What Is Education Really For?

Key vocabulary

• informem.

  report, study

  “Muchos analistas dan demasiada importancia al informe PISA.”— Many analysts give too much importance to the PISA report.

  Pattern informe PISA: PISA report

  Compare report: reporte

  Plural: informes

  💡 From the verb informar (to inform); nouns ending in -e are often masculine.

• capitalm.

  capital (financial or human)

  “La teoría del crecimiento incluyó el capital humano como elemento clave.”— Growth theory included human capital as a key element.

  Pattern capital humano: human capital

  Compare funds: fondos

  Plural: capitales

  💡 Note: capital is feminine when it means 'capital city' and masculine when it means 'capital (finance)'.

• reformaf.

  reform

  “Esta idea se incorporó a las reformas educativas de muchos gobiernos.”— This idea was incorporated into the education reforms of many governments.

  Pattern reforma educativa: educational reform

  Compare change: cambio

  Plural: reformas

  💡 re- (again) + forma (form) = reshape, i.e. reform.

• productividadf.

  productivity

  “Lo importante son las capacidades que se pueden relacionar con la productividad.”— What matters are the skills that can be linked to productivity.

  Pattern alta productividad: high productivity

  Compare efficiency: eficiencia

  Plural: productividades

  💡 From productivo (productive); nouns ending in -idad are often abstract nouns.

• competenciaf.

  skill; competition

  “Lo importante sería adquirir competencias adaptativas para un mercado flexible.”— The important thing would be to acquire adaptive skills for a flexible market.

  Pattern competencias adaptativas: adaptive skills

  Compare skill: habilidad

  Plural: competencias

  💡 The noun form of competir (to compete); it means both 'competition' and 'ability'.

• mercadom.

  market

  “El mercado exige habilidades prácticas más que conocimiento general.”— The market demands practical skills more than general knowledge.

  Pattern mercado laboral: labor market

  Plural: mercados

  💡 From Latin mercatus, related to mercar (to trade).

• recortem.

  cut, reduction

  “Los recortes en financiación pública han hecho que los estudiantes solo se preocupen por los resultados.”— Cuts in public funding have made students care only about results.

  Pattern recortes en financiación: funding cuts

  Compare reduction: reducción

  Plural: recortes

  💡 From the verb recortar (to cut, to reduce); imagine 'cutting' the budget.

• desplomem.

  collapse, sharp drop

  “PISA señala el desplome en la comprensión lectora de los jóvenes.”— PISA points to the collapse in young people's reading comprehension.

  Pattern desplome en la comprensión lectora: collapse in reading comprehension

  Compare fall: caída

  Plural: desplomes

  💡 From desplomar (to tilt, to collapse); imagine a fall like a building collapsing.

• asignaturaf.

  subject, course

  “Se eliminaron las asignaturas más generales.”— The more general subjects were eliminated.

  Pattern asignaturas generales: general subjects

  Compare course: materia

  Plural: asignaturas

  💡 From asignar (to assign); the content 'assigned' to students.

• éxitom.

  success

  “Quizás las reformas educativas han sido un éxito.”— Perhaps the education reforms have been a success.

  Pattern tener éxito: to succeed

  Compare achievement: logro

  Plural: éxitos

  💡 Note: éxito means 'success', not 'exit' (exit is éxodo or salida).

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• PISA comparte con las reformas educativas una visión instrumental del conocimiento.

  PISA shares with educational reforms an instrumental view of knowledge.

  compartir con... una visión... de... (to share with... a vision... of...)You can replace visión instrumental with other views, such as visión crítica.

• Lo importante sería adquirir competencias adaptativas para un mercado flexible y cambiante.

  What matters would be to acquire adaptive skills for a flexible and changing market.

  Lo importante sería + infinitive + para + noun (What matters would be to + verb + for + noun)You can replace competencias adaptativas with other skills, such as habilidades prácticas.

• ¿De qué te sirve la cultura general cuando trabajas como cajero?

  What use is general knowledge when you work as a cashier?

  ¿De qué sirve + noun + cuando + clause? (What is the use of + noun + when + clause?)You can replace cultura general with other things, such as estudiar filosofía.

• Los recortes han hecho que los estudiantes solo se preocupen por los resultados cuantitativos.

  The cuts have made students care only about quantitative results.

  X ha hecho que + subjunctive (X has made it so that + clause)You can replace X with other causes, such as la competitividad.

• Quizás las reformas educativas han sido un éxito: han conseguido lo que buscaban.

  Perhaps the educational reforms have been a success: they have achieved what they were aiming for.

  Quizás + indicative/subjunctive + : han conseguido lo que buscaban (Perhaps + clause + : they have achieved what they were looking for)You can replace las reformas educativas with another subject.