Lesson 2
Las fiestas tradicionales españolas.
Spain’s most famous traditional festivals — Las Fallas, La Tomatina, San Fermín, Semana Santa and the ferias. The language for describing what happens, when and where, and giving your opinion on them. 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 celebration 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.
Fiestas que me encantan — Diego
Las fiestas de mi región — Elena
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.
La Feria de Abril — Marta
De las procesiones a Las Fallas — 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 about festivals and celebrations and the kind of questions you'll be asked.
- 1.¿Qué hay en las fotos? Describe la escena. Compulsory
- 2.¿Cuál es tu fiesta tradicional favorita?
- 3.¿Qué hace la gente en esa fiesta?
- 4.¿Por qué son importantes las fiestas tradicionales? (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 — Las Fallas. En la primera foto se ve una falla enorme ardiendo por la noche durante Las Fallas de Valencia. Hay mucho fuego y humo, y mucha gente mirando el espectáculo. El ambiente es impresionante y un poco peligroso.
In the first photo you can see a huge Fallas figure burning at night during the Fallas festival in Valencia. There is a lot of fire and smoke, and many people watching the spectacle. The atmosphere is impressive and a little dangerous.
Foto B — San Fermín. En la segunda foto se ve el encierro de San Fermín, en Pamplona. La gente corre por las calles delante de los toros. Todos llevan ropa blanca y un pañuelo rojo al cuello, que es la tradición. Es una fiesta muy famosa que se celebra en julio y es bastante peligrosa pero muy emocionante.
In the second photo you can see the running of the bulls at San Fermín, in Pamplona. People run through the streets in front of the bulls. Everyone wears white clothes with a red scarf round the neck, which is the tradition. It is a very famous festival held in July and it is quite dangerous but very exciting.
Useful vocabulary & phrases
Para empezar: en la primera / segunda foto hay… (there is) · se ve a… (you can see) · unos jóvenes / un grupo de amigos
Las fiestas: la celebración · el desfile · los fuegos artificiales · disfrazarse · el ambiente · reunirse
¿Cómo / cuándo?: por la noche · en la calle · con la familia · celebran · se divierten · lo pasan bien
Opinar (tu turno): mi fiesta favorita es… · me gusta … porque hay muy buen ambiente · las tradiciones son importantes
Then the conversation
- Q2 — your favourite: Mi fiesta tradicional favorita es Las Fallas porque me encantan los fuegos artificiales.
- Q3 — how & who with: La gente quema figuras de cartón y por la noche hay petardos y mucho ambiente en la calle.
- Q4 — opinion + reason (this is where Higher students score): Para mí, estas fiestas son esenciales porque atraen a turistas y conservan nuestras tradiciones.
- Higher tier: add a tense — Antes solo las veía por la tele… (imperfect) or el año que viene me gustaría ir a San Fermín… (conditional) — and an opinion 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 friend asks you about Spanish traditional festivals. 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 fiesta tradicional favorita
≈ 50 words · 5 bullets · 10 marksDescribe una fiesta tradicional española y qué hace la gente. Menciona los cinco puntos. Escribe aproximadamente 50 palabras en español.
Las fiestas tradicionales
≈ 90 words · 3 bullets · 15 marksDescribe las fiestas tradicionales que te gustan, qué hacías antes y qué te gustaría ver en el futuro. 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.