These photographs of houses are an excellent prompt for speaking Spanish with your child. The houses are so interesting! They are all very different. Some are whimsical, and others are elaborate or spooky. There are tree houses, rock houses and underground houses. The settings are impressive too, and they lend themselves to using lots of Spanish vocabulary related to nature and geography.
Since I wrote this post, the original collection of photos has been removed, but there are many wonderful collections pictures of unusual houses online. Choose any of them and use these ideas to speak Spanish with kids.
1. Teach or practice ¿te gustaría?/ me gustaría (would you like, I would like) with the question ¿Te gustaría vivir allí? (Would you like to live there?) This is a very common structure in Spanish and one that children understand and learn to use easily. As you look at each photo, first say whether or not you would like to live in the house – Me gustaría mucho vivir allí. / No me gustaría vivir allí – and then ask your child, ¿(A ti) te gustaría vivir allí? A yes-no answer is fine. She will learn the construction by listening.
2. Practice “how many” and counting by asking ¿Cuántas ventanas hay? (How many windows are there?) ¿Cuántas puertas hay? (How many doors are there?) Count together when you can. Sometimes you just have to answer ¡Hay muchas!
3. Talk about what you see in the picture and what you like and don’t like. These simple structures are an good way to introduce new vocabulary or review words your child knows. It is also an easy way to practice me gusta /¿te gusta? Use sentences like: Veo muchas flores (I see a lot of flowers). / ¡Me gusta el techo (I like the roof). / ¡Me encantan los árboles! (I love the trees). ¿Te gusta la casa? (Do you like the house?) There is a list of vocabulary to use with these pictures below.
4. Practice common adjectives by describing what you see in the picture. Simple sentences like these work well: La casa es hermosa (The house is beautiful). El pasto es verde (The grass is green). Mira el cielo azul y las nubes blancas (Look at the blue sky and the white clouds). Me gustan las montañas grandes (I like the big mountains). See the vocabulary list below for more adjectives.
These are some of the Spanish words you can use as you talk about the photographs of houses:
La casa/ The house
balcony – el balcón
chimney- la chimenea
door – la puerta
floor (of a building) – piso (La casa tiene cuatro pisos. – The house has four floors.)
garden- el jardín
rock – piedra (La casa es de piedra. – The house is made of rock.)
roof – el techo
stairs – las escaleras
window – la ventana
wood – madera (La casa es de madera.- The house is made of wood.)
Use these words to talk about the places in the photographs.
beach – la playa
birds – los pájaros
bridge – el puente
clouds – las nubes
flowers – las flores
forest – el bosque
lake – el lago
plants – las plantas
rocks- las rocas (big rocks,bolders. Small rocks are piedras)
sea – el mar
sky – el cielo
street – la calle
tree – el árbol
wall – el muro
water – el agua
To describe the houses and the surrounding, use adjectives like these. If you are learning Spanish with your child, be sure to make the adjectives agree with what you are describing (La casa es roja y muy bonita).
beautiful – hermoso
big – grande
enormous – enorme
funny – chistoso
interesting – interesante
modern – moderno
new -nuevo
old – viejo
pretty – bonito
small – pequeno, chiquito
black – negro
blue – azul
green – verde
pink – rosado
red – rojo
white – blanco
yellow – amarillo
