Lesson 2
El deporte y el ejercicio.
Sports, how often you exercise and why it matters for your health — the vocabulary and opinions to talk about staying active. 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 sport 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.
Soy muy deportista — Carlos
Cuerpo y mente
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.
No muy deportista — Elena
El deporte es mi pasión — Diego
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 doing sport and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe el deporte o la actividad. Compulsory
- 2.¿Qué deporte o ejercicio haces tú?
- 3.¿Con qué frecuencia y dónde haces deporte?
- 4.¿Por qué es importante hacer ejercicio? (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 — playing basketball. En la primera foto hay un grupo de jóvenes jugando al baloncesto en una cancha al aire libre. Uno de ellos está saltando para lanzar el balón a la canasta. Están haciendo deporte y parecen muy activos y en forma.
In the first photo there is a group of young people playing basketball on an outdoor court. One of them is jumping to shoot the ball at the hoop. They're doing sport and look very active and fit.
Foto B — running outdoors. En la segunda foto se ve a un grupo de personas corriendo juntas al lado de un río, con la ciudad al fondo y el sol poniéndose. Están haciendo ejercicio al aire libre para mantenerse en forma. Correr con regularidad es muy bueno para el cuerpo y la mente.
In the second photo you can see a group of people running together beside a river, with the city in the background and the sun setting. They're exercising outdoors to keep fit. Running regularly is very good for body and mind.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (there is) · se ve a… (you can see) · una persona / unos jóvenes
¿Qué deporte?: jugar al fútbol / al baloncesto · correr · nadar · montar en bici · hacer ejercicio en el gimnasio · entrenar
¿Dónde / cómo?: en el campo / en la piscina / al aire libre / en el gimnasio · parecen activos / en forma · se lo pasan bien
Opinar (tu turno): es bueno para la salud · ayuda a estar en forma · lo más importante es estar activo · …porque…
Then the conversation
- Q2 — what you do: Juego al … / Hago … / Practico … Soy (bastante) deportista.
- Q3 — how often / where: Entreno … veces por semana en … Los fines de semana …
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, hacer ejercicio es esencial porque es bueno para la salud física y mental.
- Higher tier: add tenses — De pequeño/a era muy sedentario/a… (imperfect) or En el futuro me gustaría… (conditional) — and opinions with creo que / pienso que.
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 sport and exercise. 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.
El deporte
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe el deporte y el ejercicio que haces. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
El deporte y yo
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe el ejercicio que haces y tu opinión sobre su importancia. 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.