Literature, Poetry, Theatre
Topic specific Spanish practice exercises
Explore the richness of Spanish language, culture, and traditions by learning about literature, poetry, and theatre through the ages.
- El Dorado
Can you imagine a city covered in gold? - Fuenteovejuna: a play by Lope de Vega
Learn about this Spanish play by Lope de Vega. - Madrid Book Fair
Gonzalo tells us about the Madrid Book Fair, which he goes to every year with his father. - Reading behind the wheel
Sonia is stuck in a traffic jam and is killing time by reading a novel in her car. - Superlopez: a Spanish superhero
Learn about this famous Spanish superhero. - The Feast of the Goat
Explore political intrigue and resilience in 'The Feast of the Goat' by Mario Vargas Llosa. - The Hive
Learn about La Colmena, David's favourite book. - Theatrical courtyards
Learn about 16th and 17th-century theatrical courtyards while practising El Presente, "qué", agreement of nouns and adjectives, and "para". - Urueña, the book village
Luisa tells us about a wonderful village in Spain that's famous for its bookshops. - Writing a novel
My novel is going to be a success. - Consultorio de libros
There’s a website, Te receto un libro, where you can consult an expert who “prescribes” the book that suits you best. This reading and listening exercise can help you practise El Presente and El Futuro Próximo. - Mafalda y sus amigos
We'd like to offer this A1 reading and listening exercise about Mafalda and her friends as a tribute to Quino who passed away on 30 September 2020. - Visitando librerías especiales
Patricia and Sergio have planned an interesting trip to visit some cool bookshops in different Spanish cities.This reading and listening exercise can help you practise prepositions, regular verbs in present tense, and El Futuro Próximo. - And you, why do you write?
Antonio is trying to find out why he wants to do writing therapy. - Creative writing course
I'm signing up for a creative writing course. - Don Quixote of La Mancha
Learn about the most famous Spanish novel. - E-books
What do you think of e-books? - Gabriel García Márquez
Lucas tells us about this famous Colombian writer. - Gloria Fuertes: a famous poetess
Learn some lines from a written poem by Gloria Fuertes. - Inclusive theatre
Marian and her brother Manuel went to the theatre last night. - Mérida Classical Theater Festival
Beatriz tells us about the Classical Theatre Festival in Mérida (Spain). - My new book
Paula is excited to share her new book on achieving personal goals. - Pafman: a Spanish superhero
Do you know who Pafman is? Learn about this Spanish superhero. - Piruja the Witch
Amanda is taking to her granddaughter see the play Piruja the Witch. - Platero and me
Clara tells us about the book that her father used to read to her at bedtime. - Rabinal Achí
Magdalena tells us about "Rabinal Achí", one of the first prehispanic theater pieces from before America was discovered. - Rosario Castellanos: a feminist Mexican poet
Learn about Rosario Castellanos, a feminist Mexican poet. - Stairs and superstitions
Discover intriguing superstitions from Spanish-speaking countries. - Tartalo: a cyclops from the Basque Country
Learn about Tartalo, a famous cyclops from the Basque Country. - The Basajaun
Discover the legendary Basajaun, protector of nature and shepherds. - The Book Club
Miguel explains how belonging to a book club has lead him to love reading even more. - The dove was wrong
Eva talks about a Rafael Alberti poem that her father used to read her when she was a child. - Xavier Abril
Rosa tells us about one of the most relevant Latin American poets of the 20th Century. - 40 books to read before 40
Tomas accepted the challenge of reading a selection of 40 books before turning 40. - Almagro International Classical Theater Festival
Sol works for the Almagro International Classical Theater Festival, and will be on a radio show tomorrow to promote it. - Captain Thunder
Ramiro tells us about Captain Thunder. - Don Juan Tenorio
Amaya explains why everyone in Spain goes to the theatre to watch "Don Juan Tenorio" on the first of November. - Elegy, by Miguel Hernández
Discover a famous poem by Miguel Hernández. - Like water for chocolate
Sonia tells about the last novel that she and her mother are reading. - Love me entirely
Alma recites a poem written by the Cuban poet Dulce María Loynaz. - María Zambrano
Eliseo talks about one of the most important female philosophers in Spain. - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Explore the enchanting world of 'One hundred years of solitude' by Gabriel García Márquez. - Pablo Neruda: a Chilean poet
Learn about Pablo Neruda, an extraordinary Chilean poet. - Quevedo
Oscar finds out who Quevedo was while travelling to dinner by metro. - The milkmaid
Learn about the milkmaid's story. - The weeping woman
Tomás tells us about one of the most popular folk tales in Latin America: "La Llorona". - Theatre
Tomorrow Gloria will be attending a special theatre course to improve both her professional skills and her self-awareness. - Almudena Grandes
Find out more about her life and work of author Almudena Grandes with this B1 reading and listening exercise that can help you practise the pasiva refleja, El Pretérito indefinido and El Pretérito imperfecto. - La Casa de Bernarda Alba
Federico García Lorca is probably Spain's most famous modern poet and playwright. La Casa de Bernarda Alba is one of his most well-known plays. - Premio Planeta
This reading and listening exercise is about the lucrative and well-respected book prize. It can help you practise El Futuro Simple, plus relative and subordinate clauses. - Bookshops
While buying a book for his granddaughter, Adrián discovers a book on children's emotional education. - I would like to read 24 books this year
I'm planning to read 24 books this year. - International Cervantino Festival
Fabiola is excited about the arrival of the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato. - Jimena wants to be an actress
Jimena tells her parents that she wants to be an actress. - Juana de América
Eduardo recommends that his friend read Juana de America's poems. - Neuromancer
Alfonso talks about Neuromancer, the novel which introduced the concept of cyberspace. - Patria by Fernando Aramburu
Patria is a successful novel written by Fernando Aramburu. - Rubén Darío
Maria talks about the poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as "Modernismo". - Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Fausto discovers one of the greatest Mexican exponents of Golden Age Spanish literature through a Netflix series. - The Feast of The Goat
Julio tells us his thoughts about the novel he has just finished reading. - The legend of Zorro
Learn about the famous legend of Zorro. - The Maiden's Consent
Learn about this literary work written by Moratín in the 19th century. In this exercise you'll practise El Pretérito Imperfecto and El Pretérito Indefinido. - The Sack Man
Learn about this popular Spanish legend. - The Tree of Wishes
Discover what lies beneath the branches of the Tree of Wishes. - The world's weirdest superpowers
Susana is impressed because someone collated the weirdest superpowers from the world of comics. - Tips to write a book
Marcelo gives us some tips to write a book. - Witches from Galicia
Learn about meigas, Spanish witches from northwest Spain. - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
On Friday 19th June 2020, the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón, best known for the novel La Sombra del Viento, passed away. We pay homage with this bilingual reader. - Día del Idioma Español y Día Internacional del Libro
23 April book lovers is International Book Day and also United Nations Spanish Language Day - Miguel Delibes
As well as being a famous author, Miguel Delibes was a journalist and newspaper editor. Discover more about his life with this bilingual article. This B2 exercise can help you practise El Pretérito indefinido and El Pretérito Imperfecto - Un crimen perfecto 1
Meet Ramón who thinks he's just going to have breakfast and ends up witnessing a horrible crime! - Un crimen perfecto 2
The police investigate and think there's more to this than meets the eye. - Un crimen perfecto 3
The police have new suspects! - Un crimen perfecto 4
Get closer to finding out who the killer is while practising El Condicional Simple. - Un crimen perfecto 5
Here's the final installment where we finally find out who really killed Pablo and why. - Videomatón de Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, her best known novel is "La casa de los espíritus" (1982) which was turned into an English-language film in 1993 with a star-studded cast. This B2 exercise can help you practise different uses of se: pronominal verbs, dativo de interés, pronouns le / les become se when used with lo, la, los, las. - Bilbao Book Fair
Ready to visit the Bilbao Book Fair? - The desert island
Learn about this Argentinian play. - The Family of Pascual Duarte
Dive into the raw and gripping narrative of 'The Family of Pascual Duarte' by Camilo José Cela. - The nahual
Learn about the nahual, a mystical guardian animal with deep roots in Mesoamerican culture. - El Fantasma de la Ópera
The Phantom of the Opera is a timeless tale of love, obsession, and mystery set in the Paris Opera House. - Miguel de Cervantes
This exercise can help you practise the present to narrate past events, the position of adjectives, using the imperfect vs the preterite and the incorrect use of pronouns (leísmo, laísmo and loísmo). - Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche
The poem was published when Pablo Neruda was just 19 years old. This C1 exercise can help you practise the perfect infinitive, using el de/la de/los de/las de and using Qué + noun/adjective/adverb + que + subjunctive to express feelings. - Bodas de Sangre
Fill in the gaps with the right form of El Presente. Note that there is one use of the "Present Historic" where in English we would use the simple past.
- La intrigante novela
Blanca is reading a new novel and it's a real page-turner! Complete the exercise with the correct structure given in the hint.
- Juan Ramón Jiménez
Fill in the gaps with the right form of El Pretérito Indefinido. Pay attention to the hints!
- Festival de teatro de Almagro
Fill in the blanks with the right form of El Futuro Simple (regular and irregular verbs). Pay attention to the hints!
- El camello cojito
Fill in the blanks with the right form of the following verbs in the present tense.
- Quiara Alegría
Fill in the blanks with the right pronoun. Pay attention to the hints!
- Festival de Mérida - Teatro Romano
A fill-in-the-gap kwiz to practise some uses of por and para. Pay attention to the hints!
