La tarjeta de foto — Photo-card Task
📸 La tarjeta de foto — Photo-card Task
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Paper | Paper 2 (Speaking) |
| Prep time | 12 minutes total (shared with roleplay) |
| Questions | Q1: describe the photo; Q2 + Q3: printed on card; Q(extra): unpredictable from examiner |
| Tiers | Foundation and Higher (same format, different complexity expected) |
| Time frames | Present + past + future all expected across your answers |
| AQA themes | My life, My neighbourhood, My studies, My future plans, Spanish-speaking world |
A strong photo description uses spatial phrases to place things in the scene, then layers in description of people and a personal reaction. The tables below give you the core toolkit.
Earn the mark scheme marks
❌ Errores típicos en la foto — Photo-card Errors
❌ Error 1: Describing the photo in English — or thinking in English and then translating.
✅ Correcto: En la foto hay un hombre y una mujer.
Por qué importa: Never translate mentally from English. Think the Spanish sentence directly — the word order is different. Hay means "there is / there are" and comes first in Spanish, not the subject. Translating "In the photo is a man" word-for-word produces unnatural Spanish and confuses the examiner about who is doing what.
❌ Error 2: Es una foto de vacaciones. — and then stopping after one sentence.
✅ Correcto: En la foto hay una familia en la playa. Parece que hace buen tiempo y están de vacaciones. La mujer lleva un vestido azul y parece muy contenta.
Por qué importa: One sentence earns one mark. Four sentences earn four marks. AQA awards communication marks per piece of information conveyed — a longer, detailed answer always scores more than a correct but brief one. Use the 5-step formula to reach at least three to four sentences every time.
❌ Error 3: Answering every question only in the present tense and forgetting past and future.
✅ Correcto: For any question about your experience, cover all three time frames — Present: Normalmente voy a la playa. Past: El verano pasado fui a Mallorca. Future: El año que viene, me gustaría ir a Francia.
Por qué importa: AQA 8692 assesses tense range across the speaking paper. Using only the present tense caps your score under AO2 (Accuracy). The three-tense formula covers all tense reference requirements and is worth building into any answer about habits, experiences, or opinions.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 15
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