School Routine

  • Understand the key vocabulary related to the school routine such as the words for different types of school (colegio, escuela, instituto), subjects (ciencias, matemáticas, historia), school facilities (aulas, gimnasio, laboratorio), and school staff (profesor, director, conserje).

  • Review typical daily routines in a Spanish school, such as timings of the school day, and meal times. For example, a Spanish school day often starts around 9am and finishes around 2pm with a long lunch break.

  • Know the common phrases to talk about school activities such as “hacer los deberes” (to do homework), “estudiar para los exámenes” (to study for the tests), and “asistir a las clases” (to attend classes).

  • Be able to describe your school routine in various tenses - present (Hoy estudio matemáticas), past (Ayer estudié historia) and future (Mañana estudiaré ciencias).

  • Familiarise yourself with the vocabulary to express likes and dislikes about aspects of the school routine. For example, to express a preference for one subject over another, you might say “Me gusta más el español que las matemáticas” (I like Spanish more than Maths).

  • Practice using opinion phrases to discuss your school experience, such as “Creo que es importante” (I believe it’s important), “En mi opinión” (in my opinion), or “A mi parecer” (It seems to me).

  • Learn the terms for different types of schools and educational systems. For instance, “educación primaria/secundaria” is primary/secondary education, and “bachillerato” relates to the final two years of secondary education in Spain.

  • Understand the different cultural aspects of Spanish-speaking countries, like the tendency for longer school days in Spain, with a siesta or rest period in the middle of the day.

  • Remember to use a variety of vocabulary, complex sentences, and a range of tenses in your responses to attain higher grades. Use connectives like ‘por lo tanto’ (therefore), ‘sin embargo’ (however), and ‘además’ (in addition), for sophistication.

  • Consider doing role-plays of dialogues within a school setting, such as a conversation between a teacher and a learner, or between two learners discussing their school day, to improve your speaking skills and pronunciation.