"Queridos Reyes Magos" has been shared to the blog from the Spanish reading practice section of the learning library where you can find a large selection of interactive texts to help you with your reading skills. This article also has audio for you to practice your Spanish listening skills; you can find many more listening activities in the Spanish listening exercises section.
Spanish online reading and listening practice – level B1
This reading and listening exercise is about the Spanish tradition of the Three Kings – Los Reyes Magos. This is suitable for level B1 Spanish students, though it contains a B2 grammar point.
Background
Nowadays Spanish children do receive gifts on Christmas Day, but traditionally there was no exchange of gifts at Christmastime in Spain; children waited till the Epiphany, the 6th of January for their gifts, brought to them not by Father Christmas, but by the Three Kings. Children write to the Three Kings, listing their preferred gifts, knowing that just like Father Christmas, they also know who has been naughty or nice! Naughty children can expect to receive a piece of coal (usually made of sugar though).
The school holidays always last from Christmas until after the 6th of January (familiarly known just as Reyes) and all big towns have a parade the night before, where the Three Kings, their helpers and all kinds of other friendly characters arrive and throw sweets to the crowds of children lining the streets.
There’s a video below the “bilingual reader” so you can see what happens during the parade (but it’s not part of the exercise – it’s just for information).
Exercise: Queridos Reyes Magos
The bilingual reader article below was written and recorded by Kwiziq’s Spanish expert, the amazing Inma Sánchez.
Click play to listen to the article. You can read the transcript at the same time or after.
Click any phrase for the translation and links to related grammar lessons which you can add to your Kwiziq notebook to practise later.
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Author info
Shui is Kwiziq's COO and Head of Languages. She is an experienced technical writer, translator and project manager. Shui grew up bilingual English-Spanish in the UK, completing her studies in London, Madrid and Paris where she now lives. She speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian. Her love of languages and technical knowledge make her a perfect fit for Kwiziq.