Spanish
Online Extensive Reading and Listening Programme

Graded Readers

Reading for pleasure is widely recognised as one of the best ways of learning a foreign language. As well as widening your vocabulary, it will also develop your knowledge of grammatical structures and ability to write the language. You will also learn a lot about the Spanish-speaking world by reading Spanish and Latin American writers.

Clearly the best thing to do is to read authentic works of fiction or non-fiction, written in Spanish and aimed at a Spanish-speaking audience. However, for those who find the idea of reading something of book-length daunting, there is an alternative. Graded readers are books that have been specially adapted to allow language learners to enjoy reading, whatever their language level.

Although they are not widely available on the Internet, there is one site that offers free-access to graded readers at the post-beginners, intermediate and advanced levels.

• Click on http://cvc.cervantes.es/aula/lecturas/. This will take you to the “Lecturas paso a paso ” homepage.
• On the right of the page, you will see a staircase. Click on “inicial” at the bottom of the staircase.
• This will take you to a pile of books. Select “Doce a las doce”, and then, click on “texto”.
• Quickly scan through the story. As you go through “Doce a las doce”, you will notice that a number of words are highlighted in red (Pepe, plaza mayor, Rioja). Click on “Rioja”. A dialogue box will appear with a map indicating the Rioja region and an explanation that this is one of Spain’s most important wine producing areas.
• Before reading any of the graded readers, it is a good idea to do the accompanying pre-reading exercises (Antes de leer). You could also look at the “Sobre el libro” and “Ficha didactica” links for more information about the graded readers and accompanying language exercises.
• Scroll to the bottom of “Doce a las doce” and click on “Antes de leer”. Read the caption under the postcard, then click on “Actividades: 1”. Read the text and then, complete the hangman exercise at the bottom of the page. When you have finished, click on “Actividades: 2”. When you have worked your way through all of the activities, you will be in a good position to tackle the graded reader. So now scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Texto” and read “Doce a las doce”. When you have finished, there are some post-reading exercises (Después de leer) to work on. Click on the “Después de leer” link and work through the activities.
• When you have finished, return to the “Lecturas paso a paso” homepage, and select another graded reader at an appropriate level. If, for example, you found “Doce a las doce” too easy, select a reader from the Intermedio or Avanzado selection. Remember, that it is a good idea to work through the pre-reading activities first, as these will aid comprehension of the text. If you found “Doce a las doce” easy, but enjoyed reading it just the same, select another graded reader from the post- beginners (Inicial) selection.