Extracurricular activities

• actividades extracurriculares - extracurricular activities
• ajedrez - chess
• club - club
• club atlético - athletic club
• equipo - team
• fotografía - photography
• fotógrafo(a) - photographer
• jóvenes - young people
• miembro - member
• ser miembro - to be a member
• pasatiempo - pastime
• práctica - practice
• reunión - meeting

Athletic activities

• animador(a) - cheerleader
• artes marciales - martial arts
• hacer gimnasia - to do gymnastics
• hockey - hockey
• jugar a los bolos - to bowl
• natación - swimming

Note: Natación, like all other verbs that end in -ción is feminine.

Music & dance

• banda - band
• bailarín, bailarína - dancer
• canción - song
• cantante - singer
• coro - choir, chorus
• ensayar - to rehearse
• ensayo - rehearsal
• músico(a) - musician
• orquesta - orchestra
• voz - voice

Note: Cantante can either be a masculine or feminine noun.

Actions with activities

• asistir a - to attend
• ganar- to win, to gain
• grabar - to record
• participar - to participate
• tomar lecciones - to take lessons
• volver - to return

Note: Volver is a stem-changing verb in which the o becomes ue when conjugated.

Internet actions

• crear una página Web - to create a Web page
• estar en línea - to be online
• hacer una búsqueda - to do a search
• navegar en la Red - to surf the Web
• visitar salones de chat - to visit chat rooms

Other words

• entre - among, between
• interés - interest
• oportunidad - opportunity

To tell how long something has been

• ¿Cuánto tiempo hace que...? - How long...?
• Hace tiempo que... - It has been a while since...
• Hace tiempo... - It has been a while...

Making comparisons

• tan + adj. + como - as + adj. + as
• tantos(as) + noun + como - as much/many + noun + as

Saber (to know)

You already know the present-tense form of saber. Saber follows the regular -er conjugation except in its yo form. Remember that saber means is used to know facts, information, and activities.

• sé - I know
• sabes - you know (singular)
• sabe - he/she knows
• sabemos - we know
• sabéis - you know (plural)
• saben - they know

Conocer (to know, to be acquainted with)

You also know the present-tense form of conocer. Like saber, conocer follows the regular -er conjugation except in its yo form. Conocer is used to know a person or to be familiar with a place or thing.

• conozco - I know
• conoces - you know (singular)
• conoce - he/she knows
• conocemos - we know
• conocéis - you know (plural)
• conocen - they know

Vocabulario adicional

• borrador - eraser
• marcador - marker
• pisapapeles - paperweight
• pizarrón - blackboard
• sujetapapeles - paper clip
• tiza - chalk

Cultural Insight (Comparison of school in the United States and Hispanophone nations)

In Spanish-speaking nations, high school students generally take more courses than American students. Usually, 10-12 courses complete a student's schedule in Hispanophone countries while only 6-7 courses complete that of an American student's. However, unlike the United States, students of Hispanophone countries can only choose their courses beginning in either the sophomore (10th grade) or junior (11th grade) years. Also, students in Hispanophone countries have fewer chances of extracurricular activities due to their schedules.

Example of a Spanish student's schedule:

-Spanish

-Catalán

-English

-Math

-History

-PE (Physical Education)

-Science

-Art

-Computer Science

-Music

Example of an American student's schedule:

-PE (Physical Education)

-Biology

-Spanish

-Geography

-Health

-English

-Geometry