IB Spanish Themes: The 5 Language B Themes Explained (With Topics, Vocabulary and IO Examples)

Quick answer: The IB Spanish themes are the five prescribed themes of the IB Language B course: Identities (Identidades), Experiences (Experiencias), Human ingenuity (Ingenio humano), Social organization (Organización social) and Sharing the planet (Compartir el planeta). Every Spanish B student, at both SL and HL, studies all five. The themes decide the tasks you get in Paper 1, the texts you read and hear in Paper 2, and the picture you talk about in the individual oral. The IB gives five or more recommended topics under each theme, but those topics are optional. The five themes are not.

Most pages that rank for "IB Spanish themes" stop after listing the five names. That leaves out what students actually need: what the IB says each theme covers, which topics sit under it, the guiding questions tasks are built around, and how each theme shows up in each exam. This guide gives you all of that, theme by theme, with Spanish vocabulary, Hispanic-world examples and practice oral images. Educifly's IB Spanish tutors have taught Spanish B since 2018. The same five themes apply to French B and every other Language B course, so French students can use this guide too.

What are the IB Spanish themes?

The IB Spanish themes are five broad areas of life, set by the IB, that every Spanish B course must be built around.

The IB introduced them in the Language B guide that took effect for first assessment in May 2020. Before that, Language B had "core" and "option" topics. Now there are just five prescribed themes, and they are the same for every language in the Language B group. Here they are, with the Spanish names your teacher will use and the one-line "guiding principle" the IB gives for each.

Two words matter a lot here: "prescribed" and "recommended". The five themes are prescribed. Your school cannot skip one. The topics under each theme (lifestyles, migration, technology and so on) are only recommended. The IB says so in its own subject brief: the topics and possible questions "are presented in the guide, but are not prescribed". So your teacher chooses which topics to spend time on, and one school's Spanish B course can look quite different from another's. What stays the same everywhere is the five themes.

Spanish B sits in Group 2 of the diploma, Language Acquisition, and is for students who already have some Spanish. Complete beginners take Spanish ab initio, which uses the same five theme names with a fixed list of topics. More on that near the end.

Why the five themes matter so much

The themes matter because every assessment in Spanish B is tied to them, so a gap in one theme is a gap in your exam.

Here is where each theme can appear.

Notice that the oral does not stay on one theme. After the presentation and follow-up questions, the teacher moves the conversation to at least one more theme. So even in the oral, where you pick the picture, you cannot pick the whole exam. That is why you need vocabulary and opinions ready for all five.

The IB also wants you to look at every theme through five "conceptual understandings": audience, context, purpose, meaning and variation. In plain English: who a text is for, where it comes from, what it is trying to do, what it says, and how Spanish changes between a text message and a formal letter. Those five ideas run underneath all five themes, and Paper 1 marks you on them directly.

Below, each theme gets the IB's recommended topics and guiding questions, examples from the Spanish-speaking world, ten words to learn, three practice oral images and one practice Paper 1 task.

Theme 1: Identities (Identidades)

Identities is the theme about who you are: your lifestyle, your health, your beliefs, the groups you belong to and the language you speak.

The IB's guiding principle is to "explore the nature of the self and what it is to be human". That sounds abstract. In practice it is the most personal theme, and usually the first one schools teach, because you can talk about it from day one using your own life.

IB recommended topics: lifestyles; health and well-being; beliefs and values; subcultures; language and identity.

IB guiding questions: What constitutes an identity? How do language and culture contribute to form our identity?

Where it lives in the Spanish-speaking world: Spain's co-official languages (Catalan, Galician and Basque) make "language and identity" a live topic there, not a textbook one. The late Spanish daily schedule fits "lifestyles". The Mediterranean diet versus fast food fits "health and well-being". Festivals from Semana Santa in Seville to the Virgen de Guadalupe in Mexico fit "beliefs and values". Urban tribes, from skaters in Barcelona to K-pop fans in Lima, fit "subcultures".

Ten words to know: la identidad (identity), el estilo de vida (lifestyle), la salud (health), el bienestar (well-being), las creencias (beliefs), los valores (values), la subcultura (subculture), la lengua materna (mother tongue), pertenecer a (to belong to), sentirse identificado con (to identify with).

Three practice oral images: a photo of a family eating a late dinner together at 10 pm; a poster for a Catalan-language school campaign; a teenager with dyed hair and piercings at a music festival.

Practice Paper 1 task: "Your school is starting a wellness week. Write a blog post for the school website explaining what a healthy lifestyle means to you and giving three pieces of advice to other students." (Text type: blog.)

Theme 2: Experiences (Experiencias)

Experiences is the theme about the things that happen to us: holidays, traditions, big life moments, and moving from one country to another.

The IB's guiding principle is to "explore and tell the stories of the events, experiences and journeys that shape our lives". This is the storytelling theme, so it is where past tenses do most of their work. If you struggle to keep the preterite and imperfect apart, this is the theme that will expose it.

IB recommended topics: leisure activities; holidays and travel; life stories; rites of passage; customs and traditions; migration.

IB guiding questions: How does our past shape our present and our future? How and why do different cultures mark important moments in life?

Where it lives in the Spanish-speaking world: the quinceañera, the fifteenth-birthday celebration across Latin America, is the textbook "rite of passage". Día de Muertos in Mexico, the Tomatina in Buñol and Las Fallas in Valencia are "customs and traditions". The Camino de Santiago is "holidays and travel". Migration is one of the richest topics in the whole course: Venezuelans moving across South America, Central American families travelling north through Mexico, and the long history of Spaniards and Latin Americans moving in both directions across the Atlantic.

Ten words to know: la experiencia (experience), el viaje (journey), las vacaciones (holidays), la tradición (tradition), la costumbre (custom), el rito de paso (rite of passage), la migración (migration), el inmigrante / el emigrante (immigrant / emigrant), recordar (to remember), marcar un antes y un después (to be a turning point).

Three practice oral images: a girl in a ball gown at her quinceañera; a pilgrim with a backpack and a scallop shell on the Camino; a crowd of families crossing a border bridge.

Practice Paper 1 task: "You recently spent two weeks with a host family in Colombia. Write a diary entry about the day that surprised you most and what it taught you about the country." (Text type: diary.)

Theme 3: Human ingenuity (Ingenio humano)

Human ingenuity is the theme about what people create: art, music, film, media, technology and science.

The IB's guiding principle is to "explore the ways in which human creativity and innovation affect our world". Students often expect this theme to be about science alone. It is not. Half of it is the arts and the media, and the IB's own guiding questions lean that way.

IB recommended topics: entertainment; artistic expressions; communication and media; technology; scientific innovation.

IB guiding questions: What can we learn about a culture through its artistic expression? How do the media change the way we relate to each other?

Where it lives in the Spanish-speaking world: Gaudí's buildings in Barcelona, Frida Kahlo's paintings, Colombian reggaeton and Spanish flamenco all sit under "artistic expressions". Telenovelas and the streaming boom in Spanish-language series belong to "entertainment". Teenage screen time and fake news during elections are strong "communication and media" topics. For "scientific innovation", Spain's long record as a world leader in organ donation and transplants is a favourite example.

Ten words to know: el ingenio (ingenuity), la creatividad (creativity), la innovación (innovation), la obra de arte (work of art), los medios de comunicación (the media), las redes sociales (social media), la tecnología (technology), el avance científico (scientific advance), inventar (to invent), influir en (to influence).

Three practice oral images: a teenager scrolling on a phone at the dinner table while the family talks; the Sagrada Família under construction; a scientist in a lab holding a vaccine vial.

Practice Paper 1 task: "A Spanish magazine for young people is running a debate on whether social media does more harm than good. Write an article giving your opinion with reasons and examples." (Text type: article.)

Theme 4: Social organization (Organización social)

Social organization is the theme about how groups of people live together: families, friends, communities, schools, jobs and the law.

The IB's guiding principle is to "explore the ways in which groups of people organize themselves, or are organized, through common systems or interests". Its topics link directly to your own daily life, which makes it a favourite for oral follow-up questions. Teachers know you can always say something about school.

IB recommended topics: social relationships; community; social engagement; education; the working world; law and order.

IB guiding questions: What is the individual's role in the community? What role do rules and regulations play in the formation of a society?

Where it lives in the Spanish-speaking world: the Spanish school system (primaria, ESO, bachillerato) gives you "education". Youth unemployment in Spain, among the highest in Europe for years, gives you "the working world". Volunteering and neighbourhood associations fit "social engagement". The role of grandparents, and young Spaniards living with parents into their thirties, fit "social relationships".

Ten words to know: la comunidad (community), las relaciones sociales (social relationships), el compromiso social (social engagement), el voluntariado (volunteering), la educación (education), el mundo laboral (the working world), el desempleo juvenil (youth unemployment), la ley (the law), las normas (rules), convivir (to live together).

Three practice oral images: students in uniform sitting an exam in a large hall; a young adult in a graduation gown standing next to a "se busca trabajo" sign; volunteers handing out food at a community kitchen.

Practice Paper 1 task: "Your town council is asking young people for ideas to improve community life. Write a formal letter to the mayor proposing one change and explaining why it would help." (Text type: formal letter.)

Theme 5: Sharing the planet (Compartir el planeta)

Sharing the planet is the theme about the big problems we all share: the environment, human rights, war and peace, equality, globalization and ethics.

The IB's guiding principle is to "explore the challenges and opportunities faced by individuals and communities in the modern world". This is the "global issues" theme, and it has the longest list of recommended topics, seven in all. It is also the theme where HL students are most often pushed to argue both sides.

IB recommended topics: the environment; human rights; peace and conflict; equality; globalization; ethics; urban and rural environment.

IB guiding questions: What environmental and social issues present challenges to the world, and how can these challenges be overcome? What challenges and benefits does globalization bring?

Where it lives in the Spanish-speaking world: the Amazon rainforest, the Galápagos Islands and drought in Spain cover "the environment". Indigenous land rights in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala cover "human rights" and "equality". Colombia's peace process covers "peace and conflict". Spanish-language music topping English-speaking charts is a neat example of "globalization". Emptying villages in rural Spain, known as la España vaciada, is a ready-made "urban and rural environment" topic.

Ten words to know: el medio ambiente (the environment), el cambio climático (climate change), los derechos humanos (human rights), la igualdad (equality), la desigualdad (inequality), la paz (peace), el conflicto (conflict), la globalización (globalization), la ética (ethics), el mundo rural (the countryside).

Three practice oral images: a dried-up reservoir with a village church tower sticking out; a march with placards reading "igualdad"; a recycling point in a city square.

Practice Paper 1 task: "Your school is deciding whether to ban single-use plastic in the canteen. Write a speech to be given at a school assembly arguing for or against the ban." (Text type: speech.)

The five themes at a glance

If you want all five themes on one page for revision, this is that page.

The right-hand column is not from the IB guide. It is what Educifly tutors see most often in each theme's tasks. Identities tasks are mostly description in the present. Experiences tasks are mostly stories in the past. Sharing the planet tasks are almost always arguments, which is where the subjunctive and the connectors for "on the one hand, on the other hand" earn their marks.

How the themes appear in Paper 1

In Paper 1 you get three writing tasks, each linked to a different theme, and you choose one to answer in a set text type.

Paper 1 is the writing exam. It is worth 30 marks and 25% of your final grade. SL students have 1 hour 15 minutes and write 250 to 400 words. HL students have 1 hour 30 minutes and write 450 to 600 words. Each task tells you the situation, the audience and the purpose, and asks you to pick the right text type (blog, diary, formal letter, article, speech and so on) from a short list.

Because you choose one task out of three, you never have to write about a theme you hate. But you cannot bank on your favourite theme coming up, because only three of the five appear. If you prepare just two themes and neither appears, you are writing about something you never revised. Prepare all five, at least to the level of the vocabulary lists above.

Our separate guide to IB Spanish SL Paper 1 walks through the marking criteria, the word count rules and every text type in detail.

How the themes appear in Paper 2

In Paper 2 the listening and reading texts are drawn from the five themes, so theme vocabulary is what lets you follow them.

Paper 2 is the biggest single component: 50% of your grade, split into listening (25 marks) and reading (40 marks). SL listening is 45 minutes and SL reading is 1 hour. HL listening is 1 hour and HL reading is 1 hour. In each section you get three texts and answer comprehension questions on them.

You do not need outside knowledge to answer the questions. Everything is in the passages. What you need is to recognise the theme fast, because a text about "la brecha salarial" (the pay gap) is easier to follow when you already know the twenty words that come with the equality topic. That is why revising vocabulary by theme beats revising it alphabetically.

How the themes appear in the individual oral

In the SL individual oral you talk about a picture linked to one theme, and then the teacher steers the conversation to at least one other theme.

The oral is the internal assessment, worth 25% of your grade and marked out of 30. Your teacher runs and records it, and the IB moderates a sample.

At HL the structure is the same but the stimulus is different. Instead of a picture, you get an extract from one of the two literary works you have studied, and you present on that. The themes still shape the follow-up and the general discussion.

The oral is marked on four criteria.

Criterion B1 is where the themes bite. Describing a picture of a plastic-covered beach gets you a low mark. Saying which theme it belongs to, what it shows about the Spanish-speaking country it comes from, and what you think about it gets you a high one. The "three practice oral images" under each theme above are there so you can rehearse that move.

How to prepare the oral theme by theme

Prepare the oral by building one page per theme, then practising a three-minute presentation from a random picture every week.

Here is the routine Educifly's Spanish tutors use with students in the six months before the oral.

1. Make a one-page theme sheet for each of the five themes. On it: the IB's recommended topics, twenty to thirty theme words, eight to ten opinion phrases (creo que, me parece que, por un lado, sin embargo), and two or three facts about the Spanish-speaking world to use as examples.

2. Learn a description frame that works for any picture. En la foto veo... En primer plano... Al fondo... Esta imagen me hace pensar en el tema de... En España o en México esto es común porque...

3. Practise with random pictures, timed. Pick a photo from a Spanish news site, give yourself 15 minutes to prepare 10 bullet points, then talk for three to four minutes. Record it and listen back.

4. Rotate themes weekly. Week 1 Identities, week 2 Experiences, and so on. By week 6 you have covered all five and start again.

5. Rehearse the switch. Have a parent, friend or tutor ask you a question from a different theme mid-conversation. The general discussion stage tests exactly this, and students who have never practised it freeze.

If your school offers few practice orals, focused IB IA coaching sessions usually fill that gap in four to six weeks, because the problem is almost always practice, not ability.

The same five themes for French, German and English B

The five themes are identical in every Language B course, so a French B student uses the same list with the French names.

If your child takes French B, or takes both Spanish and French, the whole structure above carries over. Only the names and the cultural examples change.

For French, the natural examples shift to things like language identity in Québec (Identities), the baccalauréat (Social organization), la Francophonie (Sharing the planet) and French cinema and bande dessinée (Human ingenuity). Educifly's IB French tutors build theme sheets for French B in exactly the same way. The same is true of German B, Mandarin B, English B and every other language in the group, because the IB writes one Language B guide and every language follows it.

SL vs HL: same themes, different depth

SL and HL Spanish B cover the same five themes; HL adds two literary works and asks for longer, more complex writing and speaking.

Parents often ask whether HL means "more topics". It does not. What changes is what you do with them.

The HL literary works are chosen by the school and usually connect to one or more themes. A novel about a family emigrating fits Experiences; a play about a small-town community fits Social organization. Good HL students use the works as examples in Paper 1 and in the oral's general discussion, which is one of the easiest ways to show depth.

If you are still deciding between the two levels, our guide to IB HL vs SL covers how the choice plays out across the whole diploma.

Common mistakes with the IB Spanish themes

The most common mistake is treating the themes as five vocabulary lists to memorise, when the IB is really testing whether you can think and argue inside each theme in Spanish.

From Educifly's Spanish B lessons, these are the patterns that cost marks.

• Learning topics instead of themes. A student revises "the environment" in depth and then gets a Sharing the planet picture about human rights. The theme is the unit, not the topic. Know something about every recommended topic, even briefly.

• Ignoring the cultural link. Criterion B1 in the oral asks for links to the target culture. A presentation that could be about any country scores lower than one that names a Spanish or Latin American example.

• Only preparing three themes for Paper 1. Three appear, but you do not know which three. The safe number is five.

• Forgetting the conceptual understandings. Paper 1 marks you on choosing the right text type, register and tone for the audience. A blog post written like a formal report loses marks even if the Spanish is perfect.

• Describing instead of interpreting in the oral. "There is a woman. She is sad. There is a tree." That is description. "The woman looks isolated, which connects to the theme of Experiences and to the loneliness many migrants feel when they arrive" is interpretation.

Frequently asked questions about the IB Spanish themes

What are the 5 IB Spanish themes?

The five IB Spanish themes are Identities (Identidades), Experiences (Experiencias), Human ingenuity (Ingenio humano), Social organization (Organización social) and Sharing the planet (Compartir el planeta). They are the five prescribed themes of the IB Language B course and are the same for Spanish, French, German and every other Language B subject.

Are the IB Spanish themes the same for SL and HL?

Yes. SL and HL Spanish B cover the same five themes and the same recommended topics. HL adds the study of two literary works originally written in Spanish, longer Paper 1 word counts (450 to 600 words instead of 250 to 400) and a longer listening paper (1 hour instead of 45 minutes). The oral stimulus at HL is a literary extract rather than a picture.

What topics are under each IB Spanish theme?

Identities: lifestyles, health and well-being, beliefs and values, subcultures, language and identity. Experiences: leisure activities, holidays and travel, life stories, rites of passage, customs and traditions, migration. Human ingenuity: entertainment, artistic expressions, communication and media, technology, scientific innovation. Social organization: social relationships, community, social engagement, education, the working world, law and order. Sharing the planet: the environment, human rights, peace and conflict, equality, globalization, ethics, urban and rural environment. The IB lists these as recommended, not compulsory.

Do I have to study every topic under every theme?

No. The five themes are compulsory, but the topics under them are recommended by the IB, not prescribed. Your teacher decides which topics to cover and how deeply. That said, Paper 2 texts and oral pictures can touch any topic, so it is wise to know the basic vocabulary for all of them even if your class only went deep on a few.

Which themes come up in IB Spanish Paper 1?

Paper 1 gives you three tasks, each linked to a different theme, and you answer one. That means three of the five themes appear on any given paper, and you cannot know in advance which three. Prepare all five so that you always have a task you can answer well.

How are the themes used in the IB Spanish oral?

At SL you choose one of two pictures, each linked to a theme, and prepare for 15 minutes. You present on the picture for 3 to 4 minutes, answer follow-up questions for 4 to 5 minutes, then hold a general discussion for 5 to 6 minutes on at least one other theme. The whole oral lasts 12 to 15 minutes and is marked out of 30. At HL the stimulus is an extract from a literary work instead of a picture.

Are the IB French themes the same as the Spanish ones?

Yes. French B uses the same five themes: Identités, Expériences, Ingéniosité humaine, Organisation sociale and Partage de la planète. The recommended topics and the assessment structure are identical. Only the language and the cultural examples differ.

Did the IB Spanish themes change recently?

The current five themes came in with the Language B guide for first assessment in May 2020 and are still in use. Before 2020 the course was built around core and option topics instead. The IB can update guiding questions or examples, but the five themes have stayed the same since 2020.

What are the conceptual understandings in IB Spanish B?

They are audience, context, purpose, meaning and variation. The IB wants you to think about who a text is for, the situation it comes from, what it is trying to achieve, what it says, and how Spanish varies between registers, regions and formats. Paper 1 assesses this directly through your choice of text type, register and tone.

Is Spanish ab initio built on the same themes?

Spanish ab initio, the beginners' course, uses the same five theme names, but its topics are prescribed rather than recommended. Under Identities, for example, ab initio students must study personal attributes, personal relationships, eating and drinking, physical well-being and daily routine. Its exams are also shorter and simpler. Do not revise for Spanish B using ab initio materials, because the syllabus and assessments underneath the theme names are different.

How should I revise vocabulary for the IB Spanish themes?

Revise by theme, not alphabetically. Build one page per theme with the recommended topics, 20 to 30 key words, 8 to 10 opinion and connector phrases, and two or three facts from the Spanish-speaking world. Then rotate themes weekly and test yourself with timed oral practice from random pictures.

Can an IB Spanish tutor help with the themes?

Yes, and the themes are where a tutor adds the most. A good tutor builds the five theme sheets with the student, runs timed mock orals with the general-discussion switch, and marks Paper 1 practice against the IB criteria. If you would like an IB Spanish specialist to work through the five themes with your child, you can book a free trial class with Educifly.