Spanish Proficiency Exercises
Talk about what part of high school you are happy not to do again.


Simplified and native speakers:

• Simplified example
• Leonardo G.
• Joel C.
• Alfredo C.
• José G.
• Fernando F.

.m4v (iPod) downloads
Click red links to download .m4v files for use in iPod:

• Simplified example
• Leonardo G.
• Joel C.
• Alfredo C.
• José G.
• Fernando F.

Subscribe to iTunes podcast: int30
Subscribe to podcast: int30


Key vocabulary for this task


Example phrases for this task


Grammar points for this task

Simplified Example
"Yo estoy contento de no tener que repetir todas las clases..."
Leonardo G.
México, D.F.
"Bueno, los momentos más difíciles..."
Joel C.
México, D.F.
"Lo que me gusta y..."
Alfredo C.
México, Monterrey, N.L.
"¿Qué parte de la preparatoria estoy..."
José G.
México, Delicias, Chihuahua
"Bueno, mi recuerdo malo que tengo..."
Fernando F.
Perú, Lima
"Bueno, yo no quisiera volver a perder..."
baile (m)   dance
biología (f)   biology
cálculo (m)   calculus
curso (m)   class
deportes (m)   sports
director (m)   director, principal
estudiar   to study
examen (m)   exam, test
física (f)   physics
matemáticas (f)   mathematics
preparatoria (f)   high school
química (f)   chemistry
reprobar   to fail (a class)
Mi peor recuerdo es haber reprobado química. My worst memory is to have failed chemistry.
Todos odiábamos el cálculo en la prepa. We all used to hate calculus in high school.
La directora de la escuela era muy estricta. The school's principal was very strict.
La peor clase que tomé en la prepa fue biología. The worst class I took in high school was biology.
Me acuerdo de los bailes de la prepa. I remember the dances from highschool.
La gente de mi preparatoria puso demasiado énfasis en los deportes. People from my high school put too much emphasis on sports.
¡Qué bueno que no tengo que repetir la prepa! It's so good that I don't have to repeat high school.
Creo que aprendí más por leer en mi cuarto que asistir a las clases de la prepa. I think I learned more by reading in my room than attending classes at my high school.
Deberían de pagar los maestros mucho mejor. They should pay teachers a lot more.
Lo peor fue tener que presentar el examen final. The worst part was having to take the final exam.
Imperfect tense

One of the two simple past tenses in Spanish is the imperfect. Regular verbs follow this pattern:
[missing text?]

The preterite for regular verbs is formed in the following manner:

-ar verbs
  hablar: hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablábais, hablaban
 
  -er/-ir verbs
  querer: quería, querías, quería, queríamos, queríais, querían

Since the first and third person singular forms are identical, it is necessary to use the subject pronoun unless the context makes the subject clear. There is no stem change or irregular yo forms in any verb. There are only three verbs that are irregular in the Spanish imperfect:

ser: era, eras, era, éramos, érais, eran
  ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
  ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

The imperfect tense is used to describe actions or situations that were incomplete or in progress at the point of time in the past that is being described. It is also used for ongoing conditions and repeated occurrences in the past. Let's look at some examples:

Yo siempre andaba en bicicleta cuando era joven. I always used to ride bike when I was young.
  Eran las nueve de la mañana. It was nine in the morning.
  Visitábamos mi abuela cada verano. We would visit my grandmother every summer.
  Mi primer carro no tenía radio y no se podía manejarlo más rápido que 50 millas por hora. My first car didn't have a radio and you couldn't drive it faster than 50 miles an hour.
  Hace 100 años todavía no existía el carro, la computadora, ni la radio. One hundred years ago the car, computer and the radio didn't exist yet.