There’s nothing quite like a day at the beach, whether you’re lounging in the sun, taking a dip in the ocean, or playing beach games with friends and family. To fully immerse yourself in the beach experience, it helps to know the right vocabulary in English and Spanish.
Beach Vocabulary in English and Spanish
In this blog article, we’ll explore essential beach-related vocabulary in both languages to enhance your beach experience. From waves to shells, we’ll cover everything you need to know to communicate effectively and confidently at the beach. So, let’s dive in and start building our beach vocabulary together!
Essential Beach Vocabulary
beach – playa
vacation – vacaciones
ocean – océano
pool – piscina
sun – sol
wave – ola
water – el agua
shell – concha
to swim – nadar
ball – pelota
towel – toalla
swimsuit – traje de baño
shorts – pantalón corto
flip flops – chanclas
hat – sombrero
sunglasses – gafas del sol
sandcastle – castillo de arena
bucket – cubeta
shovel – pala
boat – barco
Some special notes on these vocabulary words
The word for wave in Spanish is ola. It sounds just like the word “hola” which means hello. I remember this by thinking that when I say “hola” I usually “wave” with my hand. This helps me make the connection in my mind.
Agua is a rule breaker. Usually, words that end in an a are feminine, but agua needs the masculine article. So it is always el agua. However, when it is plural….it goes back to feminine – las aguas.
Sunglasses is most commonly “gafas del sol” but in some areas “lentes del sol” is acceptable.
There are several words for “boat” in both English and Spanish. Boat – Barco is the more generic term. A small rowboat would be a “lancha” or “bote”. A canoe style boat could be a “canoa” or “chalupa”. A sailboat is a “velero”. In most conversations, barco would be the best term to use, but there are more specific terms if you need them. In English, a ship usually refers to a larger boat. Also a yacht would be yate in Spanish.
The English vocabulary has several compound words: sunglasses, swimsuit, sandcastle. In Spanish, these words are not single words, but phrases.
A two-piece swimsuit for a woman is often called a bikini.
Shorts that men wear for swimming may also be called swimming trunks or board shorts.
Beach Vocabulary Resources
We have several resources available for sale on Teacher’s Pay Teachers. There are basic vocabulary cards, riddle cards, would you rather game cards, and memory games in both English and Spanish.
There is also a video on my YouTube channel that helps with the pronunciation of these words:
More About My Bilingual Life
Here at My Bilingual Life, we want to help you (or your students) become bilingual. You are in the right place if you are studying Spanish or English for yourself, you are a homeschool family looking for bilingual resources, or a classroom teacher in a dual language, immersion, or bilingual school. We have teacher resources available here.
These listening comprehension activities are perfect if you are studying a language by yourself. Therefore, they are simple for beginning students and provide comprehensible input. You can also practice reading fluency with the video transcript. We have suggestions on how you can best use these videos in both English and Spanish. Also included are activities to increase your vocabulary and comprehension.
We have many resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers. Be sure to check them out. For example, we have a series of biographies for Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. We also have animal reading comprehension passages and a variety of vocabulary learning activities. There are also activities available for grammar and word walls.
As always, if we can help in any way, feel free to contact us by leaving a comment below or on our YouTube channel. If there is a particular subject or topic you would like to see, please let us know and we will add it to our content creation list.
