This booklet provides a range of exam style Spanish translations with answers and direct translations attached. One of the best resources I used for my Spanish A-Level for the most recent 2022 exam series.
,AQA A Level Translation into Spanish
What does the exam board say about the translation into Spanish?
Students will translate a passage of at least 100 words from English into Spanish. The content will
be based on the themes and sub-themes in the specification and students will be provided with a
supporting text in Spanish, giving them some of the vocabulary and structures which they will need for
the translation. No dictionaries are allowed in this exam.
What are they assessing you on?
– Common grammar challenges
– Tenses
– Subjunctive
– Passive and avoidance
– Word order
– False friends
– Common errors of difficulty e.g. SER + ESTAR, POR + PARA, etc.
Technique
We will now look at a translation from a past paper (Summer 2019).
1. Read the question.
2. Read through the list of ideas on how to approach the translation.
3. Read the report on this question written by the examination board.
4. Have a go at the translation yourself.
5. Mark your translation using the mark scheme.
6. List any errors made and make a separate note. You will start to build up your own personal check list
of possible errors.
AQA Summer 2019
Lee otra vez el párrafo 4 del artículo Una fiesta cruel, y traduce el texto de abajo al español.
Párrafo 4
La fiesta es importante para la economía local y el último año que se celebró se juntaron 50.000 personas
para ver este polémico evento y, a causa de su popularidad, el alcalde quiere que vuelva. No obstante, la
protectora de animales
El Refugio ha expresado su enojo y ha pedido que el gobierno intervenga para prohibir la fiesta.
The United Nations are asking Spain to ban children from watching cruel festivals because they point out
that these violent traditions harm the development of young people. Many Spaniards are angry as they
insist that these events form part of the country’s cultural heritage. This topic has always been
controversial given the popularity and economic benefits that these spectacles attract. Next year, more
than two thousand bullfights will be held in various autonomous communities. The battle for the future of
these customs is also taking place in South America, where the mayors of six towns have complained to
their governments about the pressure from campaigners.
[10 marks]
,How should you approach the translation into Spanish?
1. Before you start the translation, read the two texts carefully. The Spanish text will contain some
words you will need and quite often a piece of difficult vocabulary is hidden in there. However, the
vocabulary given in the text may need to be adapted e.g. a different tense, person, etc.
2. For each sentence work out the grammatical focus. Is there are certain tense needed? Adjectival
agreement? Where in the text is the subjunctive required?
a) In the 1st sentence, “are asking Spain to ban ……”; This is a verb of request with a different subject
i.e. a subjunctive will be needed for the verb “ban”. Also, “ban children from watching …” will also
require a subjunctive.
b) In the 2nd sentence, “Many Spaniards are angry ……”; SER or ESTAR?
3. The translation is marked in small chunks. Be aware of this. For example, in the mark scheme for this
translation the first sentence is split up into 8 separate bits.
4. What criteria are the examiners looking for? Although there are no specific criteria, this part of the
exam tests your grammatical accuracy, knowledge of vocabulary and your understanding of how
Spanish and English work differently.
The exam board describes a successful translation as one which includes each element of the text to be
translated and where there is no omission or paraphrase.
5. What do the examiners not want to see? Here they do give some guidance. You must avoid:
• Errors of accent
Errors of accent are accepted unless
(a) they are grammatical or
(b) the inclusion of the accent(s) causes ambiguity.
• Errors of spelling
Errors of spelling will not be tolerated e.g. desarrollo as desarollo.
Tense endings, irregular verb forms and adjective endings must be correct.
• Errors of gender
Errors of gender will not be tolerated. Genders of nouns are clearly an area where guidance can be
provided in the passage that supports the translation task.
• Alternative answers
Alternative answers offered by the candidate – even if one is in brackets – will be rejected unless both
answers are correct.
6. Has every word been translated? For example, sometimes small words as missed e.g. “as”.
7. What should you do when you have completed the translation? Proofread what you have written
looking out for spellings, agreements, accents, verb endings, articles (everything listed above) as well as
common errors that you may have been making e.g. adjectival agreement, inaccurate spellings
(CaRoLiNa – contains the only double consonants used in Spanish), etc.
, AQA 2020
Lee este párrafo y traduce el texto de abajo al español.
Cuando se le pregunta al líder del partido español Vox que explique su repentina popularidad, afirma que
el partido está “en sintonía con lo que piensan los españoles y que defiende la unidad de España”. No
obstante, Vox ha sido etiquetado como un partido de extrema derecha y xenófobo.
Like several populist movements around the world, a new political party called Vox exceeded all
expectations in the recent regional elections in Spain. Many of Vox’s proposals are controversial and some
people have compared their ideas to policies that exist in other European countries. However, the leader
of Vox in Catalonia rejects the label of ‘extreme right’ and does not believe that their politicians are racist.
He maintains that they are in tune with the beliefs of Spanish citizens. This sudden popularity worries
many minority groups, who wonder what would happen in the future, if Vox won the majority of votes
and formed a government.
Translation checklist
Read the two texts carefully. Identify any helpful vocabulary.
For each sentence work out the grammatical focus e.g. find the subjunctive.
Check that every word been translated.
Proofread + check for:
• Accents (grammatical / ambiguity)
• Errors of spelling (CaRoLiNa)
• Errors of gender
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