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July 16, 2021 by Javier Grazioso Spanish Vocabulary 0 comments

Education Vocabulary in Spanish: Elementary, Secondary, and University

With the number of Spanish speakers on the rise—not only in the U.S. but also on the social networks and around the world—the benefits of speaking Spanish are boundless. Whether you’re a school teacher, a university professor, a student, or an avid life-long learner—like myself—, I guarantee you will find this school vocabulary in Spanish quite handy! When learning Spanish, knowing some essential words for education can ease your communication in all kinds of school-related contexts or situations.

I’m sure these phrases and vocabulary will kickstart your conversations at school and university level. 

School Vocabulary in Spanish: Levels of Education

The first thing to know is how to divide the levels of education in Spanish, which will be useful for the rest of this guide. Check out these Spanish words for education about the levels of education.

Spanish words for education
EnglishSpanish
(public) schoolla escuela
(private) schoolel colegio
nursery schoolla guardería
kindergartenel kínder o la preprimaria
elementary schoolla escuela primaria
middle schoolla escuela secundaria
high schoolla preparatoria o el diversificado
college or universityla universidad
boarding schoolel internado

Please, do keep in mind that the school system in Latin America varies widely  from country to country. This chart (especially the differentiation between elementary, middle and high school) also applies to Mexico. In some other Latin countries there’s only elementary (from 1st to 6th grade) and secondary school (from 7th to 11th grade).

School Vocabulary in Spanish: School Facilities

Let’s begin from the outside and steadily make our way to the inside. How do you say school uniform in Spanish? How do you say classroom? I’ll solve these questions with the Spanish words for education below!

EnglishSpanish
school uniformel uniforme de la escuela
classroomla clase o el aula
entrancela entrada
bathroomel baño
hallwayel pasillo
lockerel locker o el casillero
gymel gimnasio
auditoriumel auditorio
cafeteriala cafetería
tableslas mesas
campusel campus
chairslas sillas
boardel pizarrón o la pizarra
posterslos pósteres o afiches
yardel patio
fieldel campo
courtla cancha
parking lotel parqueo
label laboratorio
shopel taller

FUN FACT! The word cafeteria is a Spanish word.

Useful Sentences in Spanish

Here are some sentences to practice your newly-learned “school facilities” vocabulary.

Los pasillos de esta escuela siempre están llenos.
The hallways of this school are always full.

Dejé mis materiales en el aula.
I left my supplies in the classroom.

El gimnasio se inundó anoche; no habrá clase.
The gym got flooded last night; we won’t have class.

La cancha de básquetbol está en malas condiciones; no se puede jugar.
The basketball court is in bad conditions—we cannot play there.

Hay muchos pinceles en el taller de arte.
There are many brushes in the art room.

El laboratorio de ciencias está ocupado en este momento.
The science lab is busy right now.

Interested in learning more about school supplies? Check out this amazing list  put together by our HSA author Mar.
And how about some more vocabulary for classroom objects? Carmen’s got this covered right here!

School Vocabulary in Spanish: People

Students, teachers, coordinators, principals, janitors and many other important people are just what make schools the paramount learning places they are. Let’s learn all of those Spanish words for education!

EnglishSpanish
studentslos estudiantes
pupilslos alumnos 
teacherel maestro o la maestra
coordinatorel coordinador o la coordinadora
vice principalel subdirector o la subdirectora
principalel director o la directora
secretaryla secretaria
nursela enfermera
janitorel conserje
cookel cocinero o la cocinera
librarianel bibliotecario o la bibliotecaria
coachel entrenador
classmateel compañero o la compañera de clase
freshmanel o la estudiante de primer año
sophomoreel o la estudiante de segundo año
juniorel o la estudiante de penúltimo año
seniorel o la estudiante de último año
gardenerel jardinero
staffel personal
parents’ boardla junta de padres de familia

In this next chart you will  find some additional words for people who work at a University or College.

EnglishSpanish
rectorel rector
deanel decano o la decana
career directorel director o la directora de carrera
professorel catedrático o la catedrática
professor’s assistantel catedrático o la catedrática auxiliar
director of admissionsel director o la directora de admisiones
technicianel técnico

PRO TIP! In Spanish, the difference between el maestro and el profesor is somewhat slight. You can call a school teacher: maestro or profesor. You can call a university professor:  profesor o catedrático. Some professors, however, prefer to be addressed by their title (Doctor., or Ingeniero, for example).

Useful Sentences in Spanish:

Here are 6 sentences to talk about the school or university staff in Spanish.

La catedrática canceló la clase de hoy.
The professor cancelled today’s class.

El maestro está enfermo y no podrá asistir;tendremos un sustituto.
The teacher is sick and won’t be able to come—we’ll have a substitute.

Enviaron a Pedro a la oficina de la directora; se metió en muchos problemas.
They sent Pedro to the principal’s office—he got himself in big trouble.

La bibliotecaria es muy amable.
The librarian is very nice.

Escojan a un compañero para trabajar en el proyecto.
Choose your partner to work with on the project.

Quiero mucho a mis estudiantes.
I love my students very much.

School Vocabulary in Spanish: Subjects and Majors

What’s the Spanish word for physical education? Or the Spanish word for religious education? Find out how to name all school subjects in Spanish (or at least the most common ones) on the next chart.

Spanish words for education
EnglishSpanish
Englishinglés
Spanishespañol
mathmatemáticas (mate)
physicsfísica (fundamental)
scienceciencias (naturales)
social studiesestudios sociales
musicmúsica
artarte
literatureliteratura
biologybiología
philosophyfilosofía
chemistryquímica
physical educationeducación física
religious educationreligión o educación religiosa
geographygeografía
geometrygeometría
I.T.tecnología de la información
historyhistoria
health classclase de salud
electives(cursos) electivos o selectivos

How about some vocabulary for  majors  at university? Check out these 20 common majors.

EnglishSpanish
medicinemedicina
lawleyes
engineeringingeniería
communicationcomunicación
journalismperiodismo
computer scienceciencias de la computación
business administrationadministración de empresas
(international) businessnegocios (internacionales)
psychologypsicología
nutritionnutrición
economicseconomía
sociologysociología
architecturearquitectura
human resourcesrecursos humanos
translationtraducción
graphic designdiseño gráfico
filmcine
game designdiseño de juegos
computer programmingprogramación de computadoras

Useful Sentences in Spanish

Check out these 6 sentences to talk about your likes, dislikes, and experiences at school in Spanish.

No me gusta ninguna clase que llevo en la escuela.
I don’t like any of the subjects I’m taking at school.

Mi materia preferida es español.
My favorite subject is Spanish.

No puedo esperar a jugar matado en el período de educación física.
I can’t wait to play dodgeball in the P.E. period.

El examen de química estuvo muy difícil.
The chemistry exam was very difficult.

Mi hermano está estudiando medicina en la Universidad Estatal de Louisiana.

My brother is studying medicine at Louisiana State University.

Quiero estudiar recursos humanos en el extranjero.
I want to study human resources abroad.

School Vocabulary in Spanish: Additional Terms

There are some Spanish words for education that don’t fall under the previous categories, but are still important to get acquainted with. How do you say “assignment” in Spanish? Let’s learn all about that right now!

EnglishSpanish
due on…debe entregarse el… / para entrega el…
projectel proyecto 
researchla investigación
assignmentel trabajo / la tarea
playla obra de teatro
gameel juego o el partido
science fairla feria científica o feria de ciencias
spelling beeel concurso de deletreo
grades, marks or scoreslas notas o calificaciones
noteslas notas o los apuntes
oral examel examen oral
written examel examen escrito
pop quizel examen sorpresa
midtermslos exámenes de medio año o de fin de semestre
final examslos exámenes finales
reportel reporte
suspensionla suspensión
to be expelledser expulsado(a)
detentionla detención

Useful Spanish Sentences

Check out these sentences in the school context. I’m pretty sure you’ve said one of these, at least once.

El trabajo es para el primero del próximo mes.
The assignment is due on the 1st of next month.

Hoy tendremos un examen sorpresa.
There will be a pop quiz today.

El  equipo de fútbol americano del colegio  jugará a las 6 de la tarde.
The school football team will play at 6 pm.

La obra de teatro de los niños de segundo primaria es hoy en el auditorio.
2nd grade play is in the auditorium today.

No estoy de acuerdo con mis calificaciones—merecía una nota más alta.
I don’t agree with my marks—I deserved a higher score.

Algunos estudiantes fueron expulsados de la escuela por no seguir las reglas.
Some students were expelled from school for not following the rules.

Spanish Words for Education: Terms for University

Education is a broad topic. College and university are different from school, and sometimes they use different words. Here are 20 words to use in higher education.

EnglishSpanish
bachelor’s degreela licenciatura o pregrado
master’s degreela maestría o posgrado
PhDel doctorado
thesisla tesis
dissertationla tesina
paperel trabajo
researchla investigación
creditslos créditos
degreeel título universitario
requisiteslos requisitos
master classla clase magistral
Socratic dialogueel diálogo socrático
final projectel proyecto final
applicantel o la aplicante
scholarshipla beca
facultyla facultad
semesterel semestre
termel período
equivalencyla equivalencia

PRO TIP! There’s not a specific word for “paper” (in the academic way), but “el trabajo (escrito)” covers it. In some Latin Universities, the English term has been adopted and in some conversations you might  hear phrases like, “él publicó un paper”. 

The words “major” and “minor” do not apply to all education systems. In some hispanic countries, we simply study a degree on something and don’t really make such differences. 

Translating “major” and “minor” to lo mayor and lo menor wouldn’t cut it. A better translation could be something like el tema central de mi carrera (major) and las clases electivas o complementarias (minors). 

Spanish Words for Education: Verbs

Next up there are some actions that we typically do in school. 

Check out 20 of them.

  • to read – leer
  • to write – escribir
  • to type – escribir
  • to learn – aprender
  • to know – saber
  • to master – perfeccionar
  • to make and to do – hacer
  • to perform (on a play) – actuar
  • to play – jugar
  • to raise – levantar o alzar
  • to put down – bajar
  • to fail – reprobar o perder
  • to pass – aprobar o ganar
  • to think – pensar
  • to bully – abusar
  • to harass – acosar
  • to fight – pelear
  • to argue – discutir
  • to discuss – discutir o debatir
  • to infer – inferir 

If you’re hungry for more useful vocabulary, check out these  verbs for high school students!

Useful Spanish Sentences

Here are six different common sentences that a teacher or a student might say.

Spanish words for education

Levanten la mano para poder participar.
Raise your hand in order to participate.

Los estudiantes se pelearon y por eso se irán suspendidos una semana.
The students got into a fight and that’s why they’ll be suspended for a week.

Casi repruebo el examen, el álgebra me cuesta muchísimo.
I almost failed the exam, algebra is very difficult for me.

Discuss your answers with a partner.
Discutan sus respuestas con un compañero.

Piensen al respecto y luego hagan sus preguntas.
Think about it and then ask your questions.

En la clase de hoy vamos a perfeccionar (o pulir) el tema de ayer.
In today’s class we’ll master (or polish) yesterday’s topic.

If you’re a teacher or a professor, you might need to learn the imperative forms for these verbs. Check out Carmen’s awesome article on how to Master the Imperative Mood!

Practice Your Spanish

As we said before, education is a key factor in all phases of life. 

We start learning so much useful information from the very first moment we enter school. So why do we end up forgetting all about it! 

This is what happens if we don’t continually practice or use our acquired knowledge. Thankfully, we are here to offer amazing one-on-one Spanish classes so you can practice with native speakers from Guatemala. 

You can practice everything you just learned (or reviewed) in this post by signing up for a FREE class to practice your conversational skills now!

high school spanish classes online
Sign up for your FREE TRIAL CLASS today!

Ready to learn more Spanish vocabulary? Check these out!

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  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Javier Grazioso
Javier Grazioso
Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy
Italo-Guatemalan, born and raised in Guatemala City, where I got a B.A. in Communication and Journalism. Currently, I'm living in Spain where I'm studying for a master's degree. I'm a language and travel enthusiast who speaks Spanish, English, Italian, and a bit of Hungarian. I love watching sports, practicing boxing, writing, and gaming.
Javier Grazioso
Latest posts by Javier Grazioso (see all)
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