Spain

This free ESL lesson plan on Spain has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.

Spain is a country with a long and often conflicted history. Thanks to the Spanish Empire, there are more native Spanish speakers than native English speakers in the world. Checkered past aside, Spain has given us some of the best food in the world and was the birthplace of some of the world’s most revered artists. Today, Spain is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world with fantastic scenery, culturally rich cities, and beach resorts where millions of British people visit every year to check the Sun still exists. In this ESL lesson plan on Spain, students will have the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions on Spanish history, culture and tourism.

This lesson plan could also be used with your students for the National Day of Spain, which takes place in October. For more lesson plans on international days and important holidays, see the calendar of world days to plan your classes for these special occasions.

For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and other lesson plans on this site, see the guide for ESL teachers.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES

Reading activity
Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):

Culture Trip | 11 Breathtaking Places in Spain to Visit Before You Die

The article lists beautiful places and impressive architecture in Spain including Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and El Tajo Gorge in Ronda. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was said? Can they think of any ways they might disagree with the content of the article?

Video activity
To save time in class for the conversation activities, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below and answer the listening questions in Section 3 of the lesson plan at home. The questions for the video are styled in a way similar to an exam like the IELTS.

The video for this class is a called “A brief history of Spain” by History of Spain which explores the best places in Which looks at the history of Spain from early Celtic tribes to the days of the empire up until the 1978 Constitution.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.

This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means and if they agree with it. This is followed by an initial discussion on Spanish culture including the best places to visit, the best Spanish food, and the best Spanish music and films.

After this, students will learn about some important Spanish people, which is accompanied by a speaking activity. In this activity, students will speak about famous Spanish people they know about, and what they think about Spanish people in general.

If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the listening questions. Before checking the answers, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.

Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about Spain’s place in the world. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as what Spain gave to the world, how Spain compares to other countries, and what the future has in store for the country.

HOMEWORK

After the class, students will write about their opinion of Spain. This could be a short paragraph or a longer piece of writing depending on what level the student is at. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise and improve their grammar with the feedback from their teacher.