Lesson 4
La salud y el bienestar.
Feeling well or ill, sleep, stress and mental wellbeing — and how to keep a healthy balance of body and mind. 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 health words.
You met all of these in earlier years. 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.
Cuidar el cuerpo y la mente — Ana
El bienestar de los jóvenes
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.
Estoy estresada — Sara
Cómo cambié — Tomás
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 about health and wellbeing and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe lo que hacen las personas. Compulsory
- 2.¿Qué haces tú para estar sano y relajarte?
- 3.¿Te estresas a menudo? ¿Por qué?
- 4.¿Es importante cuidar la salud mental? (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 — relaxing in nature. En la primera foto hay una chica meditando sobre una roca, al lado de un río y con montañas al fondo. Está sentada con las piernas cruzadas y parece muy tranquila y en paz. Es una buena forma de cuidar la salud mental y reducir el estrés.
In the first photo there is a girl meditating on a rock, beside a river with mountains behind. She is sitting cross-legged and looks very calm and at peace. It's a good way to look after mental health and reduce stress.
Foto B — stressed. En la segunda foto se ve a un hombre que parece muy estresado y cansado. Está en un escritorio con la cabeza apoyada sobre el ordenador, como si tuviera demasiado trabajo. Es importante encontrar un equilibrio entre el trabajo y el descanso para sentirse bien.
In the second photo you can see a man who looks very stressed and tired. He is at a desk with his head resting on his laptop, as if he has too much work. It's important to find a balance between work and rest in order to feel well.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (there is) · se ve a… (you can see) · una persona / alguien
¿Cómo se siente?: parece relajado / tranquilo / estresado / cansado / agobiado · está en paz
El bienestar: hacer yoga / meditar · descansar · dormir bien · reducir el estrés · cuidar la salud mental · encontrar un equilibrio
Opinar (tu turno): es importante cuidarse · la salud mental es tan importante como la física · …porque…
Then the conversation
- Q2 — staying healthy / relaxing: Para estar sano, … Para relajarme, escucho música / hago deporte / …
- Q3 — do you get stressed?: Sí, me estreso por los exámenes / No me estreso mucho porque …
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, cuidar la salud mental es esencial porque afecta a todo lo demás.
- Higher tier: add a tense — Antes estaba muy estresado/a… (imperfect) or me gustaría aprender a gestionar el estrés (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 health and wellbeing. 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.
La salud y el bienestar
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe tu salud y lo que haces para sentirte bien. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
Mi bienestar
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe tu salud física y mental y cómo te cuidas. 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.