📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 20 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 4 · Los lenguajes profesionales
Leer sin ser especialista
Module 14 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 20 of 30: A specialist document is readable if you read it for its shape. On this page: 10 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
el especialista
the specialist
ehl ehs-peh-syah-LEES-tah
leer de atrás hacia adelante
to read backwards
leh-EHR deh ah-TRAHS AH-syah ah-deh-LAHN-teh
el resumen al principio
the summary at the top
ehl rreh-SOO-mehn ahl preen-SEE-pyoh
aceptar lo desconocido
to accept the unknown
ah-sehp-TAR loh dehs-koh-noh-SEE-doh
el sustantivo técnico
the technical noun
ehl soos-tahn-TEE-boh TEHK-nee-koh
seguir el hilo
to follow the thread
seh-GEER ehl EE-loh
reprobar un examen
to fail an exam
rreh-proh-BAR oon ehk-SAH-mehn
legible
readable
leh-HEE-bleh
parecer
to seem
pah-reh-SEHR
ustedes parecen cansados
you (all) seem tired
oos-TEH-dehs pah-REH-sehn kahn-SAH-dohs
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
A specialist document is readable if you read it for its shape. Find the conclusion first — Spanish reports put it in the resumen or at the end — then read backwards for the reasons.
Y también · And also
And accept the unknown nouns. In a technical text the nouns are the subject matter and the verbs are the argument; if the verbs are clear you can follow a text whose nouns you would fail an exam on.
Ojo · Watch out
Read a specialist text for its VERBS: the nouns are the subject matter, the verbs carry the argument. reprobar un examen is to fail it in Latin America; Spain says suspender. parecer takes zc: parezco.
parecer, presente — the table
yo parezco · tú pareces · él/ella/usted parece · nosotros parecemos · ustedes parecen · ellos/ellas parecen
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el especialista.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out parecer, 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.