Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Intermediate

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of two semesters (or three quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH CONVERSATION

OBJECTIVES:

• Basic communication in Spanish as a second language
• Correct common errors of word agreement, meaning and pronunciation
• Increase ability to express opinions, ideas, personal needs and anxieties in an effort to motivate and help in language acquisition
• Mold the student’s phonetic pronunciation
• Provide a proper setting for the student’s oral expression, through commentary, dialogue, presentations, and class discussions

Class times are varied and are dedicated to different activities and topics including: reading days where students read a text in class and discuss a given text in a group, culture days, student work days where each student will be assigned to organize the structure of a class day, movie days, and days spent at a café in a more informal learning environment.

METHODOLOGY:

The methodology applied at the Language Center by the Department of Spanish includes various techniques:

• Communicative - emphasizing interaction in communication
• Situational - students acquire the necessary tools to react comfortably to daily circumstances
• Personalized instruction
• Independent learning - students interact directly with the language and learn at their own pace, organizing and applying concepts

CONTENTS:

Valuing and emphasizing
Habitual actions
Frequency
Disgust and annoyance
Remembering
Suggesting
Rules and instructions
Asking for a service
Express time (approximate and exact)
Pity

Resignation
Hypothesis/probability
Indifference, insouciance
Encourage, calm down
Suggestions, advice
Wishes/lamentation
Coming to agree to do something
Advice, to give one’s opinion
Cut conversation short
Express interest in someone
Transmit/relay information
Transmit orders
Ask for explanations, reproach
Apologize and respond
Lament and be sorry about
Valuing with emphasis
Propose
Let speaker choose
Involuntary
Asking due to difficulty
Asking due to differences
Congratulate
Greet another
Difference in age

STUDENTS WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING:

Daily routines
In-class dramatizations
Visit stores, restaurants
Group integration
Conversations with other students
Debates
Diverse dynamics
Interactions with locals
Interviews
Research assignments
Visit museums and historic landmarks
Traditions
Participate in university events
Newspaper