Forty unread messages
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. On Sunday I left my phone at my sister's place and did not think about it until the evening. When I picked it up on…
Text
- El domingo dejé el teléfono en casa de mi hermana y no lo eché de menos hasta la noche. Cuando lo recogí el lunes, tenía cuarenta mensajes sin leer y tres llamadas perdidas de mi jefe. Casi todo era el chat del trabajo, con fotos de un cable roto y un vídeo de la impresora echando humo. Respondí a dos correos electrónicos, mandé un mensaje de voz al jefe y borré lo demás sin abrirlo.On Sunday I left my phone at my sister's place and did not think about it until the evening. When I picked it up on Monday, there were forty unread messages and three missed calls from my boss. Almost all of it was the work chat, with photos of a broken cable and a video of the printer smoking. I answered two emails, sent the boss a voice message and deleted the rest without opening 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.
- Where did the narrator leave his phone?
- What was in the work chat?
- How did he answer his boss?
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.