Lesson 3
Mi personalidad.
The adjectives that say what you and other people are really like — the language that lifts a description from basic to impressive. Work through the eight steps below: learn the words, read, listen, translate, then practise the photo card, role-play and writing exactly as they appear in the AQA exam.
Refresh your KS3 personality words.
You met all of these in Years 7–9. Tap any word to hear it, and check the model sentence to see it in action. These are the building blocks — make sure they're solid before the new GCSE words.
Twenty new GCSE words.
Each card shows the word, its meaning, a model sentence and a tag: F on the AQA list (Foundation & Higher), H Higher only, útil not on AQA's list but very useful for speaking & writing. Tap to listen.
Read, then answer.
Two texts on the same topic — a Foundation text and a tougher Higher text. Read each one, then answer the questions in English underneath. They mark themselves: tap your answer and you'll see straight away if you're right.
¿Cómo soy? — Pablo
Más de lo que parezco
Listen, then answer.
Press play to hear the passage read aloud, as many times as you need, then answer the English questions. You can reveal the transcript afterwards to check what you heard.
🎧 Native-quality audio. Play it as many times as you need — just like the real exam, where each recording is played twice.
Soy así — Marta
Cómo he cambiado — Hugo
Translate both ways.
First Spanish → English (reading translation), then English → Spanish (the harder direction, tested in Paper 4). Have a go on paper, then tap to reveal the model answer and compare.
Translate into English
Translate into Spanish
Describe the photo card.
In the speaking exam you get a card with two photos from one theme. You must say at least one thing about each photo, then have a conversation on the topic. Here are two photos of people and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe a las personas y cómo crees que son. Compulsory
- 2.¿Cómo eres de personalidad? (dos o tres adjetivos)
- 3.¿Cómo es tu mejor amigo/a? ¿Os parecéis?
- 4.¿Qué es más importante, la personalidad o el aspecto físico? (opinión + razón)
Describing the photos — model answer
The first question is compulsory: say at least one thing about each photo. Below are two model descriptions you can adapt to whoever is in the picture — tap the speaker to hear them.
Foto A — one person. En la primera foto hay una chica joven que se está riendo. Tiene el pelo rizado y rubio y lleva una sudadera gris. Parece muy alegre, divertida y extrovertida.
In the first photo there is a young woman who is laughing. She has curly blonde hair and is wearing a grey hoodie. She seems very cheerful, fun and outgoing.
Foto B — a group. En la segunda foto se ve a un grupo de cuatro amigos en casa, tomando té. Se están riendo y dos de ellos chocan los cinco. Parecen muy sociables y divertidos, y se llevan muy bien.
In the second photo you can see a group of four friends at home, having tea. They're laughing and two of them are high-fiving. They seem very sociable and fun, and they get on really well.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (in the first/second photo there is) · se ve(n)… (you can see) · está(n) sonriendo (is/are smiling)
¿Cómo parecen?: parece(n) + simpático / alegre / serio / tímido (seems…) · da(n) la impresión de ser… (gives the impression of being) · creo que es / son… (I think they are)
Adjetivos útiles: simpático · gracioso · alegre · tranquilo · serio · cariñoso · sociable · seguro de sí mismo
Comparar y opinar: se parece a… (is like) · a diferencia de… (unlike) · lo más importante es… · …porque…
Then the conversation
- Q2 — yourself: Soy simpático/a y bastante trabajador/a. Add a contrast: No soy nada tímido/a.
- Q3 — your best friend: Mi mejor amigo es muy gracioso. Nos parecemos / Somos diferentes porque…
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, la personalidad es más importante que el aspecto físico porque es lo que de verdad cuenta.
- Higher tier: add a tense beyond the present — De pequeño/a era más tímido/a, pero ahora… (imperfect) — and a comparison with a diferencia de.
The role-play.
The instructions are in English. You must answer the prompts and ask one question (the ! bullet). Try it out loud first, then reveal the model answers.
Your Spanish friend is helping you fill in a profile for a summer camp and asks you about your personality. Your teacher plays your friend.
Model answers & tips
Write your answer.
Two tasks in the real exam style — a Foundation ~50-word task (five bullets) and a Higher ~90-word task (three bullets). Use the sentence starters (tap to drop them into the pad) and the useful vocab, then compare with a model answer.
Mi personalidad
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe tu personalidad. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
¿Cómo soy de verdad?
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe tu personalidad y compárate con otra persona. Menciona los tres puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 90 palabras en español.
Foundation answers cover all the bullets with clear, accurate present-tense sentences joined by y, pero and porque, plus at least one opinion. Higher answers do all that and then reach further: more than one tense (e.g. imperfect vivía, near future voy a, conditional me gustaría), opinions with developed reasons, a wider range of connectives (aunque, sin embargo, además) and more ambitious vocabulary. The biggest single lift from Foundation to Higher is justifying opinions and using a second and third tense accurately.