Describing Your Symptoms in Spanish: Speaking Practice (B1)
Speaking practice you do out loud — read the situation, take each prompt, and SAY your answer before you open the model one. Nobody's listening; that's the point of the rehearsal.
Describing pain is one of the few conversations where you can't smile your way through the gaps: the doctor needs where, since when, what kind, and how much — in that order, and in your words. These six prompts drill exactly that sequence, out loud, before you ever need it in a waiting room.
Two things make this B1 practice rather than a phrase list. First, real appointments run on the subjunctive of recommendation — ¿qué me recomienda que haga?, es necesario que tome… — and prompts four and six make you produce it, not just recognize it. Second, the follow-up questions (¿debería volver?, ¿podría darme…?) run on the conditional: the polite gear of medical Spanish.
Say each answer before you open the model one. The model answers are one shape of many — yours count if the doctor would understand them.
Make it real
The full phrasebook — emergencies, pharmacies, and the serious situations — is in Spanish for emergencies and medical situations. To see these phrases inside real dialogues, read at the doctor's office and at the pharmacy — then come back and run the prompts again without looking.
Your turn — say it out loud
Out loud: say what hurts and since when. One sentence, no preparing.
Me duele la garganta desde hace tres días y cada vez está peor.
The doctor asks '¿qué tipo de dolor es?' Describe it: sharp or dull, constant or on and off.
Es un dolor punzante, no es constante — va y viene, sobre todo cuando trago.
Say what you've already taken and whether it helped.
Tomé paracetamol dos veces al día, pero no me hizo mucho efecto.
Ask the doctor what they recommend you do — you'll need the subjunctive.
¿Qué me recomienda que haga? ¿Es necesario que tome antibióticos?
Ask what you should do if it doesn't get better — conditional territory.
Si no mejoro en una semana, ¿debería volver? ¿Podría darme algo más fuerte?
Mention an allergy before they prescribe anything. Say it out loud.
Antes de que me recete algo: soy alérgico a la penicilina.
You've rehearsed it. Now say it to a person.
Prompts build the reflex; conversation builds the speaker. Live classes with native teachers are where your answers meet real replies.
Practice It Live