Spanish 1

The United States is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, behind only Mexico. There are more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than there are in Spain! Spanish is also the fourth-most spoken language in the world. Studying the language will open a door to an immense variety of countries and cultures, be useful in business and life as the student moves into adult life, and assist the student by improving his grasp of English vocabulary and grammatical structure (as studying any romance language would do!).

This course will take a practical approach to building students’ facility in speaking, hearing, and writing the language. This approach incorporates conversation and listening, use of the language in group activities and games, and translation of varied types of texts, including Scripture. The classroom will be welcoming and accommodating to every learning personality so that through speaking every student can succeed in the class.

Assignments will include daily practice, weekly vocabulary and grammar exercises including texts, and weekly conversational work. Class time includes a lecture of one hour and conversational lesson/recitation of 1.5 hours. There will be three exams and a final, as well as one spoken presentation to be given at the end of each semester.

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students should:

1. Have a good understanding of beginning Spanish grammar and syntax, including the use of all tenses in the indicative mood.
2. Have mastered a broad vocabulary covering a variety of academic and everyday subjects.
3. Be able to translate and compose written everyday Spanish.
4. Be comfortable speaking within the Spanish that they have learned, including having good pronunciation and rhythm.
5. Have achieved a B1 CEFR Intermediate Independent User level of fluency, being equipped to deal with most travel situations, create simple texts on topics of personal interest, and describe some personal events, opinions, ideas, and experiences.

Texts:

• Gilda Nissenberg, Complete Spanish Grammar (Premium 3rd Ed.), McGraw Hill ($12.49 new)
• William T. Tardy, Easy Spanish Reader: A Three-Part Text for Beginning Students (2nd edition), McGraw Hill ($14.50 new)
• Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs (any edition, $9.99)
• Bible, version RVR 1960 (Reina Valera 1960), not bilingual