Spanish for groups: reflexive replies, paired question marks and formal address
The written examples introduce paired question marks, a colon after an email greeting and the twenty-four-hour clock in opening-hours notices.
Spanish name replies use a reflexive verb, while an age reply uses the verb for having. Routine descriptions add reflexive getting-up forms and a verb for usual habits. The correspondence lessons contrast familiar and formal address, and the editing tasks preserve a writer’s uncertainty when turning an accusation into a formal request for an explanation.
Lessons
48
Questions
460
writing questions
168
reading questions
196
listening questions
96
Levels
A1–C2
Script
Latin
What Spanish asks of an English speaker
Deciding how formal to be
Spanish asks you to choose a level of formality before you write, and the choice changes verb forms and pronouns, not only vocabulary. At A2, learners recognize ¿Me puede…? as the standard formal way to ask a business for something. At B1 they follow a formal command such as proponga in a meeting notice. At C1 they compare a letter that opens Estimado director: with a note to a friend that opens Hola, Sergio: and learn what else changes between the two.
¿Me puede…?
Could you…? (formal)
proponga
propose (formal command)
Estimado director:
Dear Director,
Hola, Sergio:
Hi Sergio,
Spain and Latin America side by side
The lessons do not treat Spanish as a single fixed variety. When a message asks a group to start dinner without the writer, the A2 lesson gives empezad sin mí for informal plural address in Spain, and empiecen sin mí for plural address. The latter serves both formal and informal groups in Latin America and formal groups in Spain.
empezad sin mí
start without me (informal plural; Spain)
empiecen sin mí
start without me (plural; formal in Spain, formal or informal in Latin America)
Verbs that point back at the speaker
Many everyday Spanish verbs are reflexive, and the curriculum introduces them where they are needed. ¿Cómo te llamas? literally asks how you call yourself, which is why the answer begins Me llamo. A daily routine at A2 starts with me levanto, "I get up," and habits are described with suelo, from soler, "to usually do."
¿Cómo te llamas?
What's your name?
Me llamo
My name is
me levanto
I get up
suelo
I usually (do)
soler
to usually do
Written conventions that differ from English
Written Spanish marks a question at both ends, so ¿Quedamos el sábado? is visibly a question from its first character. Emails in the lessons put a colon after the greeting, as in Buenos días:, and the public-information lesson practices opening hours on the twenty-four-hour clock, as in Horario: abierto de 9 a 14.
¿Quedamos el sábado?
Shall we meet on Saturday?
Buenos días:
Good morning,
Horario: abierto de 9 a 14
Hours: open from nine to two p.m.
Try two questions from the course
Both are taken unchanged from the Spanish lessons, with the explanation learners see after answering.
A2 · Handle simple written transactions
At a restaurant, the customer says: "La cuenta, por favor." The server replies: "Claro, se la traigo." What did the customer request?
B1 · Manage routine written correspondence
Read the arrangement: “La reunión en línea será el miércoles a las cuatro. Lea antes el informe adjunto. Si la hora le resulta imposible, proponga una alternativa antes del martes por la tarde.” What should someone do if four o’clock is unsuitable?
What each level covers
A1 Answer the Spanish questions for name, home and age with complete replies, distinguishing the reflexive name construction from the verb used to state an age.
8 skills at A1
Recognize familiar words and basic phrases in short written texts
Understand basic spoken phrases when delivered slowly and clearly
Complete simple forms with personal information
Write very short simple personal messages
Understand simple written instructions supported by context
Recognize basic information in signs, notices, and schedules
Follow very simple spoken announcements
Exchange basic information in simple written interactions
A2 Describe getting up, breakfast and returning home with first-person Spanish verbs, and use the verb for usually doing something to distinguish a habit from a single action.
8 skills at A2
Understand short simple personal messages
Follow basic spoken information about everyday matters
Read simple public information and service texts
Write short everyday messages for practical purposes
Describe routine matters in simple connected writing
Handle simple written transactions
Understand simple directions and instructions
Extract key details from short factual texts
B1 Reply to a Spanish meeting notice with a formal greeting and a requested next step, following the formal command that asks for an alternative time before Tuesday afternoon.
8 skills at B1
Understand the main points of clear texts on familiar matters
Understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters
Write connected texts on familiar topics
Express opinions, plans, and experiences in writing
Manage routine written correspondence
Understand straightforward narratives and descriptions
Follow straightforward presentations and media on familiar topics
Summarize factual information from straightforward texts
B2 In a Spanish municipal forum, distinguish agreement with a Sunday street closure from objections about pharmacy deliveries and residents needing vehicle access. Follow the proposed six-Sunday trial, then write replies that acknowledge a point before qualifying it.
8 skills at B2
Read articles and reports that present arguments and viewpoints
Understand extended speech and presentations with clear structure
Write clear detailed texts on a range of subjects
Write reasoned arguments supporting a point of view
Participate effectively in written discussions
Understand specialized texts in familiar fields
Identify stance, tone, and implication in spoken discourse
Synthesize information from multiple written sources
C1 Recast a request for corrected report data as a formal letter to a director, and a delayed-train request as a familiar message to Sergio, changing the forms of address and the greeting.
8 skills at C1
Understand long complex texts across a range of domains
Understand extended speech with implicit meaning and complex structure
Write well-structured detailed texts on complex subjects
Adapt style, register, and conventions to purpose and audience
Manage complex written interactions fluently and appropriately
Understand implicit meaning, nuance, and rhetorical effect in written texts
Take effective notes from complex spoken input
Evaluate and synthesize information from complex written sources
C2 Condense a Spanish finding that calls a result a measure of remaining uncertainty, and turn an informal accusation of hidden information into a formal request for an explanation without adding certainty.
8 skills at C2
Understand virtually all forms of written language
Understand virtually all forms of spoken language
Produce polished, effective texts for demanding purposes
Compose nuanced persuasive arguments
Handle demanding written exchanges with precision and flexibility
Interpret subtle pragmatic and cultural references
Critically synthesize diverse written and spoken sources
Edit and transform texts while preserving nuance and effect
Spanish with a group
In a Spanish session, the whole group gets the same challenge at the same moment, such as a station board, a friend's message or the opening of a formal email, and everyone answers at once. Participants join with a room code. Instead of a leaderboard, the host gets a picture of where the room as a whole is getting stuck, for example on formal versus informal address, and Yolango shapes the next challenge around it.
