A new activity to practice how to write a letter in Spanish, with usual expressions and vocabulary. This is a 2-3 days exercise, which involves writing a letter in Spanish and translating it into English. A Word document with the necessary vocabulary is available for download.
Introduction
Writing a letter in Spanish could be a funny activity for your students. This exercise will not just help them learn the basics on how to use the standard beginnings and endings for letters, but they will also learn how to express ideas on the paper and build correct sentences in Spanish.
Your students may think writing a letter is not as common as some years ago, when sending an e-mail wasn't as usual as today. No problem! Tell your students most of the Spanish expressions we are going to use to write our letters are also very common when writing an e-mail in Spanish. (And this could be the first step to a pen pal program!)
This activity would have a length of two / three days.
Starting our activity
Day 1
- Explain in class the basics and forms of writing a letter in Spanish. Do also mark the difference between formal and friendly letters, although this activity will be focused on the second type of letters.
- Tell your students their Spanish letters will have a minimum of 150 words.
- Make groups of two students.
- One student (let's call him/her “Student A”), will write a letter to the other student in his/her group (“Student B”).
- Give all the students a list of possible subjects.
For example,
- Thanks for my birthday's present.
- I am on vacation, and this is what I'm doing.
- I watched the movie you recommended me and I enjoyed it. Thanks!
- I know your grandmother is ill. I hope she gets better soon.
- A letter to your pen pal in Spain.
- A love letter!
- Ask all your (“Students A”) to prepare their letters at home.
Day 2
- The following day, at class, ask every “Student A” to read his/her letter, so that the rest of the class can give him/her opinions or advice on how to improve it .
- Now, every “Student B” will translate the letter received from “Students A” in class, with the help of “Student A”, the student who first wrote the letter..
- Ask every “Student B” to write an answer to his/her letter. Again, the minimum length will be 150 words.
Day 3
- This is the writing letters in Spanish last day. Every “Student B” will read his/her answer to the letter from “Student A”.
- As a final activity, students will also have to write on an envelope all the necessary information so that the letter can reach the addressee.
Downloads
To download the Word document with the Spanish expressions and vocabulary used in friendly letters, click here.
For additional material on writing letters in Spanish, see this article: Common Formulas for Beginning and Ending Spanish Letters