Contos has 11 Spanish family series for learners, A1 to B2. The beginner ones are light: twins who swap lives, a surprise eightieth birthday in Valencia, a feud between two market stalls. By B2 they turn to wills, a forged painting and a grandmother's sewing box full of secrets. Chapters 1 and 2 of every series are free.
- Family series
- 11
- By level
- A1 3 · A2 2 · B1 1 · B2 5
- Chapters
- 66, of which 22 are free
- Chapter length
- 150–477 words (average 307)
- Themes
- Siblings, grandparents, inheritances, old family secrets
- Spanish
- Spain Spanish
- A1La Batalla del Mercadillo de San MiguelThe Battle of San Miguel Market · Family, ComedyEs sábado. En el Mercadillo de San Miguel, hace calor. Carmen Moreno está en su puesto de verduras. Javier, su sobrino, llega con cajas de tomates. Carmen ve los…
- A1Las Hermanas GarcíaThe García Sisters · Comedy, FamilySara mira a su hermana gemela Marta en la cocina pequeña. Hace calor. Afuera llueve. Sara está nerviosa. Marta está nerviosa también.
- A1Sorpresa en el Piso de la AbuelaSurprise at Grandma's Flat · Family, MysteryEs martes por la mañana. En el piso de la cuarta planta huele a pan fresco. La panadería está abajo. En el balcón hay muchos geranios rojos. Pilar, la abuela, se…
- A2El Café de las Cartas PerdidasThe Café of Lost Letters · Romance, FamilyClara entra en el café a las ocho de la mañana. Hace frío. Las ventanas están sucias y todo huele a café antiguo y a tristeza. Su abuela Matilde murió hace dos…
- A2El Coro de la Casa del PuebloThe Choir of the Village Hall · Comedy, FamilyMarina llegó a la Casa del Pueblo a las seis en punto. Llevaba una carpeta llena de partituras y una sonrisa nerviosa. Pero la puerta estaba cerrada. Buscó la llave…
- B1Las Dos MitadesThe Two Halves · Comedy, FamilyEl bar olía como siempre: a vermut rancio, a croquetas que se enfriaban en la barra, a treinta años de conversaciones que nadie había limpiado de las paredes. Lucía…
- B2La Casa de PeñafielThe Peñafiel House · Family, MysteryLa casona se levanta entre encinas y pizarra, con esa solidez de piedra que parece haber crecido del terreno mismo. Son las tres de la tarde cuando el notario llama…
- B2El Regreso de MarcosMarcos's Return · Sci-Fi, FamilyLa estación de autobuses de Antequera huele a café y a diésel, como siempre. Hace treinta y cinco años que Enrique Ruiz pasa cada martes por delante de ella camino…
- B2El Cuadro de AbuelaGrandmother's Canvas · Crime, FamilyMarisol estaba regando las petunias cuando sonó el teléfono. No le gustaba que la interrumpieran durante su ritual matutino —agua tibia, luz oblicua, el silencio de…
- B2El Costurero de la AbuelaGrandmother's Sewing Box · Mystery, FamilyEl apartamento de la abuela Consuelo olía a lavanda y a tiempo detenido. Lucía bajaba cajas de cartón desde el armario del pasillo mientras Tomás hojeaba libros en…
- B2Churros y Porras: La Calle de la DiscordiaChurros and Porras: Feud Street · Romance, FamilyA las cinco y media de la mañana, cuando Toledo todavía dormía bajo las campanas de la catedral, Lucía Ledesma salió por la puerta trasera de la panadería con una…
What Spanish does a family story teach?
The family words first, and plenty of them. These all turn up in the free chapters:
- la abuela, el abuelograndmother, grandfather
- el nieto, la nietagrandson, granddaughter
- el sobrinonephew
- el primocousin
- la hermana gemelatwin sister
- viudo, viudawidowed; widower, widow
- la herenciainheritance
Then the way families actually talk to each other. A brother greets his sister with ¡Hola, hermanita!, where the -ita adds affection rather than size. Older people call younger ones hija or hijos whether or not they are related: a retired postman in Toledo greets the baker's granddaughter with ¡Lucía, hija!, and a kiosk owner in the Retiro calls two dog owners hijos.
Family scenes are also where you meet vosotros, the Spain Spanish "you" for several people you know well. Here an old landlord speaks to a brother and sister at once:
Vuestra madre me pidió que os lo diera solo cuando estuvierais listos
Your mother asked me to give it to you only when you were ready
Las Dos Mitades (B1), chapter 1. Vuestra (your), os (to you) and estuvierais (you were) are all vosotros forms; Latin American Spanish would use ustedes, su, les and estuvieran.
How family stories change from A1 to B2
At A1 a family story is a busy flat and a secret too big to keep. In Sorpresa en el Piso de la Abuela, Marta is planning a surprise party with colour-coded spreadsheets while her mother, Pilar, slips out with a blue folder and an excuse: she is going to buy bread. —El pan está abajo, mamá, says Marta. The bread is downstairs. Short present-tense lines, and the joke still lands.
By B2 the families are reading wills. In La Casa de Peñafiel the notary reads out a will that leaves the whole estate to a woman nobody has heard of, and a daughter finds a letter from 1974 that her mother would rather she had not:
"Quema eso", dice finalmente, pero su voz no suena como una orden: suena como una súplica.
"Burn that," she says at last, but her voice doesn't sound like an order: it sounds like a plea.
La Casa de Peñafiel (B2), chapter 2. The narration stays in the present for tension. Quema is a tú command, and the line turns on the gap between what Dolores says and how she says it.
Between those two sit the A2 and B1 stories, where the past tenses take over and adult children start asking their parents what really happened.
Which Spanish family story should I start with?
- A1: Las Hermanas García, twins who swap lives for a week; La Batalla del Mercadillo de San Miguel, an aunt and nephew against the rival stall; or Sorpresa en el Piso de la Abuela, in which the grandmother has a surprise of her own.
- A2: El Coro de la Casa del Pueblo, a village choir in Castile, or El Café de las Cartas Perdidas, in which Clara finds love letters in her late grandmother's café.
- B1: Las Dos Mitades, a brother and sister with half a recipe book each.
- B2: La Casa de Peñafiel, the will; El Cuadro de Abuela, a grandmother whose forged Goya is about to be auctioned; El Costurero de la Abuela, fabric scraps that match thefts from decades ago; or El Regreso de Marcos, a son home from a space programme with a story that doesn't add up.
Family stories are spread across the levels but lean towards B2. For a gentler start, see the A1 Spanish stories, or the funny Spanish stories, many of which are family comedies.
Frequently asked questions
Are the family stories sad?
Mostly warm, sometimes bittersweet. Several begin after a parent or grandparent has died, with a recipe book, a café or a sewing box left behind, and the story is about what the family finds. The beginner ones are comedies.
Which Spanish family story is easiest?
The A1 ones: Las Hermanas García, La Batalla del Mercadillo de San Miguel and Sorpresa en el Piso de la Abuela. Their free chapters run 150–208 words.
Will I need vosotros?
You will see it, because the stories are in Spain Spanish and family members talk to each other in groups. You only need to recognise it: vosotros verbs usually end in -is (habláis, tenéis, vivís, estuvierais) and come with os and vuestro.
How many family chapters are free?
Chapters 1 and 2 of every series here, 22 chapters in all. The rest are part of Contos Premium.