Lesson 5
Mis amigos y la amistad.
What makes a good friend, how you spend time together and why friends matter — speaking-exam gold. 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 friendship 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 mejor amiga — Lucía
Pocos pero verdaderos
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.
Mis amigas — Nuria
Calidad, no cantidad — Iván
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 friends and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe a los amigos y qué hacen. Compulsory
- 2.¿Cómo es tu mejor amigo/a?
- 3.¿Qué hacéis juntos normalmente?
- 4.¿Qué es lo más importante en una amistad? (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 — two friends at a café. En la primera foto hay dos amigas en una cafetería. Están charlando y riéndose mientras toman algo. Se llevan muy bien y se nota que tienen mucha confianza y una buena amistad.
In the first photo there are two friends in a café. They are chatting and laughing while having a drink. They get on really well and you can tell they trust each other and have a good friendship.
Foto B — friends round a campfire. En la segunda foto se ve a un grupo de amigos sentados alrededor de una hoguera en la playa. Están hablando y pasándolo bien al atardecer. Parecen muy unidos y se nota que disfrutan mucho en compañía.
In the second photo you can see a group of friends sitting around a campfire on the beach. They are talking and having a good time at dusk. They seem very close and you can tell they really enjoy each other's company.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (there is) · se ve a… (you can see) · un grupo de amigos
¿Qué hacen?: están riéndose / charlando / saliendo juntos · pasan un buen rato · se divierten · se abrazan
La amistad: se llevan muy bien · son inseparables / muy unidos · tienen mucho en común · se apoyan · se nota que son buenos amigos
Comparar y opinar: como mis amigos y yo… · lo más importante en la amistad es… · …porque…
Then the conversation
- Q2 — your best friend: Mi mejor amigo/a es muy … y siempre … . Lo conocí en …
- Q3 — what you do together: Solemos salir, ir al cine y reírnos mucho.
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, lo más importante en la amistad es la confianza, porque puedo contar con ellos.
- Higher tier: add a tense beyond the present — Nos conocimos hace … años… (preterite) or Espero que sigamos siendo amigos… (future hope) — and use contar con / hacer las paces.
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 friends. 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.
Mis amigos
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe a tu mejor amigo/a y vuestra amistad. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
Mi mejor amigo/a
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe a tu mejor amigo/a y qué hace que vuestra amistad sea especial. 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.