essay format in spanish

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How to Write an Amazing Essay in Spanish

Has your teacher asked you to write an essay in Spanish? Essays are probably the most common type of homework around the world. Teachers want you to write essays because they’re a way to improve your abilities when you’re learning a new language. 

Writing essays may not seem like fun, but it actually improves your cognitive abilities! The act of researching, organizing, and writing pushes you to increase your knowledge on different topics, strengthens your critical thinking skills, and advances your ability to communicate and express your thoughts.

With all these benefits in mind, it’s no wonder you want to write a great essay in Spanish. But there are times when your ideas vanish and your mind goes blank—you wonder, where do I begin and what steps do I follow? 

Even if you’re a pro when it comes to writing in English, writing an essay in Spanish can be a challenge. In this blog post, I’ll help you overcome this small hurdle to help you make your Spanish essay cohesive, persuasive, and as professional as possible.

Are you ready to write an amazing essay in Spanish?

Basics and Benefits of Writing Essays

Strong writing skills are important for school, college, and a professional career. It’s likely that Spanish is not your first language, but if you’re learning the language then writing a research-fueled Spanish essay gives you all sorts of advantages. It enables you to practice grammar, spelling, vocabulary, as well as synthesize your ideas and thoughts surrounding the topic you’re writing about.

Writing a terrific essay in Spanish requires planning, organization, and structure. Having a process saves you time and once you’ve established a system that works for you, the writing comes easy! 

How to Structure an Essay in Spanish

Similar to when you’re telling a story, your essay should follow a traditional story arc. This means that you start with an appealing introduction, after which you develop your idea within the body of the essay, and finally, you close your thoughts or argument with a summary and conclusion. 

Let’s take a deeper look at these 3 parts of an essay in Spanish:

1. Introduction

Start your essay with a summary of the topic you’ll cover throughout your piece. The introduction reflects the argumentative line that your whole essay follows. It should be brief but not too short. I recommend making the intro 10% of your whole essay. 

A good introduction gives enough information by stating a problem or the reason why you’re writing the essay and why the reader should be compelled to read it. 

Some writers choose to write the introduction after they’ve written the body and conclusion. I think it’s a good strategy that allows you to summarize and evaluate the body of your whole essay before you aim to highlight important points in your introduction. 

My biggest advice is to make it clear what the reason for your essay’s existence is, so that your reader can feel excited to know more, and invited to learn from you. 

This is the main part of your essay. I recommend that you dedicate 80% of your whole essay to the body. This critical section develops the core ideas of your essay in Spanish as it’s where you present the main ideas and their arguments in relation to the topic you’re writing about. 

This part requires you to do research from reputable sources, fact checking, and tying all your ideas together in a cohesive way. 

3. Conclusion

The remaining 10% of your essay in Spanish should focus on bringing the essay to a close. You want to summarize all the main ideas of your topic and establish your final posture on it. 

Preferably, leave no loose ends and make sure the ending of your essay has the ability to create a discussion or invite the reader to find out more about the topic. 

Steps to Follow to Write an Essay in Spanish

Every writer has a unique system that works for them. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. 

The steps and path you follow for writing an essay in Spanish depend on the knowledge and fluency you have of the language as well as your familiarity with writing. 

Nevertheless, I recommend some basic steps that will help you if you’re a beginner when it comes to writing an essay in Spanish. 

1. Define a Topic

Choose a topic of interest to you. If the topic is not assigned by your teacher, go for a current issue or interesting topic that will inspire you to research as much as possible. Check the local media, or go online and find out what topics are available for you to discuss.

2. Do Your Research

This aspect is critical—you must find reliable sources of information for your essay. Go to a library if possible, find academic papers online, and gather as much documentation as possible that helps you understand the central themes and patterns of your chosen topic.

As a plus, if you do your research in Spanish, you’ll see other essays in Spanish that will help you develop your own Spanish writing style, tone, and personality.  

3. Determine Your Position

After you’ve gathered enough research, you’ll begin to see an angle or position you can take in relation to the information. The angle or position you take is essentially your “point.” Ask yourself, “What’s my point in writing this?” When you’ve answered that, you’ve discovered your position. 

To support your position, your research should include quotes, statistics, and any relevant information you can find from credible sources. 

4. Draft an Outline

This step is vital for organizing your arguments and ideas. Since Spanish is not your first language, an outline will allow you to translate words or phrases. In addition to listing Spanish notes in your outline, keep this basic process in mind:

• Know your audience
• Gather all notes, research, and supporting materials
• Organize them into a cohesive flow 
• Be sure to organize by how each subtopic relates to the main topic and to each other

5. List Spanish Words and Terms

Since you’re writing an essay in Spanish, it’s only befitting that you have a list of specific words and terms you want to include in it. 

Draft a list of terms that are relevant to your essay in Spanish, whether they’re reminders in your outline or they’re unfamiliar terms that beg to be further researched. 

The terms you choose allow you to set a tone and define whether you’re using standard Spanish, informal Spanish, or literary and formal language. 

The tone you choose to follow in your essay guides your word choice. 

Here’s a list of words and phrases in Spanish that can help with your writing:

6. Write the Body of Your Essay

Focus on fully developing your argument with relevant examples and evidence to support your position. Each paragraph should focus on only one argument along with supporting evidence, and the flow from one paragraph to the next should sound natural and rational. 

Spanish is a richer language, so don’t be afraid of writing longer sentences than usual, but make sure you combine them with short dynamic phrases. It’s essential to keep your reader interested! 

7. Write an Engaging Introduction

Once you’re done with the body of your essay, start writing the introduction. The purpose of your intro is to set a tone and prepare the reader for what follows. 

Putting together your introduction at the end allows you to absorb what you’ve written and define how to present the topic and express your point. 

8. Summarize and Conclude

The conclusion is your essay is an opportunity to tie all your points together and restate the main argument. Since some essays are meant to be objective, I recommend you include a paragraph or sentence that stimulates reflection and enriches the reader’s perspective on the topic. 

9. Final Edits and Proofreading

This final step is the second most critical when it comes to writing an essay in Spanish! Edit for correcting typos, punctuation, grammatical errors, and spelling. 

I recommend you share your Spanish essay with a native speaker who can proofread it before you turn it in. Another person’s perspective can help you spot an error or a section that lacks cohesion. 

A Few Final Tips

Read your essay as many times as possible.

I find myself making changes to essays after reading them at least 4 or 5 times. You need to check your essay for: 

• readability
• consistency
• transitions between paragraphs, 
• unnecessary fillers, and 
• adequate adverbs and adjectives.

Think and write in Spanish, if possible

By drafting an outline, doing your research, and organizing your ideas in Spanish from the beginning, you fully immerse yourself and make writing an essay in Spanish more efficient. 

On the contrary, by writing and researching in English with the goal of translating, you’ll end up in a tough spot with way much more work than intended. 

Ready to Write Your First Essay in Spanish?

I hope by sharing my essay-writing experience in this blog post that you feel more confident about writing your essay in Spanish. I know it can be frustrating and challenging at times, but don’t be afraid to make mistakes and correct them later. 

The truth is, the more comfortable you feel speaking Spanish, the more your writing skills in Spanish will improve. 

If you’re ready to take the next step and work on your speaking skills, join us at Homeschool Spanish Academy! You can sign up for a free trial class with one of our native, Spanish-speaking teachers. Before you know it, you’ll be speaking Spanish and writing essays like a pro!

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How to Write in Spanish: Key Rules and Tips for Casual to Creative Writing

Writing is an often-overlooked skill by language learners. This guide will help you master everything from essential Spanish writing rules (and how they differ from their English counterparts) to typing an essay writing.

Learn how to write, type and text in Spanish, how to write letters, emails and essays, as well as other forms of writing like journaling and even recipes. Plus, check out some practical tips to help you improve your Spanish writing skills. 

Key Spanish Writing Rules

Spanish spelling, capitalization rules in spanish, spanish punctuation, spanish sentence structure, spanish abbreviations, how to write a letter in spanish, how to write an email in spanish, how to write an essay in spanish, how to type in spanish, accent marks, punctuation, texting in spanish, other types of spanish writing, creative writing, greeting cards, how to practice spanish writing skills, and one more thing….

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Written words in Spanish generally look the way they sound. Compared to English, there are far fewer cases of silent letters, double letters or different spellings for the same sounds. Also, vowels each have their own specific sounds that don’t change, no matter what other letters surround it.

However, Spanish has a couple of spelling oddities that are worth remembering:

• The letter h has no sound. Regardless of its position in a word, it will always be soundless (zanahoria — carrot, hoguera  — bonfire , hueso  — bone). When it’s combined with the letter  c , it makes the same ch sound as in English (chaleco— vest , coche  — car , noche  — night) and even though it has no sound of its own, it can change the meaning of a word (ola— wave, hola  — hello).
• Some letters have similar sounds. The letters that normally cause problems for learners are b/v, r/rr, g/j, ll/y and the “triplets” c/k/q and c/s/z . It would be impossible for you to learn every word containing these pairs, so the best you can do is check a dictionary in case of doubt. 
• Spanish uses accent marks . Accent marks may be small, but they’re very important. If a word has an accent mark in Spanish, don’t ignore it, because accent marks can easily change the pronunciation and meaning of words (tráfico — traffic , trafico — I smuggle , traficó — he smuggled).

Learning Spanish capitalization is actually pretty straightforward. Spanish capitalizes far fewer words than English, so you just have to remember the words that are not capitalized in Spanish.

For instance, unlike English, Spanish does not capitalize:

• Days of the week
• Nationalities
• Religions and their adjectives
• Social and political movements
• The pronoun yo (I) unless it is the first word in a sentence
• Book titles (except for the first word)
• Movie titles (except for the first word)
• Personal titles (except when they’re the first word in a sentence)

Punctuation is another area where English and Spanish share a lot of features. However, there are some Spanish punctuation rules that may be surprising for Spanish language learners. These are the main ones to watch out for:

• Spanish has an inverted opening question mark and exclamation mark (¿,¡).
• Spanish does not capitalize the first word after a colon.
• Spanish uses a colon in the opening of letters. While English uses a comma (Dear Mrs. Petunia,), Spanish uses a colon (Estimada señora Petunia:).
• Spanish doesn’t use the Oxford comma. The last two items of a list will always be joined with a conjunction like y (and) or o (or) .
• Spanish and English write numbers differently. In Spanish, you use a period to separate groups of thousands (e.g. 1450 or 1,450 would be 1.450 in Spanish). Spanish uses the comma as the decimal separator (so 1.5 would be 1,5 in Spanish).
• Spanish places punctuation marks outside quotation marks. For example, in English, you’d write “I love you.” while in Spanish this would be “Te quiero”.
• Dialogue formatting is different in Spanish. The biggest difference is possibly the fact that Spanish uses a dash to open a dialogue (instead of quotation marks) and to enclose the dialogue tag (instead of commas). For example: 

English: “I love him,” she said, “I always have. “

Spanish: –Lo amo –dijo ella–. Siempre lo he amado.

Sentence structure refers to the internal organization of a language, i.e. the order we have to put elements in a sentence so that it is grammatically correct.

Many Spanish learners think that since both Spanish and English follow the general pattern S + V + O (Subject + Verb + Object), both languages build sentences in the exact same way.

This is true sometimes, as in the following two examples:

Marta está bebiendo café. (S + V + O) Marta is drinking coffee. (S + V + O)

Unfortunately, this is not always the case, so you should take into account a couple of Spanish sentence structure rules if you want to come up with correct sentences, even if you’re just trying to produce basic Spanish sentences :

• In Spanish, you can omit the subject. If you know who you are talking or writing about, you do not need to mention that person (Tengo hambre — I am hungry). This is possible because verbs in Spanish have a different ending for each grammatical person.
• Adjectives come after the noun in Spanish. There are a few exceptions that change the meaning, but overall, adjectives always come after the noun (la camisa blanca — the white shirt).
• Nouns and adjectives have to agree in Spanish. Every determiner, quantifier, adjective and adverb that refers to a noun must have the same gender and number (el perro negro  — the black dog, all words masculine and singular; las tazas rojas  — the red cups, all words feminine and plural).
• Negation is very simple in Spanish. The majority of sentences become negative in Spanish by adding no in front of the main verb. No other changes are normally needed. You can also make negations in Spanish by using negative adverbs like nunca (never) and nadie (no one).

Abbreviations can be used in both formal and informal contexts, and even though they tend to work similarly across languages, there are a couple of things you should know about Spanish abbreviations and how to use them :

• Even though personal titles are not capitalized, their abbreviations are capitalized. For example:

señor — Sr. / Mister

señora  — Sra. / Mrs .

doctor  — Dr. / Doctor

• Some abbreviations appear very frequently in Spanish correspondence. For instance:

usted  — Vd. / formal you

se ruega contestación — S.R.C. / RSVP

• Ordinal numbers are gendered. They’re adjectives, so they take on the gender of the noun they’re referring to. Because of this, their abbreviations are also marked for gender (1º/1ª, 2º/2ª…).
• Spanish abbreviations can have a plural form. Normally, abbreviations add -s to form their plural (página — pág. / page, páginas  — págs. / pages). If the abbreviation has only one letter, it’s normally doubled (página  — p. / page , páginas  — pp. / pages).
• Some acronyms do not accept the plural ending -s . They will still take the plural determiner if necessary (los CD  — the CDs). Oddly enough, you have to pronounce the final -s when reading/pronouncing them (los ce-dés  — the cee dees).
• Some international abbreviations and acronyms have their own version in Spanish. Examples of this are:

la UE  — la Unión Europea / the EU (European Union)

la ONU — la Organización de Naciones Unidas / the UN (United Nations)

• Spanish speakers use a lot of abbreviations when texting. We’ll see some examples of this later in this post.
• English and Spanish write dates differently. In Spanish, the order of writing the date is always day/month/year. So, while an American might read the date 02/07/2018 as February the 7th 2018, for a Spanish-speaking person it would be July the 2nd 2018.
• Spanish uses different measurement systems from American English. This is something to bear in mind not only while writing, but when using Spanish in general. Not everybody knows what inches, feet, pounds or miles are (especially in Spain). Spanish-speaking countries use the metric system, so they use centimeters, meters, kilograms, kilometers, etc.

The first thing you need to do before starting to write a letter in Spanish is to decide whether it has to be formal or informal. This will have an impact not only on the body of the letter, but also (and especially) on the way you start and finish writing it.

There are a couple of well-established rules you should bear in mind:

• Querido/a (Dear) is only used in informal letters, while Estimado/a (Dear) is the preferred form in formal ones.
• You normally use just the first name of the person you are writing to if the letter is informal (Querido Julián), but Señor (Mr.), Señora (Mrs.) or Señorita (Miss) and a surname if the letter is formal (Estimado Sr. González).
• Use tú (informal you) in the body of informal letters, but usted/ustedes (formal you singular/plural) in formal ones.
• When closing a letter, you can send Besos y abrazos (Hugs and kisses) in casual letters, but never in formal ones. Use Saludos (Regards) in semi-formal letters, and Cordialmente/Atentamente (Yours sincerely) in formal ones.

The majority of the rules we had for writing letters also apply to writing an email in Spanish . Make sure that you use the right opening and closing in your email and that the overall tone and the vocabulary used are appropriate to the situation.

When writing an email, especially a formal one, you’ll normally have to include four sections: greeting, reason for writing, body of the email and closing.

Here’s a very brief example of an informal email John wrote to his friend Joanne:

¡Hola, Joanne! (Hi, Joanne!)

Reason for writing

Te escribo para preguntar si irás mañana al cumpleaños de Sonia. (I’m writing to ask if you’ll be going to Sonia’s birthday tomorrow.)

Me encantaría verte. ¡Hace tanto tiempo que no te veo! Madre mía, creo que la última vez que nos encontramos fue para Navidad. ¿Te acuerdas? (I would love to see you. I haven’t seen you in ages! Good Lord, I think the last time we ran into each other was on Christmas. Do you remember?)

Un abrazo, (Hugs,)

Starting to write essays in Spanish is possibly one of the most challenging tasks for beginner learners. Going from simple sentences to several paragraphs requires a lot of practice, but there are tons of fixed expressions that can be used in order to make this process easier.

Depending on the type of essay you need to write, you’ll have to cover one or more of the following points:

• Giving your opinion: This is very common in essays, especially the ones included in official Spanish exams. Make sure you use expressions that help you introduce your personal opinions, such as en mi opinión (in my opinion), me parece que (it seems to me that) or creo que (I believe that).
• Agreeing and disagreeing: Another very common type of essay is the one where you’re given a sentence or quotation and you have to agree or disagree with it. Useful expressions here can be estoy de acuerdo (I agree), no estoy de acuerdo (I disagree) and es falso que (it is false that).
• Backing your claims: If you say that something is false or that you know for a fact something is true, you should back your claims with some evidence. Try to introduce words and expressions such as según (according to), demostrar (to demonstrate) and la fuente (the source).
• Conclusion: A conclusion normally summarizes the main topics of the essay and answers any questions and hypotheses that were posed in the introduction. When writing your conclusion, use expressions like en conclusión (in conclusion), por esta razón (for this reason) and en resumen (in summary).

Spanish and English keyboards are different. Because of that, typing in Spanish can be a challenge for the first few times. There are several ways to type in Spanish on your device:

• You can install a keyboard on your device. 
• You can use Alt codes (Windows) and Opt codes (Macs). 
• You can use online tools such as TypeIt . 

If you take a look at a Spanish keyboard, you will notice some letters, characters and symbols have changed, moved or disappeared. Below are three of the most important differences.

Spanish vowels can have an accent mark ( á, é,  í, ó, ú ). In order to type the accent, you first have to type the accent key on your keyboard (‘) and then the vowel you want to add the accent mark to.

Another letter with a mark is the Spanish letter ñ . Spanish keyboards have their own ñ key, which corresponds to the (:) key on an English-language keyboard.

The last mark you will need in Spanish is the diéresis (¨). To type this, press Shift + the (‘) key. Then type u or i.

The Spanish language has opening question marks and exclamation marks that are upside-down versions of the marks you already know.

In order to type the opening (inverted) question mark, press Shift and (=). The closing question mark can be typed by pressing Shift and (-).

As for the exclamation marks, the opening one is very easy: just press the (=) key. The closing one can be typed by pressing Shift + 1, like on your normal keyboard.

Another change you’ll notice when typing in Spanish is the series of symbols you get by pressing Shift + numbers 2 to 0. Your keyboard probably has the sequence @#$%^&*() , while the Spanish keyboard will give you “·$%&/()= .

There are other differences between both keyboards, like the position of hyphens, dashes, apostrophes, colons, semi-colons, stops and commas, among others. In the beginning, all these differences can be a little bit overwhelming, and you’ll probably type the wrong symbol or letter because your brain will want to do it automatically in your normal keyboard layout.

As with everything, practicing Spanish typing will be the key (no pun intended) to get you used to the new layout. There are even Spanish typing games where you can practice all you want until you feel fully comfortable using the Spanish keyboard.

Texting in any language has its own separate set of rules. For instance, depending on the recipient of the message, two texts can look completely different even if they include the exact same information:

Xq tki. (Because I have to go.) This is very informal, sent to a friend.

Porque tengo que irme. (Because I have to go.) This is sent in a much more formal situation, normally to someone with whom we do not have a very close relationship.

As you can see from the first example, there are a lot of abbreviations and slang words you can use while texting in Spanish , much like you would do in English. It would be impossible to mention all of them here, but if you learn their most common traits, you will be able to text in Spanish like a pro:

• Many letters are omitted. The most common feature you’ll see is the omission of vowels and consonants. For example:

gnl — genial (great) tmbn — también (also)

• The letters q and c normally become k. Here’s one of the most common examples of this:

tkm — te quiero mucho (I love you so much)

• There are some established abbreviations. You’ll just have to learn these by heart. For instance:

b — bien (good) q — que/qué (that/what) xa — para (for)

• Numbers and symbols can also be used. Just as in English, if a number comes close to the pronunciation of a part of a word, some letters will be replaced by numbers .

salu2 — saludos (regards) 100pre — siempre (always)

• Watch out for acronyms. Spanish normally uses their own versions of well-known acronyms. These acronyms are often similar to the international ones or can be understood from the context, but sometimes they will be completely different. For example:

NATO —  OTAN   World Health Organization / WHO — Organización Mundial de la Salud / OMS

There are many more types of Spanish writing, and each of them has its own intrinsic characteristics and rules. Here are a few of the most common ones.

Creative writing is any kind of writing that’s not professional, academic or journalistic. Since this definition is so broad, there are also many types of writing that can fall into this category, the most common ones being poetry, novels, scripts, short stories, fairy tales and screenplays, among others.

Creative writing can be an amazing way to improve your Spanish language skills. It forces you to think, be creative, ask questions and find answers to them. If you’re not sure where to start, a Spanish writing prompt can get your creative juices flowing.

If you need some more guidance, many colleges and websites offer courses in Spanish creative writing, like this one from the Hemingway Institute . There’s a community of aspiring writers out there, so it’s also easy to find some people to share your writing with. Joining a local meetup of creative Spanish-language writers is a great way to meet like-minded people who can give you feedback and help you along in your writing journey!

Since there are no established rules, journaling can be a good way of practicing writing in Spanish without stress. No one except you will have access to your journal (unless you want to), so it doesn’t matter if you make spelling mistakes or write grammatically incorrect sentences as long as you’re doing it in Spanish.

If you feel that writing a journal in Spanish can be challenging, try to break your thoughts down into smaller chunks. There are many topics you can write about that will allow you to practice your Spanish writing skills in an undemanding way:

• Your bucket list and dreams for the future.
• Things you’re thankful for.
• Things that motivate you and make you happy.
• Reflections on the past day/week/year.
• Your goals for this week/month/year.
• Your favorite places or people and why.

The list goes on and on. Write about the topics you want, whenever you want and however you want. There are tons of journaling prompts out there so if you’re ever stumped, make use of them! 

Recipes have a very easy structure: a list of ingredients and steps to cook the dish. You can start practicing writing recipes in Spanish by using the infinitive when you give the instructions (Pelar las patatas — To peel the potatoes), and move on to the imperative mood when you study the Spanish imperativo (Pela las patatas — Peel the potatoes).

Even though we normally buy ready-made cards, adding a few words of our own could be a very nice finishing touch. If you’re giving a birthday card, remember to include some wishes like ¡Feliz cumpleaños! (Happy birthday!) or ¡Te deseo mucha felicidad! (I wish you lots of happiness!).

If you want to give a Valentine’s Day card, try to make it even more personal by creating a romantic card in Spanish yourself. Do not forget to express your feelings with phrases like Mi amor (My love), Mi cariño (My sweetheart) and Te amo (I love you).

Notes can be written to say thank you, to ask for a favor or to remind someone to do something. They tend to be very short and to the point, including only information that is absolutely necessary. For this reason, many notes only include one or two words. Here are some examples of short and sweet notes:

• ¡Gracias! (Thanks!)
• Para ti. (For you.)
• ¿Me echas una mano? (Will you help me?)
• Te quiero. (I love you.)
• Que aproveche. (Enjoy your meal.)
• Compra leche. (Buy some milk.)

Your Spanish writing can only improve if you actually practice it. Luckily, there are many ways to exercise those writing muscles and get both physical and digital practice in. Here are some effective tips and resources to practice writing in Spanish: 

• WordPress   is a blogging favorite, thanks to its easy-to-use interface. You can produce incredibly polished, professional-looking blogs here without being a blog expert.
• Blogger   is clean, simple and connected to your existing Google account. It’s the easiest way to create and manage multiple blogs, interact with other people in the real world and keep track of interesting posts in an extremely neat and tidy newsfeed.
• Tumblr   is ideal for the non-committal blog writer. This is a great place to just fool around, have fun and post any multimedia content that catches your eye. You can write lengthier posts if the mood strikes you, but on the other hand can post hilarious cat pictures with one-word comments attached. If you’re reluctant to start a blog, start here.
• Use social media: Social media is a simple solution if you’ve got friends who speak Spanish or want to make new Spanish-speaking friends. Its character limit makes it an easy place to start writing in Spanish without the pressure of writing full paragraphs or even complete sentences. You can create separate social media accounts specifically for your Spanish learning. 
• Write everyday things: Are you an obsessive list-writer? Do you make pro and con lists when confronted with big decisions? Most people keep notes of some kind, even if it’s only a grocery shopping list. Start managing your life in Spanish! Every little bit of practice counts. Plus, it’s been proven that thinking, speaking and writing in a foreign language helps you be an all-around better decision-maker .
• HelloTalk   is a social media site built specifically for the needs and desires of language learners. You can search for a fellow language learner or native Spanish speaker, or plug in your information and let them find you (or both)! Spanish is one of over 100 language options offered here, so you can chat with someone in Spanish and offer them interaction in whatever other language you know well.
• italki   is often recommended to Spanish learners who are seeking tutors, but one often overlooked feature is their exercises page . Here, you can find a daily collection of prompts to get you writing. Other users can comment on your writing with feedback, and you can return the favor in your native language.
• WhatsApp   is a multimedia messaging service used in Europe and several Spanish-speaking countries. If you’ve got friends who speak Spanish, take advantage of this relationship.
• Reddit   isn’t just for browsing diverse internet content, it also boasts a huge, diverse community that you can interact with. Try subreddits for specific countries and regions (such as /r/latinoamerica and /r/ecuador ) or for the Spanish language itself ( /r/spanish  and /r/espanol ). 
• Use Google Translate:  If you’re not sure how to dive into writing and the very idea seems somewhat daunting, you’re allowed to cheat. No, really! Use Google Translate to give you a place to start. Translate what you want to say into Spanish through the program. Then, carefully edit the text, paying close attention to syntax, diction and grammar. You can also do this backwards—write your sentence in Spanish and try to get the English translation you’re going for. If you’re not sure you produced a good sentence, ask a native speaker for feedback on a website like HiNative .
• Time your writing activities:  If you’re finding it difficult to sit down to write, set a timer. It can be as quick as five or 10 minutes, or as long as an hour—whatever works with your schedule. Hold yourself to the allotted time and see what you can come up with! 
• Read a lot: Reading dramatically improves writing ability in foreign (and native) languages. Get into the habit of reading any Spanish language material you can get your hands on. Magazines , newspapers , books , children’s stories —it’s all good. Change all your devices to a Spanish interface so your brain gets subconsciously ingrained with Spanish syntax, grammar and vocabulary. Find your favorite sources of information in Spanish, like BBC , CNN , Vice , BuzzFeed , Vogue   and more popular information sources online in Spanish . There are great Spanish language books out there for beginners, intermediate learners and advanced learners approaching fluency . 

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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• Start a personal project: A personal writing project might be a diary, dream journal, scrapbook or nature journal (documenting the wildlife and plants in your backyard and beyond). Writing is an extraordinarily valuable tool for self-reflection. 

I know this is a lot of information to digest, but the good news is that you now have everything you need to know about how to write in Spanish. So take a pencil and a piece of paper (or run that word processor you normally use) and start writing in Spanish right away!

If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU .

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab .

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

Related posts:

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Helpful Vocabulary for Phone Conversations in Spanish

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Spanish essay example and how to write it.

Today, I will share a  Spanish essay example   in the end of the article and talk about the steps and hacks to help you craft the perfect Spanish essay.

As an experienced writer, I understand how hard it can be to write in a language different from your mother tongue. But, know that learning  how to write a good Spanish essay  has more to do with following a structure than it has to do with understanding the language.

Of course, you need to have a basic understanding of spelling and grammatical practices; as well as a vast vocabulary to avoid sounding monotonous. 

However, learning  how to write a Spanish essay  is not impossible if you follow these simple steps:

• Draft an outline 
• Create a list of words and terms 
• Start writing the body of your essay
• Write the introduction 
• Formulate the conclusion 
• Proofread and edit 

As you can see, learning how to write a good Spanish essay requires a lot of planning and organization. And although it might be counter-intuitive at first, following the structure above will save you a lot of time. Plus, once you have the system down, you will be able to create exciting pieces without breaking a sweat!

Before we dive in, I always recommend you do a little research. So, look up  Spanish essay examples  online and analyze the way the writer structured the piece. Bonus points if you can find useful examples of essays within your topic of choice. The idea is not to copy what others are saying but to understand  how to write a Spanish essay  that is well crafted, appealing, and informative — all at the same time. 

Now that you have done your homework; it is time to start writing your essay by following the steps I mentioned earlier:

1. Draft an outline

An outline is vital when you are learning  how to write a Spanish essay , as it will allow you to organize your arguments and ideas. Plus, given that you are not writing in your first language, an outline will help you translate keywords or phrases from English to Spanish (if need be).

As you can see from the Spanish essay example, I have shared it after the text . You must keep it simple. Nonetheless, make sure you have enough information to elaborate on 6-7 paragraphs. Also, do not forget to include any quotes, statistics, or other information (from credible sources) that could support your arguments.

2. Create a list of words and terms 

I always recommend that before you start writing, you create a list of keywords or phrases that are vital to your essay. More often than not, these terms will appear as part of your outline, but, in other instances, these could be hard-to-translate terms. 

You do not need to write every word or term you will be using throughout the piece as you can always use a English-Spanish dictionary if you cannot recall a specific term.

The list is a way of double-checking. keywords to make sure you are using the correct term in Spanish and not using a literal translation. For instance, in the list of our Spanish essay example, the word “ must-have ” is not translated to “ debes tener ,” as that would be a literal translation. Instead, the phrases “ cualidades indispensables ” is used, which would be the appropriate term in Spanish.  

3. Start writing the body of your essay

The body of the essay is where you fully develop your argument. It might seem odd, but you should ignore your essay’s introduction and go straight to the body . 

If your goal is to master  how to write a good Spanish essay  make sure your body has a good flow in between paragraphs, so they do not end up being separate mini-essays. It is also essential that each body paragraph contains only one main argument or claim. However, this central idea can (and should) be supported by approximately 5 to 6 other sentences.

Spanish essays are usually wordier/more complicated than your average English essay as the language is richer. So, do not be afraid to write longer sentences to get the message across.  

Lastly, do not forget to add relevant examples, evidence to support your arguments, and quotes from experts or credible sources (i.e., academic books and journal articles).   You can see one example of a quote here.

Let’s be honest, most students do not do that, but shows the teacher you have put effort to research your topic.

 Go back to our Spanish essay example and dissect each paragraph. Pay attention to the transitions here and here , the way we incorporated quotes, and how each paragraph’s main idea is developed. In doing so, you will be gaining valuable insight as to how to structure your document. 

4. Write the introduction 

Once you have finished writing your entire essay’s body, write the introduction. Why? Simple. If the job of an introduction is to set the tone for what will follow. You will have a more precise and more detailed idea of what that is once you’ve written the entire piece. 

An introduction should state a problem or introduce a subject of discussion. It should also tell the reader  why  you are writing this essay and why he/she should feel compelled to read it. 

Let’s look at our Spanish essay example. Here, the introduction , although it is short, gives us enough information. It allows us to understand that we will know how to manage a remote team by choosing the right candidates and establishing an effective strategy after reading this essay. And that is precisely what you want an introduction to be doing!  

5. Formulate the conclusion 

When learning  how to write a Spanish essay , you have to be really careful with how you formulate the conclusion. In Spanish, your conclusion should always begin by restating your main argument. In other words, this is your chance to tie all of your main points together and give the reader a succinct takeaway. 

For instance, in our Spanish essay example, the conclusion is everything. Think about it, if you only read the title and this last paragraph, you almost do not need to read the body. All the main points are there, and as a reader, I got what I came looking for: strategies to manage a remote team effectively. 

6. Proofread and edit 

To finish our easy steps on  how to write a Spanish essay,  we must not leave our editing and proofreading! This step is critical to composing a great essay. Most readers will not even finish reading articles if they spot a spelling mistake, typo, or grammatical error. Thus, take the time to go over your essay.

Furthermore, when editing your essay, pay attention to:

• Readability 
• Consistency of the language
• Argument reasoning and rationale
• Transition between paragraphs
• Writing style
• Citations and referencing 

Lastly, given that Spanish is not your first language, I always recommend having someone else proofread your final draft before sending it out or printing it. A native Spanish speaker can easily spot mistakes that you might have missed, which could affect your article’s natural flow. 

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How to Make your Spanish Essay More Persuasive 

Now that you have finished writing a good Spanish essay, you might want to go the extra mile by making it more persuasive. 

A  Spanish persuasive essay  or any persuasive essays’ goal is to convince the reader to think like you or validate your perspective. But, some topics can be more subjective than others. Thus, to make sure your essay is effective, always rely on others. 

In other words, don’t let your argument stand-alone—research statistics, graphs, information, and data that can back up what you are saying. Citing or quoting experts in the field is also a great way to go about it as it allows your message to carry more weight. 

Nonetheless, make sure you are only using reliable sources. Below a list of ways to vet a reference to make sure your  Spanish persuasive essay  uses only the best sources:

Verify the information you already have against the data found in the source.

• Authority

Make sure a dependable author or institution writes the source.

Depending on your subject, your currency needs will vary. Thus, make sure to check when was the book or article written/published.

As a rule of thumb, I consider a reliable source:

• Materials published within the last five years

• Official websites (.gov., .edu,.org)

• Academic databases

• Articles published by well-known authors or experts in a specific topic

There you have it! Six easy steps that will help you write a good Spanish essay and a few tips and tricks to make it more persuasive.

Spanish essay example – See below

Cómo desarrollar una estrategia efectiva de teletrabajo.

[Start of the Introduction section]

El Covid-19 ha llevado a muchas empresas a migrar de un trabajo presencial al teletrabajo. Según Global Workplace Analytics [ and in the end you can add the reference to your Bibliografía ], unos 75 millones de trabajadores de los EEUU podrían teletrabajar al menos un parte de su jornada de trabajo. Sin embargo, para muchos sectores esto se ha convertido en un verdadero reto.

Aunque para muchos no sea obvio, los beneficios de trabajar con equipos remotos son incontables, siempre que construyas una política realmente efectiva y diseñes el proceso de reclutamiento acertado. Así es que si buscas desarrollar una estrategia efectiva de teletrabajo, debes asegurarte de que tus empleados o candidatos para trabajar a distancia, cuenten con las herramientas adecuadas.

[End of the Introdution]

[Start of the body section]

Cuando comiences a reclutar personas (nuevas o dentro de tu mismo equipo de trabajo), asegúrate de informarles de las cualidades indispensables que buscas en un candidato. No todo el mundo podrá unirse a la modalidad de teletrabajo por más que la situación lo requiera.

Por ejemplo , si una de las características más importantes para el desarrollo del proyecto es la conectividad, los candidatos adecuados deben poder estar a tu disponibles a través de sus computadoras o dispositivos móviles. Mónica Zent [ another reference in our Bibliografía section ], fundadora de Foxwordy la primera red social privada para abogados, recomienda que a todos los candidatos se les debería preguntar acerca de sus hábitos digitales. Pues, los candidatos ideales para el teletrabajo son aquellos que tienen disponibilidad y buena disposición para mantenerse conectados o conectarse en el momento en que sea necesario.

Del mismo modo , debes infórmales sobre de tus reglas para el teletrabajo y ayudarlos a mejorar sus métodos de gestión del tiempo. La idea es que te apoyes en un equipo eficiente, pero que además sea capaz de lograr un buen equilibrio entre la vida y el trabajo. Aunque la flexibilidad es una de las características inherentes del trabajo remoto, debes construir una política firme según las necesidades específicas de tu proyecto para poder dirigir un equipo eficiente y efectivo.

Las horas laborales oficiales, dependerán de los requerimientos de tu proyecto, por lo que es importante que los miembros de tu equipo sepan a qué horario atenerse. En caso de que los miembros de tu equipo tengan distintos husos horarios, define uno oficial con el que todos se sientan cómodos.

Determina los días que necesites una videoconferencia con todo el equipo dentro del huso horario oficial. Estas llamadas les permitirán recordar que trabajan con otras personas aunque por lo general hagan sus tareas aislados. Promueve el uso de la webcam para que todos estén concentrados en la conversación y estén realmente presentes. El verse las caras permite la comprensión del lenguaje corporal y una mejor comunicación.

[End of body section]

[Start of the conclusion section]

En conclusión, una estrategia efectiva de trabajo remoto dependerá de la forma en la que buscas y vetas los candidatos en tu empresa. No todo el mundo tiene la capacidad de trabajar desde casa de manera efectiva.

Además , recuerda hacer hincapié en la modalidad de trabajo y plantea una estructura clara donde se establezcan horarios, reuniones y seguimientos para lograr los mejores resultados.

Si logras incoporar todas estas prácticas dentro de tu modelo de negocio, tendrás un equipo remoto efectivo, compenetrado y eficiente. Tres factores de vital importancia para sobrepasar la crisis mundial que nos ha tocado vivir este 2020.

Bibliografía

• Global Workplace Analytics, 2020. How many people could work-from-home . Consultado a 04.10.2020 en [https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/how-many-people-could-work-from-home].
• Zent, Mónica, 2015. Monica Zent’s 5 Ways to Effectively Lead Remote Teams . Consutlado a 04.10.2020 en [https://medium.com/@MonicaZent/monica-zent-s-5-ways-to-effectively-lead-remote-teams-the-most-cutting-edge-companies-of-the-ab409c3db16a]
• Introducción
• “En los EE. UU., 4.7 millones de empleados trabajan desde casa al menos la mitad de la semana.”
• Qué estas buscando
• Conectividad
• Disponibilidad
• El candidato ideal
• Tip de Mónica Zent
• Flexibilidad
• Modalidad de trabajo
• Estrategia/planificación
• Video conferencias/Uso de la webcam
• Fechas de entrega

List of words

• Work remotely = Trabajo remoto/teletrabajo
• Flexibilty = Felixbilidad
• Availability = Disponibilidad
• 24/7 Connectivity = Conectividad las 24 horas
• Must-haves = Cualidades indispensables
• Video conference = Video conferencias
• Deadlines = Fechas de entrega
• Time zone = huso horario
• Webcam = webcam

One thought on “Spanish Essay Example and How to Write it”

It is very good

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