Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG y ahora busca otro voluntariado los sábados. - My sister did an internship at an NGO and now is looking for another volunteer position on Saturdays.

It does not mean she was merely “practicing” something in the general sense (like practicing piano). For that, Spanish would usually use practicar (e.g. practicar el piano).

Why is prácticas in the plural? Could it be singular (práctica) here?

In Spain, when talking about internships / work experience, it’s almost always used in the plural:

hacer prácticas
estar de prácticas
unas prácticas (an internship / a period of work experience)

Using the singular hacer práctica would sound wrong in this context.

So:

✅ Hizo prácticas en una ONG (natural)
❌ Hizo práctica en una ONG (unnatural here)

Why is it hizo and not ha hecho or hacía?

All three exist, but they don’t mean the same thing.

hizo prácticas (preterite, hizo):
- Sees the internship as a finished, completed event in the past.
- Neutral about how it relates to now.
- Common in narrative or when the time period is seen as closed.
- Roughly like simple past: “She did an internship.”
ha hecho prácticas (present perfect, ha hecho):
- Common in Spain for recent or still-relevant past actions.
- Suggests more connection to the present, like: “She has done an internship (and that experience is relevant now).”
hacía prácticas (imperfect, hacía):
- Describes an ongoing or repeated situation in the past.
- Like: “She used to do an internship / she was doing an internship.”

In your sentence:

Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG y ahora busca otro voluntariado…

hizo matches the idea: she finished the internship, and now she’s looking for something else.

Why is it en una ONG and not en un ONG? Is ONG feminine?

Yes. ONG stands for organización no gubernamental, and organización is feminine in Spanish. So the abbreviation ONG is also treated as feminine.

That’s why we say:

una ONG
esta ONG
la ONG más grande del país

Never un ONG in standard Spanish.

How do you pronounce ONG in Spanish?

Letter by letter, using Spanish letter names:

O – ene – ge

Phonetically (approximate English-style transcription):

[o-eh-NEH-HEH] (with Spanish “g” as in gente, not like English “g” in go).

Usually it’s said smoothly as one group, not as three clearly separated English letters.

What’s the difference between prácticas and voluntariado here? They both sound like volunteering.

In Spain, they usually refer to slightly different concepts:

prácticas:
- Internship / work placement / practical training.
- Often linked to studies (university, vocational training, etc.).
- May or may not be paid.
voluntariado:
- Voluntary work done without pay, mainly to help others or a cause.
- Not necessarily tied to formal studies.

So:

Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG
= She did an internship / formal work placement at an NGO.

ahora busca otro voluntariado los sábados
= Now she’s looking for another volunteer role / volunteering opportunity on Saturdays.

The first part emphasizes training/experience; the second emphasizes voluntary work.

Is otro voluntariado really correct? Can voluntariado be counted like that?

Yes, in modern Peninsular Spanish voluntariado can be used both:

As an uncountable noun:
- Hace voluntariado en una ONG.
- “She does volunteer work at an NGO.”
As a countable noun, meaning roughly “a volunteer project / role / opportunity”:
- Busca otro voluntariado los sábados.
- “She’s looking for another volunteer position / program on Saturdays.”

In the sentence you gave, otro voluntariado is natural and common in Spain. Alternatives that mean almost the same:

otro proyecto de voluntariado
otra actividad de voluntariado
otra experiencia de voluntariado

Why is it busca and not está buscando? Aren’t we talking about something happening now?

Both are possible, but with a small nuance:

ahora busca otro voluntariado…
- Simple present.
- In Spanish, this can very naturally express something that’s true now / currently happening, not just a habitual action.
- Here it means: “She is (currently) looking for another volunteer role.”
ahora está buscando otro voluntariado…
- Present progressive.
- Puts a bit more focus on the action as in progress right now, similar to English “she is in the middle of looking.”

In many real-life contexts, the difference is small, and both would be understood as “she’s currently looking.” Spanish uses the simple present more often than English does for ongoing current situations.

What does los sábados mean exactly? Why the article los?

Los sábados means “on Saturdays (in general)”, i.e. regularly, every Saturday or most Saturdays.

Spanish uses definite article + plural day of the week for habitual actions:

los lunes – on Mondays
los viernes por la tarde – on Friday afternoons
los sábados – on Saturdays

So:

…busca otro voluntariado los sábados.
= She’s looking for another volunteer activity to do on Saturdays (habitually).

Without los, just sábados, it would sound incomplete in this context. You need los for that “every/regular” meaning.

Could I change the word order? For example, say …ahora los sábados busca otro voluntariado?

You do have some flexibility. Some possible variants:

Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG y ahora busca otro voluntariado los sábados.
(Most neutral, very natural.)
Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG y ahora, los sábados, busca otro voluntariado.
(Adds a slight pause/emphasis on “on Saturdays.”)
Mi hermana hizo prácticas en una ONG y ahora los sábados busca otro voluntariado.
(Also possible; a bit more marked, with slight emphasis on los sábados.)

What you normally wouldn’t do is split the phrase awkwardly, e.g.:

❌ …ahora busca los sábados otro voluntariado (understandable, but sounds clumsy).

Keeping los sábados together and at the end of the clause is the most natural.

Could I say para los sábados instead of los sábados?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

…busca otro voluntariado los sábados.
- She’s looking for another volunteer role that she will do on Saturdays, saying when it happens.
…busca otro voluntariado para los sábados.
- Emphasizes purpose / slot in her schedule: she wants some volunteering for Saturdays (as in “to fill her Saturdays”).

Both are correct. Los sábados is more neutral and more common; para los sábados sounds a bit more like she is organizing her timetable.

Why do we use mi hermana instead of just la hermana?

In Spanish, for close family members, you almost always use a possessive adjective when you mean “my/your/his/her X”:

mi hermana – my sister
su madre – his/her/their mother
nuestro padre – our father

Using just the article (la hermana) would normally mean “the sister” (of someone previously mentioned or implied), not clearly your sister.

So to say “My sister did an internship…”, mi hermana is the natural choice.