Media and technology — los medios y la tecnología
This topic covers social media, mobile phones, internet use, cyber-safety and digital habits. Examiners set both pros-and-cons essay tasks and reading comprehension based on survey data.
Core vocabulary — technology
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| mobile phone | el móvil (Spain) / el celular (Latin America) |
| smartphone | el smartphone / el teléfono inteligente |
| internet | el internet / Internet |
| social network | la red social |
| app | la aplicación / la app |
| broadband | la banda ancha |
| Wi-Fi | el WiFi |
| screen time | el tiempo de pantalla |
| to download | descargar |
| to upload | subir |
| to stream | hacer streaming / ver en streaming |
| password | la contraseña |
| to hack | hackear |
| cyberbullying | el ciberacoso |
| addiction | la adicción |
Media vocabulary
- el periódico / el diario — newspaper
- la revista — magazine
- las noticias — news
- el telediario — TV news bulletin
- el podcast — podcast
- el youtuber — YouTuber
- la plataforma de streaming — streaming platform
- en línea / online — online
- el videojuego — video game
- el multijugador en línea — online multiplayer
Grammar focus — present perfect (el pretérito perfecto)
Used in Spain (but often replaced by preterite in Latin America) to talk about recent past or past connected to the present:
haber (auxiliary) + past participle
| pronoun | haber | example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | he | he descargado |
| tú | has | has publicado |
| él/ella | ha | ha subido |
| nosotros | hemos | hemos compartido |
| vosotros | habéis | habéis comentado |
| ellos | han | han hackeado |
Irregular past participles: hacer → hecho, ver → visto, escribir → escrito, decir → dicho, abrir → abierto, poner → puesto, volver → vuelto.
Model phrases
- Las redes sociales pueden ser una herramienta útil, pero también pueden crear adicción. — Social media can be a useful tool, but can also create addiction.
- He pasado demasiado tiempo delante de la pantalla últimamente. — I have spent too much time in front of the screen lately.
- El ciberacoso es un problema grave que afecta a muchos adolescentes. — Cyberbullying is a serious problem that affects many teenagers.
- Gracias a Internet, podemos acceder a información de todo el mundo en segundos. — Thanks to the internet, we can access information from around the world in seconds.
- Es importante saber distinguir entre las noticias falsas y la información fiable. — It is important to know how to distinguish between fake news and reliable information.
Cultural notes
Spain has very high smartphone penetration — over 90% of 16–24-year-olds use a smartphone daily. WhatsApp dominates messaging in Spain and Latin America, overtaking SMS and even email. TikTok use has surged among under-25s. Spain's data protection authority (AEPD) enforces GDPR and frequently fines tech companies. The concept of el derecho al olvido (right to be forgotten) was pioneered in Spain via a European Court of Justice case.
⚠Common mistakes
- Writing el internet — both el internet and just Internet are acceptable; avoid la internet.
- Using English-origin words without the Spanish article: say el WhatsApp, el TikTok.
- Forgetting irregular past participles: he visto not he vido; he hecho not he hacido.
- Using imperfect when present perfect is more appropriate for recent actions: He visto esa serie (I have seen) vs Vi esa serie (more remote past).
- Confusing subir (to upload) with descargar (to download) — common exam distractor.
AI-generated · claude-opus-4-7 · v3-deep-spanish