Lesson 33: Taller de escucha

Listening Workshop

Say it, then make it yours: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Follow with your own answer: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Today's Goals

Practice active listening in español

Learn strategies to improve comprehension

Build confidence with real-world audio scenarios

Say it, then make it yours: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Follow with your own answer: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Essential Listening Vocabulary

Palabra	Meaning	Pronunciation
escuchar	to listen	es-koo-CHAR
entender	to understand	en-ten-DER
repetir	to repeat	re-pe-TIR
hablar	to speak	ha-BLAR
preguntar	to ask	pre-gun-TAR

Use the words in a sentence: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Ask a partner: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word. Notice the meaning before you memorise a translation.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Context Vocabulary

Palabra	Meaning	Pronunciation
noticia	news	no-TI-sya
anuncio	announcement	a-NUN-syo
conversación	conversation	kon-ver-sa-SYON
mensaje	message	men-SA-he
detalle	detail	de-TA-le

Use the words in a sentence: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Ask a partner: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word. Notice the meaning before you memorise a translation.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Three Listening Strategies

1

Listen for palabras clave (keywords)

2

Use contexto (context) to fill gaps

3

Identify intención (intent) of the speaker

Model first, then personalise it: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Continue with one more detail. Partner prompt: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Strategy 1: Palabras clave

Palabras clave are the words that carry the main meaning.

Even if you miss other words, keywords help you grasp the idea principal.

horario
schedule

retraso
delay

urgente
urgent

problema
problem

Strategy 2: Contexto

Use the situation, speaker tone, and what you already know to guess missing pieces.

En un restaurante, alguien dice:

At a restaurant, someone says:

"¿Me puede traer la c___?"

Can you bring me the ___?

Context tells you: cuenta (bill)

Strategy 3: Intención

Ask yourself: Is the speaker informing, requesting, apologizing, or warning?

Intención	Intent	Seña
informar	to inform	"Les comunico..."
pedir	to request	"¿Podría...?"
advertir	to warn	"Tenga cuidado..."

Say it, then make it yours: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Follow with your own answer: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Dialogue Practice

Marta: Buenos días, ¿a qué hora sale el tren a Sevilla?

Agente: Sale a las diez y quince, desde la plataforma tres.

Marta: ¿Hay retraso?

Agente: No, todo está normal. ¿Necesita algo más?

Marta: No, gracias. Buen viaje.

Comprehension Check

1

¿A qué ciudad viaja Marta?

To which city does Marta travel?

2

¿A qué hora sale el tren?

At what time does the train leave?

3

¿Hay retraso?

Is there a delay?

4

¿Desde qué plataforma?

From which platform?

Grammar in Listening: Past Narratives

When speakers tell stories, they mix pretérito (completed actions) and imperfecto (ongoing background).

Hearing the difference is key to understanding narratives.

Model first, then personalise it: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Continue with one more detail. Partner prompt: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Past Tense Markers in Audio

Pretérito signals	Imperfecto signals
ayer, luego, de repente	siempre, normalmente, mientras
one-time events	repeated or background states
"Llegó a las ocho."	"Llegaba siempre tarde."

Say it, then make it yours: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Follow with your own answer: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Airport Announcement Scenario

"Atención, pasajeros del vuelo 742 con destino a Madrid. Debido a condiciones climáticas, el vuelo presenta un retraso de aproximadamente cuarenta minutos. Pedimos comprensión y les invitamos a esperar en la sala de embarque número cinco. Actualizaremos la información en treinta minutos. Gracias por su paciencia."

Airport Comprehension

1

Vuelo número

Flight number? → 742

2

Destino

Destination? → Madrid

3

Retraso

Delay? → ~40 min

4

Sala de embarque

Gate number? → 5

Model first, then personalise it: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Continue with one more detail. Partner prompt: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

Common English-Speaker Listening Errors

!

Confusing similar-sounding Spanish words because English vowel habits interfere

algo (something) vs hago (I do)
casa (house) vs caza (hunt)
piso (floor/apartment) vs pico (peak/beak)

Think before you reveal the answer: Model answer: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Now say or write your own answer to: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

More Trouble Spots

!

Missing dropped subject pronouns — Spanish verbs already tell you who acts

"Llegó tarde." → The -ó tells you it is he/she/it (arrived late)
"Queríamos salir." → -íamos tells you we (wanted to leave)

!

The letters b and v sound identical in Spanish

baca and vaca (cow) sound the same — context clarifies meaning

Conversation Reconstruction

Listen to the short exchange. Fill in the missing words.

Cliente: ¿Cuánto ___ el billete a Barcelona?

Vendedor: ___ sesenta euros en segunda clase.

Cliente: ¿Puedo ___ con tarjeta?

Vendedor: Sí, no hay ___ .

Tips for Better Listening

A

Listen daily — even 5 minutes of español audio helps

daily

B

Train your ear to the five pure Spanish vowels

ongoing

C

Use palabras clave and contexto before panicking

always

D

Shadow speakers — repeat aloud what you hear

practice

Quick Review

escuchar
to listen

palabras clave
keywords

contexto
context

intención
intent

retraso
delay

pretérito / imperfecto
past tenses

Say it, then make it yours: En el aeropuerto: ‘¿A qué hora sale el vuelo?’ ‘Sale a las ocho y media.’ Follow with your own answer: Listen for place, time, and intention before every individual word.

English-speaker check: Spanish vowels are pure and short: a-e-i-o-u; do not turn them into English glides.

¡Buena escucha!

Keep training your ears every day

Lesson 33 complete