Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): En mi barrio la juventud se reúne en el club deportivo para convertir su afición por el fútbol en una actividad sana. - In my neighborhood young people meet at the sports club to turn their love of soccer into a healthy activity.

It’s usually a neutral word: En mi barrio = In my neighborhood.
In some countries (e.g., Mexico, parts of Central America), people may also say colonia for a residential neighborhood.
Vecindario is also “neighborhood,” but it sounds a bit more formal or descriptive and is used less in everyday speech than barrio in many places.

So “En mi barrio” is a very natural, everyday way to say “In my neighborhood” in Latin America.

Why “la juventud” and not “los jóvenes”? Does juventud mean one person or many?

La juventud is a collective noun meaning “young people” or “youth (as a group)”. Grammatically it’s singular and feminine, but it refers to many individuals.

La juventud se reúne…
Literally: The youth gathers…
Meaning: Young people get together…

If you say:

Los jóvenes se reúnen…
That’s also correct and slightly more concrete: literally “The young people get together…”

Differences in feel:

La juventud: more general or slightly more formal, like talking about a social group or a demographic.
Los jóvenes: more direct, more everyday, focusing on the individuals.

Both could work in this sentence; the choice is mostly about style.

Why is the verb “se reúne” reflexive? Could you just say “la juventud reúne”?

The verb here is reunirse, the reflexive form of reunir.

Reunir + object = to gather/assemble something/someone
- El entrenador *reúne al equipo.*
  “The coach gathers the team.”
Reunirse = to get together / meet (people gathering themselves)
- La juventud *se reúne en el club deportivo.*
  “Young people get together at the sports club.”

If you said “la juventud reúne en el club deportivo”, it would sound wrong, because reunir almost always needs a direct object: you “reunir” something or someone.

So in this meaning (“they gather themselves / meet up”), you need the reflexive form: se reúne.

Why is it “se reúne” (singular) and not “se reúnen” (plural), if it’s talking about lots of young people?

The verb agrees with the grammatical subject, not the real-world number of people.

Subject: la juventud
- Singular noun → se reúne

Even though la juventud refers to many individuals, it’s grammatically singular, so:

La juventud se reúne ✅
La juventud se reúnen ❌

If you changed the subject to a plural noun, the verb would change:

Los jóvenes se reúnen en el club deportivo.
(“Young people get together at the sports club.”)

Why is there no comma after “En mi barrio”? Would “En mi barrio, la juventud…” be wrong?

Both are grammatically correct:

En mi barrio la juventud se reúne…
En mi barrio, la juventud se reúne…

In Spanish, a short initial phrase like “En mi barrio” often does not take a comma, especially if it flows smoothly into the main clause. Adding the comma is possible, but it’s more optional than obligatory here.

So:

Without comma: very natural, especially in modern, flowing style.
With comma: slightly more “careful” punctuation, but still correct.

Why is it “en el club deportivo” and not “al club deportivo”?

Different prepositions answer different questions:

a = to (direction, movement)
- Van al club deportivo = They go to the sports club.
en = in / at (location)
- Se reúnen en el club deportivo = They meet at the sports club.

In the sentence, we’re talking about where they meet (location), not where they are going, so en el club deportivo is correct.

If you changed the verb, you might use a:

La juventud va *al club deportivo para…*
“The youth goes to the sports club to…”

What does “club deportivo” mean exactly? Could it just be “club”?

Club deportivo literally means “sports club”.

club = club (any kind: social, cultural, sports, etc.)
deportivo = related to sports / sporting

So club deportivo specifies that it’s a club focused on sports activities, not just any kind of club.

You could say just el club if it’s clear from context that you mean a sports club, but el club deportivo makes it explicit that it’s about sports.

How does “convertir … en …” work here? What’s the structure of “convertir su afición por el fútbol en una actividad sana”?

The verb convertir often follows this pattern:

convertir + [thing A] + en + [thing B]
= to turn [thing A] into [thing B]

In the sentence:

convertir = to turn/transform
su afición por el fútbol = their passion/interest in soccer
en una actividad sana = into a healthy activity

So grammatically:

convertir (verb)
su afición por el fútbol (direct object: what is being transformed)
en una actividad sana (prepositional phrase: what it is being transformed into)

Other examples with the same structure:

Convertimos el pasatiempo en un negocio.
“We turned the hobby into a business.”
Quiero convertir mi rutina en algo más saludable.
“I want to turn my routine into something healthier.”

Who does “su” refer to in “convertir su afición por el fútbol…”? Is it ambiguous?

In this sentence, su refers back to la juventud:

la juventud → su (their)

So:

su afición por el fútbol = the youth’s passion/interest in soccer = their passion.

Spanish su is ambiguous in isolation (it can mean his, her, its, their, your-formal), but in context, we look for the closest logical singular or collective noun:

En mi barrio la juventud se reúne… para convertir su afición…
There’s no other obvious possessor, so it naturally refers to la juventud.

Why is it “afición por el fútbol” and not “afición al fútbol”?

With afición, both por and a are used:

afición por algo
afición a algo

Both can mean “fondness for / passion for / interest in” something.

Nuance is subtle and often depends on regional and personal preference:

afición por el fútbol
afición al fútbol

Both sound natural in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world. In this sentence, por emphasizes the feeling of enthusiasm toward soccer, which fits nicely.

So:

It’s not wrong to say afición al fútbol.
afición por el fútbol is also widely accepted and very understandable.

Why “por el fútbol” and not “para el fútbol” or “del fútbol”?

The preposition here is linked to afición:

tener afición por / a algo = to have a liking/passion for something.

So:

afición por el fútbol = a passion for soccer.

If you changed the preposition, the meaning changes or becomes wrong:

afición para el fútbol ❌
Sounds odd; para usually expresses purpose or destination, not liking.
afición del fútbol ❌ in this sense
Would mean something like “the passion of soccer,” which is not what we want.

So por (or a) is the correct preposition in the pattern afición por/a + noun.

What’s the difference between “actividad sana” and “actividad saludable”? Could you use either?

Both sano/sana and saludable are related to health.

sano/sana:
- Can mean healthy (good for your health)
- Or in good health (a healthy person)
saludable:
- More specifically “healthful / good for your health”

In everyday speech:

actividad sana = a healthy activity, something good and wholesome, physically or morally.
actividad saludable = strongly emphasizes it’s good for physical (or mental) health.

In this sentence, actividad sana sounds very natural and idiomatic. You could say una actividad saludable and it would also be correct, just a bit more “technical” or clinical-sounding in some contexts.

Is the word order “En mi barrio la juventud se reúne…” the only correct one? Could I say “La juventud de mi barrio se reúne…” instead?

You can change the word order, and your version is fully correct:

En mi barrio la juventud se reúne…
Focuses first on the place (In my neighborhood…).
La juventud de mi barrio se reúne…
Focuses first on the group (The young people in my neighborhood…).

Both are grammatical. Spanish has flexible word order, especially with expressions of place or time:

Other possible orders:

En mi barrio, la juventud se reúne en el club deportivo…
La juventud se reúne en el club deportivo de mi barrio…

They all work; they just change where the emphasis feels strongest.

Is “la juventud” more formal than just saying “los jóvenes”?

Yes, a bit.

la juventud:
- Slightly more formal or “collective,” like talking about “youth” as a social group.
- Often used in speeches, writing, or when generalizing about young people.
los jóvenes:
- More colloquial and concrete: “young people,” “youngsters.”
- Common in everyday conversation.

In this sentence, la juventud gives it a slightly more “general” or “social commentary” tone than los jóvenes would, but both would be correct.