Theme 3: Education and Work - Listening Comprehension
Listening comprehension for Theme 3 (Education and work) tests whether a student can follow spoken Spanish about school subjects, opinions on education, part-time jobs and future career or study plans, extracting specific facts, reasons and time-frames. The examiner is checking recognition of school and work vocabulary (el instituto, la asignatura, el aprendizaje, el trabajo a tiempo parcial), the ability to follow future tense (estudiaré, trabajaré) and conditional forms (me gustaría, sería) used for ambitions, and the ability to catch obligation structures (tengo que aprobar, hay que sacar buenas notas) alongside numbers such as hours worked, wages and exam grades.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- In the reading time, decide whether a question wants a current fact about school/work, an opinion with a reason, or a future ambition, since this theme moves constantly between present, future and conditional.
- Predict vocabulary before the recording: la asignatura (subject), el instituto (secondary school), aprobar/suspender (to pass/fail), el trabajo a tiempo parcial (part-time job), la carrera (degree/career), el aprendizaje (apprenticeship).
- Track the future tense (estudiaré, iré a la universidad, trabajaré) used for firm plans, and separate it from the conditional (me gustaría ser, sería interesante) used for wishes or hypothetical ambitions that are less certain.
- Listen for reasons attached to subject opinions: 'se me da bien' (I am good at it), 'se me da mal' (I am bad at it) and 'el profesor explica muy bien/mal' are common justification phrases, and can apply to more than one subject in the same recording, so match each reason to the correct subject.
- Catch obligation and pressure language: 'tengo que aprobar todas las asignaturas' and 'hay que sacar buenas notas para entrar en la universidad' describe what is required, which the examiner may distinguish from what the speaker actually achieved.
- Note numbers tied to work and study: hours worked per week, hourly or weekly pay, exam grades out of ten, and years of further study; write these down as soon as heard, since a recording may state a target figure and then an actual figure.
- Expect accent and phrasing variation: a Latin American speaker asks '¿ustedes van a la universidad?' where a Peninsular speaker addressing friends would ask '¿vosotros vais a la universidad?', and seseo means quince and a hypothetical spelling with s throughout would sound identical; use context, not the accent, to judge formality or meaning.
- Listen for negatives that change a plan (no voy a estudiar medicina, ya no quiero ser profesor, often followed by 'sino que' introducing the real plan) and for self-correction (quiero estudiar Historia... bueno, en realidad Geografía); in both cases, record only the final, corrected version and check it matches the question asked.
Worked example
You hear Alejandro talking about school and his future. Transcript: 'Mi asignatura favorita es la biología porque se me da muy bien y el profesor explica genial. Sin embargo, suspendí el examen de química el mes pasado, así que ahora tengo que estudiar mucho más para el examen final. Trabajo los sábados en una tienda, seis horas... bueno, en realidad siete horas, y gano nueve euros la hora. Después del instituto, me gustaría estudiar Medicina en la universidad, aunque sería un camino largo y difícil.' Answer in English: (a) Which is his favourite subject, and why, two reasons? (b) What happened with the chemistry exam, and what is the result? (c) How many hours does he work on Saturdays, and how much does he earn per hour? (d) What is his ambition after school?
- Reading time: underline 'favourite subject and why', 'what happened...result', 'hours and pay' and 'ambition' as the four targets.
- Catch the two reasons for biology: se me da muy bien (I am very good at it) and el profesor explica genial (the teacher explains brilliantly).
- Follow suspendí el examen de química... así que ahora tengo que estudiar mucho más: he failed chemistry, so now he has to study much harder for the final exam.
- Catch the self-correction on hours: seis horas... bueno, en realidad siete horas - the corrected answer is seven hours; then note the separate figure nueve euros la hora for pay.
- Identify the conditional ambition me gustaría estudiar Medicina (he would like to study Medicine) as the answer to the final question, plus his caveat that it would be a long, difficult path.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Give the difference between 'estudiaré Derecho' and 'me gustaría estudiar Derecho'.Show answer
Answer: 'Estudiaré Derecho' (future tense) states a firm plan, I will study Law; 'me gustaría estudiar Derecho' (conditional) expresses a wish or ambition, I would like to study Law, which is less certain.
Q2Translate: 'Se me da mal el francés, pero se me da bien la informática.'Show answer
Answer: I am bad at French, but I am good at IT/computing.
Q3What does 'hay que sacar buenas notas' mean, and what structure is it?Show answer
Answer: 'It is necessary to get good grades' - it is an impersonal obligation structure, hay que plus the infinitive.
Q4You hear 'Trabajo doce horas a la semana y gano ocho euros la hora.' What two figures must you record, and what do they refer to?Show answer
Answer: Twelve, hours worked per week, and eight, euros earned per hour.
Q5A speaker says 'Ya no quiero ser médico, sino veterinario.' What does this show?Show answer
Answer: A change of career plan: the speaker no longer wants to be a doctor, but a vet instead - 'sino' introduces the replacement idea after a negative.
Q6Translate: 'Voy a hacer un aprendizaje en vez de ir a la universidad.'Show answer
Answer: I am going to do an apprenticeship instead of going to university.
Q7You hear 'Aprobé todas las asignaturas excepto matemáticas.' Which subject did the speaker not pass?Show answer
Answer: Maths, mathematics - 'excepto' shows it is the exception to an otherwise successful set of results.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Transcript of the recording: Escucha a Paula hablar de sus estudios. 'Este año tengo ocho asignaturas, pero mi favorita es el arte porque soy muy creativa y el profesor nos deja mucha libertad. Se me da fatal la física, así que tengo clases particulares dos veces por semana para mejorar. El mes pasado saqué un siete... perdón, un ocho sobre diez en el examen de español, lo cual me alegró mucho. Después de los exámenes, me gustaría estudiar Bellas Artes en la universidad, aunque mis padres preferirían que estudiara algo más práctico, como económicas.' Answer the following in English: (a) What is Paula's favourite subject, and give one reason. (2 marks) (b) Which subject is she bad at, and what does she do about it? (2 marks) (c) What mark did she get in the Spanish exam? (1 mark) (d) What does Paula want to study, and what would her parents prefer? (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 7 available
Transcript of the recording: Escucha a Hugo hablar de su trabajo a tiempo parcial. 'Trabajo los fines de semana en un restaurante como camarero. Empecé hace seis meses y al principio ganaba solo siete euros la hora, pero ahora gano nueve euros la hora porque me ascendieron. Trabajo unas diez horas cada fin de semana, lo cual es bastante cansado porque también tengo que estudiar para mis exámenes. Con el dinero que gano, estoy ahorrando para un viaje a Colombia el año que viene. En el futuro, no quiero trabajar en un restaurante para siempre, sino montar mi propio negocio.' Answer the following in English: (a) Where does Hugo work, and in what role? (2 marks) (b) How has his hourly pay changed, and why? (2 marks) (c) What is he saving his money for? (1 mark) (d) What is his long-term ambition, according to the recording? (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 7 available
See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the theme 3: education and work - listening comprehension worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on theme 3: education and work - listening comprehension, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.