Optional: students can prepare and bring their own questions related to Topic of the Day. This helps move the conversation along and also gives students practice forming sentences and using new vocabulary. Be prepared to to not only ask your questions, but also answer them!
Topic of the Day - Talking about the Future
We'll be talking about plans for the future or describing an upcoming event or activity. Think about an event, outing, plan, trip, or other occasion coming up soon. What are you doing? Who will be there? How long is the event or outing? What will you be eating? Who will you be seeing? Do you need to prepare for the event?
This topic can be as simple your plans for staying home next weekend, or it can be an event or trip that you are preparing for. If you choose something low-key, think about what information you can share to practice your Spanish. Maybe your weekend at home includes your reading list, what music you'll be listening to, if you need to run any errands that weekend, etc. Make sure you have more say that "No hago nada"! :)
Some examples of questions to get us started:
¿Cuáles son tus planes?
¿Con quién vas a estar?
¿Qué vas a hacer?
¿A dónde vas?
¿Cómo te estás preparando?
¿Cuándo fue la última vez que _____ ?
¿Qué vas a comer?
¿Cuántos días quedan para el evento o la fecha?
¿Por qué estás emocionado/a?
¿Es algo que has hecho antes?
¿Con cuánta frecuencia ____ ?
One way to speak in the future is to use the structure IR + A + INFINITIVE. To do this, we conjugate the verb ir (that is, we put it into the right form according to the subject, or who is doing that action), we add the word a, and then we end this structure with a verb in its infinitive form (the ER, IR, or AR form).
A few examples with IR + A + INFINITIVE:
Voy a ir a la playa.
¿Vas a comprar las entradas?
Ella me va a ayudar.
Vamos a comer en un restaurante famoso.
Mi amigo va a ir al concierto conmigo.
Ellos no van a preparar la comida.
Looking for more resources on talking in the future? The website www.studyspanish.com is a resource for learning grammar. You can check out the following links to learn more about:
Using Ir + a + Infinite to say "I'm going to..." or "We're going to..." https://studyspanish.com/grammar/lessons/ira
Conjugating verbs to say "I will..." or "She will..." https://studyspanish.com/grammar/lessons/future
Feeling nervous about Conversation Class? Think about how you would answer the questions above. Look up some words before class. You don't have to use both forms of the future tense. If you are studying the present tense conjugation at the moment, use the structure IR + A + INFINITIVE. That is perfectly fine, and it's great practice!
Prepare a few questions to ask your partner: when you ask the questions during conversation instead of always answering the questions, it can help you feel in control. It also gives you a break from speaking.
Need more of a challenge? Prepare questions that get you out of your comfort zone, and be prepared to answer them as well. Use these questions with the teacher for level-appropriate conversation.
Remember: We are all here to practice our Spanish and feel more confident in a new language. Mistakes are expected, and it's how we grow!
Nos vemos en clase. :)
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash
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