Listening practice - describing films and TV programmes
Although it's important to be able to talk about things you like and love, it's also a good idea to construct negative sentences by using no and other negative words and phrases. To make a sentence negative in Spanish, put no in front of the verb, eg no me gustan las telenovelas (I don't like soap operas). Here are some other useful negative words:
| nada | nothing |
| nadie | nobody/no one |
| nunca | never |
| tampoco | neither/not either |
| ni ... ni | neither ... nor |
| ninguno/a/os/as | no/not any |
| nada |
| nothing |
| nadie |
| nobody/no one |
| nunca |
| never |
| tampoco |
| neither/not either |
| ni ... ni |
| neither ... nor |
| ninguno/a/os/as |
| no/not any |
It's important to be able to recognise a range of different opinions. Here are some examples that could be used to describe films and TV programmes:
| aburrido/a | boring |
| cómico/a | funny |
| divertido/a | fun |
| educativo/a | educational |
| emocionante | emotional/exciting |
| entretenido/a | entertaining |
| estúpido/a | stupid |
| fascinante | fascinating |
| infantil | childish |
| informativo/a | informative |
| me hace reír | it makes me laugh |
| repetitivo/a | repetitive |
| aburrido/a |
| boring |
| cómico/a |
| funny |
| divertido/a |
| fun |
| educativo/a |
| educational |
| emocionante |
| emotional/exciting |
| entretenido/a |
| entertaining |
| estúpido/a |
| stupid |
| fascinante |
| fascinating |
| infantil |
| childish |
| informativo/a |
| informative |
| me hace reír |
| it makes me laugh |
| repetitivo/a |
| repetitive |
Amina is talking about the sorts of things that she and her family like watching.
Question
Answer the questions in English.
- What two things do Amina's parents like watching?
- What does her sister like watching?
- Why doesn't Amina watch TV?
- News and documentaries. She says a mis padres siempre les gusta ver las noticias y los documentales (my parents always like watching the news and documentaries).
- Reality programmes. She says mi hermana prefiere los programas de realidad (my sister prefers reality TV programmes).
- She prefers watching films on her computer. She says prefiero ver las películas en mi ordenador (I prefer watching films on my computer).
Transcript:
A mis padres siempre les gusta ver las noticias y los documentales, pero mi hermana prefiere los programas de realidad porque piensa que son divertidos. Yo nunca veo la tele porque prefiero ver las películas en mi ordenador. Me gustan las películas de terror porque me dan miedo.
Translation:
My parents always like watching the news and documentaries, but my sister prefers reality TV programmes because she thinks they are fun. I never watch TV because I prefer watching films on my computer. I like horror films because they scare me.
Now listen to Joel.
Question
Answer the questions in English.
- What does he say about cartoons?
- What does he like watching now? Why?
- Does he like detective series? Why (not)?
- He used to watch/love them when he was younger. He says cuando era más joven, me encantaban los dibujos animados (when I was younger, I used to love cartoons).
- He likes watching soaps because they are entertaining. He says las telenovelas son los programas que más me gustan porque son entretenidas (soaps are the programmes I like the most because the stories are entertaining).
- No, because they are long and repetitive. He says las series policíacas no me interesan nada porque son largas y repetitivas (detective series don't interest me at all because they are long and repetitive).
Transcript:
Cuando era más joven, me encantaban los dibujos animados, pero ahora las telenovelas son los programas que más me gustan porque son entretenidas. Las series policíacas no me interesan nada porque son largas y repetitivas. Tampoco me gustan las películas de acción.
Translation:
When I was younger, I used to love cartoons. But now soaps are the programmes that I like the most because the stories are entertaining. Detective series don't interest me at all because they are long and repetitive. I don't like action films either.
