Aprendiendo a patinar sobre hielo

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About this article

Level A2 Reading focus

What you'll learn

ice skates, sports, balance, safety, lessons, ice, winter sports

This article tells about taking ice skating lessons. A2 level for Spanish learners. Covers vocabulary about sports, safety, balance and learning new skills.

After reading

Article learning block

Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.

15 items

Phrases for training

Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.

Aprender a patinar sobre hielo

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Learning to ice skate

This phrase shows how to say "to learn to ice skate" in Spanish — «aprender a patinar sobre hielo».

Useful phrase for describing your experience learning a new sport.

Es importante saber frenar

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It is important to know how to brake

«Es importante + infinitive» is a Spanish construction for expressing importance.

This phrase teaches you to talk about what is important to know how to do.

Me sentía muy orgulloso

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I felt very proud

«Me sentía + adjective» is a construction for describing emotions in the past.

Learn to describe your feelings and emotions after achieving a goal.

Poco a poco fui mejorando

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Little by little I improved

«Poco a poco fui + gerundio» shows progress over time.

Learn to describe how you improved at something over time.

Tuve que aprender

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I had to learn

«Tener que + infinitive» is a construction for obligatory actions in the past.

Learn to talk about things you had to do.

Patinar sin la barrera

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Skate without the barrier

«Sin + noun» means "without something". This is a key phrase for describing progress in sports.

Learn to describe how you achieved new skills.

Key words

Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.

Ice skates

los patines

Ice skates

"Los patines" means ice skates. The article "los" indicates masculine gender.

Essential vocabulary for the winter sports topic.

Ice rink

pista de hielo

Ice rink

"Pista de hielo" is the venue for ice skating.

Useful phrase for describing winter activity venues.

To glide

deslizar

To glide

"Deslizar" means to move smoothly along a surface. Used with "se" in past: "deslizaba".

A movement verb, useful for describing sports activities.

To balance

equilibrarme

To balance

"Equilibrarme" is a reflexive verb meaning "to balance". The particle "-me" indicates the action is on oneself.

Important word for any sports topic.

Laces

los cordones

Laces

"Los cordones" are shoelaces. Used with the verb "ajustar" — to tighten.

Useful everyday vocabulary.

Spins

giros

Spins

"Giros" means spins or turns. The verb "girar" means to turn.

Sports term for describing ice skating movements.

Grammar in context

Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.

Narrating past events: Pretérito indefinido

El primer día llegué muy nervioso

Pretérito indefinido is formed by dropping "-ar/-er/-ir" and adding endings: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. "Llegué" is "llegar" for "yo".

This example shows how to describe your first experience in the past tense.

Reflexive verbs in past

Tuve que ponerme los patines

Reflexive verbs in past tense: verb + "me/se/te/nos". "Ponerme" = to put on oneself. "Me puse" is the pretérito of "ponerse".

Learn to talk about actions you do to yourself.

Sequence connectors: first, then, finally

Primero... después... al final

«Primero» = first, «después» = then, «al final» = finally. These words help tell a story in the right order.