Listening for What Different People Like Doing in Spanish

In this listening lesson, you will identify what different people like and do not like doing. You will hear familiar preference patterns such as me gusta, me gustan, no me gusta, and no me gustan together with hobbies and free-time activities from the previous lessons.

For each first listening attempt, focus on the Spanish audio before reading the transcript and English meaning. Your goal is to identify the activity and whether the speaker likes or dislikes it.

Listening for one clear preference

Listen first:

Decide whether the speaker likes or dislikes reading.

Now check:

— I like reading.

The positive pattern me gusta tells you that reading is a liked activity.

Listening for a negative preference

Listen first:

Decide whether singing is a like or a dislike.

Now check:

— I do not like singing.

The word no before me gusta changes the preference from positive to negative.

Listening for two activities

Listen first:

Identify both activities.

Now check:

— I like reading and listening to music.

The connector y joins two activities that share the same positive preference.

Listening for a contrast

Listen first:

Identify the liked activity and the disliked activity.

Now check:

— I like dancing, but I do not like singing.

Pero signals a contrast between the two preferences.

Speaker 1: reading and music

Listen to the complete statement before checking the meaning:

What two activities does this person like?

Now check:

— In my free time, I like reading and listening to music.

The speaker likes reading and listening to music.

Speaker 2: sport and walking

Listen first:

Identify the sport and the second activity.

Now check:

— I like soccer / football and I like walking.

This speaker likes soccer / football and walking.

Speaker 3: cooking but not singing

Listen first:

Which activity is positive, and which one is negative?

Now check:

— I like cooking, but I do not like singing.

The speaker likes cooking and dislikes singing.

Speaker 4: sports in the plural

Listen first:

Listen carefully for gustan.

Now check:

— I like sports.

The plural noun los deportes explains why the speaker uses gustan rather than gusta.

Speaker 5: a plural dislike

Listen first:

Decide whether the speaker likes sports.

Now check:

— I do not like sports.

The combination no me gustan signals a negative preference about a plural noun.

Listening for gusta and gustan

Listen to these two statements:

Now check:

— I like tennis.

— I like sports.

Do not rely only on the activity word. Listen for whether the speaker says gusta or gustan.

Listening for no before the preference

Compare these statements:

Now check:

— I like dancing.

— I do not like dancing.

The activity is identical. The small word no completely changes the meaning.

Listening for shared preferences

Listen to this short exchange:

Person A:

Person B:

Decide whether Person B shares the preference.

Now check:

Person A: — I like reading.

Person B: — Me too.

Person B also likes reading.

Listening for a shared dislike

Listen first:

Person A:

Person B:

Does Person B like singing?

Now check:

Person A: — I do not like singing.

Person B: — Me neither.

Both speakers dislike singing.

Listening for different preferences

Listen first:

Person A:

Person B:

Do the speakers agree?

Now check:

Person A: — I like tennis.

Person B: — I do not like tennis.

The speakers have different preferences.

Matching speakers to interests

Imagine four possible profiles:

Profile A: likes reading and listening to music
Profile B: likes cooking but dislikes singing
Profile C: likes soccer / football and walking
Profile D: dislikes sports

Listen to Speaker 1:

Listen to Speaker 2:

Listen to Speaker 3:

Listen to Speaker 4:

Now check:

— I like cooking, but I do not like singing.

Speaker 1 matches Profile B.

— I like soccer / football and I like walking.

Speaker 2 matches Profile C.

— I do not like sports.

Speaker 3 matches Profile D.

— I like reading and listening to music.

Speaker 4 matches Profile A.

Listening for the activity after me gusta

When several activities are familiar, the most important information may come immediately after me gusta.

Listen:

Now check:

— I like traveling.

Listen:

Now check:

— I like drawing.

Train yourself to recognize the infinitive quickly.

Listening for a longer free-time profile

Listen to the whole statement once before checking:

Try to identify three pieces of information: two positive activities and one negative activity.

Now check:

— In my free time, I like walking and listening to music. I like tennis, but I do not like singing.

The speaker likes walking, listening to music, and tennis, but dislikes singing.

Listening for what two people have in common

Listen to Person A:

Listen to Person B:

What activity do both people like?

Now check:

— I like reading and listening to music.

— I like cooking and listening to music.

Both people like listening to music.

Listening without translating every word

You do not need to translate a complete preference sentence word by word in real time. Listen for a small set of signals:

no before the preference for a negative preference
the activity or noun that follows
y for an additional similar preference
pero for a contrast
también or tampoco when another speaker agrees

A final listening challenge

Listen to these four statements and identify what each speaker likes or dislikes before reading the answers.

Speaker 1:

Speaker 2:

Speaker 3:

Speaker 4:

Now check:

— I like exercising and walking.

— I do not like cooking, but I like reading.

— I like books and I like listening to music.

— I do not like soccer / football and I do not like tennis.

From listening for interests to Querer and Preferir

You can now listen for what different people like and dislike doing, distinguish positive and negative preferences, and identify shared interests. The next lesson introduces querer and preferir, two present-tense verbs used to talk about what you want and what you prefer.