Making Plans: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE Spanish): Revision Note
Exam code: 8692
The topic of ‘making plans’ can appear in any of the exams - you might be asked to speak or write about yourself, or understand information about others. Let’s use the vocabulary, grammar and phonics we have seen so far to take a closer look at some typical exam questions and how you might tackle them.
Making plans: listening
An important part of listening is being able to identify key information from conversations. This question will help you to practise this skill.
Worked Example
Listen to Carmen and Luis making plans, and complete the table in English.
Activity | |
Day | |
Time |
Answers:
Activity | go to the theatre |
Day | Sunday |
Time | 10 o’clock |
Making plans: speaking
In part 2 of the speaking exam, you will read aloud a text and answer four unprepared questions based on the topic of the text. Here are some sentences for you to practise reading aloud on the topic of making plans.
Worked Example
Read aloud these sentences in Spanish.
Salgo con mis amigos el miércoles por la tarde.
Ella no quiere ver un espectáculo esta noche.
Podemos ir al cine a las ocho.
Lo siento, pero no puedo ir.
¿A qué hora vamos a salir por la mañana?
Answers:
You should have remembered that the letter 'h' is silent in Spanish
You should have stressed the accented vowels
Making plans: reading
In the reading exam, there may be a question where you need to identify who says what. As there is only one correct person for each question, read each sentence carefully. There may be two or more people with similar information, so you have to identify the small details to reach the correct answer.
Worked Example
Read the responses to a party invitation. Match the correct person with each of the following questions.
Write S for Sara.
Write C for Carmen.
Write F for Felix.
Sara: Lo siento, pero no puedo, porque tengo que hacer mis deberes este fin de semana.
Carmen: ¡Me gustaría venir! ¿A qué hora hay que llegar? Gracias por invitarme.
Felix: Tengo ganas pero no sé si tengo tiempo. Tengo que trabajar el sábado. ¿Es en tu casa?
Who cannot attend the party?
Who asks about the time?
Who might be able to come?
Who has to do their homework?
Who has to go to work?
Who thanks the host?
Answers:
Who cannot attend the party?
S - no puedo
Who asks about the time?
C - ¿A qué hora hay que llegar?
Who might be able to come?
F -no sé si tengo tiempo
Who has to do their homework?
S - tengo que hacer mis deberes
Who has to go to work?
F - tengo que trabajar
Who thanks the host?
C - gracias por invitarme
Making plans: writing
Foundation tier
In the Foundation writing exam you need to complete a gap-fill task which is based on your knowledge of grammar, such as verb forms or adjective agreements. Here are some questions to help you practise these grammar points.
Worked Example
Choose the correct word from the three options.
Salí con mis amigos la semana …………………… .
pasado | pasada | pasadas |
The correct answer is pasada. The sentence means ‘I went out with my friends last week'.
'Week' is a feminine singular noun. Pasado is a masculine singular adjective and pasadas is feminine plural.
Mi hermano y yo …………………… ganas de ir a la playa mañana.
tengo | tiene | tenemos |
The correct answer is tenemos. The sentence means ‘My brother and I feel like going to the beach tomorrow’.
'My brother and I' can be replaced with the pronoun 'we', so we need the 'we' form of the verb. Tengo is the 'I' form and tiene is the 'he/she/it' form.
Mi madre ha …………………… a mi abuela.
invita | invitar | invitado |
The correct answer is invitado. The sentence means ‘My mum has invited my grandmother'.
We need a past participle after haber to form the present perfect tense. Invitar is an infinitive verb and invita is the present tense 'he/she/it' form.
Foundation and Higher tier
In the writing paper, there will be one question where you need to write a 90-word response guided by bullet points. The same question will appear on both Foundation and Higher papers.
Worked Example
You are writing a social media post about an event you are planning.
Write approximately 90 words in Spanish.
You must write something about each bullet point.
Mention:
when and where the event takes place
what you have done to prepare for the event
what will happen during the event
Answer:
Here is an example response of 94 words.
Este fin de semana hay una fiesta familiar en mi casa para el cumpleaños de mi hermana, el sábado por la noche a las siete.
Ya he preparado muchas cosas - he escogido la música y la semana pasada fui de compras para comprar ropa nueva y un regalo para mi hermana.
Durante la fiesta, vamos a bailar y comer mucho. Mis padres han preparado toda la comida y parece muy rica. A medianoche vamos a ver fuegos artificiales en el jardín y la fiesta va a terminar a la una de la mañana.
This weekend, there is a family party at my house for my sister’s birthday, on Saturday evening at seven o’clock.
I have already prepared many things - I chose the music, and last week I went shopping to buy new clothes and a present for my sister.
During the party, we are going to dance and eat a lot. My parents have prepared all the food, and it looks very tasty. At midnight, we are going to watch fireworks in the garden, and the party will finish at one in the morning.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
This paragraph includes:
a range of tenses to match the bullet points - present, future, preterite and perfect
different subjects - ‘I’, ‘they’, ‘we’
Check that your answer includes a variety of language and that you have written something about each bullet point.
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