Spanish B1.11 Listening Practice: Three Past Views
Spanish B1 listening practice with audio, transcript, key phrases, and a speaking challenge for three past views.
Podcast listening is in beta while creation and discussion tools are refined. This published chapter includes its complete segmented audio and transcript.
Level
B1.11
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
15 segments
What to notice while you listen
What you'll understand
Connect ideas across purpose, reason, future, condition, and past background.
Use completed, background, and present-perfect past to build an original spoken Spanish answer.
New pattern
completed, background, and present-perfect past
Practice aloud after listening
Ayer hablaba lentamente.
A short Spanish listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 6: add completed, background, and present-perfect past to what you already control, then say one short answer that reuses earlier Spanish instead of starting from a memorized phrase.
Read while you listen.
1. Carmen · Teacher
Welcome! Today we are mastering three essential views of the past in Spanish: setting the background scene, stating a completed past action, and sharing a present-connected experience. Listen to this conversation between Lucía and Álvaro.
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2. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Ayer hablaba lentamente con Álvaro cuando, de repente, sonó el teléfono.
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3. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Es verdad, yo contesté enseguida y hablé con el cliente sobre el proyecto.
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4. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Esta semana ya he hablado con él tres veces para confirmar los cambios.
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5. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Antes, cuando trabajaba allí, siempre hablaba de estos temas los lunes.
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6. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
¡Pues hoy todo ha ido genial!
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7. Carmen · Teacher
Let me break down the key sentences for you. In the first sentence, Lucía said: 'Ayer hablaba lentamente con Álvaro cuando, de repente, sonó el teléfono.' Notice how she used 'hablaba' to set an ongoing background scene.
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8. Diego · Student
So 'hablaba' is used because speaking was an ongoing activity when the phone rang?
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9. Carmen · Teacher
Exactly, Diego. The imperfect form 'hablaba' provides the background context before a sudden completed event interrupts it.
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10. Carmen · Teacher
In the second sentence, Álvaro said: 'Es verdad, yo contesté enseguida y hablé con el cliente sobre el proyecto.' He used 'hablé' here.
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11. Diego · Student
Why did Álvaro choose 'hablé' instead of 'hablaba'?
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12. Carmen · Teacher
Because 'hablé' is the pretérito indefinido, which marks a specific, completed event in the past.
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13. Carmen · Teacher
Finally, Lucía said: 'Esta semana ya he hablado con él tres veces para confirmar los cambios.' She used 'he hablado' here.
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14. Diego · Student
Does an ongoing time marker like 'esta semana' require 'he hablado' in Spanish?
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15. Carmen · Teacher
Yes! In standard Castilian Spanish, time frames that remain open, like 'esta semana' or 'hoy', use the present perfect form 'he hablado'.
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