
El cumpleaños en el malecón
The Birthday on the Malecón
The test
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5 questions about this story. Two minutes. Nothing to sign up for, and nothing about you is saved.
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Exercises
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1 · Write it in Spanish
Valeria likes this moment a lot.
The last word on the list is "sea".
Then she puts the box inside a bag.
She puts in the napkin, the glass and the candle.
The lemon cake smells very good.
2 · Put the words in order
3 · Word search
5 words from the story hide across and down.
- SONREIR
- OLVIDAR
- GUSTAR
- ENCANTAR
- RECORDAR
4 · Match the word to the picture
Write the letter of the picture next to the word.




Vocabulary
18 words from this story. You will hear all of them in the song.
La canción · The song
The story, line by line
Read the Spanish first. Say it out loud. The English is there only when you need it.
Hoy es domingo y el sol brilla en Santo Domingo.
Today is Sunday and the sun is shining in Santo Domingo.
Es media mañana y el cielo está azul.
It is mid-morning and the sky is blue.
Valeria tiene veintidós años y vive aquí.
Valeria is twenty-two years old and lives here.
Hoy es un día especial: es su cumpleaños.
Today is a special day: it is her birthday.
A Valeria le encanta el domingo por la mañana.
Valeria loves Sunday morning.
Le gusta el sol y le gusta el mar.
She likes the sun and she likes the sea.
Valeria quiere celebrar su cumpleaños en el malecón.
Valeria wants to celebrate her birthday on the malecón.
El malecón es la avenida grande junto al mar.
The malecón is the big avenue next to the sea.
A Valeria le encanta ese lugar de la ciudad.
Valeria loves that place in the city.
Pero Valeria tiene un problema pequeño: olvida todo.
But Valeria has a small problem: she forgets everything.
Olvida las llaves, olvida la hora, olvida los nombres.
She forgets the keys, she forgets the time, she forgets names.
Por eso escribe una lista en un papel.
That is why she writes a list on a piece of paper.
En la lista escribe: pastel, jugo, plato, tenedor.
On the list she writes: cake, juice, plate, fork.
También escribe: servilleta, vaso y una vela pequeña.
She also writes: napkin, glass and a small candle.
La última palabra de la lista es "mar".
The last word on the list is "sea".
En la cocina hay un pastel de limón.
In the kitchen there is a lemon cake.
A Valeria le encanta el pastel de limón.
Valeria loves lemon cake.
Ella prepara el pastel en la mañana temprano.
She makes the cake early in the morning.
Ahora pone el pastel en una caja blanca.
Now she puts the cake in a white box.
Después pone la caja dentro de una bolsa.
Then she puts the box inside a bag.
Pone el jugo, el plato y el tenedor.
She puts in the juice, the plate and the fork.
Pone la servilleta, el vaso y la vela.
She puts in the napkin, the glass and the candle.
Valeria mira la lista otra vez y sonríe.
Valeria looks at the list again and smiles.
Todo está listo y la bolsa está llena.
Everything is ready and the bag is full.
Valeria sale de casa con la bolsa y la lista.
Valeria leaves the house with the bag and the list.
La calle está seca y el sol está fuerte.
The street is dry and the sun is strong.
Valeria camina despacio por la acera.
Valeria walks slowly along the sidewalk.
Hay carros y música en la avenida.
There are cars and music on the avenue.
A Valeria le gusta la música de la avenida.
Valeria likes the music of the avenue.
En diez minutos llega al malecón.
In ten minutes she arrives at the malecón.
El mar está azul y el sol brilla.
The sea is blue and the sun is shining.
Una brisa fresca viene del mar.
A cool breeze comes from the sea.
A Valeria le encanta esa brisa.
Valeria loves that breeze.
Ella se sienta en el muro del malecón.
She sits down on the wall of the malecón.
Pone la bolsa al lado y abre la lista.
She puts the bag beside her and opens the list.
De repente la brisa sopla más fuerte.
Suddenly the breeze blows harder.
La brisa saca la lista de la mano de Valeria.
The breeze takes the list out of Valeria's hand.
El papel se va lejos por la acera.
The paper goes far away along the sidewalk.
Valeria se levanta rápido y corre un poco.
Valeria gets up quickly and runs a little.
Pero el papel está más lejos cada segundo.
But the paper is farther away every second.
Valeria para y mira el papel pequeño.
Valeria stops and looks at the little paper.
Ahora no recuerda qué dice la lista.
Now she does not remember what the list says.
¿Pone el tenedor en la bolsa? No recuerda.
Does she put the fork in the bag? She does not remember.
¿Pone la vela en la bolsa? Tampoco recuerda.
Does she put the candle in the bag? She does not remember that either.
Valeria vuelve al muro y se sienta otra vez.
Valeria goes back to the wall and sits down again.
Está un poco preocupada, pero no está triste.
She is a little worried, but she is not sad.
Abre la bolsa y mira dentro, despacio.
She opens the bag and looks inside, slowly.
Dentro hay una caja blanca con el pastel.
Inside there is a white box with the cake.
Valeria dice: ¡el pastel está aquí!
Valeria says: the cake is here!
También hay un plato y un tenedor.
There is also a plate and a fork.
También hay jugo frío y un vaso.
There is also cold juice and a glass.
Y abajo hay una servilleta y una vela.
And at the bottom there is a napkin and a candle.
Valeria ríe fuerte y mira el mar.
Valeria laughs loudly and looks at the sea.
Todo está en la bolsa. No falta nada.
Everything is in the bag. Nothing is missing.
La lista no es importante ahora.
The list is not important now.
Valeria pone el plato sobre el muro.
Valeria puts the plate on the wall.
Corta un pedazo de pastel con el tenedor.
She cuts a piece of cake with the fork.
Pone la vela pequeña encima del pedazo.
She puts the small candle on top of the piece.
El pastel de limón huele muy rico.
The lemon cake smells very good.
Valeria bebe el jugo y mira los barcos.
Valeria drinks the juice and looks at the boats.
A Valeria le gusta mucho este momento.
Valeria likes this moment a lot.
El sol brilla y la brisa es agradable.
The sun is shining and the breeze is pleasant.
Entonces algo blanco le toca el zapato.
Then something white touches her shoe.
Es la lista. La brisa trae el papel.
It is the list. The breeze brings the paper.
Valeria agarra el papel y lo abre.
Valeria grabs the paper and opens it.
Lee la última palabra de la lista: mar.
She reads the last word on the list: sea.
Valeria mira el mar grande y sonríe.
Valeria looks at the big sea and smiles.
Ella dice: esa palabra no se olvida.
She says: that word is not forgotten.
A Valeria le encanta su cumpleaños en el malecón.
Valeria loves her birthday on the malecón.
El domingo en Santo Domingo es muy lindo.
Sunday in Santo Domingo is very lovely.
Answers
Now watch it again with no subtitles.
The third pass of the video is the one that counts. Put the guide down and just listen.
