The grandparents' courtyard
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 grandparents' house is small: two bedrooms, a kitchen and a courtyard with a blue fence. My grandfather has lived…
Text
- La casa de mis abuelos es pequeña: dos dormitorios, una cocina y un patio con una valla azul. Mi abuelo pasó allí toda la vida y todavía sube al tejado cada primavera, aunque mi abuela se enfada. En el patio hay un buzón que ya no usa nadie, un cubo con agua para el perro y una mesa donde comemos en verano. Cuando vamos los domingos, cada uno tiene su tarea: mi hermana friega los platos, yo saco la basura y mi madre plancha.My grandparents' house is small: two bedrooms, a kitchen and a courtyard with a blue fence. My grandfather has lived there all his life and still climbs onto the roof every spring, although my grandmother gets angry. In the courtyard there is a mailbox nobody uses anymore, a bucket of water for the dog and a table where we eat in summer. When we come on Sundays, everyone has their task: my sister washes the dishes, I take out the garbage and my mother irons.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- What does the grandfather do every spring?
- Why is there a bucket of water in the courtyard?
- What does the narrator do on Sundays?
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.