When I was young

My Journey in Life

Hi, my name is Maria, and I want to share a bit about my past and education. When I was a child, I lived in a small town in Kent, in the south of England. I played with my friends in the streets, and life was simple.

During my first years of Primary school, I learned about numbers and letters. My favourite subject was maths, and I always did my homework. I had a great teacher who helped me a lot. Every day after school, I played tennis with my classmates.

As a teenager, I moved to a bigger city for Secondary school. It was exciting and a bit scary. I made new friends and learned more subjects like history and science. I also joined a music club and played the guitar. Those were fun times!

After Secondary school, I decided to go to university. I studied Spanish Language and Literature because I loved the language. The university years were challenging but rewarding. I met people from different countries and learned a lot about different cultures.

One of my proudest moments was when I graduated. My family was so happy, and I felt a sense of achievement. I got my first job in a small company and worked hard to improve my skills.

Learning has been a constant part of my life, from the small town to the big city and through university. Now, I work as a Spanish teacher for adults like you. Every day, I help my students improve their Spanish skills, just like my teacher helped me when I was younger. Outside of work, I still enjoy playing the guitar. Life is a journey, and I'm excited to see where it takes me next!

In Unit 3, you will learn the essential vocabulary you need to write or speak about your skills or abilities and about education (school/university). You will also learn how to form and use the Past Simple, the Modal verbs (Possibility/Ability), how to express what you Like/Hate doing, the Prepositions of Time and how to write and say the Dates.

We have just listened to Maria talking about her youth.

"When I was a child, I lived in a small town in Kent."
"During my first years of Primary school, I learned about numbers and letters."

In these sentences, we use regular past simple verbs to talk about actions in the past. Notice the verb "lived" in the first sentence and "learned" in the second sentence. These verbs follow a common pattern when we talk about past actions. Can you identify other regular verbs in these sentences?

Now, let's focus on irregular past simple verbs. In the first sentence, we have "was" and "did," and in the second sentence, we find "moved." Irregular verbs don't follow the typical pattern for past tense.

"My favourite subject was maths, and I always did my homework."

Can you point out other irregular verbs in the text?

Maria also says "when" things happened using Past Time Phrases:

"When I was a child..."
"During my first years of Primary school..."

These phrases help us understand when the actions happened. "When I was a child" and "During my first years of Primary school" indicate specific times in the past, as well as dates (in 1998, on Monday...). What other time phrases can you find in these sentences that help us understand the timeline of events?

Lastly, let's look at the vocabulary related to education. We have terms like "Primary school", "Secondary school", or "Teacher". These words help us talk about different stages of education and roles in the educational journey. Can you find other education-related terms in these sentences?

"Primary school", "Secondary school", "University"...

¿qué vas a aprender?

María nos ha explicado cómo fueron sus años en el instituto y en la universidad. Analizando algunas de sus frases, observarás los puntos fundamentales de esta unidad:

Pasado Simple (fíjate en la diferencia entre verbos "regulares" e "irregulares")
- "When I was a child, I lived in a small town in Kent."
- "During my first years of Primary school, I learned about numbers and letters."
- "My favourite subject was maths, and I always did my homework."
Expresiones de tiempo (en pasado)
- "When I was a child..."
- "During my first years of Primary school..."
Vocabulario sobre "Educación"
- Primary
- Secondary
- University
- etc...