5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful addition to my Duolingo Spanish studies
What a great resource! I started studying Duolingo a couple of months ago, and while I really love the program, I felt like I needed to ground my learning in a written resource. While there are many good books out there to learn Spanish, the great thing about Duolingo Diary is that aligns perfectly with my Duolingo lessons so I feel there is a sense of continuity in my learning. For each lesson there is a corresponding chapter with a vocabulary list, important learning tips, practice dialogue questions and sample answers, and a section for a personal diary entry. In addition, the author has teamed up with Danny Evans, The Language Tutor, and provided a suggested video that would support each Duolingo lesson. Finally, Ruth Darby has recently started her own Youtube series that also aligns with each lesson, so combined this resource is a great compliment to my Duolingo studies. Highly recommended.
– – Carolyn
Reviewed in the United States on 26 January 2025
Vocab test
- Los postres – The desserts
- Los pasteles – The cakes
- La comida – The food
- Estos juegos – These games
- Tus ojos – Your eyes
- Los vaqueros – The jeans
- Ambas camisetas – Both t-shirts
- Zapatos naranjas – Orange shoes
- Le gusta – He/ She likes it
- Le gustan – He/ She likes them
Verb of the day
Conjugate the verb MANEJAR (To drive/ To manage) in the present tense.
| Yo | Nosotros |
| Tú | Vosotros |
| Él/ Ella/ Usted | Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes |
Questions to answer
¿De qué color es tu carro?
¿Te interesa visitar aquellos sitios?
¿Te gustan los animales?
¿Te gusta comer animales?
¿Te gustan estos vinos dulces?
¿Te gustan sus ojos verdes?
Señor, ¿tiene vinos chilenos?
¿Por qué te gustan estas botas?
A simple dialogue
Use the Spanish phrases to translate the English dialogue. Write it out and perform it.
- I really like the new boy in our class. He is so handsome! I’m going to talk to him.
- Hi Martin! I am Lucy. Do you know where to go for the next lesson?
- Hi Lucy. No, I am not sure where it is. I have maths with Miss Sweet.
- Ah, I’m going to the class next to you. Do you want to walk with me?
- Thanks.
- Do you like maths?
- No, I hate maths.
- Oh! I love maths. Well, if you need help with your homework you can ask me.
- I really like art and music. I am in a band.
- What type of music do you play? I love latin music, jazz, soul music …
- Do you know Linkin Park?
- Yes, but I don’t like it much!
- Ah. We play music like that!
- Cool! Well here is Miss Sweet’s room. See you later!
Use these phrases to translate the dialogue.
¡Guay! Bueno, aquí está la clase de la Señorita Sweet. ¡Nos vemos!
¡Hola, Martín! Soy Lucía. ¿Sabes adónde ir para la próxima clase?
¡Oh! Me encantan las matemáticas. Bueno, si necesitas ayuda con tu tarea, puedes pedírmelo.
¡Sí, pero no me gusta mucho!
¿Conoces a Linkin Park?
¿Qué tipo de música tocas? Me encanta la música latina, el jazz, la música soul…
¿Te gustan las matemáticas?
A mí me gusta mucho el arte y la música. Estoy en una banda.
Ah, voy a la clase que está al lado de la tuya. ¿Quieres caminar conmigo?Ah. ¡Tocamos música así!
Gracias, ¡sí!
Hola, Lucía. No, no estoy seguro de dónde está. Tengo matemáticas con la Señorita Sweet.
Me gusta mucho el chico nuevo de nuestra clase. ¡Es tan guapo! Voy a hablar con él. No, odio las matemáticas.
Choose from a range of voices to read your dialogue here.
Grammar notes
* Read this information, then use it to quiz a friend.
Basic structure of gustar, encantar, and interesar
In Spanish, these verbs are typically used in the third person (singular or plural) and work with indirect object pronouns to indicate who is experiencing the feeling. In other words:
- Instead of saying, “I like it,” we say, “It pleases me.”
- Instead of saying, “They love it,” we say, “It enchants them.”
- Instead of saying, “We are interested in it,” we say, “It interests us.”
Indirect object pronouns: these pronouns tell us who likes something.
- Me (to me)
- Te (to you, informal)
- Le (to him/her/you formal)
- Nos (to us)
- Os (to you all, informal in Spain)
- Les (to them, to you all)
The formula
Verb forms
- Gusta (singular) – for one item or an action
- Gustan (plural) – for multiple items
- Encanta (singular) – for one item or an action
- Encantan (plural) – for multiple items
- Interesa (singular) – for one item or an action
- Interesan (plural) – for multiple items
Examples
- Me gusta el libro – I like the book
- Me gustan los libros – I like the books
- Me gusta bailar – I like to dance
Journal prompts
Write short sentences. Keep them as simple as you can.
Use a translation tool to put them into Spanish.
Write them out, then check them with your teacher. Present them to a friend, teaching your friend any new Spanish, and making sure they learn it!
| Do you like cars? Why? Do you prefer to be a passenger, or do you usually want to drive? What types of transport do you like? What places are you interesting in going to? What aspects of transport do you not like? | ¿Te gustan los carros? ¿Por qué? ¿Prefieres ser pasajero/a o generalmente quieres conducir? ¿Qué tipos de transporte te gustan? ¿A qué lugares te interesa ir? ¿Qué aspectos del transporte no te gustan? |
Next lesson: 3.8 Shop for groceries
Buy the workbook in print!
Convenient, photocopiable books available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Please note, the books are the same content as this website, for those who want a convenient place to write their responses.
Key features.
- Habit tracker
- List of 20 vocabulary items to learn for each unit
- Space to note Duolingo phrases
- A conjugated verb for each unit
- Duolingo inspired questions to answer with the help of AI
- A simple on-theme dialogue for each unit
- Grammar explanations for each unit
- Suggested websites for further study
- Journal prompts to encourage the Spanish journaling habit
- Teaching notes and ideas
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