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7. ¿ C u á n t o s a ñ o s t i e n e s ?

7. ¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

In this section pupils learn to understand the question “how old are you?” and to respond appropriately using the numbers 1-12.

Swapping information about ages is an important part of any peer group conversation in a foreign language. It is also useful for responding to adult enquiries.

If your pupils are more than 12 years old, you may wish to introduce them to some of the higher numbers from section 9, “Los números 13-31”, before starting work on this section.

VIDEO section 7 Children saying their ages: the age, represented by a number, is superimposed on screen.

Tengo 5 años Yo tengo 6 años Tengo 7 años Tengo 8 años Tengo 9 años Tengo 10 años Tengo 11 años Tengo 12 años Children saying their names and ages: Yo soy Marta. Tengo 10 años.

Yo soy Óscar y tengo 12 años.

QUESTION & ANSWER: this sequence shows children developing conversations. They respond to the questions ¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo te llamas? and the new question, ¿Cuántos años tienes?

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

(Yo) tengo 10 años - I'm 10 ¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

HOW SPANISH WORKS

Scenes from video section 7: “Tengo 5 años”.

Most of the children shown in the video say “tengo (10) años”. One child adds the word “yo” to the beginning of the sentence to give the statement that extra bit of personal emphasis.

Both forms are correct and commonly used in everyday speech.

Scenes from video section 7: “Tengo 11 años.”

Children asking each other how old they are: “¿Cuántos años tienes?” “Once, ¿y tú?”

“Once también.” (“También” is the Spanish way of saying “too”.)

Children saying their ages. This time the ages are heard in random order, without the age superimposed on screen.

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Scenes from video section 7: “Tengo 9 años.”

7. ¿ C u á n t o s a ñ o s t i e n e s ?

Introducing the written word

❑ Watch video section 7 “¿Cuántos años tienes?”

Several examples of children saying their ages are repeated with text superimposed over the picture. You may choose to omit this part when pupils are watching the video for the first time.

You can show it at a later date when they have had plenty of opportunities to practise the new vocabulary orally. They will then be ready to try and build up connections between the written word and pronunciation.

❑ Echoing: Draw a birthday cake with 5 candles on the board. Alternatively, you could use transparencies on the OHP. You say “tengo 5 años”. The pupils echo the phrase. Add another candle and say “tengo 6 años”. Continue until there are 12 candles on the cake. ❑ As you say “tengo 10 años”, all the pupils who are ten years old stand up. Repeat this for eleven year olds and so on until you have covered all the ages in the class.

You can make this into a game to encourage pupils' listening skills, by speeding up the pace at which you say each phrase and varying the number of times you say “tengo 10 años”/ “tengo 11 años” etc. in succession.

KEY SOUNDS

años Introduction to “ñ”, which sounds like “ni” as in “onion”. It is a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet which appears after “n” in the dictionary.

❑ The pupils form a circle. The first pupil turns to the next pupil and says “tengo 10 años”. This pupil does the same to the next saying “tengo 10 años” or “tengo 11 años” as appropriate.

When everyone has had a turn, repeat the activity adding “¿y tú?”

Activities Before watching video section 7, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session to practise the numbers 1-12.

This section adds to pupils' personal vocabulary, enabling them to extend the scope of a conversation in Spanish. In your “warm up” you could also include one or two of the games from earlier chapters to practise greetings, names and asking people how they are.

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7. ¿ C u á n t o s a ñ o s t i e n e s ? ❑ Everyone stands in a circle with you in the centre. Throw a soft ball to different pupils.

Each time you throw the ball ask “¿Cuántos años tienes?” The pupil replies (“10”, “11”, etc., as appropriate), and throws the ball back to you.

Talking point EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPAIN The school system

❑ “Question and answer” game.

Vary the questions you ask as you throw the ball to include “Hola, ¿qué tal?” and “¿Cómo te llamas?” as well as “¿Cuántos años tienes?” Pupils reply to the question as they throw the ball back to you. This will develop pupils' listening skills and help to reinforce familiar vocabulary.

Primary education is free at state schools, but about a third of pupils attend private schools which are mainly run by the Church.

Spanish children start school at the age of six, although many go to nursery school before this, sometimes when they are as young as one or two years old.

Primary education continues until pupils are eleven when they move on to secondary school.

Pupils then start a four year course at the age of twelve. After that, they go on to either the bachillerato, a two-year academic course, or more vocational training. Students who wish to go on to higher education must pass a national examination after their bachillerato.

❑ Play “musical ages” Everyone moves around the room with Spanish music (or tunes from the “Tú y yo” video) playing in the background. When the music stops, the pupils turn to the nearest person and ask each other their ages.

When they first play this game the conversation could be along the following lines: Pupil 1: “Tengo (10) años ¿ y tú?”

Pupil 2: “11” On another occasion they could say: Pupil 1: “¿Cuántos años tienes?”

Pupil 2: “11 ¿y tú?”

Pupil 1: “10” ❑ As the class grows in confidence, the conversations could be extended. When the music stops, pupils greet each other and swap names and ages. They could also take on imaginary identities to add variety to the conversations. ❑ Watch video section 7: “¿Cuántos años tienes?” again for reinforcement.

Playtime at the Colegio Aurelio Prudencio, Calahorra.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Drama: If pupils have already designed and made “Spanish” puppets, these can be used to act out conversations.

Pupils work in groups of three or four. Ask them to choose a context for their conversation e.g. a new pupil arrives in class; meeting at the beach, at the swimming pool or in the park.

Encourage pupils to develop their puppets' characters in the way they behave and speak.

Perhaps one of the puppets is shy, another nosey and so on.

Music lesson at the Colegio Aurelio Prudencio.

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