PODCAST FOR LISTENING PRACTICE

There is a new podcast designed to help Leaving Cert students with listening and with vocabulary - Listening to Spanish.

You can find the accompanying blog here....

The podcast itself can be listened to on the blog, but each episode can also be found on Spotify.

Below is an example of a blog and podcast, this time about addiction to television. 





This week we are going to talk about television in Spanish. You can listen to the podcast below, which will feature a news story about Teleadicción. Before listening, have a look at some vocabulary. 

Part 1 Vocab

una media de – an average of….       

El televisor – the TV set

La television – the programmes on the TV

La pequeña pantalla – the small screen

Telespectadores – viewers

Acontecimiento - evento, a happening

Mostrar un apego a – to show an attachment to


Part 1 What programme or broadcast set the record for TV viewers in Spain?

Part 2 Vocab

Propenso – likely to, have a tendency to

Un síntoma

No cabe ninguna duda – there can be no doubt that….

sedentarismo - related to being sedentary

Part 2 Question: What statistic is given about teenagers?

Parts 1 and 2

1.    How much time on average do Spanish people spend watching TV?

2.    What is the second conclusion that the writer comes to?

3.    What explanation is given at the end for why the Spanish are so addicted to television? 


Transcript...

TELEADICCIÓN EN ASCENSO

https://elpais.com/diario/2012/01/03/opinion/1325545203_850215.html

Cada español pasa una media de 239 minutos (o sea, cuatro horas) cada día de su vida delante del televisor. Así lo asegura el análisis de audiencias de 2011 elaborado por la firma Barlovento Comunicación y que arroja un nuevo récord.

Cada año, los españoles muestran un mayor apego a la pequeña pantalla, especialmente ante un evento futbolístico; capaz de reunir a millones de personas siguiendo el mismo balón. El récord lo marcó en 2011 el partido jugado el 3 de mayo por el Barcelona y el Real Madrid, acontecimiento que vieron más de 14 millones de telespectadores.

Una primera conclusión que presenta el propio análisis es que los nuevos medios de comunicación -redes sociales e Internet en general- no solo no han restado audiencia a la televisión, sino que la han aumentado. Una segunda conclusión mucho menos científica es que la vida del español es muy aburrida si se analiza su horario diario de lunes a viernes: ocho horas de cama, otras ocho de trabajo y cuatro ante el televisor apenas dejan tiempo para cualquier otra actividad que no sea el transporte diario y las comidas cotidianas.

Otros análisis demuestran que los adolescentes que pasan más de tres horas diarias ante el televisor son más propensos a abandonar los estudios tras la secundaria y que pasar tanto tiempo frente a la pequeña pantalla es una adicción como otra cualquiera. Lo que no se sabe es si  la teleadicción es una causa o el síntoma de un problema anterior.

De lo que no cabe ninguna duda es de que ver la televisión es garantía de sedentarismo y, una vez hecha la primera inversión en la compra del televisor, también de menor gasto. Tal vez sea por eso que ver la tele es el pasatiempo más popular entre los españoles; dando el bajo nivel de ahorros que tienen los españoles, la teleadicción es una de las consecuencias de una sociedad con pocos recursos económicos para gastar en la diversión.

IMPERATIVES IN SPANISH; ORDERS AND INVITATIONS

Imperatives are often described as orders or commands, but they can also be invitations and advice. 

Some imperatives in English....

"Come in".
"Have fun". 
"Sleep well". 
"Stay away". 

In English it is easy; we just use the infinitive of the verb. 

In Spanish it is much more complicated. 

The form of the verb changes depending on whether we are talking to one person or many, whether it is a positive imperative or a negative and whether we are using "tú" or "usted".

Do the quizlet here to practice irregular imperatives. 

Watch the video and learn about Imperatives in Spanish for the tú form. 

Some extra exercises here.

COMPARING THINGS IN SPANISH

JUNIOR CERT/ LEAVING CERT REVISION

Today's blog and video is centred on the theme of Animals. 

From there we will look at how to compare 2 things, people or animals in Spanish. 

There are many animals in the first part of the video. Watch it and learn the vocabulary. Alternatively, do the quizlet first, and then watch the video....



Following on from this, we look at how to compare things in Spanish. 

Soy más alto que mi hermano. - I am taller than my brother. 

Soy menos rico que mi hermana. - I am less rich than my sister. 

The pattern is "más ____________ que"
                       "menos _______________ que"

Some ideas about comparing Sligo and Dublin....

Dublín es más ruidoso que Sligo - Dublin is noisier than Sligo. 

Dublín es menos tranquilo que Sligo. 

Sligo es menos multicultural que Dublín. 

Dublín es más concurrido que Sligo - Dublin is busier than Sligo. 

Dublín está más lleno de gente - Dublin is more full of people. 

Sligo es menos rico que Dublín. 

Dublín está más urbanizado que Sligo. 

RADICAL CHANGING VERBS; PRESENT TENSE

Radical Changing Verbs (also called Stem Changing Verbs) are verbs, mostly in the Present Tense, where the internal vowel changes when we conjugate. 

To put it simply, we have the verb Dormir (to sleep) - this is the infinitive. 

To use it in the present tense we need to change it to 
yo duermo
tú duermes etc....

The "o" in the infinitive changes to "ue" when we use it in the present. 

We have three different kinds of these verbs, representing three different changes....
o - ue          (dormir, poder....)

e - ie           (pensar, entender...)

e - i              (pedir....)

Watch the video, do some practice and, if you want, do some extra practice from the link below.....

There are more practice exercises here. 

PRESENT TENSE; REGULAR VERBS

JUNIOR CERT/ LEAVING CERT REVISION

This blog and video is to explain the Present tense in Spanish and to show you how to conjugate the various types of verbs in Spanish. 

Watch the video, do the practice that is on the video and there is further practice below....

More practice can be found here....

THE ORAL EXAM - THE PRESENT TENSE - ESSENTIAL NUMBER 1

ESSENTIAL 1 - THE PRESENT TENSE

In the oral exam there are a number of themes and areas that you can get tested on, but there are three that must be asked. The first of these is the present tense.

The Present tense (El Presente de Indicativo) is not used to talk about what is happening now, but rather what happens regularly, often, never, usually. It is about habitual actions.

For this reason we use it with words like 
siempre - always, 
nunca - never, 
a veces - sometimes, 
normalmente - usually.

Two of the main ways you can be asked about the Present tense is by asking about...
(i) pasatiempos (pastimes) or 
(ii) rutina diaria (daily routine).

In the oral, the most important form of the verb is the "Yo" form, the first person, as you are typically talking about yourself. The ending for the first person is, of course, "o" - 
como, 
me llamo, 
trabajo, 
juego al fútbol etc...

For a breakdown of possible verbs to use for talking about pasatiempos, click here.

For a guide on how to talk about your daily routine, click here. 

It is important to note that there are many reflexive verbs involved in talking about a typical day, including  - 
me levanto - I get up, 
me visto - I get dressed, 
me ducho - I have a shower,
me acuesto - I go to bed.

We will have a guide to reflexive verbs coming soon. 

ROLE PLAY 1; THE BEACH (LA PLAYA)

In the Leaving Cert oral exam every student is given one of five role plays to complete. The student has to play the part of a young person in Spain, in a variety of situations, at a first aid post on a beach, on a boat, in a hotel etc. The examiner plays the part of the Spanish person talking to the student.

The best way to prepare for the role plays is to break each section down to individual expressions, and to learn the expressions. For example, in the first role play, you are on a beach in Santander, and step on a piece of broken glass. You go to the first aid hut and say to the attendant there...

"Say you are sorry to bother him/her but you have cut your foot.
Say it is bleeding a lot but you do not think it’s serious but it hurts badly."

Instead of having to learn the whole first part together, it is easier to take it expression by expression..

Sorry to bother you - siento molestarte

I have cut my foot - me he cortado el pie

It is bleeding a lot - está sangrando mucho

It hurts badly - me duele mucho

The whole of role play 1 is done like this, and can be found here. Check out the video above....