Lesson 4
Mi familia.
Family members, who you live with and how the household works — core people vocab for every theme. 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 family 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.
Mi familia — Lucas
Una familia, dos casas
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.
Mi familia — Elena
Hijo único — Raúl
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 families and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe a las familias. Compulsory
- 2.¿Cuántos sois en tu familia y quiénes son?
- 3.¿Con quién te llevas mejor en tu familia? ¿Por qué?
- 4.¿Es importante para ti pasar tiempo en familia? (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 — grandfather and grandchild. En la primera foto se ve a un abuelo con su nieto. Están al aire libre, debajo de un árbol con flores rosas. El abuelo es mayor y el niño es muy pequeño; los dos sonríen y se nota que se llevan muy bien.
In the first photo you can see a grandfather with his grandchild. They are outdoors, under a tree with pink blossom. The grandfather is elderly and the child is very small; both are smiling and you can tell they get on really well.
Foto B — a family in the kitchen. En la segunda foto hay una madre con sus dos hijos en la cocina. Están preparando la comida juntos y los niños comen algo mientras hablan con su madre. Parecen contentos y pasan tiempo en familia.
In the second photo there is a mother with her two children in the kitchen. They are preparing food together and the children are eating something while they talk to their mother. They look happy and are spending time together as a family.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (there is) · se ve a… (you can see) · una familia de … personas
Los miembros: los padres · los hijos · los abuelos · los nietos · padres e hijos · de varias generaciones
¿Qué hacen / cómo están?: están en casa / en el parque · están celebrando · parecen felices · se llevan bien · pasan tiempo juntos · se abrazan
Comparar y opinar: en mi familia… · a diferencia de esta foto… · lo más importante es… · …porque…
Then the conversation
- Q2 — your family: En mi familia somos cuatro: mi madre, mi padre, mi hermano y yo.
- Q3 — who you get on with: Me llevo mejor con mi … porque es muy … / porque compartimos …
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, pasar tiempo en familia es muy importante porque me da apoyo y cariño.
- Higher tier: add a tense beyond the present — Antes vivíamos en… (imperfect) or En el futuro me gustaría… (conditional) — and use llevarse bien/mal con.
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 exchange partner asks you about your family. Your teacher plays your exchange partner.
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 familia
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe a tu familia. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
Mi familia y yo
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe a tu familia y tus relaciones familiares. 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.