Vocabulary: school trips, exchanges and childhood

Talk about trips, exchanges and school events, and about what you were like and what you did as a child.

Practise this lesson free (7 questions)

Trips, exchanges and events

Echar de menos = to miss (someone or something): Echo de menos a mi familia.
SpanishEnglish
el viaje escolarschool trip
el intercambioexchange
la familia anfitrionahost family
acogerto welcome, to host
el huéspedguest
alojarseto stay (in accommodation)
echar de menosto miss
la obra de teatroplay
el premioprize
la entrega de premiosprize-giving
la competicióncompetition
participar ento take part in
asistir ato attend
inolvidableunforgettable

Childhood

La niñez = childhood. Cuando era pequeño / pequeña... = When I was little...
SpanishEnglish
la niñezchildhood
el juguetetoy
la muñecadoll
el cuentostory
el juegogame
crecerto grow up
llorarto cry
reírto laugh
saltarto jump
subirse a los árbolesto climb trees
regañarto tell off
contarto tell (a story)
la guarderíanursery
el / la cangurobabysitter

What I used to do

The imperfect describes the past and what used to happen. At GCSE Foundation you need the yo, tú and él / ella forms.
SpanishEnglish
vivíaI used to live
ibaI used to go
jugabaI used to play
teníaI had, I used to have
eraI was (personality)
estabaI was (state, place)
habíathere was, there were
veíaI used to watch, to see
leíaI used to read
podíaI could
queríaI wanted
me gustabaI used to like
Worked example

Translate: When I was little, I used to climb trees and I had a lot of toys.

  1. When I was little = cuando era pequeño / pequeña
  2. I used to climb trees = me subía a los árboles (imperfect)
  3. I had = tenía; a lot of toys = muchos juguetes

Answer: Cuando era pequeño, me subía a los árboles y tenía muchos juguetes.

Key idea

El viaje escolar, el intercambio, la familia anfitriona, alojarse, echar de menos, la obra de teatro, la entrega de premios, asistir a, inolvidable. La niñez, el juguete, la muñeca, el cuento, crecer, regañar, la guardería. Vivía, iba, jugaba, tenía, era, estaba, había.

Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. What does asistir a mean?

    1. to assist
    2. to attend
    3. to miss
    4. exchange
    Show the answer

    Answer: to attend

    Asistir a = to attend.

  2. Which is the Spanish for "to attend"?

    1. la entrega de premios
    2. el intercambio
    3. el huésped
    4. asistir a
    Show the answer

    Answer: asistir a

    To attend = asistir a.

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Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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