Boletín 102 - La Alhambra, La Sagrada Familia y el Museo Guggenheim.
Boletín 102 - La Alhambra, La Sagrada Familia y el Museo Guggenheim.
Dreamlike cathedrals, beautifully fortified palaces, caves full of 35,000 year-old paleolithic art, Roman ruins, natural parks, mountain-top monasteries, important museums and galleries. Spain is home to some of the most visisted attractions worldwide and the list is endless.
Hello Spanish teachers and learners!
I’ll begin with everybody’s new favourite online plaything ChatGPT describing the diversity of things to do in Spain in the style of a pirate because por qué no?
Arrrrr mateys! Spain be a land full of treasures beyond yer wildest dreams. The grub be top-notch, with delectable delicacies at every turn. And the history be rich and varied, from ancient ruins to grand castles. The art be world-renowned, with masterpieces by the likes of Gaudí and Picasso. And the sports be intense, with events like the running of the bulls. But that's not all, mateys - the natural beauty of Spain be breathtaking, with stunning beaches, mountains and islands just waiting to be explored. So come on down to Spain and see it all for yerself! Arrr!
You read that in a pirate voice didn’t you?
Boletín 102 is an issue I promised before Christmas and features three texts on three culturally important and veyr popular attractions in Spain:
The Alhambra.
The Sagrada Familia.
The Guggenheim Museum.
The exam style question this week is a gap-fill.
If you would like a recently updated index of topics and exam style questions (the latter has come in with interventions) then head on over here.
For my new subscribers on Substack (👋) who may be wondering what they’ve subscribed to:
Thank you for subscribing! I hope you stick around. I’ve recently moved here from Revue and much prefer it over here. If only I had discovered it sooner!
These newsletters complement a resource which can be freely downloaded here. You will need to create an account but in doing so you will gain access to over 100 A Level Spanish newsletters covering topics such as Spanish regional identity, the Spanish Civil War, immigration, politics, education and employment, identity, traditional and modern values and lots more. Ample compensation for signing up.
If you don’t fancy signing up then the texts can be read below 👍
Some of my newsletters will go into some depth and some will be shorter, this is one of the shorter ones because I’ve all just started back at school after a few weeks off and time is precious.
Off on a slight tangent, but whilst I remember, it’s about this time of year that I look forward to teaching year 7 about all the things you can do in Spain besides the obvious.
I’ve narrowed it down to 70 things. We plan a holiday to Spain (with a budget) cramming in as much as we can covering gastronomy, history, sports, relaxation, culture and fun stuff. For TES users that lesson can be found here for free. Although this lesson was made for my year 7s it could easily be adapted for use with KS4 and KS5 learners. I’m currently working on an interactive genial.ly with background information for each icon so watch this space for an update.
The texts this week are below. Source text one on La Alhambra can be found here. The text on La Sagrada Familia is here and the Guggenheim text is here.
Grammar in context to find:
The imperfect tense.
A superlative structure.
The present tense.
The passive voice (ser + past participle).
Adjectival agreement.
Past participles acting as adjectives.
Relative pronoun quien.
The present perfect tense.
Direct object pronouns.
Estar where location is referenced.
A Level structures and vocabulary:
Be aware of the very common false friend éxito which in Spanish means success. This has appeared on many a WJEC A Level exam paper as well as AQA.
As explored in the last edition the verb convertirse appears again not once but twice! Once in the preterite tense and once in the present perfect. Click here to view a conjugation grid for this very high-frequency A Level verb.
That’s all for this week!
Ollie 💃
P.S Next edition will feature an interview with Dr Ana Maria Sanchez-Arce (author of The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar) about all things Volver.
