Brighton Spanish Lessons

In my experience as a teacher it still amazes me, not in a good way, that pupils who study a language will attempt to cram in the nights, yes, nights before their final Spanish exams. Whether that be reading, listening or writing. 

Over the years I have been on repeat with one mantra, so to speak. "Little and often will win the day". Meaning that the more you do over time the better you will do on the day of your exam. Trying to cram a language in the space of a few days before your exam will not afford you the success you are looking for.

If you are having trouble with what to revise at first, and I have always thought, the most important place to go is your teacher's classroom. Ask for a revision book to help guide you in your at home revision. Don't forget about online resources to help with verb conjugation or podcasts for speaking. Anything you do outside of the course's material will benefit your understanding and improve your subject knowledge.

Set your self a programme of study. Map out what you want to do choosing the topics that you think you need more development. But stick to it.

It is all fine making a plan but a plan only works if it executed. Don't worry if you miss a day, get back on it the next.

You won't regret getting a good grade.

Dear all, 

Your Spanish Speaking exams will be soon after Easter. For some of you, it might be before. It is crucial that you are revising everyday the responses you have prepared to the questions your teachers have given you for all 3 themes. When it comes to your chosen theme you should be on it. This is an important part of the exam that you can control and why wouldn't you want to do the best you could?

When answering questions make sure you are not repeating the question back to the Examiner. An example of what I mean is, "¿Te gusta el cine?" Do you like the cinema? It is a common error for student to reply with "Si, te gusta el cine." This is wrong because the student is using "te"(second person) and not "me"(first person) and will not be awarded points as it creates ambiguity.

I am sure all of your teachers have drilled the use of opinions as they are crucial to meet the criteria of the Mark Scheme. Use them often but remember to vary them. Me gusta, me encanta, me mola, me flipa, me chifla are all good to rotate through your answers. Also a big thing the justification of the opinion. The "porque es.." part. Limit your use of "interesante, divertido and aburrido." These are by far the most common adjectives used to describe your favorite subjects or the type of films you prefer. Try and have a few other adjectives that will give that wow factor. Use "genial, flipante, entrenido, pesado, soso, tedioso." This idea of varying your opinions and adjectives goes for both tiers. I can't stress it enough.

Some pupils in the past found it very useful when they had the questions recorded and they could use that while they are revising at home. I suggest you ask your teacher for a recording to help. It couldn't hurt.

As I said, everyday you need to be revising. It is not long now.

Over the next few weeks I will be putting up more tips to help you achieve your grade.

Buena suerte, 

Shawn

Learning a new language can be very challenging and it is difficult to know where to start. My suggestion is to start with very simple greeting vocabulary that can be used together to create a simple conversation. Here is a short list to help you get started.

Hola - Hello

Buenos días - Good morning

Buenas tardes - Good afternoon

Buenas noches - Good evening/Good night

¿Qué tal? - How's it going? 

Bien - Good

Gracias - Thank-you 

¿Y tú? - And you?

Adiós - Good-bye

Combining these simple greeting words you can begin to greet people in Spanish. Give it a try. Good luck!