📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 20 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 4 · El pensamiento y la ética
Abstracto sin jerga
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 20 of 30: C2 is not the level where sentences get longer. On this page: 11 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
la jerga
jargon
lah HEHR-gah
el término técnico
the technical term
ehl TEHR-mee-noh TEHK-nee-koh
definir
to define
deh-fee-NEER
el ejemplo concreto
the concrete example
ehl eh-HEHM-ploh kohn-KREH-toh
el farol
the bluff
ehl fah-ROHL
alcanzar
to reach
ahl-kahn-SAR
decir más con menos
to say more with less
deh-SEER mahs kohn MEH-nohs
accesible
accessible
ahk-seh-SEE-bleh
riguroso
rigorous
rree-goo-ROH-soh
florido
flowery (of style)
floh-REE-doh
nosotros alcanzamos la meta
we reach the goal
noh-SOH-trohs ahl-kahn-SAH-mohs lah MEH-tah
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
C2 is not the level where sentences get longer; it is the level where they get shorter and carry more. The test: could a well-read person outside your field follow this?
Y también · And also
Two habits help. Define a technical term the first time you use it, in a clause. And prefer the concrete example immediately after the abstract claim — Spanish readers expect it, and its absence reads as a bluff, un farol.
Ojo · Watch out
Define a technical term the first time, in a clause, and follow an abstract claim with a concrete example. alcanzar changes z to c before e: alcancé. un estilo florido is flowery — a criticism, not a compliment.
alcanzar, presente — the table
yo alcanzo · tú alcanzas · él/ella/usted alcanza · nosotros alcanzamos · ustedes alcanzan · ellos/ellas alcanzan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 11 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with la jerga.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out alcanzar, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.