1) Make Sure Your Notes Are ALL ORGANISED s1

AS SPANISH

AS

SPANISH

REVISION AID

1)  Make sure your notes are ALL ORGANISED.

a)  TOPIC notes - vocabulary etc all into topic areas

b)  GRAMMAR notes - you should have a separate file for grammar, make sure you tick off all the grammar sections as you learn them. You have loads of practice on grammar topics but extra exercises will be e-mailed to you or check the wikipage http://spanishatstmalachys.wikispaces.com . YOU MUST KNOW YOUR GRAMMAR!

c)  ORAL presentation. You must know this thoroughly. Remember to have thought around the topic for the 2 minute discussion of the presentation. Make sure you are fully prepared for the general conversation, use your time with Señora Serrano effectively.

d)  Extended essay- do essay plans for all topics- include key topic specific vocabulary.

e)  Use all past paper practice wisely and use them when you are revising. Make sure you know the timing and requirements of all sections of the exam.

WHAT CAN I DO TO REVISE?

• Revise key vocabulary from the topics covered throughout the year -it is also a good idea to look over GCSE vocabulary too.
• Go through your topic booklets & make sure you know topic specific vocabulary – use mind maps to help learn it
• Look through previous Listening, Reading and Writing practice, especially past papers.
• Revise verbs, tenses and grammar points covered this year (see list later in this revision aid)
• Use useful revision sites given to you earlier in the year. Remember your independent reading and listening
• Practise translation from Spanish to English.
  

GRAMMAR: checklist

Part(s) of Speech / Examples / Completed?
Nouns / ·  gender
·  singular and plural nouns
Articles / ·  definite and indefinite (including lo plus adjective
Adjectives / ·  agreement
·  position
·  apocopation (buen, mal)
·  comparative and superlative
·  demonstrative (este, ese, aquel)
·  indefinite (alguno, cualquiera, otro)
·  possessive (long and short forms) (mi, mío)
·  interrogative (cuánto, qué)
·  relative (cuyo)
·  exclamatory (qué
Adverbs / ·  comparative and superlative
·  interrogative ( cómo, cuándo, dónde)
Quantifiers/ intensifiers / ·  (muy, bastante, poco, mucho)
Pronouns / ·  subject
·  object: direct and indirect
·  position and order
Pronouns (cont.) / ·  reflexive
·  relative (que, quien, el que, el cual)
·  disjunctive/emphatic
·  demonstrative (éste, ése, aquél, esto, eso, aquello)
·  indefinite (algo, alguien)
·  possessive (el mío, la mía)
·  interrogative (cuál, qué, quién)
Verbs / ·  regular and irregular forms of verbs, including reflexive verbs
·  modes of address (tú, usted)
·  radical-changing verbs
·  impersonal verbs
·  verbs followed by an infinitive (with or without a preposition)
·  perfect infinitive
·  negative forms
·  interrogative forms
·  reflexive constructions (se vende, se nos dice que)
·  uses of ser and estar
·  tenses:
-  present
-  preterite
-  imperfect
-  future
-  conditional
-  perfect
-  future perfect (R)
-  conditional perfect (R)
-  pluperfect /
·  passive voice:
-  present and preterite tenses
-  other tenses (R)
·  continuous tenses
·  imperative
·  gerund
·  past participle
·  subjunctive mood:
-  present
-  perfect
-  imperfect
-  pluperfect /
·  uses of subjunctive:
-  polite commands; negative commands; after verbs of wishing, command, request, emotion;
-  to express purpose (para que)
-  to express possibility/impossibility after conjunctions of time (cuando lleguemos); in conditional sentences after si
·  all other common uses (R)
Prepositions / ·  personal a
·  uses of por and para
Conjunctions / ·  common, including y, pero, o, porque, como, cuando
Number, quantity and time / ·  constructions with hace and desde hace

The examples in italics are indicative, not exclusive. For structures marked (R), receptive knowledge is only required.

CONTEXTS FOR LEARNING:

There are 3 contexts for learning at AS:

1. Relationships

• Family life and relationships

• Personal and interpersonal relationships

2. Health and Lifestyle

• Physical well-being

• Mental well-being

• Interests

3. Young People in Society

• Influences on young people

• Education and career planning

There is a full breakdown of each topic at the start of the relevant booklet: use it as a checklist for revision

There is also topic specific vocabulary at the start of each topic booklet, but there is no set vocabulary list for AS.

Therefore you need to add new words to your lists as you meet them.

Try to keep your vocabulary in clear categories.

Highlight the most difficult words and spend extra time on them.

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ORAL PRESENTATION:

At AS the presentation should last approximately 3 minutes.

Bear this in mind when planning the structure and

layout. A typical layout may contain the following:

• a brief introduction

- make your title clear

- give an overview

- create the interest

• the body – 3-5 main points

- make each point in logical sequence

- support it with facts, evidence and/or reference

- summarise it

- move smoothly on to next point

• a brief summary or conclusion

- make it clear that you are coming to an end

- repeat and reinforce main points

- create a lasting impression

Don’t forget you will have to discuss your presentation for 2 minutes.

Try to think around the subject-

·  what else might an examiner find to ask about?

·  Is there something you’ve mentioned that you could go into more depth on?

·  Has anything been on the news in the last couple of weeks that could be relevant to your topic?

Remember for a high mark:

‘We would encourage candidates to look for interesting angles or statistics or some personal fascination.’ (2011 Examiner’s report)

‘Examiners are required to look for understanding, insight, originality and the

ability to make qualitative judgements.’ (2009 examiner’s report)

General conversation: extract from examiner’s report 2011

The examination focuses largely on the candidate's own life, aspirations and ambitions. It is therefore disappointing that, when given an opportunity to discuss a topic related to their own experiences, many candidates limit themselves to fairly superficial GCSE-type responses. They should be encouraged to seek out the more interesting and creative aspects of their lives and be prepared to develop such topics. For example, many students say that they wish to talk about their families and then say little more than "me llevo bien con toda mi familia" or "me ayudan mucho" without giving any details or examples. Others, however, can give interesting aspects of family relationships and explore the changing dynamic of family life.

TO WORK ON YOUR LISTENING

You should select a short audio or video clip from the Internet. Play the clip at least three times and write a brief summary in Spanish (it needn’t be any longer than 50 words) with a vocabulary list of at least 10 words. These could be key words or they could be words that are new to you and had to be looked up.

It is easier to start with short news bulletins. Video clips are ideal as they are easier to understand. Start with shorter clips and then when you feel ready, you could choose a radio programme from the Radio station websites listed below.

Spanish News

www.euronews.net

Select language ‘español’ and then choose from a wide variety of News videos.

www.20minutos.es/

es.news.yahoo.com/

Follow the link to Video Noticias for three-minute news clips.

es.noticias.yahoo.com/

Spanish TV channel websites:

www.antena3tv.com

Choose from the menu for the topic area you are interested in and then browse for video clips:

www.antena3videos.com/

For news, browse for videos at:

www.informativos.telecinco.es/

www.canalsur.es

Click on the link to TV “en directo” (live) and you will be able to watch the channel on streaming video.

www.informativos.telecinco.es/reproductor_video.htm

For celebrity gossip....

es.celebrities.yahoo.com/

Click on “Perfiles de Famosos”

Spanish Radio on-line

www.rtve.es/rne/envivo.htm

Select a radio station from the list.

www.topradio.es/

Easy listening music radio station for Spanish and English / American pop music.

www.lyngsat.com/freeradio/

Spain.html

TO WORK ON YOUR READING

Select an article which interests you, read it carefully and select at least 10 new pieces of vocabulary to look up. The choice of topic area is limitless. The temptation may be to pick an article on fashion, but you should avoid doing this every week as they are not so easy to understand. It is a good idea to vary the topic area and to choose articles related to the syllabus topics so that you encounter a variety of vocabulary.

www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/news

The best place to start is the BBC’s languages web-pages. Choose the “reportajes” link to find articles from the former “Semanario Internet” with a variety of reading exercises. The articles are

archived into topic areas that relate to the AS and A level syllabus.

Some of them include audio clips so you can base your listening task on the same topic.

www.elmundo.es

Spanish daily newspaper. The website gives you access to all of the day’s news articles.

www.elpais.es

Spanish daily newspaper. The website gives you access to the day’s news articles although you may require a subscription to view the majority of the articles in full.

es.news.yahoo.com/

www.abc.es/

On-line Spanish daily news.

www.terra.es

On-line Spanish daily news.

www.donbalon.es/front/

Spanish football website with related articles.

www.hola.com

Spanish celebrity gossip magazine. Subscription required to view some of the articles.

www.terra.es ( archive news)

www.marca.es (sport)

www.estrelladigital.es

ESSAY WRITING:

EXTENDED WRITING QUESTION

·  Choice of 2 questions – 2 of the 3 contexts of study (from specification) will have a question

·  Short stimulus text 80 – 100 words

·  3 bullet points – must be adhered to

·  200 – 250 words

·  AO2 – Understanding and Response – 20 marks

·  AO3 – Target Language – 30 marks.

AO2 – UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONSE

·  Aspects highlighted in the descriptors

o  Understanding of requirements of the question

o  Knowledge of the topic

o  Address question

o  Coherence, no repetition, relevance

o  Personal engagement and analysis (reasons why..., consequences of, advantages and disadvantages..)

·  IN THE EXAMINATION – careful reading of stimulus and question, adherence to bullet points

o  Don’t want vague answers, good quality information – if possible from reliable, authentic sources – will help, e.g. name of a programme,

o  Impress with knowledge of Spain – this is not necessary but will define the better candidate

o  Address the question – give a good ten minutes to reading and preparing an answer plan with bulleted points and sub-points or a spider diagram (like done in class). This will help to avoid repetition and squeeze maximum content into 200 – 250 words.

·  PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS (IN EXAM)

o  This can be kept to the ¿Cuál es su opinión? section – if there is one or to the conclusion but personal reaction or analysis of an idea can be interspersed throughout

o  Doesn’t meant anecdote or mere like-dislike more: En mi opinión, .... Para mí, ..... A mi parecer ...... , followed by a reasoned reflection on the issue.

·  STRUCTURING THE RESPONSE

o  The answer should normally consist of approx. 4-5 parts:

§  A short introduction

§  The response to the 3 bullet points which will form the bulk of the essay

§  A short conclusion (conclusion may be 3rd bullet point)

Introducción : 25

Primer punto: 60

Segundo punto: 60

Tercer punto: 60

Conclusión: 25

AO3: TARGET LANGUAGE

·  Points highlighted in descriptors:

o  Command of language

o  Accurate and complex structures appropriate to AS level

o  Idiomatic language

o  Vocabulary

o  Errors (few – lots)

o  Spelling

STIMULUS

·  Stimulus not analysis: response does not need to comment on content of stimulus, careful prior analysis is recommended

·  Quarry, don’t copy – get ideas, vocab. Don’t ignore the stimulus but don’t lift phrases from it. Use it in the following way: Como dice el texto, según el texto ...

CHECKING THE ANSWER

·  Check your work for careless errors:

o  Spelling of basic vocabulary

o  Adjectival agreements

o  Verb forms

o  Pronouns

GENERAL ADVICE

·  Check the word count – you will not be penalised after 250 words but you may find that you start to make more mistakes.

·  Prepare a few sub-points for each of the 3 bullet points before planning the introduction and conclusion

·  Answer the 3 bullet points in the order in which they appear.

·  Keep a balance between the 3 bullet points

·  Use link words to sequence ideas and structure sentences

·  Logical order of paragraphs

·  Use idiomatic language and complex structures where possible

·  Don’t borrow phrases from the stimulus

·  Don’t include any irrelevant material

·  Don’t repeat ideas

·  Don’t overdo pre-learnt phrases – must be relevant and appropriate.

AS EXTENDED WRITING PAST PAPER TOPICS

JANUARY 2010

RelationShips – La importancia del hogar

Health & Lifestyle – Tourism/travel & Young people

JUNE 2010

Relationships – Hombres y mujeres – el papel de la mujer en el mundo laboral

Health & Lifestyle – los jóvenes españoles hacen menos deporte

JANUARY 2011

Relationships – los nuevos tipos de familia en el mundo de hoy

Health & Lifestyle - problemas de autoestima entre los adolescentes

JUNE 2011

Relationships – las relaciones entre las generaciones

Young people in society - la importancia de Internet

JANUARY 2012

Health & Lifestyle – el problema del alcohol para los jóvenes

Relationships- las preocupaciones de los jóvenes

Checklist for Discursive Essay Writing

Before you start writing your essay, you should do the following:

·  Read essay title carefully. What exactly is it asking you to discuss? The pros and cons of what……………………?
·  Choose 2-3 introductory phrases and learn them off by heart.
·  List paragraph leaders and learn them off by heart.
·  List 3 concluding phrases and learn them off by heart.
·  Write a list of generic idioms/proverbs and learn them off by heart.
·  Make sure you know some good phrases which need the subjunctive & include 2-3 in every essay
·  Learn a wide variety of opinion phrases and use them all
·  Write a list of vocabulary and structures relevant to the topic using your research (minimum 1 side of A4, preferably more) and remember to include idioms/proverbs and complex structures.
·  Write up your PLAN– this should be 1 FULL side of A4 and should include:
1.  An introduction – tell the reader what you are going to discuss.
2.  A main body –deal with each bullet point in order. Include hard fact and figures to back up your points of discussion/argument. Try to balance the argument by examining an equal amount of advantages and disadvantages before giving your opinion.
3.  A conclusion – this should reflect upon your points of discussion and should contain NO NEW INFORMATION. E.g. After having examined the pros and cons of…..it is clear that there are advantages of…… as well as disadvantages, time will tell if the pros will outweigh the cons of………
4.  It is often easier to write the main body, then write the introduction and conclusion last.
·  Make sure you have given reasons for your opinions (Personal engagement and analysis)
·  Write up your FINAL VERSION and remember to stick to the WORD LIMIT and write it at the end of the essay. You will be penalised if you write too little or too much.
·  REMEMBER to write in paragraphs using paragraph leaders, use relevant vocabulary, idioms/proverbs, complex structures and have two clear sides to the argument and answer the question! Introduction = tell them what you are going to tell them, Main Body = then tell them, Conclusion = tell them what you just told them!
·  Finally, CHECK EVERY word you have written -in particular, check spellings, genders, verb endings, singular and plurals, tenses and adjectival endings. This is time consuming but will save you marks!
·  SELF ASSESSMENT - Mark your essay to the MARK SCHEME as per the specification and award yourself a grade for each category. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE MARK SCHEME.
·  HAND IN your essay ON TIME to your teacher.

Really useful writing tips