If you ever get the chance to go travelling in South America, I highly recommend taking the time and making the effort to visit Machu Picchu, the fabled ‘lost city of the Incas’.
In this listening, aimed at intermediate or advanced beginner students, we’ll find out some basic facts about this famous ruined city.
We’ll also learn some new Spanish vocabulary too!
By Ibrehaut – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Key vocabulary
| atracción | (tourist) attraction |
| América Latina | Latin America |
| civilización | civilisation |
| ciudad | city |
| lago | lake |
| ruina | ruin |
| montaña | mountain |
| ubicación | location |
Machu Picchu es una de las atracciones más visitadas de toda América Latina. Es conocida como la ´ciudad perdida’ de la civilización Inca. Está situada en el sur de Perú, a 400 km del lago Titicaca y a 80 kilómetros de la ciudad de Cusco. Machu Picchu es una ruina hoy en día, pero su espectacular ubicación, entre las majestuosas montañas de los Andes hace que sea uno de los sitios más conocidos del continente. Recibe casi 1,5 millones de visitantes al año.
Machu Picchu is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the whole of Latin America. It is known as the ‘lost city of the Incas’. It is located in the south of Peru, 400km from lake Titicaca and 80km from the city of Cusco. Machu Picchu is a ruin nowadays, but its spectacular locations, amongst the majestic Andes mountains mean that is is one of the most well-known places on the continent. It receives almost 1.5 million tourists every year.
is known as…
between
almost
The four points of the compass are:
El norte – North
El sur – South
El este – East
El oeste – West
The article ‘el’ is used in almost every situation.
Here are the Spanish versions of places you should be familiar with. In compound names ‘Sud-‘ or ‘Nor-‘ usually replace ‘Sur’ and ‘Norte’:
South America – Sudamérica
South Carolina – Carolina del Sur
The South Pole – El polo Sur
North Korea – Corea del Norte
The Northern Hemisphere – El hemisferio norte*
Spanish tends to use the nouns (norte, sur, este, oeste) even when English prefers the adjectives (Northern, Southern…)
Spanish Listenings 
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