Intermediate Spanish
Description
For this course, our student traveler, Cristina, will be taking you on a journey to Spain, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Argentina. She will share her experiences with you as she learns about the different cultures of each of these Spanish speaking countries. As you explore each country with Cristina, you will learn how to speak Spanish in many practical and useful situations that will apply to your everyday environment. You will learn how to greet people, introduce yourself, speak about your family, your home, food, sports, weather and your likes and dislikes. New words and phrases will be introduced with pictures, audio clips, videos, and examples. You will learn basic Spanish grammar to help you form sentences correctly, build your fluency, and provide you with a more thorough understanding of the Spanish language. There will be many opportunities to practice what you learn through interactive activities in the form of games and written, listening, and speaking exercises. Learning about other cultures and appreciating their differences is also an important part of this course. You will learn about foods, shopping patterns, meal times, music, homes, and celebrations in different Spanish speaking countries. As you explore with Cristina, you will begin to appreciate and understand the diversity of the Spanish speaking world. Enjoy your journey with Cristina and share your experiences and everything you learn with your family and friends!
Major Topics and Concepts
Semester 1
• Making language connections: Understanding cognates and borrowed words, using cognates to build vocabulary, recognizing the myths vs. realities of Hispanic culture
• Alphabet, vowel sounds, pronunciation, and comparing the sounds of Spanish to English
• Greetings, introducing yourself and others, courtesies
• Irregular verb ESTAR
• Using the irregular verb SER for descriptions
• Adjective agreement: Gender (masculine vs. feminine) and number (singular vs. plural) in nouns and adjectives
• Colors
• Numbers 0-1000
• Ser vs. Estar
• Formal vs. informal
• Subject pronouns
• Review of regular –ar verbs
• Culture: Exploring Spain with Cristina, the student traveler
• Speaking about your family: Identifying family members and talking about professions
• Using adjectives to describe self, family members, and friends
• Question words: Asking and answering questions
• Speaking about your home and the rooms of the house
• Using Hay to express “there is or “there are”
• Using regular–er and –ir verbs
• Irregular verbs ir, tener
• Expressions with infinitives: Tener que, ir a
• Culture: Winter Celebrations
• Culture: Exploring Puerto Rico with Cristina, the student traveler
• Types of stores, shopping, money and counting
• Culture: Learning about the currencies of different countries
• Expressing likes and dislikes with the verb gustar
• Expressing degrees of preference using mucho, muchísimo, poco and nada
• Buying clothes and using cuesta/cuestan
• Buying gifts and using the verb dar
• Personal “a”
• Indirect object pronouns
• Buying groceries and understanding numbers, signs and prices
• Asking for prices in the mall, supermarket, or clothing store
• Culture: Shopping in other countries
Semester 2
Speaking about food and dining experiences
• Using the verb ver
• Speaking in a restaurant: Reading a menu, ordering, listening, asking and responding to questions
• Using e - i stem-changing verbs: pedir and servir
• Setting the table
• Direct object pronouns
• Culture: Foods and customs of other cultures in the Spanish speaking world
• Meal times
• Foods from around the world
• Nationalities
• Hispanic foods
• Culture: Exploring Colombia with Cristina, the student traveler
• Describing weather & seasons
• Activities for different seasons
• Celsius vs. Fahrenheit and temperature conversions
• Culture: Exploring Argentina with Cristina, the student traveler
• Season differences based on geography
• Using “ -go” verbs: tener, poner, traer, decir, salir, hacer, venir, oír
• Sports for different seasons
• Storms and severe weather
• Hanging out with friends
• Using e – ie stem changing verbs: empezar, cerrar, pensar, perder, querer, and preferir
• Going to the movies
• Parts of the body
• Using the verb jugar to talk about sports
• Talking about pastimes
• Using o – ue stem changing verbs: almorzar, encontrar, volver, poder, dormir
• Music and instruments