The neighborhood race
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. Every year, on the first Sunday of October, there is a five-kilometer fun run in my neighborhood. It is not a serious…
Text
- Todos los años, el primer domingo de octubre, hay una carrera popular de cinco kilómetros en mi barrio. No es una competición seria: corren niños, abuelos y gente que solo hace deporte ese día del año. La salida es en el parque, junto a la fuente, y la meta está delante del polideportivo, con una banda tocando. El año pasado me apunté sin entrenar nada y a los dos kilómetros ya estaba sudando como si fuera un maratón. Un señor de setenta años me adelantó en la cuesta y me dijo, sin quedarse sin aire, que el secreto era el calentamiento. Llegué el número doscientos, no gané ninguna medalla y me dolieron los músculos tres días. Este año voy al gimnasio desde julio, y no es por el récord: es porque quiero llegar arriba de la cuesta hablando.Every year, on the first Sunday of October, there is a five-kilometer fun run in my neighborhood. It is not a serious competition: children, old people and people who only do sport that one day of the year take part. The start is in the park, by the fountain, and the finish is in front of the sports center, where a band plays. Last year I signed up without training at all, and after two kilometers I was already sweating as if it were a marathon. A seventy-year-old man overtook me on the hill and said, without losing his breath, that the whole secret was the warm-up. I came in two hundredth, won no medal, and my muscles ached for three days. This year I have been going to the gym since July, and it is not for the record: I want to get up that hill without stopping talking.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- When does the race take place?
- Where are the start and the finish?
- What did the elderly runner say to the narrator?
- Why does the narrator go to the gym this year?
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.