In this Spanish lesson we will practice using el verbo estar (the verb to be) to describe personality and feelings in Spanish. As usual, first we will review some relevant grammar and vocabulary and then see if you can follow a short listening.

This lesson is part of a Spanish course that practices the grammar and vocabulary first introduced in my beginner Spanish course posted here on the Transparent Language blog. Let’s test your listening comprehension and see if you can understand a short audio in Spanish. The transcript to the audio will be given at the end of the post but please try not to look at it until you have tried playing and understanding the audio a few times.

Use the following link to watch the corresponding video lesson of the original course:

Beginner Spanish Lesson 12 Personality and feelings

Please familiarise yourself with the following words and phrases before listening to the audio below:

¿Cómo estás?: How are you?
Mañana: Tomorrow
Pero: But
Un poco: A bit
Siempre: Always
Ahora: Now

Now, play the audio below to listen to a conversation in Spanish between two people describing their personality and feelings. Can you understand what they are saying? Play the audio a few times before you look at the transcript. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every single thing the two people are saying. Try to catch whichever words you can and then try to piece things together to work out what is being said.

 
(Play the audio a few times before you scroll down and look at the transcript)

Transcript:

Carla: Hola James ¿Cómo estás?
James: Estoy nervioso.
Carla: ¿Nervioso? ¿Por qué?
James: Mañana tengo un examen.
Carla: No te preocupes, James. Eres muy listo.
James: Gracias Carla ¿Y tú? ¿Cómo estás?
Carla: Bien. Pero estoy un poco cansada.
James: Carla, ¡siempre estás cansada! Estoy preocupado por ti.
Carla: No te preocupes por mí, James. Estoy bien.
James: ¿Seguro?
Carla: Sí, James. Eres muy amable, pero estoy bien.
James: Vale. Ahora estoy más tranquilo.

So, how did you get on? How much did you understand of the listening? Please let me know in the comments section below…

Don’t worry if you didn’t understand that much, keep reviewing the vocabulary and phrases and you will soon be up to speed and ready for the next lesson in this course. See you next time!