B2.

1 WRITTEN MEDIATION TASK

Mediation is a technique used to express relevant aspects of a text in

another language.

In written exams you are most often asked to mediate a Spanish text into
English. Do not translate literally!! You have to process the text.

The task is given in a specific situation, e.g. you help a tourist to understand
information in Spanish, you write an article for an American newspaper using a
Spanish source, and so on.

Step 1: Read the task carefully to find out what information your
addressee needs.

Step 2: Read the text given to get its meaning and intention.

Step 3: Highlight or underline keywords. Don’t panic if the text is

long and /or complex – Concentrate on the points relevant to
the addressee and leave out the rest.

Step 4: Take notes in English to process the relevant passages from the
Spanish text.

Use your own words. Sometimes it is useful to simplify or

paraphrase important words or phrases.

Step 5: Structure your notes according to the task – if necessary,

rearrange the structure of the original text.

Step 6: If there are passages in the text which need explanation to be

clarified, add further information.

Don’t forget to explain concepts that are typical of one

culture but not of the other.

Step 7: Write your text summarising your notes. Adapt your language
(style, register) to the task and addressee.

In an article for a newspaper, you use relatively formal language;

in an email to a friend, you write more informally.
Write an email to your friend following the instructions below. Please include any
sociocultural aspects about Spain or Spanish people that you think may be
important for your friend. Please, don’t use the dictionary (170 words – 45 minutes)

James and Sarah, some English friends of yours, are moving to Madrid for a year and they have
written to you asking for advice to find somebody to look after their children, who are aged 4
and 5. James has just sent you the following email:

Hello there!

How are things? Remember I told you we were moving to Madrid? Well, we are now trying to
find someone to look after our children, but most ads are in Spanish and we can’t really
understand most of the info. Could you lend us a hand with that?

Many thanks and see you soon,

James

You have found these advertisements online:

NIÑERA CON EXPERIENCIA

Me llamo Sanja, soy Búlgara y hace poco me mudé a Madrid. Busco una familia a la que pueda
ayudar con los niños. No me importa trabajar como interna. Soy una chica muy responsable y
sincera. Antes vivía en Barcelona donde trabajaba como niñera también, así que tengo
bastante experiencia. Hablo inglés, español (nivel intermedio) y ruso. Si teneis alguna
pregunta, no dudéis en mi escribir (preferiblemente por WhatsApp).

NIÑERA DE DÍA/ CANGURO/ PROFESORA

Hola, me llamo Laura, soy profesora de inglés y me ofrezco como cuidadora para niños en mi
domicilio en el Escorial. La atención es completamente personalizada, realizando actividades en
inglés y español, canciones, cuentos, salidas al parque etc trabajo por horas de lunes a viernes
por las tardes y de martes a viernes por la mañana. Soy una persona responsable, atenta,
creativa y con amplia experiencia en el ámbito educativo con niños. No dude en contactar
conmigo por WhatsApp para más información.

CANGURO / CLASES PARTICULARES

¡Hola! Me llamo Charlotte Smith, soy una chica mitad inglesa y mitad francesa y soy 25 años.
Me he graduado recientemente en la Universidad de Durham dónde estudiaba Francés y
Español. Ofrezco mis servicios como hablante nativo de inglés y francés para hacer de canguro
o para clases particulares! Tengo muy experiencia haciendo de canguro con varias familias y
niños de todas las edades. Trabajé como Au Pair para una familia inglesa durante dos años.
Además, tengo experiencia dando clases. Me encanta los niños. ¡Si quieres que tu hijo se le
pase bien aprendiendo inglés, llámame! +44 7528510384
MEDIATION SAMPLE

Underline 2 cross-cultural references you can find in the text, and 3

personal references to James’ needs.

Dear James,

How are you? I guess you are getting everything ready to move over here and I
hope you and your family settle well in Madrid. Do you know the exact dates
you are coming over? I could go and pick you all up at the airport and help you
with your luggage.

There is a popular website here in Madrid where people find private tutors and
babysitters. So, I’ve been looking for childminders on this site and I’ve found
three interesting ads.

The first ad is from Sanja. She is Bulgarian and she speaks English, Russian and
Spanish at intermediate level. She was working as a babysitter in Barcelona, so
she has some experience. Sanja could work as a live-in nanny in your home. If
you are going to need a childminder 24/7, she is the best choice.

The second ad is from Laura, who is an English teacher. She works week days
except for Monday mornings and she charges on an hourly basis. Laura works
in El Escorial, which is a village in the north of Madrid. She offers personalised
activities both in English and Spanish using songs and fairy tales. This would be
wonderful for you kids. They could learn Spanish with her. But you must bear in
mind that El Escorial is rather far from Madrid city, so you would need to spend
quite a lot of time on the road taking your children there and then picking them
up everyday. I’m not so sure it is such a great idea. Plus, she doesn’t work on
Monday mornings.

Finally, I found an ad from a young half English, half French girl called
Charlotte, who is 25 years old. Charlotte has worked as an aupair in an English
family for two years. She offers private lessons in English and French and she is
available for babysitting too. The upsides are that she is English, she loves
children and she has experience. However, her Spanish is limited. But for some
reason, I believe she may be what you are looking for.

Well, I hope this info is of help, and that you are happy with whatever the
choice you make. Let me know if you need anything else.

Take care,
María

P.S. By the way, you should know that if you decide to hire a live-in nanny in
Spain, you may have to pay for her medical healthcare, so be aware of that.

ANSWER KEY
Underline 2 cross-cultural references you can find in the text, and 3
personal references to James’ needs.

Dear James,

How are you? I guess you are getting everything ready to move over here and I
hope you and your family settle well in Madrid. Do you know the exact dates
you are coming over? I could go and pick you all up at the airport and help you
with your luggage.

There is a popular website here in Madrid where people find private tutors and
babysitters. So, I’ve been looking for childminders on this site and I’ve found
three interesting ads.

The first ad is from Sanja. She is Bulgarian and she speaks English, Russian and
Spanish at intermediate level. She was working as a babysitter in Barcelona, so
she has some experience. Sanja could work as a live-in nanny in your home. If
you are going to need a childminder 24/7, she is the best choice.

The second ad is from Laura, who is an English teacher. She works week days
except for Monday mornings and she charges on an hourly basis. Laura works
in El Escorial, which is a village in the north of Madrid. She offers personalised
activities both in English and Spanish using songs and fairy tales. This would be
wonderful for your kids. They could learn Spanish with her. But you must bear
in mind that El Escorial is rather far from Madrid city, so you would need to
spend quite a lot of time on the road taking your children there and then
picking them up everyday. I’m not so sure it is such a great idea. Plus, she
doesn’t work on Monday mornings.

Finally, I found an ad from a young half English, half French girl called
Charlotte, who is 25 years old. Charlotte has worked as an aupair in an English
family for two years. She offers private lessons in English and French and she is
available for babysitting too. The upsides are that she is English, she loves
children and she has experience. However, her Spanish is limited. But for some
reason, I believe she may be what you are looking for.

Well, I hope this info is of help, and that you are happy with whatever the
choice you make. Let me know if you need anything else.

Take care,
María

P.S. By the way, you should know that if you decide to hire a live-in nanny in
Spain, you may have to pay for her medical healthcare, so be aware of that.