How to Make a Good Grade on the Final Exam

The final exam consists of 90 multiple choice items (scan-tron) and a list of words you will pronounce for me. Here is the breakdown:

Geography -- 20 items

Family Vocabulary -- 10 items

Grammar -- 20 items

Situations -- 40 items

Pronunciation -- counts as 10 items, but you read the whole list for me

Geography

You will need to be able to match the Spanish-speaking countries with the regions of the world in which they are found. All country names and region names will be given in Spanish. The regions are: Norteamérica, Centroamérica, Sudamérica, Europa, El Caribe. Although we learned about one country (el Guinea Ecuatorial) on the west coast of Africa where Spanish, French, and African languages are spoken, you will not be asked about this country on the final exam.

Europa: España

Norteamérica: Méjico and los Estados Unidos

El Caribe: (west to east) Cuba, República Dominicana, Puerto Rico

The following sentence could help you remember the Caribbean countries: Cats Really Purr. (The "C" is for Cuba, the "R" is for República Dominicana, and the "P" is for "Puerto Rico.")

Centroamérica: (From north to south ) Guatemala, El Salvador (the smallest country in CA), Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá

The following sentence could help you remember the Central American countries: G.E. (General Electric) Has Nice Cool Products. (The "G" is for Guatemala, the "E" is for El Salvador...)

Sudamérica: (Starting in the northeast and moving counterclockwise) Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay

The following sentence could help you remember the South American countries: Very Cute Elephants Play Ball Catching All U Pitch. (The "V" is for Venezuela, the "C" is for Colombia...)

Family Vocabulary

You will need to be able to identify the pariente (relative) to which a speaker refers. The family relationships are given on pp. 54 and 55 in your text. The teacher will call out something like this: "El padre de mi primo es mi..." Remember that "de" is translated "of" in these sentences. So this is saying, "The father of my male cousin is my..." You must determine that the speaker refers to his/her tío (uncle-the father of his male cousin). Although your teacher is calling out the sentences, remember that the speaker could be anyone (male, female, old, young, married, single).

The Studyspanish.com links below will give you practice with SOME of the family relations that will be on the final exam. Make sure you know ALL of the relations from pages 54 and 55 of your book!

 list of relatives, first oral exercise on relatives, second oral exercise on relatives, relative flash cards 1, relative flash cards 2, matching relatives 1, matching relatives 2, family quiz

Grammar

There will be 15 fill-in-the-blank grammar items. For the most part, you will be told what kind of word goes in each blank--artículo definido, artículo indefinido, adjetivo posesivo, pronombre, or número. You will also have 5 find-the-error questions.

Los artículos definidos e indefinidos

You need to know that "artículo definido" refers to a definite article which is usually translated as "the" in English. The only choices you should consider for an artículo definido are el, la, los, and las. You need to know that "artículo indefinido" refers to an indefinite article which is usually translated as "a," "an," or "some" in English. The only choices you should consider for an artículo indefinido are un, una, unos, and unas.

Here are the study tips on definite and indefinite articles that were included in the online midterm study guide:

a. Study pp. 33-35 to learn the articles and how to determine the gender of a noun. You will see that most nouns referring to females are feminine (la madre, la mujer) and most nouns referring to males are masculine (el padre, el hombre). Also, nouns ending in -a, -ión, -dad, and -tad are usually feminine while nouns ending in -o, -or, and -ón are usually masculine. There are exceptions though--see letter "e" below.

    b. Do studyspanish.com First Lesson on GENDER OF NOUNS, First Basic Quiz on GENDER OF NOUNS, and First Oral Exercise on GENDER OF NOUNS

    c. Do studyspanish.com Second Lesson on GENDER OF NOUNS, Second basic Quiz on GENDER OF NOUNS, and Second Oral Exercise on GENDER OF NOUNS

    d. Do studyspanish.com Lesson on DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES, Basic Quiz on DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES, and Oral Exercise on DEFINIITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES

    e. Watch out for exceptions such as: el día, la mano, numerous nouns ending in -ma, -pa, or -ta (el poema, el problema, el programa, el sistema, el mapa, el planeta, el cometa, el poeta, etc.)

    f. Learn the definite article with the noun for nouns whose gender is not obvious: el hombre, la mujer, la clase, el papel, el lápiz, la pared, el examen, etc.

Los adjetivos posesivos

You need to know that "adjetivo posesivo" refers to a possessive adjective. In English the possessive adjectives are: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. Here is the chart for the Spanish possessive adjectives:

Note that none of the possessive adjectives have accent marks. That does matter on the final exam.

The Studyspanish.com links below will give you some practice with possessive adjectives:

lesson on possessive adjectives, quiz on possessive adjectives, oral exercise on possessive adjectives

Los pronombres

You need to know that "pronombre" refers to a pronoun. If you are asked to fill in the blank with a pronombre, you must first determine which type of pronombre is required. Is the pronoun referring to the subject of the verb? If so, you need a subject pronoun. Does the pronoun follow a preposition? If so, you need a prepositional pronoun. Are you dealing with a reflexive verb? If so, you must always use a reflexive pronoun when you use a reflexive verb. The pronouns we use with the verb gustar to show who is being pleased are the complementos indirectos.

Here are some Studyspanish.com lessons on pronouns:

lesson on subject pronouns, quiz on subject pronouns, oral exercise on subject pronouns

lesson on prepositional pronouns, quiz on prepositional pronouns, oral exercise on prepositional pronouns

first lesson on reflexive verbs, first quiz on reflexive verbs, first oral exercise on reflexive verbs

second lesson on reflexive verbs, second quiz on reflexive verbs, second oral exercise on reflexive verbs

Los verbos

We have studied about a number of different kinds of verbs, beginning with regular -ar verbs. If you should encounter one of these verbs on the test, you should know it's meaning and understand (from the ending) who the subject is. Here are some of the regular -ar verbs you should know: descansar-to rest, pagar-to pay, caminar-to walk, trabajar-to work, comprar-to buy, hablar-to speak, desear-to want, necesitar-to need, tomar-to drink or take, desayunar-to eat breakfast, cenar-to eat dinner, usar-to use or wear, ganar-to earn, gastar-to spend, mirar-to watch or look at, buscar-to look for, regresar-to return, llamar-to call.

Next we studied regular -er and -ir verbs. Here are some of the regular -er and -ir verbs you should know: comer-to eat, deber-should, creer-to believe, leer-to read, vender-to sell, aprender-to learn, beber-to drink, vivir-to live, recibir-to receive, escribir-to write, abrir-to open, asistir-to attend.

Want to practice? Try these studyspanish.com links:

first lesson on regular verbs, first quiz on regular verbs, first oral exercise on regular verbs

second lesson on regular verbs, second quiz on regular verbs, second oral exercise on regular verbs

third lesson on regular verbs, third quiz on regular verbs, third oral exercise on regular verbs

Later we studied 8 verbs which have irregular "yo" forms, but are otherwise regular: hacer-to do or make, poner-to put, place, or set, traer- to bring, salir-to leave or go out, dar-to give, ver-to see, saber-to know, conocer-to know or meet or be familiar with. Do you know the "yo" forms for each of these verbs? HAGO, PONGO, TRAIGO, SALGO, DOY, VEO, SÉ, CONOZCO

You can practice some of these verbs (and some others) at studyspanish.com:

lesson on irregular "yo" forms, quiz on irregular "yo" forms, oral exercise on irregular "yo" forms

We also studied radical or stem-changing verbs and drew boots to help us remember which forms of these verbs get the stem-change and which do not. Here are some of the radical verbs that you should know: almorzar-to have lunch, dormir-to sleep, costar-to cost, jugar-to play, preferir-to prefer, querer-to want, poder-to be able, servir-to serve, pedir-to order or ask for, volver-to return.

Use these studyspanish.com links to get used to the way these verbs change in their stems:

first lesson on stem-changing verbs, first quiz on stem-changing verbs, first oral exercise on stem-changing verbs

second lesson on stem-changing verbs, second quiz on stem-changing verbs, second oral exercise on stem-changing verbs

third lesson on stem-changing verbs, third quiz on stem-changing verbs, third oral exercise on stem-changing verbs

Finally, we have had some verbs that are both reflexive (see lessons under reflexive pronouns) and stem-changing. Here are some you should know: divertirse-to have fun, acostarse-to lay down or go to bed, dormirse-to fall asleep, despertarse-to wake up, vestirse-to get dressed

Los adjetivos

In Spanish, when you use an adjective to modify a noun it must "match" the noun just like articles have to "match" the noun. The adjective and noun it modifies must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).

Practice with these studyspanish.com exercises:

first lesson on adjectives, first quiz on adjectives, first oral exercise on adjectives

second lesson on adjectives, second quiz on adjectives

Situations

You will be given four situations. In each situation the teacher will play the role of one person (call out that person's lines) and you will determine what the other person would say back (from the list of choices). You will write down the lines the teacher calls out, so you must know your letter sounds fairly well. If you need to work on letter sounds go back to the midterm study guide. The other key to doing well on this part of the exam is knowing the VOCABULARY. You need to know the words at the end of each chapter and any additional words I have given you. Don't panic though if there are words on the test that you don't know. Use what you do know to help you choose the most likely response.

1) Two students are talking. One is an international student. For this situation you should expect greetings, farewells, courtesy expressions, talk about student life, possibly family life, general conversation. Focus on the first three chapters of your book.

2) A customer and clerk are talking. Focus on Chapter 3 vocabulary in your book.

3) A babysitter and parent are talking. Focus on the following: los planes de los padres (the parents' plans), la rutina de los niños (the children's routine) including meals, personal higiene, homework, fun activities, naptime or bedtime, etc., and en caso de emergencia (in case of emergency). Focus on the vocabulary from Chapter 4, but times of day come into play also.

4) A new maid is talking with her employer. Focus on the following: su horario (her schedule), su sueldo (her salary), y sus responsabilidades (her responsibilities). Focus on the vocabulary from Chapter 4, but schedule information (days of week, dates) also come into play.

Pronunciation

You have a list of words of things in your house. You will pronounce all the words on this list for me individually. I will rate your pronunciation on a scale of 1-10. Here's what I will be listening for: correct vowel sounds, correct consonant sounds, correct stress on the word. www.studyspanish.com has plenty of lessons on pronunciation that you can get to by clicking on the "pronunciation" tab from the home page.