Social Media: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE Spanish): Revision Note

Foundation Tier

Listen to the two students talking about how they use the internet. Answer the questions in English.

1. How much time does Juan spend on Instagram?

2. What is the reason for Juan’s activity?

3. What is the parents’ opinion of mobile use?

4. Who is the second speaker?

[4 marks]

Answer:

1. Three hours (tres horas).

2. To watch his friends' videos (para ver los vídeos de mis amigos).

3. They think it is dangerous (peligroso).

4. Sofía.

• Questions often target retrieval of quantity (cuánto, tres horas), time frames (cada día), and specific reasons (para ver los vídeos)

Higher Tier

You will hear five sentences. Transcribe them exactly as you hear them in Spanish.

[10 marks]

Answer:

1. Mi hermano está chateando con su mejor amigo. (My brother is chatting with his best friend.)

2. Es esencial usar contraseñas difíciles para tener más seguridad. (It is essential to use difficult passwords to have more security.)

3. Ellos estaban subiendo fotos a las redes sociales. (They were uploading photos on social media.)

4. No compartiría nada sobre mi vida privada en las redes sociales. (I would not share anything about my private life on social media.)

5. Los periodistas y los influencers tienen mucha responsabilidad. (Journalists and influencers have a lot of responsibility.)

Pay close attention to verb endings, especially irregular forms and the distinction between the present continuous (está chateando) and the imperfect continuous (estaban subiendo). Verbs and tense formations must be secure for high marks.

Foundation Tier

Respond to the tasks below as if you were talking to a Spanish friend about social media.

1. Say what you are doing online right now. (One detail)

2. Give one opinion of social media. (Give one opinion)

3. Say what you usually do with your photos. (Give one detail)

4. Say what you will do online tonight. (Give one detail)

5. Ask your friend a question about their mobile phone.

[10 marks]

Answer:

1. Estoy chateando con mi familia. (I am chatting with my family.)

2. Pienso que es muy útil. (I think that it is very useful.)

3. Normalmente, subo mis fotos al perfil. (Normally, I upload my photos to the profile.)

4. Voy a ver un documental. (I am going to watch a documentary.)

5. ¿Tienes un móvil moderno? (Do you have a modern mobile phone?)

Higher Tier

Respond to the tasks below as if you were talking to a Spanish friend about social media.

1. Say what you used social media for last week. (Two details)

2. Give two disadvantages of social media. (Two details)

3. Give one opinion of influencers and why. (One opinion + one reason)

4. Say what you will do next week to avoid risk. (Two details)

5. Ask your friend a question about social media.

[10 marks]

Answer:

1. La semana pasada, compartí fotos y descargué un video de música. Uses the Preterite Tense (compartí, descargué.)

2. La falta de privacidad y la presión de los influencers son dos desventajas. (Uses abstract nouns privacidad, presión.)

3. Creo que deberían promover la seguridad porque tienen mucha influencia. (Uses Modal Verb deberían = should and Higher Tier vocabulary promover, influencia.)

4. Voy a cambiar mi contraseña y no voy a chatear con gente desconocida. (Uses the Near Future Tense voy a cambiar/no voy a chatear and complex negation/vocabulary (contraseña, desconocida.)

5. ¿Qué reglas de seguridad deberíamos seguir? (Uses the interrogative and the Conditional deberíamos = should we.)

The Higher Tier role-play often requires eight details across five tasks, focusing on complexity and non-present tenses.

Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Mi hermano está subiendo fotos a las redes sociales.

2. Es muy fácil chatear con mis amigos.

3. La semana pasada, vi un documental sobre las redes sociales.

4. Pienso que es terrible que tanta gente use el móvil constantemente.

5. Voy a estudiar el impacto de la tecnología en la juventud.

[10 marks]

Answer:

1. My brother is uploading photos to social media.

2. It is very easy to chat with my friends.

3. Last week, I saw a documentary about social media.

4. I think that it is terrible that so many people use their phone constantly.

5. I am going to study the impact of technology on the youth.

• Accurately translate verbs formed with estar + gerund (e.g., está subiendo). This structure means the action is happening now ("is uploading"), distinguishing it from the simple present tense

• Use the explicit time phrases (la semana pasada) to confirm that your verb translation aligns with the correct time frame (Past)

Write an article for a school blog about your online life. Write approximately 90 words in Spanish. You must write something about each bullet point.

Mention:

• The positive aspects of using social media now

• What you did with your devices last night

• What project related to technology you are going to organise next week

[15 marks]

Answer:

Actualmente, las redes sociales son extremadamente útiles para mí porque es muy fácil mantener el contacto con amigos de otros países. Todos los días, comparto fotos y veo anuncios interesantes. Sin embargo, a veces hay problemas de seguridad. Por ejemplo, anoche, usé mi tablet para investigar un documental que hablaba de la pobreza y un amigo me envió un enlace. Comenté un mensaje de mi amigo en la red antes de darme cuenta de que podría ser un virus. Por eso, la semana que viene, voy a organizar un evento en mi colegio para promover la seguridad online, y creo que será un éxito total.

English:

Currently, social media is extremely useful for me because it is very easy to keep in touch with friends from other countries. Every day, I share photos and see interesting adverts. However, sometimes there are security problems. For example, last night, I used my tablet to research a documentary that talked about poverty and a friend sent me a link. I commented on my friend’s post online before realising that it could be a virus. Therefore, next week, I am going to organise an event at my school to promote online safety, and I think it will be a total success.

Although this task overlaps at both tiers, it will be the quality of your writing that will differentiate what is required at foundation and higher tiers.