Granada, Spain - IMSOL - Language - Intermediate Spanish I

COURSE SYLLABUS: INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

Location: Granada, Spain

Partner Institution: IMSOL (Instituto Mediterráneo Sol)

Course Title (English): Intermediate Spanish I

Course Title (Spanish): Curso Intensivo de Lengua y Cultura Españolas, A2/B1 - Intermediate

Sessions Offered: Summer, Winter Break, Year-Round

Instructional In: Spanish

Classroom Contact Hours: 45 contact hours

College Credit (Semester Credit Hours): 3 credit hours

College Credit (Quarter Units): 4 quarter units

Prerequisites: Beginner II Spanish Level

Course Code: CIE45 or CSE45

Note: The program for Spanish Courses complies with the content description set out in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A level test is given at the start of the program.

Transcript: IMSOL is a certified Cervantes Institute and issues a transcript and certificate upon completion. However, if a university transcript is needed, Jacksonville University (JU) is the school of record and can issue a JU transcript. The fee for this service is $75/credit hour earned (not to exceed $1,000). Please contact Sol Education Abroad for further details.

Course Description

To understand and express oneself in general situations which require an exchange of information and to show personal attitudes about several topics familiar to the learner but not only those related to his/her personal experience.

Course Objectives

Listening comprehension: To understand the general meaning and some essential details of conversations between two native speakers on various topics familiar to the learner. To understand advertisements and short news items in the context of social communication.
Oral production: To express oneself through simple linguistic structures and express general opinions on topics familiar to the learner.
Reading comprehension: To understand the general meaning and some essential details of texts on various topics familiar to the learner.
Writing skills: To write simple but pragmatically adequate texts, giving information and expressing personal opinions on topics familiar to the learner.

Course Content

Communicative content:

Speak about oneself and others: personal identification, likes, experiences, opinions.
Identify locations geographically. Compare countries. Identify by characteristics.
Speak about people. Compare customs. Express differences. Collect information from a context.
Organize a written text of an informational nature.
Express possession.
Identify.
Compare quantities.
Speak about the past I: Talk about actions with or without relation to the present. Refer to a specific time. Refer to a period of time.
Relate two past times.
Speak about the past II: Talk about habits and their frequency in the present with relation to the past. Describe in the past tense.
Count time and indicate limits.
Speak about the past III: Tell anecdotes and stories. Introduce a perspective into the story.
Speak about the future: Express degrees of certainty with respect to the future. Relate actions in the future.
Express conditions of a likely probability.
Describe and ask for information about itineraries.
React to news. Express certainty.
Express opinions and react to other’s opinions. Show agreement and disagreement. Express an attitude on shared information.
Refer words I: Repeat what has been said. Ask indirect questions.
Make changes of spatial and personal reference. Transmit what has been said.
Refer words II: Make changes of temporal reference. Check the validity of referred words or their belonging to the past.
Make enquiries in public services (formal). Indicate advantages and disadvantages.
Ask for and give advice.
Describe and identify something of which one has had no experience.
Make hypotheses. Refer a hypothesis to the present/future and the immediate past. React to a hypothesis. Express surprise.
Congratulate, give thanks for and react to congratulations, and thanks. Invite, accept and refuse invitations. Express wishes in specific situations. Give praise to others and react to praise from others.
Make petitions and react to petitions. Choose the correct register according to the degree of formality of the situation. Make offers and react to offers.

Grammatical Content:

Vocabulary related to experience and personal characteristics
Ser / Estar : basic functions
Vocabulary to describe geographically
Expression of cause: por + noun, porque + phrase
La gente / la mayoría ... + singular
Connectors en cambio / en vez de
Lo de + infinitive / noun
Use of parecerse
Syntax of comparative structures: más / menos ... que, tan(to)... como
Syntax of comparative identification: el / la más ..., el / la que tiene más, el / la que mejor
Vocabulary of stereotypes and characters
The impersonal with se
Percentages
Basic discourse connectors and markers
Possessive adjectives and pronouns
Resources to identify within a group: el / la + (adjective) / de + noun / que + phrase.
Resources to compare quantities
Morphology and contrastive use of the Indefinite and the Perfect
Indicative
Resources to speak about a specific time: En + date, Desde + date, Hace + time expression.
Resources to speak about a period of time: llevar + gerund
Desde hace + time expression
Resources to relate two past times: al cabo de + time expression, time expression + después, a + time expression + siguiente
Resources to indicate time limits: Hasta que / desde que / ya no
Morphology and use of the Imperfect Indicative as an indicator of situation
Resources to express frequency and habit in the past
Introducing stories and anecdotes and ways of reacting: uses of the imperfect
Resources to count back in time: Hace / Hacía + time expression (que)
Narration in the past: contrasted and combined uses of the Imperfect and the Preterit

Cultural content at the intermediate level:

General characteristics of the social behaviour of Spanish people
uses of ‘tu’ and ‘usted’.
Expressive linguistic resources ‘los tacos’ (swear words).
Norms and rites of daily events: introductions, celebrations, etc.
The family as the focal point of daily Spanish life:
Parent-child relationships.
Marriage relationships.
The role of each family member.
Spanish youth.
The Dictatorship and the Democracy: general characteristics.
Political Parties and Trade Unions
Main problems of the Spanish Democracy.

Unemployment.
Terrorism.

Spain and the European Union.
Spain and America.
Spain, a place of cultural fusion: Christians, Jews and Moslems.
Religion, folklore and superstition. Principal expressions: Holy Week.
Cultural Spanish artistic expressions:

Bullfighting.
Flamenco.

The Mediterranean diet: olive oil.
Introduction to Spanish Literature in the Spanish language I.
Introduction to Spanish art I:
Painting: Velázquez, Goya and Picasso.
Introduction to Spanish cinema I:

Buñuel
Almodóvar.

Course Evaluation

Assessment is on a continuous basis and progress is also evaluated in the end-of-course exam. The final exam is divided into two parts:

1. Written exam (2 hours)

1.1. Listening comprehension (20 minutes)
1.2 Reading comprehension (30 minutes)
1.3 Written expression (30 minutes)

1.4 Linguistic competency (40 minutes)

2. Oral exam (10 to 15 minutes if done with a partner or 5 to 10 minutes if done individually)

2.1 Oral expression

2.2 Oral interaction

Listening comprehension: 20% of final grade

Reading comprehension: 20% of final grade

Written expression: 20% of final grade

Linguistic competency: 20% of final grade

Oral expression: 20% of final grade

Contact Information:

SOL EDUCATION ABROAD

EMAIL: info@soleducation.com

WEB: www.soleducation.com

PHONE: 512.380.1003

FAX: 512.287.4886

MAIL: 503 Oakland Ave. Austin, TX 78703