Las descripciones

One thing you have to know how to do at every level of language development is description. Here are some tips for describing things that will make your writing more interesting and will likely raise your grade on assignments. Practice this over the break and you'll be an expert by the time you get back to classes!

• Keep it simple. Don't try to say things you don't know how to say. It's better to review the vocabulary you know or have partly forgotten than to look up words you aren't comfortable using and then forget them after only one use. Stick to polishing the grammar you know rather than trying to contrive complicated things you don't know how to say.
• Avoid lists. Keeping it simple does not mean simplistic. A description of your family should not be something like this (which I frequently get from students): "Mi mamá es alta. Mi padre es inteligente y trabajador. Tengo dos hermanos. Mi hermano se llama Tyler. Tyler es atlético." This is BORING and it shows very little effort on your part. Link sentences using linking words, and think of more complete descriptions. For example: "Yo soy muy alta como mi mamá, pero ella no es muy atlética. A mi mamá le gusta el arte y trabaja en un museo. Ella sabe mucho sobre los artistas modernos." Each sentence has some relation to the one before it, therefore it flows better. Also, a description does not necessarily mean that everything has to be adjectives--you can see that I've used verbs to describe the mother, explaining what she likes, what she knows well, and what she does for a living. 
• Be creative. Have a little imagination--make things up or look things up. If you are describing a scene in Spain, you might want to find a little cultural information to add to the interest. You can make up a story about the people. Your professor will appreciate reading something a little more original.
• Avoid careless errors. This seems obvious, but the number one mistake that students make on their essays is agreement. That's an easy thing to avoid if you simply proofread specifically for agreement errors. I recommend proofreading twice--once just for agreement, and a second time for general errors.
• Do your own work. You can get a tutor to help you go over your mistakes, but you don't learn diddly from having someone else do your work.
• Do not translate. This is related to "keep it simple." Use the structures and vocabulary you have already learned in class, and you won't need to translate from English. If you use an online translator your professor will spot it a mile away. Not only do they do a notoriously terrible job of translating so that the result is meaningless gobbledigook, but it is also a violation of the honor code because, once again, this is not your work! Do not use a dictionary unless you are looking up something you learned but have forgotten, or if your Spanish is very advanced and you have learned how to use a dictionary appropriately.

Here's an example of a description that follows all the above rules. The assignment is to look at this photo from Alicante, Spain and write a description. I've written it as an intermediate student might write, using the preterite and the imperfect, but of course a beginning student would do something simpler and an advanced student might develop this more. Notice that I vary the verbs and adjectives I use.

El domingo mi amiga Rosa y yo fuimos a almorzar en el restaurante La Roda en Alicante. El restaurante es pequeño, con bonitas mesas afuera. Nos sentamos en una mesita con mantel blanco y sillas verdes, bajo la sombra de una palmera. El día era bello, con mucho sol y no mucho calor. La calle era bonita, con muchos colores mediterráneos. La gente pasaba conversando, y había un agradable olor al mar. Vino un hombre con su violín, tocando muy bonito, pero ni Rosa ni yo teníamos dinero para darle. Yo comí un arroz con camarones que estuvo delicioso. Rosa pidió el pollo a la plancha, y después comimos unos higos con miel de postre. Nos quedamos conversando con una copa de vino local por casi dos horas, hasta que ya era hora de regresar a casa. Fue un almuerzo muy agradable, y La Roda es ahora mi restaurante favorito en Alicante.

Now you try it. Describe the scene as you see it, and think of a way to make it interesting. While my little story above is not great literature, it is a good little description of a moment, and has a nice variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Some good review of descriptive adjectives:

• http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/adjetivos.php
  
• http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/adjagree.html#.UfqaTGTF3CE
  
• http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm