph. Pay attention to the transitions here and here , the way we incorporated quotes, and how each paragraph’s main idea is developed. In doing so, you will be gaining valuable insight as to how to structure your document. 

4. Write the introduction 

Once you have finished writing your entire essay’s body, write the introduction. Why? Simple. If the job of an introduction is to set the tone for what will follow. You will have a more precise and more detailed idea of what that is once you’ve written the entire piece. 

An introduction should state a problem or introduce a subject of discussion. It should also tell the reader  why  you are writing this essay and why he/she should feel compelled to read it. 

Let’s look at our Spanish essay example. Here, the introduction , although it is short, gives us enough information. It allows us to understand that we will know how to manage a remote team by choosing the right candidates and establishing an effective strategy after reading this essay. And that is precisely what you want an introduction to be doing!  

5. Formulate the conclusion 

When learning  how to write a Spanish essay , you have to be really careful with how you formulate the conclusion. In Spanish, your conclusion should always begin by restating your main argument. In other words, this is your chance to tie all of your main points together and give the reader a succinct takeaway. 

For instance, in our Spanish essay example, the conclusion is everything. Think about it, if you only read the title and this last paragraph, you almost do not need to read the body. All the main points are there, and as a reader, I got what I came looking for: strategies to manage a remote team effectively. 

6. Proofread and edit 

To finish our easy steps on  how to write a Spanish essay,  we must not leave our editing and proofreading! This step is critical to composing a great essay. Most readers will not even finish reading articles if they spot a spelling mistake, typo, or grammatical error. Thus, take the time to go over your essay.

Furthermore, when editing your essay, pay attention to:

• Readability 
• Consistency of the language
• Argument reasoning and rationale
• Transition between paragraphs
• Writing style
• Citations and referencing 

Lastly, given that Spanish is not your first language, I always recommend having someone else proofread your final draft before sending it out or printing it. A native Spanish speaker can easily spot mistakes that you might have missed, which could affect your article’s natural flow. 

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How to Make your Spanish Essay More Persuasive 

Now that you have finished writing a good Spanish essay, you might want to go the extra mile by making it more persuasive. 

A  Spanish persuasive essay  or any persuasive essays’ goal is to convince the reader to think like you or validate your perspective. But, some topics can be more subjective than others. Thus, to make sure your essay is effective, always rely on others. 

In other words, don’t let your argument stand-alone—research statistics, graphs, information, and data that can back up what you are saying. Citing or quoting experts in the field is also a great way to go about it as it allows your message to carry more weight. 

Nonetheless, make sure you are only using reliable sources. Below a list of ways to vet a reference to make sure your  Spanish persuasive essay  uses only the best sources:

Verify the information you already have against the data found in the source.

• Authority

Make sure a dependable author or institution writes the source.

Depending on your subject, your currency needs will vary. Thus, make sure to check when was the book or article written/published.

As a rule of thumb, I consider a reliable source:

• Materials published within the last five years

• Official websites (.gov., .edu,.org)

• Academic databases

• Articles published by well-known authors or experts in a specific topic

There you have it! Six easy steps that will help you write a good Spanish essay and a few tips and tricks to make it more persuasive.

Spanish essay example – See below

Cómo desarrollar una estrategia efectiva de teletrabajo.

[Start of the Introduction section]

El Covid-19 ha llevado a muchas empresas a migrar de un trabajo presencial al teletrabajo. Según Global Workplace Analytics [ and in the end you can add the reference to your Bibliografía ], unos 75 millones de trabajadores de los EEUU podrían teletrabajar al menos un parte de su jornada de trabajo. Sin embargo, para muchos sectores esto se ha convertido en un verdadero reto.

Aunque para muchos no sea obvio, los beneficios de trabajar con equipos remotos son incontables, siempre que construyas una política realmente efectiva y diseñes el proceso de reclutamiento acertado. Así es que si buscas desarrollar una estrategia efectiva de teletrabajo, debes asegurarte de que tus empleados o candidatos para trabajar a distancia, cuenten con las herramientas adecuadas.

[End of the Introdution]

[Start of the body section]

Cuando comiences a reclutar personas (nuevas o dentro de tu mismo equipo de trabajo), asegúrate de informarles de las cualidades indispensables que buscas en un candidato. No todo el mundo podrá unirse a la modalidad de teletrabajo por más que la situación lo requiera.

Por ejemplo , si una de las características más importantes para el desarrollo del proyecto es la conectividad, los candidatos adecuados deben poder estar a tu disponibles a través de sus computadoras o dispositivos móviles. Mónica Zent [ another reference in our Bibliografía section ], fundadora de Foxwordy la primera red social privada para abogados, recomienda que a todos los candidatos se les debería preguntar acerca de sus hábitos digitales. Pues, los candidatos ideales para el teletrabajo son aquellos que tienen disponibilidad y buena disposición para mantenerse conectados o conectarse en el momento en que sea necesario.

Del mismo modo , debes infórmales sobre de tus reglas para el teletrabajo y ayudarlos a mejorar sus métodos de gestión del tiempo. La idea es que te apoyes en un equipo eficiente, pero que además sea capaz de lograr un buen equilibrio entre la vida y el trabajo. Aunque la flexibilidad es una de las características inherentes del trabajo remoto, debes construir una política firme según las necesidades específicas de tu proyecto para poder dirigir un equipo eficiente y efectivo.

Las horas laborales oficiales, dependerán de los requerimientos de tu proyecto, por lo que es importante que los miembros de tu equipo sepan a qué horario atenerse. En caso de que los miembros de tu equipo tengan distintos husos horarios, define uno oficial con el que todos se sientan cómodos.

Determina los días que necesites una videoconferencia con todo el equipo dentro del huso horario oficial. Estas llamadas les permitirán recordar que trabajan con otras personas aunque por lo general hagan sus tareas aislados. Promueve el uso de la webcam para que todos estén concentrados en la conversación y estén realmente presentes. El verse las caras permite la comprensión del lenguaje corporal y una mejor comunicación.

[End of body section]

[Start of the conclusion section]

En conclusión, una estrategia efectiva de trabajo remoto dependerá de la forma en la que buscas y vetas los candidatos en tu empresa. No todo el mundo tiene la capacidad de trabajar desde casa de manera efectiva.

Además , recuerda hacer hincapié en la modalidad de trabajo y plantea una estructura clara donde se establezcan horarios, reuniones y seguimientos para lograr los mejores resultados.

Si logras incoporar todas estas prácticas dentro de tu modelo de negocio, tendrás un equipo remoto efectivo, compenetrado y eficiente. Tres factores de vital importancia para sobrepasar la crisis mundial que nos ha tocado vivir este 2020.

Bibliografía

• Global Workplace Analytics, 2020. How many people could work-from-home . Consultado a 04.10.2020 en [https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/how-many-people-could-work-from-home].
• Zent, Mónica, 2015. Monica Zent’s 5 Ways to Effectively Lead Remote Teams . Consutlado a 04.10.2020 en [https://medium.com/@MonicaZent/monica-zent-s-5-ways-to-effectively-lead-remote-teams-the-most-cutting-edge-companies-of-the-ab409c3db16a]
• Introducción
• “En los EE. UU., 4.7 millones de empleados trabajan desde casa al menos la mitad de la semana.”
• Qué estas buscando
• Conectividad
• Disponibilidad
• El candidato ideal
• Tip de Mónica Zent
• Flexibilidad
• Modalidad de trabajo
• Estrategia/planificación
• Video conferencias/Uso de la webcam
• Fechas de entrega

List of words

• Work remotely = Trabajo remoto/teletrabajo
• Flexibilty = Felixbilidad
• Availability = Disponibilidad
• 24/7 Connectivity = Conectividad las 24 horas
• Must-haves = Cualidades indispensables
• Video conference = Video conferencias
• Deadlines = Fechas de entrega
• Time zone = huso horario
• Webcam = webcam

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Basic Guidelines For Writing Essays in Spanish

Students tend to focus on speaking practice while learning Spanish, so they often neglect writing. However, most educators emphasize its importance for mastering the language. They say it’s impossible to become fluent in a particular language if one doesn’t train writing skills. 

Therefore, teachers give a lot of essay assignments to students. This type of homework is a great way to inspire them to think and communicate in Spanish effectively. It may be quite difficult to complete such a task. However, it’s one of the most effective ways to learn Spanish or any other language.

You may be tempted to go online and find the best essay writing service to have your essay written for you. This may be helpful when you’re pressed for time, but in the long run, you’re missing an opportunity to improve your own essay writing skills. That’s why we are going to provide you with some recommendations on how to ease the writing process.

Some tips on writing in Spanish 

• Be careful with word spelling. Remember that teachers pay special attention to spelling so it can either make or break your student image. Having good spelling makes a positive impression of your writing skills and boosts your grades. 
• Make your essay coherent with the help of connectors. Use them to explain the relationship between the ideas so your essay doesn’t look like just a list of thoughts and facts. 
• Pay attention to syntax or the word order. As you need to stick to the academic style, try to keep the traditional order such as “subject + verb + objects”. This will also help you express your opinion in a simpler way, so it’s more clear to the reader.
• Avoid word repetitions by using synonyms. Frequent repetitions make your text boring and heavy. If you use the same words again and again, your essay will look dull. Hence, try to find synonyms in Spanish thesaurus and replace the most commonly used expressions with them. 
• Before you create a final version of your essay, let someone read it and give feedback. It’s hard to be objective about your writing, so ask another person to tell you which ideas are less clear if your text contains any confusing phrases, and what are the positive aspects that can be reinforced. 
• Do not write the essay in your native language first to translate it into Spanish then. This approach is not viable for mastering a foreign language. The only thing that you are doing by translating the text literally is practicing the grammatical structures that you have learned. This doesn’t help you learn new idioms and collocations that don’t follow the general grammatical rules. 

Now that you know how to make your writing better, let’s consider a step-by-step guide to essay writing in Spanish. 

Pick an interesting topic 

If possible, choose a topic you are truly excited about. Unless the specific title was given to you by instructors, find a theme you want to research and write about. True interest is what will drive you towards creating an excellent piece. If you enjoy reading about the subject you are going to analyze in your essay, then you will definitely succeed in writing. Remember that decent work can be done only if you are passionate about it. 

Brainstorm the ideas 

When it comes to any project, brainstorming is an integral stage of the creation process. This is one of the most efficient ways to gain insights and generate new ideas. You can use this technique to think of the main supporting arguments, an approach for a catchy introduction, and paragraph organization. You can also try freewriting and/or make a brief outline to ease the writing process itself. 

Create an introduction 

Probably the main rule about creating an introduction that you have to stick to is adding a clear thesis statement there. It must be included in the first paragraph to give your essay a certain direction and help the readers focus their attention on the topic. Also, your introduction must be catchy and intriguing to evoke the desire to read the essay further and learn more. 

Organize an essay body 

It’s essential to make the body paragraphs organized logically. You need to make sure that each of them is closely related to the main topic and discusses one major point. Each body paragraph must consist of a topic sentence and supporting arguments with evidence. It’s very important to write sentences in a logical sequence so they follow each other orderly. Also, since paragraphs shouldn’t overlap in content, add smooth transitions from one to the other. 

Sum up the content 

The vital requirement to the conclusion is that it must logically relate to the original thesis statement. Generally, it’s not acceptable to introduce new ideas in the conclusion. Instead, you need to sum up the main points mentioned in the essay’s body. It’s also forbidden to add any off-topic ideas to the last paragraph of your paper.

Check content relevance and cohesion 

Once you complete the conclusion, read through the essay for relevance and cohesion. Make sure that the whole piece is on the topic and in the mode required. In particular, check if body paragraphs support the thesis statement and whether the conclusion relates to it. After that, read your paper once again to see whether the parts connect together well. Think if there are logical links between ideas and if you need more transitions. 

Read for clarity and style

Scan your essay to find out whether some sections may be unclear to the reader. Analyze the text to find out if it sounds academic and polished. Check if there are any vague pronouns, excessive wording, or awkward phrases. Don’t forget to make sure that all points are listed in similar grammatical forms.

The last stage of your writing process is final proofreading. Read your paper the last time looking at grammar, spelling, punctuation, verb tense, word forms, and pronoun agreement. Correct all the mistakes to make your work excellent. 

Remember that the most important thing about learning a foreign language is a regular practice. Therefore, you should use any opportunity provided by instructors to polish your skills. Hopefully, the recommendations given above will help you write an excellent essay and master the Spanish language!

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Spanish Words to Use in an Essay

Are you writing an essay in Spanish and aren't sure of the best way to start the next paragraph? Or maybe you're trying to think of some connectors to make your essay flow better. Look no further! In this article, we've prepared a list of words that will help you write that Spanish essay without even breaking a sweat.

Looking to learn more phrases in Spanish? Check these articles out!

• Fundamental Spanish Phrases to Learn Right Away
• Spanish Exclamatory Words and Expressions
• Spanish Idioms
• How to Say "I Don't Understand" in Spanish
• How to Say “Good Morning” in Spanish
• "Good Night" in Spanish
• How to Say "I Speak a Little Spanish"
• Words of Encouragement in Spanish
• Common Mistakes in Spanish

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51 Spanish Phrases for Essays to Impress with Words

• January 7, 2021

Joanna Lupa

Communicating in a foreign language is hard enough, even in everyday situations, when no sophisticated or academic vocabulary is needed. 

Being able to write an actual essay in Spanish requires you not only to have a solid grammar base but also be knowledgeable about specific phrases and words typically used in school and university writing. 

For those of you who study in one of the Spanish speaking countries or are toying with the idea of signing up for an exchange program, I have prepared a summary of useful Spanish phrases for essays. They are divided into the following categories:

• Connectors (sequence, contrast, cause and effect, additional information, and conclusion)
• Expressions to give your opinion, agree and disagree with a thesis
• fancy academic expressions

Spanish Connectors to Use in Essays

Written language tends to be more formal than the spoken one. Ideas get explained in complex sentences showing how they relate to each other. A fantastic tool to achieve that is connectors.

What are some useful Spanish connectors for essays? Let’s have a look at the ten examples below:

• 🇪🇸 primero – 🇬🇧 first
• 🇪🇸 segundo – 🇬🇧 second
• 🇪🇸 el siguiente argumento – 🇬🇧 the next argument
• 🇪🇸 finalmente – 🇬🇧 finally, last but not least 
• 🇪🇸 sin embargo – 🇬🇧 however, nevertheless, nonetheless
• 🇪🇸 por lo tanto – 🇬🇧 therefore, thus
• 🇪🇸 además – 🇬🇧 besides
• 🇪🇸 por un lado….por el otro lado – 🇬🇧 on the one hand….on the other hand
• 🇪🇸 a menos que – 🇬🇧 unless
• 🇪🇸 a pesar de (algo) – 🇬🇧 despite / in spite of (something)
• 🇪🇸 aunque / a pesar de que – 🇬🇧 although / even though
• 🇪🇸 debido a – 🇬🇧 due to
• 🇪🇸 puesto que / dado que – 🇬🇧 given that
• 🇪🇸 ya que –  🇬🇧 since
• 🇪🇸 mientras que – 🇬🇧 whereas
• 🇪🇸 en conclusión – 🇬🇧 in conclusion
• 🇪🇸 para concluir – 🇬🇧 to conclude

Do you think you would know how to use these connectors in an essay? Let’s suppose you are writing about ecology:

🇪🇸 Los paises han estado cambiando sus politicas. Sin embargo, aún queda mucho por hacer.  🇬🇧 Countries have been changing their policies. However, there is still a lot to do. 

🇪🇸 Una de las amenazas climáticas es el efecto invernadero. Además está la contaminación del agua que presenta un serio riesgo para la salud.  🇬🇧 One of the climate threats is the greenhouse effect. Besides, there is water pollution that presents a severe health hazard. 

🇪🇸 A pesar de los acuerdos internacionales, varios países no han mejorado sus normas ambientales.  🇬🇧 Despite international agreements, many countries haven’t yet improved their environmental standards. 

🇪🇸 Debido a la restricción en el uso de bolsas de plástico desechables, Chile ha podido reducir su huella de carbono.  🇬🇧 Due to the restrictions in the use of disposable plastic bags, Chile has been able to reduce its carbon print. 

Spanish Phrases to Express Your Opinion in Essays

Essay topics commonly require you to write what you think about something. Or whether you agree or disagree with an idea, a project, or someone’s views. 

The words below will allow you to express your opinion effortlessly and go beyond the typical “creo que ” – “ I think ”:

• 🇪🇸 (yo) opino que – 🇬🇧 in my opinion
• 🇪🇸 me parece que – 🇬🇧 it seems to me
• 🇪🇸 desde mi punto de vista – 🇬🇧 from my point of view
• 🇪🇸 (no) estoy convencido que  – 🇬🇧 I am (not) convinced that
• 🇪🇸 no me cabe la menor duda – 🇬🇧 I have no doubt 
• 🇪🇸 estoy seguro que – 🇬🇧 I’m sure
• 🇪🇸 dudo que – 🇬🇧 I doubt
• 🇪🇸 sospecho que – 🇬🇧 I suspect
• 🇪🇸 asumo que – 🇬🇧 I assume
• 🇪🇸 estoy (totalmente, parcialmente) de acuerdo – 🇬🇧 I (totally, partially) agree
• 🇪🇸 no estoy de acuerdo en absoluto – 🇬🇧 I absolutely disagree
• 🇪🇸 opino diferente – 🇬🇧 I have a different opinion
• 🇪🇸 me niego a aceptar – 🇬🇧 I refuse to accept
• 🇪🇸 estoy en contra / a favor de – 🇬🇧 I am against / in favor of
• 🇪🇸 no podría estar más de acuerdo – 🇬🇧 I couldn’t agree more
• 🇪🇸 encuentro absolutamente cierto / falso  – 🇬🇧 I find it absolutely correct / false

Phrases like these can really give shape to your essay and increase its formality level. This time, let’s verify it with views on education: 

🇪🇸 Opino que estudiando remotamente los jóvenes están perdiendo las habilidades sociales.  🇬🇧 In my opinion, remote schooling makes youngsters lose their social skills. 

🇪🇸 Dudo que esta decisión traiga verdaderos cambios para el sistema educacional en mi país.  🇬🇧 I doubt this change will bring any real changes to the educational system in my country. 

🇪🇸 Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con que todos deberían tener acceso a educación de calidad. 🇬🇧 I totally agree that everyone should have access to good quality education. 

🇪🇸 Estoy en contra de escuelas solo para niñas o solo para niños.  🇬🇧 I am against girls-only or boys-only schools. 

Pay attention to certain language differences between English and Spanish versions. The most common mistake that my students make is to say “ I am agree ” ❌ (direct translation from “ Estoy de acuerdo ”) instead of “ I agree ”✔️. 

Fancy Academic Verbs and Expressions for Essays in Spanish

Would you like to impress your professor with sophisticated academic vocabulary or get extra points on your DELE? Grab a pen and take notes:

• 🇪🇸 afirmar  – 🇬🇧 to state
• 🇪🇸 refutar – 🇬🇧 to refute, to reject
• 🇪🇸 argumentar – 🇬🇧 to argue that
• 🇪🇸 poner en duda  – 🇬🇧 to cast doubt
• 🇪🇸 poner en evidencia – 🇬🇧 to shed light 
• 🇪🇸 demostrar – 🇬🇧 to demonstrate
• 🇪🇸 concentrarse en – 🇬🇧 to focus on
• 🇪🇸 sostener – 🇬🇧 to sustain
• 🇪🇸 reflejar – 🇬🇧 to reflect
• 🇪🇸 considerando (que) – 🇬🇧 considering (that)
• 🇪🇸 siendo realista – 🇬🇧 realistically speaking
• 🇪🇸 de cierto modo – 🇬🇧 in a way
• 🇪🇸 en lo que se refiere a – 🇬🇧 with regards to
• 🇪🇸 en vista de – 🇬🇧 in view of
• 🇪🇸 de acuerdo a – 🇬🇧 according to
• 🇪🇸 no obstante – 🇬🇧 nevertheless

So many great words to work with! And some of them sound really similar to English, right? This is exactly why Spanish is such a good option when you want to learn a second language.

Let’s see how to make all these verbs and phrases work:

🇪🇸 Los resultados de los nuevos estudios ponen en duda la relación entre el consumo de huevos y altos niveles de colesterol.  🇬🇧 The recent study findings cast doubt on the relation between egg consumption and high cholesterol levels. 

🇪🇸 Los autores del estudio argumentan que los azucares y los carbohidratos juegan un rol importante en este asunto.  🇬🇧 The authors of the study argue that sugars and carbs play an important role in this topic. 

🇪🇸 En lo que se refiere al consumo de carne, este influye directamente los niveles de colesterol malo, sobre todo si es carne con mucha grasa. 🇬🇧 Regarding meat consumption, it directly influences the levels of “bad” cholesterol, especially in the case of greasy meat. 

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Spanish Reading Practice

Reading exercises by level.

Boost your Spanish comprehension with our collection of interactive reading exercises. You'll find content tailored to every level from beginner (A0) to advanced (C1).

All of our texts are carefully crafted by native Spanish teachers , so you know you're practising real Spanish. Most come paired with audio, offering you a powerful blend of reading and listening practice.

Choose one of the texts from the list below. As you read, click on any tricky phrases to reveal their English translation and delve into insightful grammar lessons. You can save any lesson that captures your interest in your Notebook.

Test your Spanish level  with our FREE level test to choose the correct exercises according to your current level. Dive in now and find out how our interactive readers will help you find your fluent!

A1: Beginner Spanish reading exercises

• 12 cosas interesantes sobre Nicaragua Free Singular Plural Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover 12 interesting facts about Nicaragua! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise tener in the present tense, forming the plural of nouns ending in a consonant (except -z), forming regular masculine and feminine nouns and the preposition en.
• Alquilando un coche en Málaga Free Plural Singular Nombre Adjetivo Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations It's a good idea to rent a car if you want to visit the villages along the Costa del Sol! This exercise can help you practise Near Future, prepositions, forming regular masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives and "renting a car" vocabulary.
• Benidorm Free Plural Género femenino Nombre Singular Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Have you ever been to Benidorm? There's plenty to see and do! This exercise can help you practise El Presente, prepositions, forming regular nouns (singular and plural) and forming regular plural adjectives.
• Calendario de adviento Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Plural Celebrations & Important Dates This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente, the verb gustar plus the gender and number of nouns.
• Cines de verano al aire libre Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Nombre Film & TV Sports & Leisure Experience the magic of cinema outdoors! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente and El Futuro Próximo.
• Consultorio de libros Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Regular Literature, Poetry, Theatre There’s a website, Te receto un libro, where you can consult an expert who “prescribes” the book that suits you best. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente and El Futuro Próximo.
• Curiosidades de Paraguay Free Singular Adjetivo Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn some interesting facts about the Paraguay! This A1 exercise can help you practise forming El Presente Progresivo with estar, forming the plural of adjectives ending in -e and -a, and regular and irregular verbs in El Presente including saber and decir.
• De viaje por Cuba Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations This exercise can help you practise forming regular adverbs ending in -mente, el Futuro Próximo and possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our and their (adjetivos posesivos).
• Destinos rurales con niños Free Plural Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Escape to the countryside with this exercise which can help you practise El Presente and modal verbs, the general use of prepositions and the gender/number of nouns.
• El Canal de Panamá Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Join Cristina as she discovers the fascinating feat of engineering that is the Panama Canal. This A1 exercise can help you practise El Presente, adverbs in ending in -mente, El Futuro Próximo and the gender/number of nouns and adjectives.
• El Día de Muertos en casa de Guadalupe Free Plural Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Celebrations & Important Dates Let's travel to Mexico to celebrate el Día de Muertos with Guadalupe and her family. This A1 exercise can help you practise forming regular masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives, the present progressive and the near future tense.
• El carnaval de las Palmas de Gran Canaria Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Singular Género femenino Plural Celebrations & Important Dates Carnival in Las Palmas, the capital city of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, is one of the most extravagant and famous carnivals in all of Spain. This exercise can help you practise Al and Del, expressing dates, and regular -ar verbs in the present tense.
• El mes de las madres Free Plural Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates Hispanic madres are truly celebrated during the month of May - discover all the different dates! This exercise can help you practise forming regular adverbs, months in Spanish, and the general use of the preposition "en".
• Empiezo la universidad Free Singular Plural Nombre Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Language & Education Join this student as she leaves home to study to be a vet. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the general use of the preposition en and the near future (El Futuro Próximo).
• Espíritu navideño Free Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Plural Regular Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Get into the spirit of Christmas with someone who truly loves celebrating the holiday season! This exercise can help you practise El Presente and El Futuro Próximo and gender and number agreement.
• Gijón Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover this beautiful coastal town in Asturias, Spain. This A1 exercise can help you practise conjugating ir + a + infinitive to express the near future, how to say "must / can / to want to" using deber, poder, querer + infinitive and using the preposition en to mean on / in / inside / at.
• Granizado de sandía Free Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Modo imperativo Food & Drink Learn how to make a very refreshing drink and practise the position of pronouns in commands.
• La Constitución española Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Nombre Immigration & Citizenship Every 6th of December Spain celebrates El Día de la Constitución. This A1 exercise can help you practise prepositions and El Futuro Próximo.
• La Semana Santa en Guatemala Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Regular Celebrations & Important Dates Discover how they celebrate the period around Easter in Guatemala. This exercise can help you practise the present tense, gender and number in Spanish.
• La Vuelta de San Juan Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Regular Sports & Leisure Join Laura for a ride like no other, where passion meets pedal power in the heart of South America! This exercise can help you practise El Presente, El Futuro Próximo and Preposición.
• La pradera de San Isidro Free Adjetivo El Presente Verbo irregular Pronombre Pronombre relativo Celebrations & Important Dates Learn about "La pradera de San Isidro", with context and examples
• Las casas colgadas de Cuenca Free Plural Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Take a trip to these surprising and beautiful houses in Cuenca. This exercise can help you practise subordinate clauses in El Presente and general prepositions.
• Las noches del hipódromo Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Regular Sports & Leisure A night at the races can be thrilling - especially the long summer evenings. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente and agreement of regular nouns and adjectives.
• Las posadas de México Free Plural Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates "Las Posadas" are a lovely tradition in Mexico and other Latin American countries where people remember Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem.
• Mafalda y sus amigos Free Regular Singular El Presente Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Literature, Poetry, Theatre We'd like to offer this A1 reading and listening exercise about Mafalda and her friends as a tribute to Quino who passed away on 30 September 2020.
• Mi asignatura favorita: Geografía Free El Presente Adjetivo Singular Regular Verbo irregular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about the rivers and mountains of Spain to prepare for a geography test. This exercise can help you practise modal verbs in the present, the difference between hay and está, and the near future.
• Mi llama Llama Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular Regular Plural Family & Relationships Meet this Argentinian girl's adorable pet llama, whose name is Llama!! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise tener and ser in El Presente, possessive adjectives, yeísmo and yeísmo rehilado.
• Murales Mayas Free Plural Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Género femenino Art & Design Politics, History & Economics In San Bartolo, Guatemala, the remains of a Mayan pyramid have some incredible Mayan murals. This exercise can help you practise forming the masculine and feminine of regular singular adjectives, forming the masculine and feminine of regular nouns (singular and plural) and conjugating "ser" in the present tense.
• Penélope Cruz y el Día de la Mujer Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Adjetivo Regular Celebrations & Important Dates Famous People Discover why this student admires Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, who as well as being the winner of an Oscar, a British Academy Film Award and many Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations, is, above all, a strong independent woman! This exercise can help you practise Muy vs Mucho, using ser to express an essential characteristic, tener in the present tense, stem-changing -ar verbs (o > ue) in the present tense, and preferir in the present tense.
• Presentaciones en español Free Género femenino El Presente Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Verbo irregular Family & Relationships Watch as María and Julio greet each other for the first time and then later, rather awkwardly, have to pretend to meet each other for the first time! This A1 exercise can help you practise greetings and introducing yourself in Spanish.
• Pura Vida Free Singular Plural Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Travel through Costa Rica with Sara to discover this beautiful country. This A1 exercise can help you practise irregular verbs in El Presente, El Presente Progresivo, general use of the preposition sobre, using para (and not por) for purpose, gender and plural of nouns ending in -e and demonstrative adjectives.
• Rafa Nadal Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Plural Sports & Leisure Get to know Rafa Nadal, the world-famous Spanish professional tennis player. This exercise can help you practise El Presente and generally describing someone.
• Salamanca Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Plural Monuments, Tourism & Vacations This reading and listening exercise about the beautiful city of Salamanca can help you practise El Presente, using prepositions, and gender and number agreement.
• Una vida nueva 1 Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular El Presente Regular Family & Relationships Part 1 of a series. Practise El Presente with Ángela who is about to start a new life in Madrid far away from her family and her rather useless boyfriend.
• Una vida nueva 2 Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Regular Family & Relationships Here's part 2 of our series about Ángela. She's moved to Madrid and seems to be finding her feet.
• Una vida nueva 3 Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Nombre Family & Relationships Here’s part 3 of our series about Ángela. Last week we learned that her boyfriend is not replying to her calls. But maybe there’s someone else out there looking for someone just like her?
• Una vida nueva 4 Free Singular El Presente Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Family & Relationships Here’s part 4 of our series about Ángela. This exercise can help you practise El Presente plus the gender and number of nouns.
• Una vida nueva 5 Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine El Presente Regular Family & Relationships Here's part 5 of our series about Ángela.
• Vida en los Andes Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente and possessive adjectives.
• Visitando librerías especiales Free Singular Plural Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Literature, Poetry, Theatre Patricia and Sergio have planned an interesting trip to visit some cool bookshops in different Spanish cities.This reading and listening exercise can help you practise prepositions, regular verbs in present tense, and El Futuro Próximo.
• Viviendas y mascotas en España Free Plural Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Family & Relationships Find out what type of housing Spanish people live in and whether they have pets. This A1 exercise can help you practise hay vs. está, modal verbs, indefinite adjectives, and indefinite pronouns.

A2: Lower Intermediate Spanish reading exercises

• Aguas de marzo Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Regular Plural Music Listen to the Spanish-language version of a song originally written by the Brazilian Tom Jobim.
• Alexia Putellas: icono del fútbol español femenino Free El Pretérito Indefinido Nombre El Pretérito Imperfecto Género femenino Género Famous People Sports & Leisure Alexia Putellas is a Spanish football icon who continues to showcase her talent and leadership on the field.
• Arquitectura y pintura en España Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Regular Art & Design Join this art student as they survey the many notable works of art and architectural marvels of Spain. This exercise can help you practise El Presente, using the preposition "de" with nouns for description, possessive adjectives, the regular adverbs, ir and ser in the preterite and tener in the preterite.
• Ciudadanía española: la experiencia de María Virginia Free Nombre Plural Género femenino Singular Regular Immigration & Citizenship Listen to María Virginia's experience of applying for Spanish nationality and, in particular, the types of questions that came up in the General Culture exam. This A2 exercise can help you practise El Indefinido, El Imperfecto, and the use and position of the preposition de for descriptions.
• Cómo escribir un correo electrónico formal Free El Imperativo Órdenes y peticiones Adverbio Gerundio/Spanish present participle Preposición Employment Read and listen to this text describing how to write a formal email.
• De mochilero por Perú 1 Free Plural Singular Nombre Regular Género femenino Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Join us as we travel around Peru in this new series! This A2 exercise can help you practise Ser vs Estar, Por vs Para, El Pretérito Indefinido and El Futuro Próximo.
• De mochilero por Perú 2 Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Regular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations It's time for part two of our trip round Peru! This exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Indefinido, gender of nouns with specific endings and quantitative adjectives.
• De mochilero por Perú 3 Free Preposición Género femenino Adjetivo Singular El Futuro Próximo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Get ready for the final part of our trip round Peru! Last stop: Cusco. This exercise can help you practise exclamatory sentences with qué, El Pretérito Indefinido, quantitative adjectives and the gender of words with specific word endings.
• El certificado de empadronamiento Free Preposición Por or Para? Adverbio Adjetivo indefinido Expressing need and obligation (deber, tener que, haber que, necesitar [que]) Immigration & Citizenship The Spanish "certificado de empadronamiento" is one of the first bureaucratic steps someone from abroad needs to get sorted when settling in Spain.
• El concierto de Aranjuez Free Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Plural Nombre Music Learn about this beautiful guitar concerto, written by Joaquín Rodrigo while you practise El Futuro Próximo and the gender and number of nouns that do not end in -o/-a.
• El día de engañar en Menorca Free Preposición Género femenino Adjetivo indefinido Nombre Adjetivo Celebrations & Important Dates Did you know that the Spanish-speaking world doesn’t celebrate April Fool’s Day? For Spain and Latin America "prank day" is on 28 December: El día de los inocentes. But, there is ONE place that DOES celebrate April Fool’s Day, and that’s Menorca. Find out why!
• En un festival de música Free El Pretérito Indefinido Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Pretérito Imperfecto Verbo irregular Regular Music Learn about "En un festival de música", with context and examples
• Estamos hechas la una para la otra Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Nombre Family & Relationships Some friendships were just meant to be! This A2 exercise can help you practise using yo también and yo tampoco.
• Francisco Salzillo Free Nombre Regular Género femenino Plural Preposición Art & Design Celebrations & Important Dates Francisco Salzillo was a celebrated Spanish Baroque sculptor who lived and worked in the 18th century. This A2 exercise can help you regular and irregular verbs in the Spanish preterite, the position of direct object pronouns and feminine nouns.
• Haciendo la compra a mis mayores Free Género femenino Nombre Singular Regular Plural Family & Relationships This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Perfecto.
• Halloween en España Free Plural Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates Halloween is here so let's all have a spooky time in Spain! This A2 exercise can help you practise indefinite adjectives, the gender of nouns and adjectives that don't end in -o or -a, and prepositions.
• La Asunción en Guatemala Free Nombre El Pretérito Indefinido Adverbio Género femenino Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Celebrations & Important Dates August 15 sees the celebration of the Assumption of Mary in many Hispanic countries. Guatemala is no exception and she is the patron saint of its capital, Guatemala City. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the preterite and indefinite adjectives.
• La Carrera de Reyes en San Pablo Free Género femenino Plural Singular Nombre Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Celebrations & Important Dates Discover this fascinating Epiphany tradition that takes place in the Peruvian town of San Pablo. This A2 exercise can help you practise the gender of nouns and adjectives that don't end in -a or -o, possessive adjectives and the near future
• La alegría de ser abuela Free Adjetivo Adjetivo posesivo El Presente Género femenino Preposición Family & Relationships The relationship a grandmother has with her grandchildren is very special! Join this abuela as she discovers she is going to have another nieto. This exercise can help you practise direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns and the diminutive suffix -ito.
• La cuesta de enero Free Adjetivo Adjetivo indefinido Género Género femenino Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates The new year is here and with it annual price hikes. Learn about the uphill struggle known as "La cuesta de enero" with this A2 reading and listening exercise.
• La escapada de Laura al albergue Free Nombre El Pretérito Imperfecto Género El Pretérito Indefinido Género femenino Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Laura needs to get away from it all and reconnect with nature. Join her as she discovers the Sierra de Guadarrama in Spain. This exercise can help you practise the preterite and the imperfect for completed or descriptive past actions.
• La fiesta de la independencia Free Nombre Plural Género femenino Regular Adjetivo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn some of the history behind the many independence day celebrations that take place in September in Latin American countries. This exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Imperfecto, indefinite adjectives, El Pretérito Indefinido, the gender of nouns that don't end in -o or -a, and how to use Roman numerals in Spanish.
• La historia del ceviche Free El Pretérito Indefinido Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Pretérito Imperfecto Verbo irregular Regular Food & Drink Learn about "La historia del ceviche", with context and examples
• La magia de La Rioja 1 Free Género femenino Nombre Adjetivo Preposición Género Monuments, Tourism & Vacations It's time for a new exciting series! Embark on an exhilarating journey with a group of friends as they explore the wonders of La Rioja in Spain. This exercise can help you practise the gender of nouns ending in -umbre, -ión, -dad, -tad, -itis and -sis and their plural, El Pretérito Perfecto and forming exclamatory sentences with qué.
• La magia de La Rioja 2 Free Adjetivo Preposición El Presente Género femenino Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations What will our friends decide to do on their next day of travel through La Rioja? Find out in part two! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the gender of nouns ending in -umbre, -ión, -dad, -tad, -itis and -sis and their plural, El Presente, the gender of most nouns ending in -ía/ia and Preposición.
• La magia de La Rioja 3 Free Preposición El Pretérito Indefinido Género femenino Regular Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Here's the final instalment in our series of Kwiziq Spanish bilingual readers set in the picturesque Rioja. This exercise can help you practise the gender of nouns ending in -umbre, -ión, -dad, -tad, -itis and -sis and their plural, El Presente, the gender of most nouns ending in -ía/ia and Preposición.
• La noche de las velas de Pedraza Free Nombre Plural Regular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Celebrations & Important Dates Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Visit this picturesque Segovian village by candlelight and practise El Pretérito Indefinido and El Pretérito Imperfecto.
• La vendimia Free El Pretérito Indefinido Preposición Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Pretérito Imperfecto Verbo irregular Celebrations & Important Dates Food & Drink Listen to this story about how one group of friends spent their time in the town of Jeréz de la Frontera during the annual grape harvest. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Indefinido and El Pretérito Imperfecto.
• Las tunas en el día de la Inmaculada Free Adjetivo Género femenino Plural Singular Género Music This reading and listening exercise is about the Spanish tradition of Las Tunas.
• Los novios 5: final feliz Free El Pretérito Indefinido El Pretérito Imperfecto Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Regular Verbo irregular Family & Relationships After all they've been through, find out how it all turns our for Susana and Alfredo while you practise past tenses.
• Mejorando mi español con Kwiziq Free Preposición Adjetivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática El Pretérito Perfecto Participio Language & Education This A2 exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Perfecto and indefinite pronouns.
• Melilla: una ciudad con encanto Free Adjetivo Preposición El Pretérito Indefinido Género femenino Nombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Read about a visit to Melilla, one of the Spanish enclaves situated in northern Africa that has been part of Spain since the 15th century. This exercise can help you practise el Indefinido, using cuánto/-a/-os/-as in interrogative, exclamative and indirect questions, and forming exclamatory sentences with qué [noun] or qué [adjective].
• Mi DNI Free Adjetivo Preposición El Presente Adjetivo posesivo Verbo irregular Immigration & Citizenship Learn about the Spanish National Identification document, an ID card that's as important as a passport for Spanish people. This A2 exercise can help you practise el Indefinido and Ser vs Estar.
• Mi día en Ecuador Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine El Presente Nombre Family & Relationships Spend a day in Ecuador while practising regular and stem-changing verbs in El Presente, telling time, using para for purpose and the gender of nouns that don't end in -o or -a.
• Mi hermana Free Adjetivo Regular Singular Plural El Presente Family & Relationships Practise muy vs mucho, plus using tener and ser to describe people.
• Narcisos Free Plural Nombre Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Sports & Leisure Let's take a look at a flower that really heralds springtime! This A2 can help you practise irregular verbs in El Presente and the general use of prepositions.
• No está lejos Free Preposición Nombre Por or Para? Género Género femenino Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Have you ever visited the Spanish city of Zaragoza? Practise directions and prepositions like desde/de/hasta/a for "from/to".
• No tengo miedo - Halloween song Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular Nombre El Presente Music It's Halloween! How about practising your Spanish with this cute song?
• Nuestra gran aventura de verano 1 Free Singular Plural Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Adjetivo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Meet Marian and Tania who are celebrating the end of exams by taking a break in the village of Tania's grandparents. Part 1 of a series.
• Platos para celebrar el 25 de mayo Free Género femenino Adjetivo Nombre Preposición Adjetivo indefinido Celebrations & Important Dates Discover some of the emblematic dishes that Argentinians serve on 25 May to mark el Día de la Patria, when they celebrate their independence from Spain. This exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Imperfecto, exclamatory sentences, El Pretérito Indefinido and gender of nouns with specific endings.
• Pulque Free Plural Nombre Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Food & Drink Discover this traditional Mexican drink that's made from plants similar to those used for tequila. This exercise can help you practise porque vs por qué, gender and plural of nouns with specific endings and que = that.
• Razones por las que aprender español Free Plural Nombre Singular Género Adjetivo Language & Education We know you are already converted and know hundreds of reasons why learning Spanish is the way to go! But read on, just in case you need some extra incentives! This exercise can help you practise indirect object pronouns, indirect object pronouns and using indefinite pronouns.
• Santiago Calatrava Free Nombre Género femenino Plural Singular Regular Art & Design Discover the life and some of the most iconic works of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. This A2 exercise can help you practise El Indefinido and forming ordinal numbers in Spanish.
• Sara García Alonso: la primera mujer astronauta española Free Género femenino Adjetivo Nombre Género Preposición Technology & Science Sara García Alonso is the first Spanish female astronaut.
• Ser perro durante la pandemia Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Presente Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbo irregular Modo indicativo Family & Relationships Learn about "Ser perro durante la pandemia", with context and examples
• Swimmy, el AirBnb de las piscinas Free Preposición Nombre Plural Singular El Futuro Próximo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Did you know that you can rent out your swimming pool the same way you can rent out a room or your home? This exercise can help you practise using the near future and the general use of the preposition en.
• Súbeme la radio - Enrique Iglesias Free Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Singular Music This reading and listening exercise is based on the song Súbeme La Radio by Enrique Iglesias. It can help you practise El Imperative and El Presente.
• Un Halloween diferente Free El Futuro Próximo Adjetivo Preposición Verbs in Spanish Adverbio Celebrations & Important Dates This Halloween-themed reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Perfecto, El Futuro Próximo and Halloween vocabulary.
• Un sábado con Edu Free Género femenino Adjetivo Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Preposición El Futuro Próximo Family & Relationships It's Saturday and hopefully Celeste's day is going to work out exactly as she has planned! This A2 exercise can help you practise El Indefinido with completed actions, El Futuro Próximo, and the use and position of direct object pronouns.
• Una cita a ciegas Free El Pretérito Indefinido Regular Adjetivo Verbo irregular Género femenino Family & Relationships Have you ever been on a disastrous blind date? This A2 exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Imperfecto and El Pretérito Indefinido.
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B1: Intermediate Spanish reading exercises

• Algo inesperado Free Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Regular Plural Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Have an unexpected encounter on the beach while practising El Imperfecto and El Indefinido and introduces El Pluscuamperfecto.
• Almudena Grandes Free El Pretérito Indefinido Preposición Verbo irregular Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Adjetivo demostrativo Literature, Poetry, Theatre Find out more about her life and work of author Almudena Grandes with this B1 reading and listening exercise that can help you practise the pasiva refleja, El Pretérito indefinido and El Pretérito imperfecto.
• Aulas virtuales Free El Futuro Simple El Presente de Subjuntivo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Verbo irregular Verbos regulares -er (presente) Language & Education This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple, El Condicional Simple and some expressions followed by El Subjuntivo.
• Campana sobre campana Free Plural Nombre Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular Celebrations & Important Dates Music The Christmas bells are ringing with this B1 reading and listening exercise that can help you practise the position of pronouns, diminutives and written accents.
• Canción bonita Free Nombre Pronombre de complemento indirecto Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Género Género femenino Music Listen to this duet by Ricky Martín and Carlos Vives which is a celebration of Puerto Rico. This B1 exercise can help you practise si followed by present indicative + main clause and position of Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns with infinitive/gerund and affirmative commands.
• Celebrando Acción de Gracias Free El Presente de Subjuntivo Modo subjuntivo Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Learn about "Celebrando Acción de Gracias", with context and examples
• Cómo hacer un presupuesto para tu pequeña empresa Free El Futuro Simple Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Adjetivo El Condicional Simple Employment This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple and El Condicional Simple.
• De crucero por España 3 Free Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre reflexivo Adjetivo Family & Relationships Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Daniel meets someone and then something unexpected happens. Are they connected? This exercise can help you practise past participles as adjectives and the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs. (Part 3 of 5)
• Día Internacional de las Montañas Free Plural Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates Find out why mountains are so important with this reading and listening exercise that can help you practise El Presente, El Imperativo and the position of pronouns after gerunds.
• El Cid Free El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre relativo Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Pretérito Imperfecto Verbo irregular Politics, History & Economics Learn about this famous Medieval warrior with this reading and listening exercise which can help you practise relative pronouns, past tenses and past participles as adjectives.
• El Descenso Internacional del Sella Free Género femenino Nombre Género El Futuro Simple Adjetivo Celebrations & Important Dates Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover this extraordinary race that takes place every August in Asturias, an autonomía on the northern coast of Spain, with hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators! This exercise can help you practise forming the present perfect progressive tense, past participles as adjectives, conditional sentences with if and the simple future.
• El Día de Muertos Free Género femenino Plural Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates The Mexican celebration of El Día de Muertos (the Day of the Dead) actually lasts more than one day as it is celebrated on el Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints' Day) and el Día de los Fieles Difuntos (All Souls' Day), 1 and 2 November respectively.
• El Gordo de Navidad Free Género femenino Plural Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates This is about the Spanish Christmas tradition of playing the lottery known as El Gordo.
• El Jazzaldia de San Sebastián Free Adjetivo Written accents in Spanish Tilde diacrítica Género femenino Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates Music Jazzaldia, aka the San Sebastian Jazz Festival, is Spain's oldest jazz festival. Every year during the third week of July, the city is alive with the sounds of jazz music as the festival takes over the city's venues, plazas and even the beach! This exercise can help you practise superlatives, forming la pasiva refleja and past participles as adjectives.
• El clásico Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular Plural Nombre Sports & Leisure This discussion of the traditional rivalry that exists between the Real Madrid and Barcelona football teams can help you practise comparatives and superlatives.
• El desfile del Día de Muertos Free Pronombre relativo Conjunción Género femenino Nombre Conjunción subordinante Celebrations & Important Dates Make the journey to Mexico City and discover the parade that takes place on All Saints' Day. This B1 exercise can help you practise que/ el cual/ la cual/ los cuales/ quien/ quienes (relative pronouns) and conjugating regular verbs in the conditional.
• El esplendor de las haciendas mexicanas Free Género femenino Nombre Adjetivo El Pretérito Imperfecto Género Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Mexican haciendas show us a time of splendor to which we look with some nostalgia.
• El frotar se va a acabar Free Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Singular Regular Nombre Film & TV An old school Spanish advert for washing powder full of great grammar.
• En la Feria Nacional de San Marcos Free Written accents in Spanish Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Adjetivo Tilde diacrítica Celebrations & Important Dates Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Travel to the Mexican city of Aguascalientes to celebrate the Feria Nacional de San Marcos. This exercise can help you practise la pasiva refleja, El Futuro Simple, gender and plural of nouns with specific endings and relative pronouns.
• Guantanamera Free Nombre Plural Singular Regular Género Music Guantanamera is probably the most famous Cuban song in the world. Its name means "woman from Guantánamo". The version in this video was recorded by Playing for Change, an organisation created to inspire and connect the world through music.
• Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo Free Adjetivo Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre reflexivo Language & Education Discover the meaning of this Spanish saying.
• Julieta, a film by Pedro Almodóvar Free El Presente Verbo irregular Oración negativa Adjetivo Tiempo simple Film & TV Pedro Almodóvar is Spain's most successful film director of international renown. His quirky screenplays focus on pop culture, desire, passion, and strong female characters.
• LA, LA, LA – Massiel, 1968. Festival de Eurovisión Free Pronombre relativo Género Género femenino Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre reflexivo Music Spain's first win at the Eurovision Song Contest was with this song by Massiel in 1968, when the contest took place in London. This exercise can help you practise using indirect object pronouns and relative pronouns.
• La Casa Azul de Frida Kahlo Free El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre relativo Written accents in Spanish Adjetivo Tilde diacrítica Art & Design Famous People Immerse yourself in Frida Kahlo's iconic "Casa Azul", where she painted and lived for much of her life. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise "cuando" with the present subjunctive vs the present indicative and written accents.
• La Casa de Bernarda Alba Free El Presente Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Verbo irregular Literature, Poetry, Theatre Federico Garcí­a Lorca is probably Spain's most famous modern poet and playwright. La Casa de Bernarda Alba is one of his most well-known plays.
• La Feria de Abril Free Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Plural Regular Celebrations & Important Dates This exercise is about the Spanish festival La Feria de Abril.
• La Mama Negra en Ecuador Free Nombre Género femenino Género Adjetivo Participio Celebrations & Important Dates In Latacunga, Ecuador, they have a fiesta called La Santísima Tragedia, but everyone calls it Mama Negra and since 2005 it's been officially recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ecuador. This exercise can help you practise past participles as adjectives, and the imperative.
• La Pedrera Free El Futuro Simple Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Pronombre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Join us on a very special trip to Barcelona to visit the incredible works of architect Antoní Gaudí. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple.
• La Roja baila Free Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Género femenino Singular Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Presente Music Sports & Leisure This reading and listening exercise is based on a song by the Spanish national football team.
• La Sagrada Familia: un tesoro arquitectónico en Barcelona Free Nombre Género femenino Género Pronombre relativo Written accents in Spanish Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Step into the awe-inspiring world of La Sagrada Familia, a masterpiece in the heart of Barcelona that transcends time and space. This exercise can help you practise que, el cual, la cual, los cuales, quien, quienes who, that, which (relative pronouns) and El Futuro Simple.
• La ley de nietos Free Pronombre relativo Género femenino Género Nombre Voz pasiva Immigration & Citizenship Read about a new path to Spanish citizenship called La Ley de la Memoria Democrática, popularly referred to as La Ley de Nietos. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise la pasiva refleja, El Futuro Simple, and the gender of Spanish nouns with specific endings.
• Las Doce Uvas Free Adjetivo Género femenino Género Plural Regular Celebrations & Important Dates Are you familiar with the Spanish New Year's tradition of eating twelve grapes at midnight?
• Las Fallas de Valencia Free Género femenino Plural Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine El Presente Celebrations & Important Dates The Spanish festival Las Fallas de Valencia lasts for 5 days in March.
• Las baleadas hondureñas Free El Imperativo Órdenes y peticiones Gerundio/Spanish present participle Modo imperativo Pronombre de complemento directo Food & Drink Learn how to make this delicious dish from Honduras! This exercise can help you practise the imperative affirmative and the position of object pronouns with affirmative imperatives.
• Las croquetas más ricas del barrio Free El Futuro Simple Written accents in Spanish Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Family & Relationships Food & Drink Inma is setting up a croquette bar in her neighbourhood.
• Las hogueras de San Juan Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates It's officially summertime! In Spain (and many other countries) because the solstice and the feast day of Saint John the Baptist are so close, the eve of Saint John's is celebrated as the start of summer.
• Mario Testino Free El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre relativo Regular Participio Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Art & Design Learn about Mario Testino, the iconic and infamous Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. This B1 exercise can help you practise past tenses, la pasiva refleja and past participles as adjectives.
• Martes y Trece - supersticiones Free Género Género femenino Adjetivo El Presente Regular Celebrations & Important Dates This exercise is about superstitions in Spain.
• Mi asistente Free Written accents in Spanish Tilde diacrítica Participio Pronombre relativo Adverbio interrogativo Language & Education Here’s a teacher who’s a big fan of Kwiziq! This exercise can help you practise the importance of written accents in Spanish and relative pronouns.
• Mi gran noche Free El Futuro Simple Verbo irregular Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Music Listen to the song "Mi gran noche" made famous when it appeared in the 1968 film "Digan lo que digan" starring the Spanish singer and actor Raphael. This B1 exercise can help you practise "El Futuro Simple".
• Mis aventuras por España 1 Free El Futuro Simple Adjetivo Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Here's part one of a new summer series! Take off with Laura as she heads to summer camp in Spain. Will she have a great time like her parents say she will?
• Mis aventuras por España 2 Free El Pretérito Perfecto Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Participio Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Will Laura make new friends? What will happen between Laura and Juan? Find out what summer has in store for Laura in part two of her summer adventure!
• Moriría por vos Free El Futuro Simple Nombre Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Celebrations & Important Dates "Moriría por vos" was a hit single by Spanish rock duo Amaral. This exercise can help you practise voseo, El Condicional Simple and El Futuro Simple.
• Noviembre sin ti Free Pronombre Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre reflexivo Preposición Music Listen to this love song by Mexican band Reik taken from their eponymous 2015 album. This exercise can help you practise the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs and past participles as adjectives.
• Nuestra gran aventura de verano 2 Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Nombre Plural Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about "Nuestra gran aventura de verano 2", with context and examples
• Nuestra gran aventura de verano 3 Free Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre de complemento indirecto Verbo irregular Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about "Nuestra gran aventura de verano 3", with context and examples
• Nuestra gran aventura de verano 4 Free El Pretérito Indefinido Verbos regulares -ar (presente) El Pretérito Imperfecto Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about "Nuestra gran aventura de verano 4", with context and examples
• Nuestra gran aventura de verano 5 Free El Pretérito Imperfecto Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre Pronombre reflexivo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about "Nuestra gran aventura de verano 5", with context and examples
• Orgullosa de mis hijos Free Adjetivo El Futuro Simple Género femenino Verbo irregular Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Family & Relationships Here's a short vignette narrated by a mother about her two sons.
• Paco de Lucía Free Adjetivo Género El Pretérito Indefinido Adjetivo invariable Nombre Music Learn about Paco de Lucía, pioneering guitarist who founded the new fusion flamenco genre. This B1 exercise can help you practise gender of nouns ending in -ista, shorter forms of ordinal numbers and using demasiado, bastante, suficiente, poco, tanto and mucho to express quantity.

B2: Upper Intermediate Spanish reading exercises

• 23-F: Coup d'Etat in Spain Free Género femenino Singular Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine El Presente Artículo definido Politics, History & Economics This exercise is based on events that occurred on 23 February 1981, when Lieutenant-Colonel Tejero led 200 civil guards in a coup d'État against the recently-formed Spanish democracy.
• Alaska y Dinarama - Mi novio es un zombi Free Expressing ability (poder, saber) Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Adverbio Infinitivo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Music The song "Mi novio es un zombi" was released in 1989 by new wave band Alaska y Dinarama. This B2 exercise can help you practise the Spanish Preterite, using hacer with the subjunctive/infinitive = to make [someone] do something and prepositions followed by infinitives.
• Andalucía turismo con Antonio Banderas Free Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre reflexivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Here Antonio Banderas shares a story about an important message he received when he was in hospital following his 2017 heart attack. This exercise can help you practise the general use of El Pretérito Imperfecto versus El Pretérito Indefinido and the position of adjectives.
• Aplausos a los sanitarios Free Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Presente de Subjuntivo Verbos pronominales Conjunción Adjetivo Family & Relationships Learn about "Aplausos a los sanitarios", with context and examples
• Aprende a decorar mesas navideñas Free Pronombre Pronombre relativo Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre reflexivo Art & Design It’s time to add a seasonal touch to really get in the festive sprit! This exercise can help you practise subordinate clauses in the subjunctive and the indicative plus relative clauses with prepositions.
• Arabismos Free Pronombre relativo Adverbio interrogativo Conjunción Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Politics, History & Economics This B2 reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Perfecto, and El Pretérito Indefinido.
• Ay mamá - Rigoberta Bandini Free El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre relativo Modo imperativo Music This reading and listening exercise can help you practise no sé vs no lo sé = I don't know, using the neuter article "lo" to refer to a clause, verb, adjective or adverb and using the infinitive after prepositions (not present participle).
• Bolsas de plástico Free Pronombre relativo Pronombre Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo Written accents in Spanish Celebrations & Important Dates Technology & Science Did you know that 3 July is International Plastic Bag Free Day? It seems a bit strange but actually has an important message and serious repercussions. This B2 exercise can help you practise using a and de + el que, la que, los que, las que (relative pronouns), using a preposition + el que, la que, los que, las que (relative pronouns) and using the infinitive after prepositions.
• Cabalgata Feria de Manizales Free Adjetivo El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre relativo Modo subjuntivo Celebrations & Important Dates Discover one of the spectacular events that takes place during the Feria de Manizales - an annual event every January in Colombia. This exercise can help you practise relative pronouns, relative clauses with the indicative and the subjunctive and position of adjectives.
• Canción "Como yo" de Tonina Saputo Free Adverbio interrogativo Conjunción Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish El Presente de Subjuntivo Music Listen to this poetic and rather melancholy song to practise cuando followed by the subjunctive and como vs cómo (with and without written accent).
• Canción de primavera Free Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre de complemento directo El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Adjetivo Music This B2 exercise about Spanish poet and singer-songwriter, Joaquín Sabina, can help you practise El Imperfecto vs El indefinido.
• Carlos Ruiz Zafón Free Adjetivo El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre relativo Literature, Poetry, Theatre On Friday 19th June 2020, the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón, best known for the novel La Sombra del Viento, passed away. We pay homage with this bilingual reader.
• Carlos Vives - Cumbiana Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Futuro Simple El Imperativo Music Listen to this song by Carlos Vives where he celebrates the cumbia musical genre as well as promoting the biodiversity of the swamps and rivers of Colombia. This exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple, using ya, and the difference between decir and contar.
• Coco (movie trailer) Free Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre de complemento directo El Imperativo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Modo subjuntivo Film & TV Step into the vibrant world of 'Coco', where music and family intertwine on the magical journey of Día de Muertos. This exercise can help you practise using the infinitive after prepositions, impersonal statements followed by the infinitive/subjunctive with que, and El Futuro Simple.
• Confesiones de una enamorada Free Oración subordinada temporal Modo subjuntivo Modo indicativo Oración subordinada causal Oración subordinada condicional Family & Relationships Practise subordinate clauses while listening to the confessions of a girl in love.
• Confundida Free El Pretérito Perfecto Participio Verbs in Spanish Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre Family & Relationships What advice would you give Sonia if you were her best friend Lidia? This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Perfecto for events in the past with no mention of specific date and experiences in life.
• Cotilleando Free Pronombre reflexivo El Presente Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Expressing desire (querer, gustar) Inverted verbs like gustar Family & Relationships This exercise can help you practise how to use gustar to say you find someone attractive.
• De crucero por España 1 Free El Futuro Simple Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Family & Relationships Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Meet Daniel, he's just found out that he's been hired as a lifeguard on a cruise ship! This exercise can help you practise El Futuro Perfecto and El Infinitivo Compuesto. (Part 1 of 5)
• De crucero por España 2 Free Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Presente de Subjuntivo Modo subjuntivo Pronombre Family & Relationships Monuments, Tourism & Vacations It's Daniel's first day at work on the cruise ship and he's a bit nervous. This exercise can help you practise the position of adjectives and El Presente de Subjuntivo. (Part 2 of 5)
• De crucero por España 4 Free El Futuro Simple Adjetivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations The ship makes a stop in Valencia and the police call with some news! This exercise can help you practise past participles as adjectives, the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs and El Futuro Simple. (Part 4 of 5)
• De crucero por España 5 Free Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre Pronombre reflexivo Adjetivo Family & Relationships Here's the final part of our summer series! Sofia is in police custody. How will this end? This xercise can help you practise past participles as adjectives, the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs and El Subjuntivo. (Part 5 of 5)
• Desde mi balcón Free El Futuro Simple Conjunción Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Adjetivo Art & Design instead of being a physical event, 2020's PhotoEspaña will be an online event. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Subjuntivo.
• Despacito Free El Presente Adjetivo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Imperativo Music Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee was one of the hot hits of 2017 and the first Youtube video to get more than 4 billion views! Both artists are from Puerto Rico.
• Disfraz de Calavera Mexicana para Halloween Free Modo subjuntivo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Pronombre de complemento directo Celebrations & Important Dates This reading and listening exercise shows you how to recreate the make-up for the Mexican Day of the Dead skull, also known as Catrina. It can help you practise relative clauses with the Indicative and the Subjunctive.
• Día Internacional de la lengua materna Free Pronombre relativo Pronombre impersonal Verbo transitivo Voz pasiva Pronombre Language & Education Practise relative pronouns while learning about International Mother Tongue Day.
• Día del Idioma Español y Día Internacional del Libro Free Adjetivo Infinitivo Modo subjuntivo Written accents in Spanish Participio Famous People Language & Education Literature, Poetry, Theatre 23 April book lovers is International Book Day and also United Nations Spanish Language Day
• El Carnaval de la Amistad Free Adjetivo Participio Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Voz pasiva Celebrations & Important Dates Discover this colorful event that takes place every year in Honduras to celebrate the patron saint of La Ceiba. This exercise can help you practise the passive voice, impersonal statements and using se debe/se puede.
• El Dos de Mayo de Goya Free El Pretérito Indefinido El Pretérito Imperfecto Pronombre relativo Adjetivo Tilde diacrítica Art & Design Discover the history behind this famous painting by Francisco Goya, one of Spain's most important artists of the turn of the 18th century. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise different uses of the subjunctive, and using the imperfect vs the preterite.
• El Parchís Free El Futuro Simple Adjetivo Participio Pronombre relativo Modo subjuntivo Sports & Leisure If you love traditional board games then you have probably played a version of known in the Spanish-speaking world as parchís. This B2 exercise can help you practise past participles as adjectives, relative clauses with the indicative and the subjunctive, using prepositions + relative pronouns, and cualquier(a).
• El Peine del Viento Free Adjetivo Participio Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Verbos pronominales Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about "El Peine del Viento", with context and examples
• El cuento de mi abuelo para el día de Reyes Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships This B1 online reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Indefinido and El Pretérito Imperfecto.
• El presidente Nayib Bukele le promete a El Salvador una Ciudad Bitcoin Free Adjetivo El Futuro Simple Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo El Condicional Simple Technology & Science Discover the ambitious plans Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, has for his country’s future. This B2 exercise can help you practise relative clauses with the subjunctive, the position of adjectives, and uses of the conditional.
• El sueño de Juan cargado de música Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Adjetivo Infinitivo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Music Live the dream of becoming a famous musician with Juan! This exercise can help you practise the imperfect vs the preterite, expressions with the verbs cargar, hacer and tirar.
• En Guinea Ecuatorial se habla español Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Voz pasiva Pronombre impersonal Verbo transitivo Language & Education There's a country in Africa that counts Spanish as one of its official languages: Equatorial Guinea. Discover the historical reasons for this with our bilingual reader. This exercise can help you practise the passive and the preterite.
• Feria de Cuenca, Ecuador Free Gerundio/Spanish present participle Adjetivo Pronombre relativo Voz pasiva Infinitivo Celebrations & Important Dates Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Read about the craft fairs that take place in Cuenca for its Independence Day celebrations, it's a city in Equador and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This B2 exercise can help you practise using the infinitive after prepositions and la pasiva refleja.
• Fiesta Nacional de la Manzana Free Adjetivo Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Voz pasiva Conjunción Celebrations & Important Dates Food & Drink Discover this Argentinian celebration of the apple! This exercise can help you practise la pasiva refleja, conjunction al + infinitive/perfect infinitive, relative pronouns, and position of adjectives.
• Galicia, un paraíso en el noroeste Free El Futuro Simple Written accents in Spanish El Presente de Subjuntivo Tilde diacrítica Oración condicional con si Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover Galicia with this exercise which can help you practise the pasiva refleja and also indicative and subjunctive clauses.
• Guillermo, el trapecista de circo Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre de complemento indirecto Participio Pronombre de complemento directo Language & Education Enjoy a night out at the circus and meet Guillermo, a talented young trapeze artist! This B2 exercise can help you learn Spanish idiomatic expressions using the word boca, practise past tenses generally, pronominal verbs, and subordinate clauses with El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo.
• Hamburguesas veganas de avena Free Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Modo imperativo Food & Drink Learn how to make these vegan burgers and practise El Futuro Simple.
• Huevos de Pascua de foamy moldeable Free Adjetivo El Futuro Simple Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo Pronombre de complemento directo Art & Design This reading and listening exercise can help you practise para que followed by the present subjunctive (purpose subordinate clauses), el Futuro Simple and using the infinitive after prepositions (not present participle).
• Inspiración otoñal Free El Futuro Simple Modo subjuntivo Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Celebrations & Important Dates In the northern hemisphere the leaves are changing colour to accompany the changing season. This B2 exercise can help you practise El Futuro, El Condicional and El Subjuntivo.
• Jorge Drexler - Hermana duda Free El Futuro Simple Verbos regulares -ar (presente) Verbos regulares -er (presente) Verbos regulares -ir (presente) Gerundio/Spanish present participle Music Meet Academy Award winner Jorge Drexler, Uruguayan musician, actor and doctor. This B2 exercise can help you practise relative clauses using the infinitive and seguir + present participle.
• La Alhambra de Granada Free Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre reflexivo Adjetivo Pronombre Pronombre de complemento indirecto Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Step into a world of enchantment and history as you explore the mesmerizing beauty of La Alhambra de Granada in Spain. This exercise can help you practise the position of pronouns with conjugated verbs, the position of adjectives, El Futuro Simple and verbos pronominales.
• La Familia Addams Free El Presente Adjetivo Verbo irregular Ser or Estar? Género femenino Music There's a lot of spooky excitement in Madrid right now because of the new Addams Family musical! Practise your Spanish with this video filmed after the premiere.
• La Gritería Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre relativo Written accents in Spanish Gerundio/Spanish present participle Celebrations & Important Dates Every year on December 8, Nicaragua celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary with La Gritería. This B2 exercise can help you practise using seguir/continuar + present participle, decir vs contar, and the imperfect vs the preterite.
• La Inquisición Española Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Voz pasiva Adjetivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Politics, History & Economics Numerous atrocities were committed during the Spanish Inquisition several centuries ago in the name of Catholicism
• La herencia árabe en España Free Singular Género femenino Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Adjetivo Art & Design Politics, History & Economics This exercise is about the influence of Arabic culture on Spain and the Spanish language.
• La monarquía española Free Infinitivo Pronombre impersonal Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre relativo Pronombre Immigration & Citizenship Politics, History & Economics Learn about the current Spanish monarchy and its recent history. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the passive se with modal verbs deber/poder, relative pronouns, using the infinitive after prepositions, and how to use Roman numerals in Spanish.
• La vuelta al cole Free Written accents in Spanish Adjetivo Modo subjuntivo Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Family & Relationships Language & Education This exercise can help you practise clauses using El inidicativo and El subjuntivo.
• La vuelta al cole con Kwiziq Free Modo subjuntivo Pronombre El Futuro Simple Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Language & Education Let's catch up with Laura, the American studying to be a doctor whom we met for the first time in "Mejorando mi español con Kwiziq" (A2). This exercise can help you practise "cuando" with past tenses, "seguir/continuar" + gerund and pronominal verbs.

C1: Advanced Spanish reading exercises

• Alquilando un piso Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Perífrasis verbal Verbos pronominales Conjunción subordinante Oración subordinada modal Sports & Leisure This reading and listening exercise can help you practise pronominal verbs, verbal periphrasis and subordinate clauses.
• Cartagena Free Adjetivo Infinitivo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre Pronombre relativo Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover the beautiful city of Cartagena, in the province of Murcia, Spain. This reading and listening exercise can help you review relative pronouns.
• Celebrando la música Free Modo subjuntivo Pronombre Modo indicativo El Presente de Subjuntivo Oración subordinada relativa Music We'd like to highlight how important music is in everyone's lives, both in big celebrations and also in little moments in our daily life. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the subjunctive in different scenarios like "como si", "ya sea" and "cuando" among others.
• Chefs Estrella Damm 2021 Free Gerundio/Spanish present participle Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Perífrasis verbal El Futuro Simple Tilde diacrítica Food & Drink Watch this video where Spanish chefs have collaborated with a well-known Spanish brand of beer to boost their sector, hard-hit by the pandemic in 2021. This exercise can help you practise El Futuro Simple and different uses of the gerund.
• Coincidencias - Mundial Qatar 2022 Free El Pretérito Indefinido El Pretérito Imperfecto Pronombre de complemento indirecto Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Tilde diacrítica Sports & Leisure Check out this clever video comparing what's happening in 2022 to what happened in 1986, which was the last time Argentina won the World Cup. This C1 exercise can help you practise using the Preterite, repetition of indirect object pronouns and you will also hear the very characteristic voseo and yeísmo rehilado present in Argentinian Spanish.
• Comiendo pipas Free Infinitivo Pronombre Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Oración subordinada causal Pronombre de complemento directo Family & Relationships Food & Drink Read and listen to this C1-level story with an unexpected protagonist who learns to love pipas.
• Cotilleo Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Modo subjuntivo El Presente de Subjuntivo Perífrasis verbal Conjunción subordinante Family & Relationships When you're stuck at home with a broken leg everyone else's life seems much more interesting! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the "se" aspectual, andar + gerundio, and expressions with the verb echar.
• Cómo distinguir acentos y expresiones de distintos países de Centroamérica Free Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre de complemento indirecto Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Language & Education Could you identify which Central American country someone came from just from their accent? Watch this video to discover what the giveaway clues for each country are! This C1 exercise can help you practise Latin American colloquial expressions, pronominal verbs, relative pronouns, use of the dieresis in Spanish, omission of the letter d in colloquial spoken Spanish, Latin America Spanish generally.
• Diferentes formas de llamar a la comida Free Pronombre de complemento directo Diminutivo Sufijo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Adverbio interrogativo Food & Drink Language & Education Discover just a few of the many foodstuffs that have different names depending on which country you are from! This B2 exercise can help you practise the differences in food vocabulary between different Spanish-speaking countries, the use of cualquier, the position of pronouns, impersonal sentences with se, the passive se and the use of the apóstrofo.
• Día de Pachamama Free Participio El Condicional Simple El Futuro Simple El Pretérito Indefinido Modo subjuntivo Celebrations & Important Dates Discover the indiginous Latin American celebration of Pachamama and practise using El Futuro Simple when narrating past actions.
• El Amazonas y el Orinoco: guardianes de la biodiversidad Free Adjetivo Modo subjuntivo Infinitivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Written accents in Spanish Politics, History & Economics Discover two mighty South American rivers and their respective ecosystems. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise subordinate relative clauses, relative adjectives and encontrar vs encontrarse.
• El Guernica, símbolo de una historia Free El Presente Cambio de tiempos verbales inesperados Participio Pronombre relativo Adjetivo Art & Design Politics, History & Economics Pablo Ruiz Picasso is probably Spain's best-known artist and 2023 is the 50th anniversary of his death. To participate in this special moment, we look more closely at one of his most emblematic and political works, the massive painting of Guernica. This exercise can help you practise forming the passive voice with ser + participle, using the present to narrate past events and using the gerund to say “by doing something”.
• El Valle del Jerte y la Picota: una cereza única Free Adjetivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Género femenino Written accents in Spanish Género Food & Drink There is an area in Spain that grows a very special kind of cherry. This C1 exercise can help you practise la pasiva refleja, the position of adjectives, and verbal structures and relative pronouns using the subjunctive or the indicative.
• El arte inigualable del colombiano Fernando Botero Free Participio Adjetivo Pronombre El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Art & Design The Colombian artist Fernando Botero passed away 15 September 2023, leaving us with an extraordinary legacy of paintings and sculptures in his exuberant and instantly recognisable style that has come to be known as Boterismo. Learn more about his life and work.
• El desorden que dejas Free Conjunción Jerga/ Expresión idiomática El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Film & TV View the trailer of the Netflix series is El desorden que dejas, known in English as "The Mess You Leave Behind". This C1 exercise can help you practise idiomatic expressions.
• El español en Filipinas Free Participio El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo Tiempo compuesto Adjetivo Voz pasiva Language & Education Politics, History & Economics This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the passive voice, El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo and using cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas.
• El mensaje de Margarita Salas para las niñas que quieren ser científicas Free Modo subjuntivo Oración subordinada temporal Modo indicativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo Technology & Science Read and listen to this interview with Margarita Salas, a renowned Spanish scientist and advocate for women in science.
• El origen del Black Friday Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo Voz pasiva Celebrations & Important Dates Black Friday has become a date to watch for many bargain-hunters around the world. But what's the origin of this mega-shopping day? This C1 exercise can help you practise passive voice with ser + participle and idiomatic expressions.
• El veraneo Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Verbos pronominales Perífrasis verbal Infinitivo Conjunción subordinante Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Have you ever wondered how the concept of summer holidays came about? This exercise can help you practise idiomatic expressions.
• Ensalada de verano Free Adjetivo Modo indicativo Modo subjuntivo Oración subordinada relativa Oración subordinada causal Food & Drink Enjoy a refreshing and unusual salad while practising using cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas and relative clauses.
• Felipe II Free Cambio de tiempos verbales inesperados El Presente El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Adjetivo Politics, History & Economics Practise El Presente Historico.
• Flotadores muy originales Free Por or Para? Jerga/ Expresión idiomática El Condicional Perfecto El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo Oración condicional con si Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Practise using El Pluscuamperfecto Subjuntivo in hypothetical clauses, idioms with ser, and relatives.
• Janucá Free El Presente de Subjuntivo Pronombre relativo Género Género femenino Nombre Celebrations & Important Dates Hanukkah Sameach! This reading and listening exercise discusses the story behind the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.
• La Constitución española de 1978 Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Voz pasiva Gerundio/Spanish present participle Pronombre relativo Immigration & Citizenship Politics, History & Economics Learn about how the Spanish Constitution was established in 1978 following the transition to democracy after years of dictatorship. This C1 exercise can help you practise legal vocabulary, relative pronouns and passive forms.
• La Erizada Free Verbo modal Voz pasiva El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Modo imperativo Food & Drink Sea urchins are an important part of the carnival celebrations of Cádiz and they play the starring role in the gastronomic feast known as La Erizada.
• La Pepa Free Género femenino Singular Nombre Gender of nouns in Spanish: masculine Plural Politics, History & Economics On 6 December Spain celebrates El Día de la Constitución. This reading and listening exercise discusses the Spanish constitution and explains why it is fondly referred to as La Pepa. You will also practise passive progressive tenses.
• La guía definitiva para salir de cañas por España Free Pronombre Infinitivo Modo subjuntivo Pronombre relativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Food & Drink Ever been confused about how to order a beer in Spain? This exercise can help you practise using the "se aspectual" and "lo" + possessive pronouns.
• La nacionalidad española por residencia Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Pronombre de complemento indirecto Infinitivo Modo subjuntivo Pronombre relativo Immigration & Citizenship Discover how long you need to be resident in Spain before you can apply for Spanish nationality. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the different uses of the verb quedar, llevar with past participle, llevar with present participle, and the construction al + infinitive.
• Las posadas Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Voz pasiva Pronombre impersonal Verbo transitivo Celebrations & Important Dates Learn about these traditional Christmas parties that are celebrated throughout Latin America from the 16th till the 24th of December. This C1 exercise can help you practise the pasiva refleja and El Imperfecto vs El indefinido.
• Las rebajas de enero Free Voz pasiva Participio Aspecto progresivo Adjetivo El Pretérito Perfecto Subjuntivo Celebrations & Important Dates The January sales have started! This C1 reading and listening exercise can help you practise the passive voice in both simple and compound tenses.
• Los antiguos viajes a la playa - Eva Hache Free Modo subjuntivo El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido El Presente Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Film & TV This reading and listening exercise is suitable for level C1 Spanish students because of the pace of speech and the number of idiomatic expressions.
• Los otros héroes Free Verbos pronominales Adjetivo Conjunción subordinante Infinitivo Participio Family & Relationships A look at the ordinary people making sure that there is food on the shelves, cleaning the streets and collenting the trash during the pandemic lockdown.
• Los zumos - Eva Hache Free Participio El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Film & TV This reading and listening exercise can help you practise idiomatic expressions with "ni" and "ya". It is suitable for level C1 Spanish students because of the pace of speech and the number of idiomatic expressions.
• Lucha contra el cáncer Free Gerundio/Spanish present participle Infinitivo Oración subordinada relativa Oración subordinada modal Verbos pronominales Technology & Science In the fight against cancer, February becomes a beacon of resilience. This exercise can help you practise verbos pronominales, using the infinitive after prepositions (not present participle) and relative clauses with the indicative and the subjunctive (subordinate relative clauses).
• Miguel de Cervantes Free Cambio de tiempos verbales inesperados El Presente El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Pronombre Language & Education Literature, Poetry, Theatre This exercise can help you practise the present to narrate past events, the position of adjectives, using the imperfect vs the preterite and the incorrect use of pronouns (leísmo, laísmo and loísmo).
• Mujeres Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Perífrasis verbal Por or Para? Pronombre Pronombre relativo Celebrations & Important Dates Every year on 8 March we celebrate International Women’s Day. This C1 reading and listening exercise can help you practise relative pronouns and idiomatic expressions.
• Museo del Prado Free Cambio de tiempos verbales inesperados El Presente El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Gerundio/Spanish present participle Art & Design El Museo Nacional del Prado, located in Madrid, is Spain's most important museum with a magnificent collection of European art. This C1 exercise can help you practise using El Presente to narrate past events, the passive voice and past tenses generally.
• Más vale sola que mal acompañada Free Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Gerundio/Spanish present participle El Futuro Simple Family & Relationships When your love life is in tatters, who are you gonna call? Your best friend of course! This exercise can help you practise using "se aspectual", "if" clauses and adverbial clauses.
• México lindo y querido Free El Presente de Subjuntivo Conjunción El Imperativo Órdenes y peticiones Significados de "que" Music Alejandro Fernández is a Mexican singer and a best-selling Latin music artist; study one of his songs and practise "que + El Presente de Subjuntivo" to express a wish/command.
• Noche en vela by Guaraná Free Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Conjunción Pronombre Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Music Guaraná are a Spanish pop group, originally formed in Alicante in 2000, who went from busking in the Madrid metro to chart success. This exercise can help you practise using haber de + infinitive, using por si/por si acaso to say "in case" and there's and example of colloquial omission of the letter D.
• Pajarillo Free Adverbio interrogativo Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo Modo subjuntivo Music The traditional Venezuelan song "Pajarillo" is a "joropo", a typically Venezuelan style of music and dance. This exercise can help you practise particularly poetic uses of El Imperfecto Subjuntivo.
• Pase lo que pase, yo estoy a tu lado Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Pronombre de complemento directo Artículo definido Film & TV Sometimes when things go wrong pizza is the only answer! Practise using ir + y to introduce something unexpected and sudden, special uses of the conjunction "que" and El Presente to make requests.
• Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche Free Tilde diacrítica Written accents in Spanish Conjunción Modo subjuntivo El Pretérito Imperfecto Literature, Poetry, Theatre The poem was published when Pablo Neruda was just 19 years old. This C1 exercise can help you practise the perfect infinitive, using el de/la de/los de/las de and using Qué + noun/adjective/adverb + que + subjunctive to express feelings.
• Preparando la Nochevieja Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Verbos pronominales Oración subordinada causal Perífrasis verbal Pronombre de complemento indirecto Celebrations & Important Dates Having guests over for New Year's Eve can be rather stressful. Catch up with our host as she prepares for the big night when everyone eats 12 grapes at midnight! This C1 exercise can help you practise idioms with the word uva, pronominal verbs and pensar + infinitive to express intention.
• Preparativos y tradiciones de mi Nochevieja colombiana Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Pronombre de complemento indirecto Pronombre Perífrasis verbal Modo subjuntivo Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Food & Drink In Bogotá, Andrea is ready to host this year's New Year's Eve with her family.
• Ropa de invierno Free Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Perífrasis verbal Expressing need and obligation (deber, tener que, haber que, necesitar [que]) Participio Conjunción coordinante Sports & Leisure Learn about "Ropa de invierno", with context and examples
• Rosalía, song by Juan Luis Guerra Free El Imperativo Gerundio/Spanish present participle Modo imperativo Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto Music Juan Luis Guerra is a best-selling singer-songwriter from the Dominican Republic. This C1 exercise can help you practise using El Imperfecto vs El indefinido, subordinate clauses with para que, uses of mira/oye and the position of pronouns.
• SEMINCI: Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid Free Modo subjuntivo Pronombre de complemento directo Perífrasis verbal Verbos pronominales Expressing need and obligation (deber, tener que, haber que, necesitar [que]) Film & TV This week-long film festival held in Valladolid every year is considered by many as the most important festival for independent cinema.
• Signos de interrogación y de exclamación Free El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido El Presente de Subjuntivo Jerga/ Expresión idiomática Pronombre relativo Language & Education ¿Have you ever wondered about the upside-down punctuation marks used in Spanish? ¡Watch this video and read the transcript to learn more! This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Pretérito Indefinido, El Pretérito Imperfecto, forming the imperative for usted/ustedes/nosotros/nosotras, time clauses.
• Tacones rojos - Sebastián Yatra Free Pronombre Pronombre de complemento directo Pronombre de complemento indirecto El Pretérito Imperfecto El Pretérito Indefinido Music Sebastián Yatra is a Colombian singer-songwriter originally known for his ballads but with a breakout success in fusion reggaeton. This C1 exercise can help you practise relative pronouns, se aspectual, use of the apostrophe and omission of the final -s in plural words.

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4 GCSE SPANISH HIGHER TIER ESSAYS WITH TRANSLATION

Subject: Spanish

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Other

Last updated

3 December 2022

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This resource consist of 4 GCSE sample essays based on popular topics: Holidays, School, Hobbies, Health& Fitness and Visits. It follows the NEW GCSE format for the essay writing Higher Question 2: 4 bullet points in target language, around 140 words and use of 3 tenses Each essay includes a range of A star structures highlighted and has the translation in English below. Some essays have also got some useful tips on the side about the structures. My students found this resource very useful to expand their complex structures and build a range of set phrases before their exam. This resource is also suitable both for Edexcel and Cambridge IGCSE students. Enjoy!

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52 Spanish Writing Prompts for Beginner to Advanced Learners

Here’s a method that’s quite effective for helping you build confidence in your Spanish , no matter your level.

You only need two items: pencil and paper.

That’s right, we’re going to get you that much-needed writing practice !

With Spanish writing prompts, you can strengthen your grasp on Spanish verb conjugations , grammatical structures , vocabulary and more.

Ready your writing materials, buckle up and let’s get started.

Spanish Writing Prompts for Beginners

1. daily routine (with a twist), 2. dream vacation, 3. mysterious object, 4. unlikely friends, 5. family portrait, 6. time capsule, 7. unexpected gift, 8. language exchange, 9. lost in the city, 10. the weather today, 11. my favorite season, 12. a visit to the zoo, 13. at the restaurant, 14. a day without technology, 15. a mysterious letter, 16. a visit to the doctor, 17. my favorite book or movie, 18. an unexpected friendship, 19. my ideal home, 20. the magical object, spanish writing prompts for intermediate learners, 21. postcard from paradise, 22. dear diary, 24. never have i ever, 25. lost in translation, 26. haunted house, 27. future professions, 28. unexpected encounter, 29. secret diary, 30. culinary adventure, 31. the mysterious package, 32. childhood memories, 33. social media: yay or nay, 34. the art of persuasion, 35. the time-traveling journal, spanish writing prompts for advanced learners, 36. ideal friend, 37. alternate timeline, 38. eco-friendly habits, 39. artistic inspiration, 40. tangled tales, 41. culinary fusion, 42. lost and found in translation, 43. untranslatable beauty, 44. cultural dilemma, 45. the mind’s canvas, 46. echoes of history, 47. nature’s poetry, 48. evolving traditions, 49. the four-day workweek, 50. cultural collage, 51. ephemeral moments, 52. language odyssey, tips to practice spanish by writing for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners, intermediate, and one more thing….

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Focus on: Present simple tense

You’ve probably had to write about your daily routine at some point in Spanish class. This prompt is great because it forces you to practice present simple verbs, which are used to talk about repeated or habitual actions. But writing about your morning coffee and shower routine can get a little dry.

So, for this writing prompt, try to write about a daily routine from someone else’s point of view. Pretend you’re someone else—a celebrity, a farm animal, a person from the future, an alien—and write about “your” daily routine. Not only is this a fun exercise in creativity, it also allows you to incorporate new vocabulary.

Sample: Soy un gato. Cada mañana cazo ratones en el jardín. Luego los llevo a la mesa y se los doy a mi dueño humano. (I’m a cat. Every morning, I hunt mice in the garden. Then, I bring them to the table and give them to my human owner.)  

Keep practicing: Instead of writing from a first-person point of view, write as though you’re reporting on someone’s daily routine. This will allow you to practice third-person verb conjugations. Since in Spanish, first- and third-person conjugations are often quite different in the present simple, it’s worth your time to practice them both.

Focus on: Future tense

You’ve been working hard on your Spanish studies , so you’ve definitely earned that dream vacation—and this fun writing prompt!

Picture this: you’ve been given the golden opportunity to take a dream vacation anywhere in the world. Now, think about where you would go, what you would do and how you would feel during this incredible trip. Since this one takes place in the future, it’ll flex your mastery of the Spanish future tenses.

Sample: En las vacaciones de mi sueños, voy a viajar a las playas hermosas de Bora Bora. Pasaré mis días buceando en aguas cristalinas y relajándome en la arena blanca. (On my dream vacation, I will travel to the beautiful beaches of Bora Bora. I will spend my days diving in crystal-clear waters and relaxing on the white sand.)

Keep practicing: Instead of writing about your own dream vacation, write about the dream vacation of someone you know very well, like a friend or family member. This will give you practice in conjugating verbs in the future tense for third-person subjects.

Focus on: Descriptive adjectives

Imagine you discover a mysterious object in your backyard. (It doesn’t have to be a UFO—it can literally be anything!) Write a description of this object using as many adjectives in Spanish as you can. Make your description as vivid and intriguing as you can.

Sample: Encontré un objeto redondo y brillante enterrado en la tierra húmeda. Era pequeño pero pesado, y tenía un brillo metálico. Su superficie estaba llena de detalles grabados y parecía antiguo y misterioso. (I found a round, shiny object buried in the damp earth. It was small but heavy, and had a metallic sheen. Its surface was full of engraved details and looked ancient and mysterious.)

Keep practicing: Instead of describing an object you found, describe an object that your favorite book or movie character found.

Focus on: Comparatives and superlatives

From simple adjectives, let’s take it up a notch. Write a short story or paragraph about two characters who are very different from each other, but still become close friends. Use comparatives and superlatives to describe their personalities, interests and unique qualities.

Sample: María era la más callada de la clase: siempre estaba más interesada en los libros que en conversaciones ruidosas. Por otro lado, Juan era el más extrovertido, siempre listo para contar chistes y hacer reír a todos. A pesar de sus diferencias, María y Juan se hicieron mejores amigos. (Maria was the quietest in the class: she was always more interested in books than in noisy conversations. Juan, on the other hand, was the most outgoing, always ready to tell jokes and make everyone laugh. Despite their differences, Maria and Juan became best friends.)

Keep practicing: Add a third character into the mix. Compare and contrast this third character with both of your existing characters.

Focus on: Possessive pronouns

I’m sure you’ve seen the “describe your family” prompt at some point. This one turns that prompt a bit on its head.

Imagine you’re describing a family portrait to a friend. Write a paragraph talking about each family member’s appearance and personality, using possessive pronouns to show their relationships.

Sample: En la foto de mi familia, mi hermana lleva su vestido favorito y sostiene a su gato en los brazos. Mi padre está junto a su bicicleta, sonriendo. Mi madre está recogiendo verduras de nuestro huerto y se ve orgullosa. Mis perros están a mi lado, jugando con su pelota favorita. (In my family photo, my sister is wearing her favorite dress and holding her cat in her arms. My father is standing next to his bicycle, smiling. My mother is picking vegetables from our garden and she looks proud. My dogs are next to me, playing with their favorite ball.)

Keep practicing: Write about the family portrait of a fictional family, including extended family members like cousins, aunts and uncles. Not only will this help you practice using possessive pronouns with a variety of nouns, but you’ll also brush up on your family vocabulary .

Focus on: Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs refer to action words that the subject of a sentence does to itself. It’s a pretty simple concept, but that doesn’t mean the corresponding writing prompt has to be boring!

For this one, pretend you’re making a time capsule that you’ll bury soon and open years later. In that time capsule, you’re going to include a letter to your future self describing your current interests, hobbies and daily routine. When writing the letter, make sure you practice using reflexive verbs.

Sample: Querido yo del futuro: en este momento, me levanto temprano cada día y me preparo un desayuno saludable. Luego me relajo leyendo un libro o meditando. Me dedico tiempo a mí mismo para crecer y aprender. Espero que sigas manteniendo estas prácticas positivas. (Dear future me: right now, I wake up early every day and make myself a healthy breakfast. Then, I relax by reading a book or meditating. I take time for myself to grow and learn. I hope you will continue to maintain these positive practices.)

Keep practicing: Write a letter to a friend describing their current interests and routines using reflexive verbs. This will give you practice using reflexive verbs in the third person — specifically, the pronoun se .

Focus on: Direct and indirect object pronouns

As you know, there are a ton of pronouns in Spanish . For this exercise, we’re going to focus on direct and indirect object pronouns.

The direct object is the one that receives the action from the subject (e.g., “Juan gave the ball,” where the ball is the direct object). Meanwhile, the indirect object is the thing or object receiving the direct object (e.g., “Juan gave the ball to Maria,” where Maria is the indirect object).

You can practice these tricky pronouns with this prompt. Here, you have to write a story about a character who receives an unexpected gift from a mysterious sender. Use direct and indirect object pronouns to describe the gift, the recipient and the actions involved.

Sample: Juan recibió un paquete en la puerta de su casa. Al abrirlo, encontró un reloj elegante. No sabía quién se lo había enviado, pero le agradeció al misterioso remitente en una tarjeta que decía: “Para ti, con cariño”. (Juan received a package at his front door. When he opened it, he found an elegant watch. He didn’t know who had sent it to him, but he thanked the mysterious sender on a card that read, “To you, with love.”)

Keep practicing: Using the character above, imagine that they sent their unexpected gift to a friend or other third-party.

Focus on: Using different tenses

Now this will be probably be a relatable prompt for you personally. For this one, you’ll write a dialogue between two language exchange partners discussing their language learning experiences. Use a variety of tenses (present, past and future) to describe their progress and goals.

Sample: María: He estado estudiando inglés durante dos años. Quiero visitar Nueva York algún día y poder comunicarme sin problemas. (Maria: I have been studying English for two years. I want to visit New York someday and be able to communicate without any problems.)

John: Yo aprendí francés en la escuela, pero lo dejé. Si pudiera, lo retomaría y viajaría a París. Tú aún puedes lograr tu meta. (John: I learned French in school, but I stopped. If I could, I would take it up again and travel to Paris. You can still achieve your goal.)

Keep practicing: Write a dialogue where one character talks about their language learning journey, and the other character offers advice and encouragement using different tenses.

Focus on: Giving directions

You’ve probably had plenty of practice asking for directions as a tourist in a Spanish-speaking country . Imagine being on the other side of the conversation for a change!

This time, pretend you’re a tour guide in a foreign city. Write a conversation between a lost tourist and yourself, giving them step-by-step directions to a popular landmark or attraction in the city.

Sample: Turista: ¡Disculpe! Estoy perdido y quiero llegar a la catedral.  (Tourist: Excuse me! I’m lost and I want to get to the cathedral.)

Tú: Claro, no te preocupes. Gira a la derecha en la esquina y sigue recto dos cuadras. Luego cruza la plaza y verás la catedral a tu izquierda. Será imposible que no la veas. (You: Sure, don’t worry. Turn right at the corner and go straight for two blocks. Then cross the square and you’ll see the cathedral on your left. It will be impossible for you to miss it.)

Keep practicing: Imagine the tourist you’re talking to has no sense of direction whatsoever—i.e., if you tell them to “go left,” they will just look at you quizzically as if they don’t know what “left” means. In other words, come up with the most creative ways to give directions to someone who’s directionally-challenged!

Focus on: Weather expressions

How’s the weather right now for you? Whether it’s good or bad, now’s the time to write about it—in Spanish!

For this exercise, you need to describe the current weather in your area, including temperature and conditions.

Sample:   Hoy está soleado y cálido. La temperatura es de 25 grados Celsius o 77 grados Fahrenheit. (It is sunny and warm today. The temperature is 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Keep practicing: Listen to the weather forecast for the next week, and write a summary about it. Imagine you’re giving that summary to a friend.

Focus on: Seasons and related activities

Going off of the weather theme, let’s jump into seasons. This time, talk about your favorite season and the activities you enjoy during that time.

Sample: Mi estación favorita es el otoño. Me encanta recoger hojas y tomar chocolate caliente. (My favorite season is autumn. I love collecting leaves and drinking hot chocolate.)

Keep practicing: Write about a season you don’t particularly like and explain why.

Focus on: Animal vocabulary

If you like to marathon animal documentaries on YouTube, now’s your chance to put your knowledge of common animals to good use in your Spanish studies.

For this one, imagine visiting a zoo. (Even better, write about your last visit to the zoo.) Mention the animals you saw (or imagined you saw) and what they were doing.

Sample: Vi elefantes jugando en el agua y leones descansando bajo el sol. (I saw elephants playing in the water and lions resting in the sun.)

Keep practicing: If you want to move beyond statements like “The tiger has stripes,” you can try describing a zoo visit from the perspective of one of the animals.

Focus on: Ordering food

I’m sure you have at least one favorite restaurant. It doesn’t have to be a Spanish restaurant—the great thing about studying languages is learning about their specific words for specific food or ingredients .

For this exercise, write about your experience at a restaurant, including what you ordered and how the food tasted.

Sample: Pedí una hamburguesa con papas fritas y estuvo deliciosa. (I ordered a burger and fries and it was delicious.)

Keep practicing: Write a dialogue between a waiter and a customer in a restaurant.

Focus on: Daily routines without technology

Can you imagine a world without smartphones and desktop computers?

If that sounds like a lot to wrap your head around, imagine just one day of it. In Spanish, describe a day where you can’t use any technology (phones, computers, etc.), and explain how you spent your time.

Sample: Pasé el día leyendo libros, dibujando y paseando por el parque. (I spent the day reading books, drawing and walking in the park.)

Keep practicing: Now that you’ve managed to imagine a world without modern conveniences, you probably appreciate just how useful your devices are. This time around, write about these wonderful pieces of technology and what role they play in your daily life.

Focus on: Writing a short message

This one may seem like a simple, straightforward exercise, but it’s really not. This one allows you to practice being concise in Spanish—that is, conveying as much as you can in as few words as you can.

Here, you’ll write a short letter to a friend inviting them to a mysterious event, providing clues but not revealing the details of it.

Sample: Hola, amigo; te invito a un evento especial que se realizará este viernes. ¡Espero que puedas venir! (Hello friend, I invite you to a special event taking place this Friday. I hope you can make it!)

Keep practicing: Imagine that your friend gave you a response asking for more information about the event, and write what you think your friend would have said.

Focus on: Expressing symptoms and health issues

Do you remember the last time you paid a visit to the doctor’s office? You can write about that experience, describing your symptoms and what the doctor told you. You can also write about an imagined visit and what that would’ve been like.

Sample: Fui al médico porque tenía fiebre y dolor de garganta. Me recetó medicina y me dijo que descansara. (I went to the doctor because I had a fever and a sore throat. He prescribed medicine and told me to rest.)

Keep practicing: Instead of describing the visit to a third party (like a family member or friend), write a dialogue between a patient and doctor using all of the medical vocabulary you know.

Focus on: Expressing opinions

If you’re the sort who has an opinion on everything, I’ll bet you’ll enjoy this one! For this exercise, write about your favorite book or movie, explaining why you like it and what makes it special. The book or movie doesn’t have to be originally in Spanish—the important thing is that you can express your honest thoughts about that piece of media in Spanish.

Sample: Mi libro favorito es ‘Harry Potter’ porque tiene magia y aventuras emocionantes. (My favorite book is ‘Harry Potter’ because it has magic and exciting adventures.)

Keep practicing: Now that you’ve written about books and movies you like, write about those you don’t like.

Focus on: Describing relationships

You could say this is an offshoot of our earlier exercise “Unlikely Friends,” in that you have to write about an unexpected friendship between two very different people. The difference is that you’re going to go beyond just comparatives and superlatives, and describe the relationship as a whole. Talk about how you and your friend met and what activities you enjoy together, for example.

Sample: Conocí a Pablo en un taller de arte y ahora pintamos juntos todos los fines de semana. (I met Pablo in an art workshop and now we paint together every weekend.)

Keep practicing: Write about a friendship that starts off on the wrong foot but eventually becomes strong. It can be from your own experience, from someone else’s or entirely made-up.

Focus on: Describing living spaces

I’m sure we all have a certain kind of house we’d like to live in—and this exercise is your chance to talk about your ideal home . Describe details like the location, size, rooms and special features you’d like your dream home to have.

Sample: Mi casa ideal estaría cerca de la playa, tendría un jardín grande y una cocina moderna. (My ideal house would be close to the beach, have a large garden and a modern kitchen.)

Keep practicing: After describing your ideal home, try to write about a less-than-ideal home for you.

Focus on: Creative writing and imaginary scenarios

For our last beginner-friendly Spanish writing prompt, let’s give you a bit more free rein. Don’t worry about the particular grammatical concept you need to master—just express yourself in Spanish as best you can.

Imagine you find a magical object that can grant you just one wish. Describe the object, your wish and what happens next.

Sample: Encontré una lámpara mágica y pedí viajar al pasado para conocer a mis abuelos. (I found a magic lamp and asked to travel back in time to meet my grandparents.)

Keep practicing: Write a different story where finding the magical object has unexpected consequences. For example, for every wish you ask from the magic lamp, the wish-granting genie has to stay inside it for another 100 years. (If that sounds a bit too tragic, feel free to make it a bit more lighthearted and fun!)

Focus on:  Present continuous

For this writing prompt, write a postcard to a friend or family member as though you’re on vacation. Describe what’s going on around you and what you’re doing as you write.

This particular prompt is great for practicing the present continuous tense, which is used to talk about actions happening in the moment of speaking.

Sample: Estoy tomando un café al lado del mar. Hay mucha gente en la playa. Algunas personas están caminando en la orilla y otras se están bañando. ¡Lo estoy pasando muy bien! (I’m drinking a coffee next to the sea. There are a lot of people on the beach. Some people are walking on the shore, and others are swimming. I’m having a great time!)

Keep practicing: Find a classmate or a writing partner. Each of you should choose a vacation location and write a postcard to the other, without mentioning what place you’re writing about. Instead, try to convey it through your description of what’s happening around you. Then, switch postcards and try to guess where the other person wrote about.

Focus on: Preterite and imperfect tenses

Reflecting on events in your life in a diary format is a great way to practice preterite and imperfect verbs. There are many ways to do this.

You could simply write about what has happened to you that day, write about a day in the past (a fun vacation day, for example) or invent a diary entry from someone else’s perspective—whatever stokes your creativity!

Sample: Hoy fui con mi madre al parque. Empezó a llover y nos fuimos a casa. Cuando llegamos, ya eran las ocho, así que puse la mesa mientras ella hacía la cena. (Today I went with my mother to the park. It started to rain and we went home. By the time we arrived, it was eight o’clock, so I laid the table while she made dinner.)

Keep practicing: Why not turn this writing prompt into a nightly routine? Keeping a journal can be a great way to get in your daily Spanish writing practice. Plus, it’s a great way to keep track of your progress over time.

Focus on: Commands

Choose a task that you know how to do well, and write a step-by-step explanation of it as though you were guiding a friend through the process.

This prompt is a great way to practice the Spanish commands. Plus, depending on what your specific hobby or area of expertise is, this could be a great way to learn new, specific vocabulary relevant to your interests.  

Sample: Para empezar, pon aceite en una sartén y pica dos dientes de ajo. (To begin, put oil in a pan and chop two cloves of garlic.)

Keep practicing : In Spanish, the way to give a command changes based on who you’re talking to. You say a command differently depending on if you’re talking to one person or multiple people. The form also changes based on whether you’re in a formal or informal situation.

So now, re-write your step-by-step instructions, but this time pretend you’re giving those directions to your boss (use the usted form), a group of friends (use the vosostros form ) or the Spanish royal family (use the ustedes form).

Focus on: Present perfect

Have you ever played the party game “Never Have I Ever”? The point of the game is to reveal things you’ve never done, in order to get others to reveal that they have done them. In Spanish, the game is called Yo nunca (I never). It’s great for getting to know people—and, incidentally, it’s also great for practicing the present perfect tense.

For this writing prompt, write sentences about things you’ve never done, starting with the phrase Yo nunca (I’ve never) followed by a present perfect verb.

Sample: Yo nunca he viajado a China. (I’ve never traveled to China.)

Keep practicing: Convert your phrases into questions as though you were asking a friend if they have ever done the action in question. You can start your questions with the phrase “Alguna vez has…” (Have you ever…)

Focus on: Idiomatic expressions

Like all languages, Spanish has its fair share of idioms—phrases that mean something much different from their literal translations. There’s usually a historical or cultural basis for how the idiom came to be and why it means the way it does, but that’s for another discussion altogether.

This time, think of a common idiom or expression in your native language. Write a short story that incorporates this expression, but translate it directly into Spanish. Try to make the translated idiom fit naturally within the story.

Sample: Mi amiga estaba nerviosa antes de su audición, así que le dije que se rompiera una pierna. Ella me miró confundida y preguntó si en verdad quería que se lastimara. Tuve que explicarle que en inglés, “romperse una pierna” es un deseo de buena suerte. (My friend was nervous before her audition, so I told her to break a leg. She looked at me confused and asked if I really wanted her to hurt herself. I had to explain to her that in English, “break a leg” is a good luck wish.)

Keep practicing: Instead of translating an idiom from English, think of a common Spanish idiom and write a short story that includes it. This will help you practice incorporating Spanish idiomatic expressions in context.

Focus on: Conditional tense

The conditional tense allows you to express ideas about hypothetical situations—things that never happened, things that you’d like to happen, etc. That sounds very dry and academic, so let’s pair it with a fun writing prompt!

Imagine you’ve just inherited an old house from a distant relative. Write a letter to your best friend describing your thoughts and plans for the house.

Sample: Si restaurara esta casa antigua, tendría que reparar los techos y renovar las ventanas. También instalaría un jardín hermoso en el patio trasero. Si decidiera venderla, podría sacar una buena ganancia; pero si optara por vivir aquí, tendría un lugar único y lleno de historias. (If I were to restore this old house, I would have to repair the roofs and renovate the windows. I would also install a beautiful garden in the backyard. If I decided to sell it, I could make a nice profit. But if I chose to live here, I would have a unique place full of stories.)

Keep practicing: Instead of inheriting a house, imagine you won a large sum of money. Describe how you would use it using the conditional tense. You can talk about traveling the world, giving it away to charity—whatever you’d like to do with a huge sum of money.

Focus on: Future tense with probability

When I say “future tense with probability,” I mean emphasizing future actions with how likely they are to happen. You can say the Spanish equivalent of “I think I will be …” or “I will probably be …”

For this prompt, imagine that you’re attending a career fair at your school. Imagine a dialogue between yourself and a classmate about your future professions and write about it. Use the future tense with probability to discuss your aspirations and potential careers.

Sample: Tú: En el futuro, creo que seré médico. Me encanta ayudar a los demás y tengo buenas notas en las ciencias. (You: In the future, I think I will be a doctor. I love helping others and I have good grades in the sciences.)

Amigo: Yo probablemente seré ingeniero. Siempre me ha gustado resolver problemas y construir cosas. (Friend: I will probably be an engineer. I’ve always liked solving problems and building things.)

Keep practicing: Instead of writing about you and your friends’ future, write a dialogue discussing what your parents’ occupations were when they were your age. Again, practice using the future tense with probability.

Focus on: Past progressive tense

The past progressive tense is also known as the past continous tense, and for good reason: it talks about actions that happened continously at some point in the past. It’s pretty easy to construct: get the imperfect tense of estar (to be), conjugate it according to the pronoun it’s paired with and combine it with the gerundio form of the verb.

Now, you’re going to write a short story about your unexpected encounter (imagined or otherwise) with a famous person or a character from a book. Use the past continuous tense to describe what was happening when the encounter took place.

Sample: Estaba caminando por el parque cuando vi a mi actor favorito sentado en un banco, hablando por teléfono. Me emocioné tanto que me tropecé con la raíz de un árbol y caí al suelo. Él me miró con una sonrisa y me ayudó a levantarme. (I was walking through the park when I saw my favorite actor sitting on a bench, talking on the phone. I got so excited that I tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. He looked at me with a smile and helped me up.)

Keep practicing: This time, write about two characters who unexpectedly run into each other while doing different activities. Use the past continuous tense to create a sense of simultaneous action.

Focus on: Indirect speech (reported speech)

When you’re talking about what another person said (as opposed to quoting them word-for-word), you are using indirect or reported speech. For example, “John says he likes cats” is indirect speech, while “John said: ‘I like cats.'” is direct speech.

For this exercise, imagine you found an old diary with someone’s secrets written in it. Write a story about the person who wrote the diary, using indirect speech to report what they wrote and their feelings.

Sample: Según relataba en sus escritos, Elena confesaba haber estado enamorada en secreto de su mejor amigo de la infancia, Alejandro. Ella escribía que su corazón latía con fuerza cada vez que él entraba a la habitación, y que se sonrojaba cuando él le dirigía la palabra. Aunque nunca se atrevió a confesarle sus sentimientos, las páginas del diario se convirtieron en el refugio de sus emociones más íntimas. (According to her entries, Elena confessed to having been secretly in love with her childhood best friend, Alejandro. She wrote that her heart would race every time he entered the room and that she would blush when he spoke to her. Although she never dared to confess her feelings to him, the diary’s pages became the refuge for her most intimate emotions.)

Keep practicing: Write a story about a conversation between two characters where one character reports what the other character said, using indirect speech to convey the dialogue.

Focus on: Past simple vs. Present perfect

If you often mix up the past simple and past perfect, this is a good exercise to help you set things straight. Also, it’s literally an exercise you can sink your teeth into!

This time, describe a memorable meal you’ve had recently. Explain what you ate, where you were and how it tasted.

Sample: Anoche cené en un restaurante japonés. Pedí sushi y sashimi fresco. No he probado nada tan delicios o desde entonces. (Last night, I had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. I ordered sushi and fresh sashimi. I haven’t tasted anything so delicious since then.)

Keep practicing: Write a short paragraph about a restaurant experience from your past using both the past simple and present perfect tenses.

Focus on: Past perfect

I know “pluscuamperfecto” is quite a mouthful, but trust me: it’s easier than its tongue-twisting appearance might suggest. And if you like reading or writing mystery stories, this will be a fun prompt for you.

For this story, imagine that a mysterious package arrived at someone’s doorstep. (That someone could be you, someone you know or a completely made-up character.) Use the past perfect tense to narrate events that happened before the story’s main events.

Sample: Cuando María abrió el paquete, se sorprendió al ver que alguien ya había abierto el sobre interno. Alguien más había estado curioseando antes que ella. (When Maria opened the package, she was surprised to see that someone had already opened the inner envelope. Someone else had been snooping before her.)

Keep practicing: Describe a moment in which you had already made a decision that significantly impacted your life. Use the Spanish past perfect tense to narrate the events leading up to that decision and its consequences.

Focus on: Past simple vs. past continuous

Narrate a childhood memory where you were engaged in an activity when something unexpected happened. Use both the Spanish past simple and past continuous tenses to vividly depict the sequence of events, your ongoing actions and the interruption that took place.

Sample: Cuando era niño, solía pasar largas tardes jugando en el parque cerca de mi casa. Un día, mientras mis amigos y yo estábamos jugando fútbol, un gato salió de la nada; estaba temblando y se veía triste. Me lo llevé a casa y lo llamé Chicle. Desde entonces, Chicle se volvió parte de nuestra familia. (When I was a child, I used to spend long afternoons playing in the park near my house. One day, while my friends and I were playing soccer, a cat came out of nowhere; he was trembling and looked sad. I took him home and named him Bubblegum. Since then, Bubblegum became part of our family.)

Keep practicing: Describe a memorable event from a vacation you took. Use the Spanish past simple and past continuous tenses to vividly narrate the background actions and the specific moments that stood out during your trip.

Focus on: Conditional clauses with si and future tense.

This time, you’re going to combine what you know about conditional tenses and the simple future in Spanish.

Craft a dialogue between two friends debating the pros and cons of social media usage. Use conditional clauses with si and the future tense to discuss hypothetical outcomes.

Sample: Si no pasara tanto tiempo en las redes sociales, podría concentrarme más en mis estudios y pasatiempos en el futuro. (If I didn’t spend so much time on social media, I could focus more on my studies and hobbies in the future.)

Keep practicing: Do the same exercise, except replace “social media usage” with a different issue.

Focus on: Formal language

For this prompt, you’re going to practice writing in Spanish in the formal register.

Imagine that you’re hosting a formal business event, such as a conference or a networking dinner. Write an invitation email to a respected industry expert, inviting them to speak at the event. Use formal language to convey professionalism and respect.

Sample : Espero que esta carta le encuentre bien. En calidad de organizador del [Nombre del Evento], me complace extenderle una cordial invitación para participar como ponente en nuestro prestigioso evento empresarial que se llevará a cabo el [Fecha] en [Lugar]. Su destacada trayectoria y experiencia en [Área de Conocimiento] lo convierten en un referente indiscutible en la industria. (I hope this letter finds you well. As the organizer of the [Event Name], I am pleased to extend a warm invitation to you to participate as a speaker at our prestigious business event, scheduled to take place on [Date] at [Venue]. Your outstanding career and expertise in [Area of Expertise] make you a true authority in the industry.)

Keep practicing: Imagine that the one you invited responded to you with either a “Yes” or “No.” Write your response to either or both. If they say “No,” write in a way that would gently persuade the other party to change their mind.

Focus on: Narrative tenses

Let’s cap off the intermediate Spanish writing prompts with something that’ll allow more of your creative juices to flow.

This time, write a short story about a person who discovers a magical journal that allows them to travel to different time periods. Use appropriate narrative tenses to describe their experiences.

Sample: Al abrir el diario, me encontré en el antiguo Egipto. Mientras exploraba las pirámides, me di cuenta de que podía entender el idioma y comunicarme con los habitantes. (When I opened the journal, I found myself in ancient Egypt. As I explored the pyramids, I realized I could understand the language and communicate with the inhabitants.)

Keep practicing: Write a paragraph about another adventure the character has using different narrative tenses.

Focus on: Present subjunctive

The subjunctive can be difficult for English speakers to wrap their heads around, especially because it has many different uses. One is to talk about hypothetical situations. So in this writing prompt, you’re going to write about a hypothetical perfect friend.

What qualities would they have? What kinds of things would you do together? Use the phrase “Quiero un amigo que…”  (I want a friend that…) because it’ll necessitate use of the subjunctive mood.

Sample: Quiero un amigo que juegue al futbol conmigo. (I want a friend who plays soccer with me.)

Keep practicing: Write about other hypothetical “ideal” people. What would your ideal employee look like? Your ideal partner? Roommate? Pet? All of these prompts will necessitate a different set of vocabulary, allowing you to practice even more conjugations.

Focus on: Third conditionals

We use third conditionals to talk about impossible hypothetical events. An example of a third conditional in English would be something like, “If you hadn’t arrived so late, you would have gotten a piece of pizza.” Since the speaker is talking about a past event, the outcome described is impossible.

To practice third conditionals, turn to the world of counterfactuals. Think of an event in history or in your own life. How would things be different if the event had never happened, or had happened differently?

Here are some examples to get you started:

• How would the world be different if the Internet had never been invented?
• How would the world be different if chocolate didn’t exist?
• How would your life be different if you had never met your best friend?
• How would your life be different if you had grown up in Spain?

Sample: Si no hubiera conocido a mi mejor amiga, nunca habría aprendido a tocar la guitarra. (If I had never met my best friend, I never would have learned how to play the guitar.)

Keep practicing: Try writing this prompt in second-person question form, as though you were asking a friend. This way, you practice both the construction of a third conditional question as well as the tú conjugations of verbs. For example, you might ask: Si no me hubieras conocido, ¿habrías aprendido a tocar la guitarra? (If you had never met me, would you have learned to play the guitar?)

Focus on: Subjunctive in recommendations

If you need more practice with Spanish subjunctives, I suggest using related writing prompts about topics you enjoy. For example, if you’re all about eco-friendly living, this prompt may be right up your alley.

Here, you’re going to write a blog post encouraging readers to adopt eco-friendly habits in their daily lives. Use subjunctive expressions to give recommendations.

Sample: Es fundamental que reciclemos cada día y que reduzcamos nuestro consumo de plástico para proteger el medio ambiente. (It’s essential that we recycle every day and that we reduce our plastic consumption to protect the environment.)

Keep practicing: Write a list of eco-friendly tips using different subjunctive expressions.

Focus on: Present subjunctive with verbs of influence

On the other hand, if you think that subjunctives are too easy, here’s one way to spice things up: add verbs of influence.

This time, write a letter to an artist you admire, using the present subjunctive with verbs of influence to express how their work has inspired you.

Sample: Espero que continúes creando arte increíble que inspire a generaciones futuras. (I hope you continue creating amazing art that inspires future generations.)

Keep practicing: Write letters to other people you admire, using present subjunctive expressions to convey your admiration.

Focus on: Complex sentence structures

At this point, you’re probably tired of reading and writing the same stock phrases over and over. So now, you’re going to create a narrative with intricate sentences that include relative clauses, participial phrases and other advanced grammatical structures.

Sample: En un bosque encantado, donde los árboles susurran secretos y las estrellas tejen destinos, vivía una criatura misteriosa que solo se revelaba en las noches de luna llena. (In an enchanted forest, where trees whisper secrets and stars weave destinies, lived a mysterious creature that only revealed itself on full moon nights.)

Keep practicing: Rewrite simple sentences from a children’s story using elaborate structures.

Focus on: Incorporating specialized vocabulary

Are you someone who unabashedly loves fusion cuisine and has no second thoughts about shouting that fact on top of the Empire State Building? You’re in luck: not only will this prompt let you do the written equivalent of that, but you’ll also learn to pick up the kind of vocabulary you’d normally not encounter in your Spanish studies.

Specifically, you’re going to write a menu description for a dish that blends elements from two or more culinary traditions.

Sample: Presentamos el “Sushi Mexicano”: tortilla crujiente rellena de delicado pescado fresco, acompañada de aguacate y salsa de soja picante. Una fusión que une a Japón y México en un bocado. (Introducing “Mexican Sushi”: crispy tortilla filled with delicate fresh fish, accompanied by avocado and spicy soy sauce. A fusion that brings together Japan and Mexico in one bite.)

Keep practicing: Design more dishes that combine unexpected ingredients.

Focus on: Humor and wordplay

Speaking of vocabulary, if you pride yourself on your ability to not mix up similar Spanish words, this is your chance to flex your chops in this regard.

In this prompt, you’re going to share funny anecdotes involving misunderstandings or linguistic mishaps while trying to speak Spanish or English.

Sample: Intenté pedir un “embarazado” en lugar de un “empanizado”. ¡Nunca olvidaré la mirada de confusión del camarero y las risas en la mesa! (I tried to order a “pregnant” dish instead of a “breaded” one. I’ll never forget the waiter’s confused look and the laughter at the table!)

Keep practicing: Write a humorous dialogue in which characters misinterpret each other’s words.

Focus on: Cultural nuances

Explore a word or concept in Spanish that doesn’t have an equivalent in English . Discuss its cultural significance and why you find it intriguing.

Sample: Explora la palabra “sobremesa”, que se refiere al tiempo pasado charlando después de una comida en compañía, capturando la importancia cultural de la conexión humana. (Explore the word “sobremesa,” which refers to the time spent chatting after a meal in company, capturing the cultural significance of human connection.)

Keep practicing: Research and write about other untranslatable words in Spanish.

Focus on: Ethical considerations

As an advanced learner , you probably don’t need to zero in so much on specific vocabulary and grammar points anymore. From here on out, I’m going to give you writing prompts that will push your Spanish mastery to the limit.

For this writing prompt, draft an essay discussing a cultural dilemma or ethical issue that you think is important. Explain different perspectives on the matter and offer your own viewpoint.

Sample: El dilema de preservar tradiciones culturales contra adoptar nuevas normas es un tema complejo. Si bien es crucial mantener nuestra identidad, también debemos ser abiertos a la evolución y al progreso. (The dilemma of preserving cultural traditions versus adopting new norms is a complex issue. While it’s crucial to maintain our identity, we must also be open to evolution and progress.)

Keep practicing: Write a sentence expressing a personal opinion on another cultural or ethical issue.

Focus on: Expressing abstract concepts

Write a metaphorical description of the human mind. Compare it to something unexpected and explain the connection.

Sample: La mente humana es como un vasto océano, donde las olas son pensamientos y las profundidades albergan los misterios más oscuros. (The human mind is like a vast ocean, where waves are thoughts and the depths hold the darkest mysteries.)

Keep practicing: Describe other abstract concepts using creative metaphors.

Focus on: Historical narratives

Step right up, history buffs: this writing prompt is for you.

Choose a historical event and narrate it from the perspective of someone who experienced it firsthand. Try to capture their emotions and reactions in a way that’s believable.

Sample: Desde el rincón de mi memoria, revivo aquel día en que la libertad finalmente alzó sus alas sobre nuestra tierra. Las lágrimas de felicidad llenaron los ojos de todos nosotros. (From the corner of my memory, I relive that day when freedom finally spread its wings over our land. Tears of happiness filled all our eyes.)

Keep practicing: Explore the same event from multiple viewpoints.

Focus on: Symbolism

Now it’s time to channel your inner Neruda .

Choose a natural element (e.g., a tree, a river, a mountain) and write a poem that uses it as a symbol to convey a deeper meaning or emotion.

Sample: El árbol anciano, raíces profundas como historias enterradas, sus hojas susurran cuentos al viento, testigos silenciosos de la vida que fluye. (The ancient tree, roots deep like buried stories, its leaves whisper tales to the wind, silent witnesses of flowing life.)

Keep practicing: Create poems using different symbols and themes.

Focus on: Sociocultural changes

Reflect on a traditional aspect of your culture that has evolved over time. Discuss the reasons for these changes and their impact.

Sample: La festividad ancestral del solsticio ha evolucionado de rituales agrarios a una celebración de unidad cultural en la era moderna, reflejando nuestra cambiante relación con la tierra y entre nosotros. (The ancient solstice festival has evolved from agricultural rituals into a celebration of cultural unity in the modern era, reflecting our changing relationship with the land and each other.)

Keep practicing: Predict how current traditions might change in the future.

Focus on: Persuasive writing

Write a persuasive essay arguing for or against the implementation of a four-day workweek in businesses, highlighting its potential benefits or drawbacks on productivity, employee well-being and overall work-life balance.

Sample: La implementación de una semana laboral de cuatro días es una propuesta que merece una consideración cuidadosa. Desde mi perspectiva, esta medida podría beneficiar tanto a los empleados como a las empresas. (The implementation of a four-day workweek is a proposal that deserves careful consideration. From my perspective, this measure could benefit both employees and businesses.)

Keep practicing: Write persuasive pieces about other contemporary issues.

Focus on: Multiculturalism

Write a story in which characters from various cultural backgrounds come together for a common purpose, celebrating their differences.

Sample: En las calles bulliciosas de la ciudad, personas de diversas culturas tejieron un tapiz de amistad y colaboración, demostrando que la diversidad es nuestra mayor fortaleza. (In the bustling streets of the city, people from diverse cultures wove a tapestry of friendship and collaboration, showing that diversity is our greatest strength.)

Keep practicing: Craft narratives that highlight cross-cultural friendships.

Focus on: Reflective writing

Choose a moment from your past that left a lasting impact on you. Describe it in detail and analyze its significance.

Sample: Aquel atardecer en la playa, cuando las olas parecían acariciar el horizonte y el tiempo se detuvo, me recordó que la belleza efímera puede dejar una huella eterna en el corazón. (That sunset at the beach, when the waves seemed to caress the horizon and time stood still, reminded me that ephemeral beauty can leave an eternal mark on the heart.)

Keep practicing: Reflect on other pivotal moments in your life.

Focus on: Language learning journey

Let’s end this entire list with a bang! And I have just the writing prompt for you.

For this last exercise, you’re going to write a letter to your future self reflecting on your Spanish learning journey. Discuss challenges, accomplishments and your aspirations for further language development.

Given the nature of this exercise, I suggest bookmarking this post and going back to this prompt once you feel you’ve already reached your desired level of fluency in Spanish.

Sample: Querido yo del futuro, al mirar atrás en este viaje de aprendizaje del español, veo desafíos conquistados, metas alcanzadas y un amor más profundo por la diversidad de las palabras. ¡Que continúe esta emocionante odisea lingüística! (Dear future self, looking back on this journey of learning Spanish, I see conquered challenges, achieved goals and a deeper love for the diversity of words. May this exciting language odyssey continue!)

Keep practicing: Write letters to your past self at different stages of your language learning journey.

No matter your level of Spanish, writing is an important part of learning Spanish and practicing various aspects of the language. Here are some tips to get the most out of these prompts.

If you’re a beginning Spanish learner, there will inevitably be vocabulary words you don’t know. Don’t fret or get frustrated! Instead of reaching for a dictionary every time you’re at a loss, simply leave a blank space.

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The same goes for verb conjugations. If you don’t remember how to conjugate a verb, write it in its infinitive form and flag it with a star or question mark. At the end, go back and look up the correct conjugation.

No more leaving blank spaces on the page! Once your Spanish is at an intermediate level , it’s time to focus on making yourself understood in any situation, even if you can’t always think of the right word.

Whenever the right word feels like it’s beyond your grasp, find a way to describe or express it. Flag this with a star or question mark to remind yourself to later look up the actual word.

Advanced Spanish speakers should be able to communicate in almost any situation. Now, it’s time to focus on diversifying your word usage. Why not make your compositions into mini-competitions with yourself?

For example, if you’re practicing verbs, get a timer and try to write as many verbs as you can in as many conjugations as you can. Once the time is up, count up all your verbs. Give yourself one point for each distinct verb you used (that you conjugated correctly!) and subtract one point for each verb you repeated or conjugated incorrectly.

Whether you’re practicing for your Spanish AP essay or working on your writing skills in general, prompts are a fantastic way to get started. The most important thing is just to write anything about any subject.

Working to form sentences and narratives in Spanish can be difficult at first. But just like any other skill, as you keep working on it, it’ll feel more and more natural.

Writing prompts are a great way to practice Spanish, and you just might have some fun while you study!

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• Dec 9, 2023

Spanish A Level (AQA): Tips for writing a successful literature or film essay

Updated: Dec 10, 2023

In Paper 2 of the AQA A Level Spanish exam, students write one essay for each of the two works they have studied (which can be a text and a film, or two texts).

Students are asked to write approximately 300 words for each question within a 2-hour duration for the whole paper. Although there is no word limit in the AQA A Level exam, and everything you write will be assessed, writing more words does not necessarily mean achieving more marks. Being concise and giving a clear response demonstrate that your reflections and your evaluation of the text or film are strong and accurate.

Essays are assessed according to two criteria: AO3 and AO4. In this post we break down the requirements of each of the Assessment Objectives and look at how you can fulfil them and write an outstanding essay.

Assessment Objective 3 (AO3)

This measures the student’s ability to manipulate the language accurately, in spoken and written forms, using a range of lexis and structure .

The specification gives the following description for the highest marking band:

The language produced is mainly accurate with only occasional minor errors. The student shows a consistently secure grasp of grammar and is able to manipulate complex language accurately.

💡 Tip: Use complex language and vocabulary effectively and appropriately .

The words " effectively " and " appropriately " are important here. It's certainly not necessary to copy out entire pre-learned sentences or rely on formulaic language.

The 2022 Examiner's Report from AQA notes that

There is a fine line between using complex language with a range of structures and forcing inappropriate subjunctives or pre-learned phrases into an essay.

Source: REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A-LEVEL SPANISH – 7692/2 – JUNE 2022, from aqa.org

The key is to strike the balance between showcasing advanced writing skills and avoiding redundant phrases, or phrases that are stylistically out of place.

Take a moment to read these further comments from the same Examiner's Report:

On the whole it is more important to have the vocabulary needed to express points clearly and to be able to deal with tenses and verbs accurately. It is not appropriate to use phrases such as ‘que yo sepa’ in a literature/film essay, nor the ‘if/would’ structure that we see all the time [...]. Similarly, expressions of emotion that are followed by a subjunctive are out of place in this style of essay; for example ‘me enfada que Paco trate a Paula de esta manera’.

The highest-achieving students are those who are able to use the full range of verb tenses to convey their ideas without relying on pre-learned structures.

Avoid overusing the subjunctive and set phrases; instead, focus on your ability to express yourself clearly and accurately in your writing.

Try some other more complex sentence structures:

Comparative formulations: Este personaje evolucionó mucho más rápido de lo que el lector esperaba.

Using the reflexive as a passive where appropriate:  Las luces en esta escena se usaron para crear una atmósfera de suspense.

Here is the second part of the description for the top marking band under AO3:

The student uses a wide range of vocabulary appropriate to the context and the task.

💡 Tip: Employ a broad range of appropriate vocabulary.

This could include:

Words and expressions related to film: El primer plano / El enfoque / La perspectiva …

Literary words and expressions: En este pasaje / La obra / La escena / El diálogo …

Vocabulary related to the specific text or film. For example, show an understanding of the Colombian Spanish words in “El coronel no tiene quien le escriba” by García Márquez and the terminology related to the historical context.

You will naturally pick up this vocabulary throughout your A Level Spanish course, but you can also refer to our in-course resources and the Quizlet lists for inspiration.

Assessment Objective 4 (AO4)

This measures the student’s ability to show knowledge and understanding of, and respond critically and analytically to, different aspects of the culture and society of countries/communities where the language is spoken. The description for the highest marking band is as follows:

Knowledge of the text or film is consistently accurate and detailed. Opinions, views and conclusions are consistently supported by relevant and appropriate evidence from the text or film.

💡 Tip: Support each of your points with relevant and appropriate evidence .

Although you are not strictly required to learn quotations by heart (according to the AQA examiners, it’s enough to paraphrase  something that a character said), it’s important to have a clear idea of specific events and plot points to reinforce the arguments that you make.

When you re-read your book or re-watch your film, create a knowledge organiser such as a table or mindmap with your own notes on important characters, themes and plot points so that you can revise them easily and have plenty of examples for your essay.

A clear structure is essential to help you organise your ideas. When you plan your essay, make sure there is a reference to the text or film to demonstrate every point that you make and help you to develop your argument.

You can follow this framework:

Introduction - The beginning must include a brief outline of the topic and, very importantly, your thesis statement (the sentence that sums up the central point or idea of your essay).

Each of the following main paragraphs should develop one strong point that relates and justifies the main idea of your essay, and must be supported with specific examples from the book or film.

Evidence from the book / film

Link to title

Conclusion - The last paragraph should include a short but strong conclusion that summarises your evaluation in relation to the original essay question.

Finally, the descriptor for the top marking band under AO4 specifies that:

The essay demonstrates excellent evaluation of the issues, themes and the cultural and social contexts of the text or film studied.

💡 Tip: Focus on evaluation and not description.

As we’ve seen, AO4 focuses on the ability to respond critically and analytically. One common mistake when writing about a film or a text, though, is writing in a descriptive way, simply narrating or recalling events that take place instead of analysing their impact on the subject at hand.

In the same way that a template of the structure can help you write your essay, some sentence starters can guide you to make your paragraphs more analytical. For example:

Make your point:

Es evidente que … / Se puede afirmar que…

Give some evidence:

Una prueba de ello es que …

Develop your point in relation to the original question:

Por consecuencia. ..

De esto se deduce que…

To summarise:

✅ Use complex language and vocabulary effectively  and appropriately .

✅ employ a broad range of appropriate  vocabulary., ✅ support each of your points with relevant and appropriate evidence ., ✅ focus on evaluation  and not description..

Most importantly, practice essay writing as often as you can and use tutor feedback to your advantage!

Kate Maria Languages A Level Academy runs complete A Level courses in Modern Foreign Languages. Find out more about our Spanish A Level course or get in contact to discuss how we can support you.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

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Spokane will get its first standalone public language immersion school as growing Spanish program moves and evolves

Spokane County is getting its first standalone public language immersion school, as the ever-growing Spanish program through Spokane Public Schools housed in the Libby Center will move to its own facility next year and become its own school.

The popular program where instruction is 50-50 Spanish-English is outgrowing the space it shares with Odyssey and Tessera, programs for advanced students. Begun in 2017 with two classes of kindergartners, the program adds a grade each year until it serves kindergarten to eighth grade. Next year, the school’s original class of kindergartners will enter seventh grade.

But the Libby Center is out of space; two portables already sit on the campus for extra classrooms.

“We have 280 students enrolled,” Principal Mauricio Segovia said. “The need to continue supporting the expansion at this point requires the assessment of, ‘All right, if we continue supporting this, how can we possibly fit all the kids within this space?’ And it’s impossible.”

The soon-to-be standalone school will be in the vacant Pratt building, a long ranch-style facility built in 1958 in East Spokane that spills into Spokane Valley territory. The former elementary school, which closed in 2007, housed various alternative programs and was last renovated in 2013.

The building doesn’t need any major construction, said capital projects director Greg Forsyth. But it will get a fresh coat of paint and new electronics, along with play structures and furniture suitable for the young pupils.

“It has good bones, but it needs some love,” Segovia said.

The district has budgeted about $1.5 million to get the building ready. Most of that is to pay for transporting two portables at Libby to the new site, an extensive process that involves deconstructing the makeshift classrooms and hauling them 3 miles from Libby to Pratt.

Other costs include $600,000 for next school year for operations, like staffing and electricity, and anywhere from $180,000 to $685,000 in transportation costs.

The school board endorsed the move to Pratt on April 24, though it is not officially funded until they adopt the budget in August.

Staff and families already are dreaming of becoming their own school, rather than a school program, especially to build their identity and better execute their unique mission as an immersion school.

Surrounded by other English-speaking pupils in the Odyssey and Tessera programs at Libby, it’s difficult to fully immerse students in their target language. Instruction follows a 50-50 Spanish-English model, but kids mostly use English on the playground and in hallways. Segovia hopes to shift language use to 80-20 Spanish-English, which he believes will be much easier to accomplish if the program can exist in its own space, he said.

“We need the physical space where we’re going to identify with focus and in a more targeted way,” Segovia said. “The learning environment with the language that we’re targeting to develop, which is Spanish here, we cannot do because we’re sharing the space with another school that focuses on a different instructional model.”

Hired as principal this year, Segovia has ushered in changes to the program he’s eager to continue in a new building. Lured out of retirement from his past role overseeing a section of Chicago Public Schools and with teaching experience in his home country Chile, he rallied to collect around $15,000 in grant funding for the state to send his staff to conferences and other schools across the country. He’s also provided extensive training for his team, necessary because it’s easy for them to feel isolated as the only Spanish immersion teachers in the county, he said.

Other changes may be on the horizon for the school.

Segovia hopes to increase the number of classes of younger students to make up for attrition as students age.

Segovia also has made it his aim to include more Latinos and native Spanish speakers in his school; there’s still work to be done toward this goal, including reviewing outreach efforts and the enrollment process, he said.

“Just by continuing what we have done in terms of communication and strategy, we’re reaching the same people, and they are pretty much the 85% of Caucasian families we have currently in our program,” Segovia said.

Among the 44 pupils selected via a lottery to be in the school’s next class of kindergartners, none are Latino, he said. He hopes to initiate an alternative enrollment process for students who already speak some Spanish.

“It’s been mostly used by monolingual and white families,” Segovia said. “So now to increase that, to open up opportunities for increased diversity and welcome other minority students, I am creating access for students who are families who are Latino that speak Spanish.”

A blank canvas

Segovia said he’s only received positive feedback surrounding the prospective move to Pratt, which many families and staff have already toured. After the board voiced its support of the school’s move at the April 24 meeting, the chat on the meeting’s Zoom stream flooded with messages of gratitude and celebration. Around 70 tuned into the stream, more than is standard for the district.

“We’ll move into a space that maybe isn’t exactly how we wanted it, but we’ll make it that for ourselves,” said school parent Tania Johnson. “I think that will actually help our program build a lot of community and bring the students closer together.”

Johnson has a first- and sixth-grader at the program, her eldest one of the inaugural kindergartners at the school’s inception. Having been involved each year since 2017, Johnson is thrilled to watch the once 50-student program blossom into its own school.

“We wanted our children to be in a school that was based in the celebration of diversity and talking about social justice issues and really bringing inclusiveness and cultural awareness to the surface,” Johnson said.

Her sixth-grader is thriving while learning Spanish, on track to earn her seal of biliteracy by eighth or ninth grade, satisfying her world language requirement in high school and freeing up her schedule to take other electives, perhaps a third language. Johnson said she’s been learning French online in her spare time.

Along with a fresh building, the new school will get to decide its name, mascot and colors.

Segovia has begun surveying his staff and students in these areas – the favored mascot, earning half of the survey votes for students, is the axolotl, a critically endangered amphibian native to Mexico.

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