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....

THE THREE ESSENTIALS: ESSENTIAL 3, THE FUTURE

The third of the 3 Essentials - after the Present and the Past - is talking about the future. You will definitely get asked questions that force you to speak in the future.

The easiest way to talk about the future is by using the verb Ir with a and the infinitive...

Ir + a + infinitive

Voy a visitar a mis abuelos mañana.
Vamos a estudiar mucho este fin de semana.
Jorge va a ir de vacaciones a Francia.

More practice here...

You also need to vary the expressions you use. You may be asked about your plans for the future...

¿Qué planes tienes para el año que viene?

Espero..... Quiero..... Me gustaría..... Pienso (I intend to..) Voy a......

ir/ estudiar/ trabajar/ ser/ viajar.....

All of these expressions are used with the infinitive.

You can use the same expressions for the other likely questions you will get about he future...

¿Qué vas a hacer este fin de semana?

¿Qué vas a hacer este verano?

¿En qué quieres trabajar en el futuro?

For a full breakdown on talking about the future, check out this guide....

LEAVING CERT ORAL, ROLE PLAY 3

ROLE PLAY 3, EL HOTEL

In this role play, you are staying in a hotel in Alicante. You have booked a room with a view, but have been given one looking on to a courtyard. You complain to reception.

Some useful expressions here are....

acabo de llegar - I have just arrived

una terraza - a balcony

da a - it looks on to..

insatisfactorio - unsatisfactory

una mala evaluación - a bad review

decepcionado/a - disappointed

lujoso - luxurious

el último piso - the top floor

As always, it is easier to learn the individual expressions, and then put them together when learning the whole role play.

For a full guide to Role Play 3, check out all the necessary expressions here.

LEAVING CERT ORAL ESSENTIALS - ESSENTIAL 2, THE PRETERITE

The second "essential" that you will get asked in the oral exam is the Preterite, in other words, talking about the past.

You may get asked about last weekend - ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana pasado?

Or last summer - ¿Qué hiciste el verano pasado?

Or for your last birthday - ¿Qué hiciste para tu último cumpleaños?

Or last night - ¿Qué hiciste anoche?

So it is important to know how to form the Preterite tense in Spanish, to enable you to talk about the past. As usual, it is about learning endings.

AR verbs - HABLAR - Hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron

So the endings are.... é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron

ER/IR verbs - COMER - comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron.

í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron.

There are also some common irregular verbs

Ser - fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

Ir is the same as Ser in the Preterite

Tener - tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

Hacer - hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

For a full breakdown on the possible questions you can be asked in the Preterite, and some sample answers, check out this guide...

ROLE PLAY 2: EL CURSO

In the second role play, you are given the part of someone who has booked a place on a Spanish course. Unfortunately, you have broken your ankle, and cannot take your place on the course. You phone the language school to try and get your deposit back.

Full list of expressions for this role play here

A couple of words and expressions of note here...

to attend - asistir 
Note that "asistir" is a False Friend, asistir does not mean "to assist" here

I have broken my ankle - Me he roto el tobillo 
In English, when we talk about parts of our body, we use the possessive - "my hand," "his finger" etc. In Spanish we do not do this, we only talk about "la mano", "el dedo" etc. Instead, we make the verb reflexive... - me he roto...

The subjunctive...

There are two uses of the subjunctive in this role play. 
1. "Is there any way that you can return the deposit?" - ¿Es posible que ustedes puedan devolver...?
After "Es posible que..." we need the subjunctive - "puedan"

2. "I cannot afford..." - There is no direct translation of "afford" in Spanish, so we have to rephrase the sentence...
- No tengo tanto dinero que pueda perder ciento cincuenta euros - Literally, "I don't have so much money that I can lose one hundred and fifty euros,"
After the negative, "no tengo tanto dinero que.." we need the subjunctive.

Full list of expressions here

WELCOME! ¡BIENVENIDOS!

Welcome, y bienvenidos, to Spanish Grinds Online, a new website designed specifically to help those people who are studying for the Irish Junior and Leaving certificates in Spanish. 

The emphasis at first will be on the Leaving cert oral exam, which is coming up in just over two months, but in the coming weeks we will be adding useful information for all second level students of Spanish. 

To contact us, email spanishgrindsonline@gmail.com with any queries or questions.