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IB Spanish tricks and hacks
How to improve your Spanish
Things that you already know, but you are not doing
Who doesn´t know the theory? Change the language in your cell phone, put sticky notes all around the house, watch films and series in Spanish, read in Spanish, get a pen pal, travel… Well, yes, it all works but is better to commit to one of two of those (don´t do anything that ends in suffering and frustration) and keep looking for things that are both enjoyable and good for your learning experience.
Is really about creating a habit. Weekly classes. 10 minutes on Youtube each day. An immersion trip each summer. Doesn´t matter what you chose as long as you keep it in time. And work smarter and not harder. In Spanish we say “Carrera de caballos, parada de burros”. It means you start like a horse race and you end stubbornly stopping like a donkey. One month Spanish classes 3 times per week, and the next month nothing is way worse than once per week for two months.
Is really about trial and error. Look around, try new things, ask me for resources, and find things that work for you. Once you get Spanish into your routine the horizon of things that you can do will expand and you will be learning without even noticing.
IB Spanish Internal Assessment
A clear guide of how the oral exam looks like
IB Spanish is about showing your knowledge in the four skills: talking, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and writing. Each of these components is equal to 25% of the final grade.
As you know, this part of your global grade is internally assessed by your teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the year (I´m an examiner of this component too). This means that you need to know and prepare for this exam by following exactly the same structure that you will encounter on the day of the exam.
Part 1, presentation
Ab Initio and Standard Level are very similar when it comes to the oral component. You chose one of the two visual stimuli offered. Each image is related to one of the big five components. You will be given the main area: Identidades, Experiencias, Ingenio Humano, Como compartimos el planeta, and Organización Social. And you will have to come up with a topic related to that main area given (for example, for Identidades: neighborhood, education, work, and social issues. Depending on the picture).
After 15 minutes of preparation time, where you are allowed to write down up to 10 bullet points (it depends on your teacher what is considered a bullet point and how long each one can be). After that, the oral exam starts and you have to produce a monologue for about 3-4 minutes.
For Higher Level is similar, but you have more preparation time (20 minutes) and your monologue is based on an extract of the literature you have studied during the two years of the program. You read two books, and during the exam, you are presented with a text of each book.
Vital in this part: Talk about Hispanic culture.
Part 2, Follow-up discussion
The second part of the exam is very similar to all the levels. Your teacher will ask you follow-up questions using what you said in the monologue part as the main input. Depending on your level and how nice your teacher is, the question may vary greatly. Some teachers stick to what you said during the presentation. Some use questions prepared for this part.
Vital in this part: interact with your teacher.
Part 3: General discussion
Your teacher will choose another area from the main five areas (a different one than the one used in the presentation).
In general, the questions for this last part of the exam are more open and give more chances to provide long and well-structured answers. Some teachers provide a battery of questions, classified by the area, that students can use as a guide.
Vital in this part: provide long and structured answers.
During the whole Internal Assessment, the idea is that you should be able to speak fluently using tenses, specific vocabulary, and advanced grammar. But also your answers should show that you can be analytic and produce opinions on the spot.
The most important
Now that you know better what the oral exam looks like (if you still don´t know, contact me, I´d be happy to help) you need to practice using a clear structure of how to prepare for each specific part. Please read my other entrances in this blog for specific tricks and hacks for the oral component. Is all about creating your own strategy, your own set of questions and answers, your own ways to use tenses, expressions, and so. And ask for help and guidance when doing so.
This is when a tutor comes in handy, but if you can´t afford one, I strongly advise you to do it on your own and then check with your teacher or whoever can help you.
IB Spanish. Tricks for the oral
Trick and Hacks
If you google IB tricks and hacks you will find tons of results. Doesn´t matter, educators and students who got great results. They all recommend mainly telling you 3 things: organize, work ahead, and get a tutor. They also should advise some crying every here and there, but who has the time? Right? hehehe (or in Spanish, jejeje).
I agree with the previous ones. And of course, also with the specific tricks and hacks for IB Spanish, that are also pretty common: videos, songs, readings, and conversation. The only thing is that for me, those shouldn´t be called tricks. Because are not. Is just some logic. Or even worse, run away to whoever advice you: breath, think in Spanish, and listen carefully during the exam. That people do not deserve your time.
What you really need, as a real-life hack, is a strategy for each component. Here is my idea about how one for the oral should look like.
Part 1. The presentation.
Have fixed sentences: Voy a empezar con, he elegido esta foto, en esta imagen podemos ver, etc.). When writing down your structure be sure you include a variety of tenses, connectors and advanced vocabulary. Write the structure as your first bullet point during preparation time.
The main idea is to talk about what you see, then talk about the area related and how relates to the picture. And finally o further with your opinion and the cultural link. This all should be organized with memorized sentences. Like Veo una chica que se ha bañado en la playa (What I see, plus a tense in a memorized sentece). Creo que ella está haciendo turismo reponsable porque se trata del area Experiencias (again, structure. What I think, plus specific vocabulary). Para mí viajar es muy importante, porque viajar me ha enseñado mucho en la vida (What I believe, with examples.
Having a clear structure with memorized sentences as a road map will help you to focus on the details of the stimulus instead of worrying about scoring enough points.
Vital in this part: The cultural link. It also can be introduced with a fixed sentence. En la imagen podemos ver… que es típico en la cultura de varios países hispanos… What is very important is that you talk especifically about culture. It won´t count if you say “Creo que en la foto aparecen personas de España”. Say instead “Como se ve en la foto, a los españoles les gusta… porque en su cultura…”.
As an IB tutor, this is the kind of thing I can do for you. You can also ask your teacher to help you with that, or create it on your own and get someone with IB expertise to check it for you. Once is done it gets “pan comido”. Add expressions as your memorize path too.
Part 2 and 3, discussion.
In the second and third part of the assessment, you will be answering questions from your teacher. In this part, you can´t come up with memorized sentences. But there is still plenty you can do.
First of all, ask your teacher for a battery of questions. It doesn´t mean that you will tell be given the actual questions in advance. But you need to have at least some examples. Especially from the open discussion about another area that happens in the last part of the assessment. If you don´t get any kind of guidance for the type of questions that are commonly asked, you can look online or contact me.
Once you have questions is time to practice. Write down answers that also should have a structure.
Use the same tense that the one used in the question: ¿Alguna vez has estado en España? Sí, he estado varias veces.
Go further. Depending on the type of question you can give examples, talk about a memory, or tell an anecdote. Whatever it is, you should always try your best to provide a long and elaborate question. This is not hard if you classify similar questions and use grammar structures to answer.
Circular answers. The best is to finish each question by reinforcing your statement. Or giving advice for the future. Here you can choose between subjunctive, conditional, or rhetorical questions to give your answers a halo of perfection.
I know I said I´m not into obvious advice, but practice makes perfect. Once you create your structure and know how to make structured answers you still need to practice. Do at least one oral mock per month, and several prior to the exam. This is the part of the whole IB Spanish exam that you need to rehearse the most. Getting fluency won´t happen from one day to another. And is not always easy to find chances to speak. So be sure you include in your weekly schedule oral practice.
Vital thing: Say things such as “Como ya sabes”, o “¿No crees?” to be sure you get points for interacting with your teacher. And of course, get a tutor to prepare for this part of the exam.
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