Role Play 1: Alojamiento

Format and Assessment Criteria

The oral examination accounts for 25% of your total Leaving Certificate Spanish marks at Higher Level. Within the fifteen-minute oral, you complete a general conversation followed by an authentic role-play situation.

Examiners assess your role play on two primary criteria set out in the syllabus:

• Transfer of meaning: how effectively, fluently, and promptly you convey and extract information.
• Accuracy and appropriateness of language: your control of grammatical agreements, register, pronunciation, and the variety of vocabulary and structures you deploy.

The Operational Routine

1. Card preparation: You are given the role-play card and a short time to read the English prompts before the recording begins. Use this time to count the tasks, identify the tense required for each, plan an expansion with a reason, and rehearse your opening line.
2. The examiner opens: Because accommodation tasks simulate authentic transactions or phone calls, the examiner speaks first (for example: «Hotel Central, dígame» or «Oficina de alojamiento, ¡dígame!»). Listen carefully before responding.
3. Readiness prompt: Before recording starts, the examiner asks «¿Preparado?» (to a male candidate) or «¿Preparada?» (to a female candidate). Simply reply: «Sí, preparado/a».
4. The unseen follow-up question: At the end of the prompts on the card, the examiner will ask an unprepared question arising from the conversation. Never answer with a bare sí, no, or single noun phrase. Always produce a full sentence containing a conjugated verb and an explanation (porque..., ya que...).

From Card to Script: A Four-Step Method

Every accommodation card sets out distinct communicative tasks. Use this systematic approach to tackle any scenario:

1. Number each task: Mark the prompts on your card so you do not omit any requirement.
2. Identify the mandatory tense: Match each prompt to its grammatical vehicle:

• Describing last year or past habits: imperfect or preterite.
• Stating current wishes or polite requests: conditional or softened subjunctive (quisiera).
• Discussing future plans: synthetic future or cuando + present subjunctive.
• Imagining alternative outcomes: si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional.

1. Add one justification per turn: Never offer a bare fact. Pair every request or statement with a connective and a reason using porque, ya que, or así que.
2. Rehearse your question and recovery lines: Ensure you have prepared your candidate enquiry and have conversation repair strategies ready if you mishear a detail.

Reserving, Cancelling, and Enquiring About Facilities

The most versatile polite opener in Spanish for making a booking or enquiry is quisiera (literally 'I would like', the polite imperfect subjunctive of querer):

• «Quisiera reservar una habitación doble con baño para tres noches.» (I would like to book a double room with a bathroom for three nights.)
• «¿Tienen habitaciones libres del tres al diez de agosto?» (Do you have free rooms from the 3rd to the 10th of August?)
• «Somos cuatro personas: dos adultos y dos niños.» (There are four of us: two adults and two children.)
• «¿Cuánto cuesta la habitación por noche y está incluido el desayuno?» (How much is the room per night and is breakfast included?)

Types of Rooms and Board

• Room types: una habitación individual (single), doble (double), con dos camas (twin), exterior (facing the street), con vistas al mar (with a sea view).
• Board types: sólo alojamiento (room only), alojamiento y desayuno (bed and breakfast), media pensión (half board), pensión completa (full board).
• Places to stay: el hotel, el hostal, la pensión, el albergue juvenil, el camping, la casa rural, el piso compartido.

Facilities and Enquiries Nearby

Cards frequently ask you to pose two questions about amenities:

• «¿El hotel tiene ascensor y aparcamiento?» (Does the hotel have a lift and parking?)
• «¿Hay wifi gratis en las habitaciones?» (Is there free wifi in the rooms?)
• «¿Se pueden dejar las maletas en recepción después de la salida?» (Can luggage be left at reception after check-out?)
• «¿Está lejos del centro? ¿Se puede ir a pie?» (Is it far from the centre? Can you go on foot?)

Cancelling or Altering a Booking

When altering arrangements, pair a past tense for what was booked with the conditional or future for the change:

• «Llamo para anular la reserva que hice a nombre de Murphy.» (I am calling to cancel the reservation I made under the name of Murphy.)
• «¿Sería posible cambiar la reserva para la semana que viene?» (Would it be possible to change the booking to next week?)
• «Lo siento mucho, pero hemos tenido un imprevisto familiar y no podemos viajar.» (I am very sorry, but we have had a family emergency and cannot travel.)
• «¿Tengo que pagar algún recargo o me devuelven la fianza?» (Do I have to pay any surcharge or do you refund my deposit?)

Complaints, Billing, and Negotiation

Syllabus Theme 1.5 requires negotiating purchases, asking for refunds, and lodging complaints. Maintain the formal register usted so that your complaint sounds polite yet firm.

Identifying Accommodation Problems

• «La habitación está sucia y las sábanas no están limpias.» (The room is dirty and the sheets are not clean.)
• «El aire acondicionado no funciona y hace demasiado calor.» (The air conditioning is not working and it is too hot.)
• «No hay agua caliente en la ducha.» (There is no hot water in the shower.)
• «Hay muchísimo ruido de la calle y no podemos pegar ojo.» (There is a great deal of street noise and we cannot sleep a wink.)
• «La habitación asignada no tiene vistas al mar como habíamos reservado.» (The assigned room does not have a sea view as we had booked.)

Demanding Solutions and Redress

• «Perdone que le moleste, pero ¿podrían cambiarnos de habitación?» (Pardon the intrusion, but could you move us to another room?)
• «Quisiera que me devolvieran el dinero si no hay otra habitación libre.» (I would like you to refund my money if there is no other free room.)
• «¿Sería posible hacernos un descuento por las molestias causadas?» (Would it be possible to give us a discount for the inconvenience caused?)
• «Me gustaría hablar con el encargado o la directora del hotel.» (I would like to speak to the manager or hotel director.)

Payment Methods and Receipts

• «¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta de crédito o tiene que ser en efectivo / en metálico?» (Can I pay by credit card or must it be in cash?)
• «¿Hay que pagar por adelantado o dejar una señal?» (Must one pay in advance or leave a deposit?)
• «¿Está el IVA incluido en la factura?» (Is VAT included on the invoice?)
• «¿Podría darme un recibo detallado, por favor?» (Could you provide me with an itemised receipt, please?)

Register and Administrative Etiquette (Usted vs Tú)

Because you are communicating with hotel receptionists, university housing officers, or landlords, you must strictly maintain the formal register (usted). Grammatically, usted takes third-person singular verbs and matching possessives (su, sus).

Once the usted forms are secure, make requests softer and more polite by employing the conditional:

• «¿Podría aconsejarme sobre las mejores zonas de la ciudad?» (Could you advise me on the best areas of the city?)
• «¿Le importaría repetir la última frase, por favor?» (Would you mind repeating the last sentence, please?)

If the Examiner Says Tú, You Still Say Usted

In Spain, adults frequently address secondary students with informal tú (for example: «¿En qué tipo de habitación querrías alojarte?»). Do not let this conversational ease trick you into replying in the informal register. Continue to respond using usted («Mire, preferiría...», «¿Podría indicarme el precio?»). Examiners specifically look for this register consistency.

Four Verb Forms That Win Marks in This Role Play

The marking criteria actively reward candidates who deploy a varied, accurate range of verb tenses during the interaction:

1. The Imperfect Tense (Past Habits and Background)

Use the imperfect (-aba / -ía) when describing past living habits, travel arrangements, or routines:

• «El año pasado vivía en las afueras de Dublín y pasaba dos horas al día en el autobús.» (Last year I lived on the outskirts of Dublin and spent two hours a day on the bus.)
• «La casa estaba lejos del centro y no me gustaba el aislamiento.» (The house was far from the centre and I did not like the isolation.)

2. The Conditional (Polite Demands and Preferences)

Use the conditional (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían) to frame requests courteously:

• «Preferiría un apartamento céntrico para poder ir andando a clase.» (I would prefer a central apartment so I can walk to class.)
• «¿Podría facilitarme un plano de la ciudad con las paradas de autobús?» (Could you provide me with a city map showing bus stops?)

3. The Future Tense (Definite Intentions and Flexibility)

Use the future tense endings (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án) to declare upcoming plans:

• «El próximo curso estaré estudiando en la facultad de filosofía.» (Next year I will be studying in the faculty of philosophy.)
• «En ese caso, consideraré también las opciones fuera del centro histórico.» (In that case, I will also consider options outside the historic centre.)

4. Advanced Subjunctive Structures

Deploying the subjunctive demonstrates higher-level command under exam conditions:

• si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional: One si clause lifts a competent answer into a strong one: «Si pudiera encontrar un piso compartido cerca del campus, podría dedicar más horas al estudio.» (If I could find a shared flat near the campus, I could dedicate more hours to study.) Remember: never use the conditional directly after si («si podría» is an immediate structural error).
• cuando + present subjunctive: When referring to an action in the future, Spanish requires the present subjunctive after cuando, never the future tense: «Cuando llegue a la estación, les llamaré para recoger las llaves.» (When I arrive at the station, I will call you to collect the keys.)
• espero que / me gustaría que + subjunctive: To express desires dependent on others: «Espero que tengan una habitación libre en la planta baja.» (I hope that you have a free room on the ground floor.)

Dates, Numbers, and Pronunciation Essentials

Almost every accommodation scenario requires stating dates, guest numbers, and spelling personal details.

Dates and Numbers

• State dates using cardinal numbers: «del cinco al doce de julio» (from the 5th to the 12th of July). Only the first of the month can use an ordinal: «el primero de junio» or «el uno de junio».
• Spell out your surname clearly in Spanish letters when asked «¿A nombre de quién está la reserva?» or «¿Me lo deletrea, por favor?». For example, Murphy: «eme, u, erre, pe, hache, i griega».
• Recite phone numbers in two-digit blocks as native speakers do: «seis, ochenta y siete, veintitrés, cuarenta y dos...».

Pronunciation Rules That Impact Meaning

• Silent 'h': The h in habitación, hacer, and hotel is completely silent. Never aspirate it as in English.
• Throaty 'j' and soft 'g': In alojamiento, lejos, and equipaje, pronounce j from the back of the throat, matching the Scottish loch.
• Keep vowels pure and clipped: Spanish has five pure vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u). Never glide the e into an English 'ay' sound in words like española or reserva.
• The z and the c before e or i: Pronounced as 'th' in central and northern Spain (Cáceres, hacia) or 's' in Latin America and southern Spain. Both are accepted; maintain consistent usage.
• Written accents on proparoxytone words (esdrújulas): Words stressed on the third-last syllable always carry a written accent. Attaching an enclitic pronoun creates this shift: desplazando (stress on -zan-) becomes desplazándome (stress remains on -zán-, requiring an acute accent). The city Cáceres likewise carries an accent on the first syllable.

Repair Strategies: What to Do When Stuck

If you do not catch what the examiner said, or if a specific noun escapes you, do not lapse into English or freeze. The syllabus rewards independent communicative strategies:

Clarification and Repetition Formulas

• «Perdone, no le he entendido bien. ¿Podría hablar un poco más despacio?» (Pardon, I did not understand you well. Could you speak a bit more slowly?)
• «¿Le importaría repetirlo, por favor?» (Would you mind repeating that, please?)

Circumlocution (Talking Round an Unknown Word)

• Ask directly in Spanish: «¿Cómo se dice 'kettle' en español?» (How do you say 'kettle' in Spanish?)
• Describe its function: «No recuerdo la palabra exacta, pero me refiero al aparato eléctrico que se usa para calentar agua.» (I do not remember the exact word, but I mean the electrical appliance used to heat water.)

Self-Correction Mid-Sentence

If you conjugate a verb incorrectly or use the wrong gender, correct yourself aloud immediately: «Llegué ayer... perdón, quiero decir, llegaré mañana» or «una problema... mejor dicho, un problema». Self-correction proves active linguistic monitoring and preserves communicative credit.

Key terms

el alojamiento

Accommodation or housing; the primary thematic noun governing all booking and tenancy role plays.

quisiera

The polite imperfect subjunctive of querer ('I would like'); the standard courteous formula for initiating bookings and requests.

usted

The formal second-person pronoun; it requires third-person singular verb forms and possessives (su, sus) in administrative contexts.

las afueras

The outskirts or suburbs of a town or city; an inherently feminine plural noun (vivir en las afueras).

desplazarse

A reflexive verb meaning to commute, travel, or move across town from one point to another.

el piso compartido

A shared student flat where private bedrooms are rented alongside communal kitchen and living facilities.

la fianza

The refundable security deposit paid to secure a lease or room booking against potential damages.

los gastos incluidos

Utilities and running bills (electricity, water, Wi-Fi) covered within the quoted monthly rental price.

media pensión

Half-board hotel accommodation, typically covering breakfast and one evening meal per day.

así que

A coordinating conjunction of result meaning 'so / therefore'; it takes the indicative mood, unlike the purpose connector para que.

para que

A subordinating conjunction of purpose meaning 'so that / in order that'; it strictly triggers the subjunctive mood.

¡Dígame!

The standard professional telephone greeting in Spain; literally the formal imperative 'tell me', functioning as 'hello / how may I help?'.