More Shopping

Vocabulary and Speaking Phrases

Vocabulary related to shopping - It’s important to be familiar with a wide range of terms related to shopping, including different types of shops and retail outlets (la tienda de ropa, el supermercado, la pescadería), items that one buys (la ropa, la comida, los zapatos), and the language of transactions (¿Cuánto cuesta?, quiero comprar).
Asking for directions - You should also be able to ask for and understand directions to these places. This includes question words (¿Dónde está..?), prepositions of place (a la derecha, a la izquierda), and useful phrases (sigue todo recto, toma la primera calle a la derecha).
Use of formal and informal Spanish according to context - keep in mind the difference between tú and usted when addressing someone in a shop. Also, as polite words like ‘please’ (por favour) and ‘thank you’ (gracias) go a long way while shopping, so they will do in the test as well.

Describing your local area - You will need to be able to describe the shopping facilities available in your local area. This includes descriptive language (grande, pequeño, moderno, viejo), the use of there is/are (hay) and quantity expressions (mucho, poco).
Comparing different shopping experiences - Can you compare your local shops to supermarkets or shopping malls? Can you compare shopping now with the experience of shopping in the past or in other countries? This includes comparatives (más grande que, mejor que) and superlatives (el más grande, el mejor).

Discussing personal shopping habits - You may be asked about your own shopping habits and preferences. This might include frequency expressions (siempre, nunca, a veces), reflexive verbs (Me gusta, me encanta) and reasons/justifications (porque es más barato, porque está cerca de mi casa).

Role Play - Practice role play scenarios about shopping. You could be a customer asking for items, asking for directions or complaining about a product or service. You could also be a shop assistant offering help, dealing with complaints or explaining about products.
Writing exercise - Practice writing about your local shopping facilities, your shopping habits or a shopping experience. This can help to consolidate all the above skills.

Grammar - Remember the correct use of verbs in different tenses. For example, if you’re talking about a past shopping experience, ensure you’re using the preterite (Yo compré) or the imperfect tense (Yo iba) correctly.