Vocabulary - school life and activities

Here is some vocabulary connected with life at school that will help you get started.
| aburrido | boring |
| castigar | to punish |
| un concurso | competition |
| la conducta | conduct, behaviour |
| demasiado | too, too much |
| divertido | fun, amusing |
| entregar | to hand in, hand over |
| esforzarse | to make an effort |
| hacer una pregunta | to ask a question* |
| un juego | game |
| levantar la mano | to put one's hand up |
| la pizarra interactiva | smart board |
| poner deberes | to set homework |
| la reunión | meeting |
| riguroso | harsh |
| simpático | nice, kind |
| aburrido |
| boring |
| castigar |
| to punish |
| un concurso |
| competition |
| la conducta |
| conduct, behaviour |
| demasiado |
| too, too much |
| divertido |
| fun, amusing |
| entregar |
| to hand in, hand over |
| esforzarse |
| to make an effort |
| hacer una pregunta |
| to ask a question* |
| un juego |
| game |
| levantar la mano |
| to put one's hand up |
| la pizarra interactiva |
| smart board |
| poner deberes |
| to set homework |
| la reunión |
| meeting |
| riguroso |
| harsh |
| simpático |
| nice, kind |
*There are a number of different ways of saying 'to ask' in Spanish.
- To ask a question (where the word 'question' is included) is hacer una pregunta. He asked me a question -Me hizo una pregunta.
- To ask (questions) is preguntar. He asked me where I live -Me preguntó dónde vivo.
- Preguntar (followed by por) is also used if you are asking for a person. He asked for the head teacher -Preguntó por el director.
- To ask for a thing is pedir. Note that there is no word in the Spanish to translate 'for' when using pedir. He asked me for the book -Me pidió el libro.
- Pedir is also used if you are asking someone to do something. He asked me to come to see him -Me pidió que venga a verle.
- Note also the expression pedir prestado, which means 'to borrow'. He borrowed the book from me -Me pidió prestado el libro.
Read what these students say about their teachers.
'El profe de biología es demasiado estricto. No se puede hacer una pregunta si no levantas la mano antes.'
'La profesora de geografía es muy divertida. Hacemos muchos juegos de geografía y concursos en la pizarra interactiva. ¡Qué risa!'
'El profesor de matemáticas es muy serio. Ha pedido una reunión con los padres de uno de los chicos en mi clase porque quiere hablar con ellos sobre la conducta de su hijo. Dice que tiene que esforzarse más.'
'El profesor de historia es guay. Casi nunca nos pone deberes.'
'El profesor de inglés es simpático. La semana pasada olvidé entregar mis deberes, pero no me castigó.'
Question
Now answer these questions in English.
- Which teacher is described as being cool and why?
- Which teacher is too strict?
- Which teacher is kind?
- Which teacher uses the smart board to play games?
- Which teacher has asked for a meeting with a student's parents because of his behaviour?
- The history teacher is described as cool because he hardly ever sets homework.
- The biology teacher is too strict because students can't ask questions without putting their hands up first.
- The English teacher is kind because he didn't punish a student for not handing in their homework the week before.
- The geography teacher uses the smart board for lots of geography games and competitions.
- The maths teacher asked for a meeting with a student's parents.