Spanish Opinions?

PARARORY

Hey just wondering what opinions have people been preparing in school/grinds?
Its almost impossible to predict so how you you guys learn/study for it?

00ALXANDRA00

I'm preparing stuff like drugs, alcohol, youth, recycling, obesity.. etc. You're right though, the topics are almost impossible to predict. Have a sprinkling of subjunctive, but not too much. That apparently impresses correctors. My teacher says you blame the government, parents, society etc in one paragraph and offer solutions to the problems next. It's really easy to use subjuctive here "Me gustaría que el gobierno hiciera/pusiera/etc... ."

The most important thing though is to stick to the topic. 25 marks goes for that!

PARARORY

Yeh I don't do Spanish in school so I dont really know what to expect!
So its bad to use too much subjunctive ? How many constructions with the subjunctive would you usually put in? My grammar would be quite good so I don't find any of those constructions difficult at all...

I have so many sample opinions.. I just dont know where to start / which ones to learn !

Last year alcohol/binge drinking came up so would that indicate that problems of the youth isn't a likely topic?

Would the recession be too narrow? Its come up in Irish and French ...

Cheers for replying as well

00ALXANDRA00

My teacher says that the opinions that have come up on the LC always have some relevance to teenagers. I'm not learning any opinions off by heart. The amount of subjunctive I do ranges from only 3 to 6 max. I use different rules for them all if i can. Recession is possible, i think, but maybe they wouldn't ask that because its too predictable. If you grammar is good then you're fine.:)

PARARORY

K thanks thats helpful , Its the part of the exam i'm most worried about.. So would you just make sure you know all your grammar constructions , and then learn phrases that you can adjust depending on the opinion?

00ALXANDRA00

Exactly!:)

Skuxx

I did the leaving last year but I remember my teacher saying that if recession was to come up it would only be very vague and let you talk about any part of it you want! They won't ask about job loss or anything like that as peoples parents could have been affected!!

That wat he was saying anyway!

nadbags

OOooh very helpful forum thank you!

tomissex

Did my leaving three years ago (studying Spanish in college now though) I'd recommend learning off phrases like: however, although, despite this, unfortunately etc. Starting your points off with these kinds of phrases can really impress the examiner and it gives a bit of shape to your piece as well.

allandanyways

Find other ways of saying "I think", i.e. don't just use creo que... the entire way through your opinion piece. Pienso que, me parece que, etc etc.

And remember negative opinions take subjunctive, i.e No creo que sea justo que...

Don't use pues in written speech.

Try to avoid using un poco, it's best reserved for speech as well.

ihavequestions

I heard that the internet and the likes of Facebook may come up this year......! As someone already said , it is hard to predict though! I'm a repeat and we sorta predicted the one that came up last year though, somehow!

fisgon

I think you're wasting your time trying to predict what comes up on the exam. It literally could be anything. As a Spanish teacher I would advise learning useful vocab around all the important areas, and practicing the structure of the opinion piece, in other words an introductory sentence, more or less three separate points...introduced with the phrases....En primer lugar, segundo, en tercer lugar. and finishing off with a conclusion.....En conclusión.....

The problem with learning off set phrases and expressions is that you will try and crowbar them into your answer even if they are irrelevent, and a lot of the marks go for relevance of your arguments and how much sense you make. You have to answer the question asked, not the one you have prepared for. The way to prep is to do a lot of the past papers, and try and have someone correct them for you. YOu learn from your mistakes.

(If anyone wants a correction they can PM me with an attempt at one of these Qs. I can´t promise anything but I will prob get time to give it a look and correct it)

PARARORY

fisgon wrote: »

I think you're wasting your time trying to predict what comes up on the exam.

Yeh I said that in my first post , that it is impossible to predict! Im just gonna focus on my grammar , subjunctive etc, and vocab for bringing in different topics.

0.M.GXX

thanks this has he;ped alot... very scared about this exam though... !!
best of luck to alll...:P:o