My grandmother's street
A short in Spanish text at level A2. The translation sits next to it: reading with a dictionary is still too early at this level, and without support it will not happen at all. My grandmother lived seventy years on the same street and said she had seen three eras pass by her window. When she was…
Text
- Mi abuela vivió setenta años en la misma calle y decía que había visto pasar tres épocas por su ventana. Cuando era niña no había asfalto, y a la escuela se iba a pie por un camino que en invierno se hacía barro. En la década de los sesenta llegaron los primeros coches, y ella recordaba el ruido como algo casi festivo. Hoy en día la calle tiene semáforo, dos bares y un supermercado donde antes estaba la herrería. Mi abuela no era nostálgica: decía que los viejos tiempos tenían menos ruido y también menos médicos. Lo único que le daba pena era que ya casi nadie se sentara en la puerta por las tardes, como se hacía desde siempre. La última vez que la vi me dijo que una calle no cambia de golpe, sino un poco cada año, y que por eso nadie se da cuenta.My grandmother lived seventy years on the same street and said she had seen three eras pass by her window. When she was a girl there was no asphalt, and people walked to school along a road that turned into mud in winter. In the sixties the first cars appeared, and she remembered their noise as almost festive. Nowadays the street has a traffic light, two bars and a supermarket where the smithy used to be. My grandmother was not nostalgic: she used to say that in the old days there was less noise and fewer doctors. She regretted only one thing: that in the evenings hardly anybody sits by the door anymore, as people had done since time immemorial. The last time I saw her she told me that a street does not change all at once, but a little every year, and that is why nobody notices it.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- How many years did the grandmother live on that street?
- What appeared in the sixties?
- What did the grandmother regret?
- What did she say about the changes?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Spanish?
A2. That means: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.