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A2 Spanish Culture Lesson

The Siesta

La siesta

6:08 min video · 20 sentences · 7 key words

Transcript with English

Hide the English to test yourself.
  1. ¿Sabías que en España hay siesta?Did you know that in Spain there is a siesta?
  2. La siesta es una pausa después de comer.The siesta is a break after eating.
  3. Mucha gente duerme un rato.Many people sleep for a while.
  4. Algunas tiendas cierran en ese momento.Some shops close at that time.
  5. La palabra viene del latín.The word comes from Latin.
  6. «Sexta hora» significa la sexta hora del día."Sexta hora" means the sixth hour of the day.
  7. Los romanos contaban las horas desde el amanecer.The Romans counted the hours from dawn.
  8. La sexta hora era el mediodía.The sixth hour was midday.
  9. En el campo hace mucho calor.In the countryside it is very hot.
  10. Los agricultores trabajaban desde muy temprano.Farmers worked from very early.
  11. Al mediodía descansaban a la sombra.At midday they rested in the shade.
  12. Después volvían al trabajo con más energía.Then they went back to work with more energy.
  13. Hoy muchos españoles no duermen la siesta.Today many Spaniards don't sleep a siesta.
  14. Javier la duerme los domingos.Javier sleeps it on Sundays.
  15. Se tumba en el sofá veinte minutos.He lies on the sofa for twenty minutes.
  16. Su hija Lucía dice: «Es muy buena idea».His daughter Lucía says: "It is a very good idea."
  17. La siesta es parte de la cultura española.The siesta is part of Spanish culture.
  18. Muestra que descansar es importante.It shows that resting is important.
  19. Hay siestas cortas de poco tiempo.There are short siestas of little time.
  20. ¿Y tú? ¿Duermes la siesta alguna vez?And you? Do you ever take a siesta?

About this lesson

This lesson explains what the siesta is, where it comes from, and how Spaniards rest in the middle of the day today.

How to practise

  1. Read what you will learn on the first card, then follow the lesson section by section with English.
  2. Repeat every sentence out loud in the Te toca · Your turn pause: you learn the facts and the words together.
  3. At the end, check the recap and answer the question in the YouTube comments.

La siesta

The Siesta

In this lesson

  • What the siesta is
  • Where the word comes from
  • Why farmers needed it
  • How Spaniards rest today

Key takeaways

  • Siesta comes from the Latin sexta hora, the sixth hour.
  • It began as a midday rest in hot weather.
  • Today many Spaniards only nap on weekends.
  • A short siesta is often twenty minutes.

Your turn: Do people rest in the middle of the day in your culture?

Key words

SpanishEnglishLevel
la siestamidday nap or rest
el mediodíamidday
el campothe countryside
los agricultoresfarmers
la sombrashade
el sofásofa
descansarto rest

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