Global Issues: Poverty and Homelessness (Vocabulary)
The vocabulary of poverty and homelessness as a global issue covers naming the problem (la pobreza, las personas sin hogar, el desempleo), describing its causes and effects (marginado/marginada, tener dificultades económicas), and discussing possible action (luchar contra la pobreza, el comedor social). Examiners at this level test whether candidates can produce abstract, discursive vocabulary accurately, since this theme sits at the top of the GCSE vocabulary range and typically appears in higher-tier reading, listening and 90-word writing tasks. Strong answers combine factual vocabulary about poverty with cause-and-effect language and a clearly justified opinion about responsibility and solutions, rather than describing the issue in only general terms.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the core nouns for this theme with correct gender: la pobreza (poverty), el desempleo (unemployment), la desigualdad (inequality), las personas sin hogar (homeless people) - note sin hogar is an invariable phrase, not an adjective that agrees.
- Learn dormir en la calle (to sleep rough) and el comedor social (a soup kitchen/community canteen) as precise, tested collocations, rather than a vague 'living badly'.
- Learn marginado/marginada (marginalised) and mendigar (to beg) as verbs and adjectives that describe the lived experience of poverty, used carefully and respectfully rather than as throwaway description.
- Learn tener dificultades económicas (to have financial difficulties) as a slightly softer, very commonly used alternative to ser pobre, useful for varying your language in an extended answer.
- Build cause-and-effect language specific to this theme: la pobreza puede provocar/llevar a..., como consecuencia del desempleo..., debido a la desigualdad... - higher-tier mark schemes specifically reward candidates who link a cause to an effect rather than listing facts.
- Build solution and responsibility language: luchar contra la pobreza, hay que hacer más para ayudar a..., el gobierno debería + infinitive - since higher-tier writing on this theme is almost always framed around what should be done.
- For reading and listening, listen for statistics and named organisations attached to this vocabulary (un comedor social, una ONG, un veinte por ciento), since higher-tier comprehension tasks on social issues frequently test precise figures.
- For writing and translation, build full sentences that state a fact about poverty, explain a cause or effect, and add a justified opinion, since this three-part structure is what distinguishes a Grade 8-9 answer from a Grade 5-6 one on a discursive theme like this.
Worked example
Using these bullet points, write two full Spanish sentences: (1) state a fact about poverty or homelessness, with a cause; (2) give a justified opinion about what should be done.
- For bullet 1, choose a precise noun and a cause-effect connective: 'El desempleo es una de las causas principales de la pobreza en muchas ciudades.'
- Extend with a specific consequence: 'y, como consecuencia, cada vez más personas duermen en la calle.'
- For bullet 2, use a solution structure with obligation language: 'Creo que el gobierno debería invertir más en comedores sociales y en vivienda asequible.'
- Add a justification: 'porque nadie debería vivir marginado en una sociedad rica.'
- Check sin hogar has not been mistakenly made to agree like an adjective, and that marginado/marginada agrees correctly if referring to a specific person or group.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Give the Spanish for 'homeless people'.Show answer
Answer: Las personas sin hogar.
Q2Translate into English: 'El desempleo puede llevar a la pobreza.'Show answer
Answer: Unemployment can lead to poverty.
Q3Give one Spanish phrase meaning 'to sleep rough'.Show answer
Answer: Dormir en la calle.
Q4Translate into Spanish: 'Many families have financial difficulties.'Show answer
Answer: Muchas familias tienen dificultades económicas.
Q5Give the Spanish word for 'inequality'.Show answer
Answer: La desigualdad.
Q6Give one Spanish phrase meaning 'to fight against poverty'.Show answer
Answer: Luchar contra la pobreza.
Q7What does el comedor social mean?Show answer
Answer: A soup kitchen/community canteen that provides free meals to people in need.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: 'La pobreza sigue siendo un problema grave en muchas ciudades del mundo. El desempleo y la desigualdad han provocado que cada vez más personas duerman en la calle, especialmente durante el invierno. Por suerte, muchos comedores sociales ofrecen comida gratuita a quienes más lo necesitan. Sin embargo, creo que los gobiernos deberían hacer mucho más para luchar contra la pobreza en lugar de depender sólo de la caridad.'
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 8 available
Read this text and answer the questions in English. 'Según un informe reciente, más de tres millones de personas viven en riesgo de pobreza en España, y una parte de ellas no tiene hogar fijo. Las asociaciones que trabajan con personas sin hogar explican que el desempleo prolongado y el alto precio de la vivienda son las causas principales del problema. Además de ofrecer comida en comedores sociales, muchas organizaciones también ayudan a los más necesitados a encontrar trabajo y vivienda asequible. Los voluntarios insisten en que la sociedad debería tratar a estas personas con más respeto y menos prejuicio.' (a) According to the report, how many people in Spain are at risk of poverty? (1 mark) (b) What two main causes of the problem are given? (2 marks) (c) Besides providing food, what else do many organisations help with? (2 marks) (d) What do volunteers insist society should do? (1 mark)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 6 available
Write approximately 90 words in Spanish about poverty and homelessness. You must include: a fact about poverty or homelessness in a Spanish-speaking country; one cause of the problem, explained; what individuals or organisations can do to help; a justified opinion about who is responsible for solving the problem.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 16 available
See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the global issues: poverty and homelessness (vocabulary) worksheet pack - 7 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 global issues: poverty and homelessness (vocabulary), 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.