Topic: Where You Live

Understanding Your Local Area

Develop a comprehensive understanding of your local area, including geographical features, places of interest, local facilities, and landmarks.
Learn the Spanish vocabulary related to houses and homes, such as ‘la casa’ (house), ‘el apartamento’ (flat), ‘el jardín’ (garden), and ‘la habitación’ (room).
Understand how to describe key aspects of your house, such as the number of rooms, the colour of walls, and the type of furniture.
Get a good grasp of the vocabulary to describe your town or city, including places like ‘la biblioteca’ (library), ‘el parque’ (park), and ‘el cine’ (cinema).

Be able to express what you like or don’t like about where you live, using verbs like ‘gustar’ (to like) and ‘disgustar’ (to dislike).
Extend your descriptions to include what activities you enjoy doing in your local area and at which times of the year, using verbs such as ‘visitar’ (to visit), ‘ir’ (to go), and ‘hacer’ (to do).
Familiarise yourself with adjectives to make detailed descriptions of your surroundings, such as ‘bonito’ (pretty), ‘aburrido’ (boring), and ‘contaminado’ (polluted).

Learn to discuss the issues that are affecting your local area, such as pollution, crime, and traffic, using phrases like ‘hay mucho tráfico’ (there is a lot of traffic) or ‘existe un problema de crimen’ (there is a crime problem).
Be conversant in giving directions in Spanish, including phrases like ‘a la derecha’ (to the right), ‘a la izquierda’ (to the left), and ‘sigue todo recto’ (continue straight).

Understand how to describe your local area in different weathers, using terms like ‘hace sol’ (it’s sunny), ‘llueve’ (it rains), and ‘hace frio’ (it’s cold).
Understand the demographics of your area. Learn phrases to describe the kind of people living there, for example, ‘hay muchos pensionistas’ (there are many pensioners) or ‘hay muchas familias’ (there are many families).

Appreciate how to explain future plans or changes to your area, such as new facilities or improvements. Learn phrases like ‘van a construir’ (they are going to build) or ‘quiero mejorar’ (I want to improve).
Practice explaining what you do in your area in different tenses. For example, express what you did in your local area last weekend (past tense), what you do usually (present tense), and what you will do next weekend (future tense).

Finally, remember to provide plenty of opinions (using phrases like ‘en mi opinión’ - in my opinion) and reasons (using conjunctions like ‘porque’ - because) to fully answer all parts of the question in the speaking and writing sections.

This compilation should provide a good basis for your revisions and help you become more confident in discussing your local area in Spanish.