Español: Elemental (B90401)

General information

Type:	OP	Curs:	5	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	2 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Ed: 1	Francesco Spinoglio	Spanish Section	ESP

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Ed: 2	Francesco Spinoglio	Spanish Section	ESP

To be able to take part in this course, students have to have achieved the A1 level (Common European Framework of Reference, CEFR).

To be able to take part in this course, students need to have a basic knowledge of Spanish: A1 level (Common European Framework of Reference, CEFR).

In-class sessions: 40 hours

In an increasingly globalised world, business is not only undertaken at the regional level or solely within a neighbouring country, but on a far wider scale. Consequently, people need to develop versatile and multilingual communication skills along with a broad and varied cultural background.

Globalisation also affects the job market, and competition is more intense. For foreign students visiting us, mastering a third language such as Spanish is fundamental, opening doors to job markets here and in Latin America.

For this reason, mastering a language such as Spanish will allow students to participate in job recruitment processes in Spanish-speaking firms and opt for jobs anywhere in the world.

In terms of the programme, learning and mastering Spanish will also enable students to sit classes, lectures and participate in groups carried out in Spanish, as well as interact comfortably with their classmates.

The aim of this Intensive Elementary Spanish course is to provide students with the sufficient resources needed to achieve a basic mastery of the language, enabling them to interact relatively easily in day-to-day situations.

Students will be able to develop learning strategies appropriate for their level and be able to converse with native speakers at an appropriate rhythm and speed.

Taking advantage of the immersive situation in which students find themselves, this course also aims to enable students to fully integrate in local social, cultural and academic life, participating actively and sharing spaces with faculty, classmates and others in their social setting.

By completing this level, students are expected to be able to:
- Understand frequently used expressions and apply them in day-to-day settings as well as simple sentences to satisfy immediate needs.
- Introduce themselves and others, ask for and give basic information about their homes, their belongings and people they know.
- Interact at an elementary level so long as the other person speaks slowly and is willing to cooperate.
- Understand and produce oral and written texts about their immediate needs and well-known or familiar questions.
- Communicate to be able to carry out simple, day-to-day tasks that don¿t require more than just the simple and direct exchange of information on questions which they are familiar with or which are habitual.
- Describe elements of their past and settings in simple terms, as well as describe questions related to their immediate needs.
- Use simple vocabulary and questions related to businesses and the business community.

1. FUNCTIONAL CONTENT - Revise the most important functional concepts from the previous level. - Talk about habitual actions in the present. - Locate objects, places and people in space. - Ask for and give directions. - Express and ask about others¿ opinions. - Express and ask about likes and preferences. - Express needs and obligations. - Express and ask about states of mind. - Ask for, give and deny permission. - Request. - Talk about plans and intentions. - Propose and suggest. - Agree on and change a date/meeting. - Offer and invite. - Accept and reject. - Advise. - Express best wishes. - Congratulate. - Respond to congratulations and best wishes. - Express possession. - Request a given product or service. - Assessments. - Narrate and describe events in the past.

2. GRAMMATICAL CONTENT - Revise the most important concepts from the previous level. - Present indicative. - Verbal periphrasis. - Possessive adjectives and pronouns. - Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns. - Adverbs. - Prepositions: a, con, de, en, entre, para, por, sin, desde - hasta/ de - a, hacia, sobre. - Morphology and use of regular and irregular verbs in the Present Perfect tense (haber + regular/irregular past participles) - Temporal markers: hoy, esta mañana, ya/ todavía no, nunca, alguna vez, siempre. - Morphology and use of the past simple: regular and irregular verbs. - Morphology and use of the imperfect tense; uses with antes and ahora. - Comparatives and superlatives: más ....que menos.... que tan/tanto.... como igual que más/menos que. - Indefinite pronouns: algo, alguien, nada, nadie - Direct object pronouns for the 3rd person: lo, la, los, las. - Use of ¿se¿: impersonal reflexive. - Compound sentence structures: copulative, disjunctive, adversative, causal, temporal and final.

3. THEMATIC AND LEXICAL CONTENT - Personal identification. - Classroom objects. - Classroom language. - Work and professions. - Countries, nationalities and languages. - Neighbourhoods/the city. - Physical states. - States of mind. - Personal nature and personalities. - Physical traits. - Parts of the body. - Adjectives to describe people and objects. - Marital status. - Likes and hobbies. - Bars and restaurants. - Sports. - Homes. - Clothing. - Families. - Food and meals. - Markets and supermarkets. - Numbers. - Weights and measures. - Time. - Schedules. - Parts of the day, days of the week, months. - Colours. - Transportation. - Antonyms. - More adjectives to describe people. - Adjectives to describe objects: materials and shapes. - Hotels. - The office. - Banks. - More vocabulary related to cities and neighbourhoods. - Shopping, stores and establishments. - Codified structures to talk on the phone. - The weather, seasons and climate. - Health. - Spain: governance, autonomous communities and languages. - Synonyms and antonyms.

4. CULTURAL CONTENT - Greetings and introductions. - Tú versus Usted. - When to use different greetings. - Different ways to greet others: kiss, shake hands, etc. - Thank, accept, excuse oneself, reject, congratulate, express condolences, toast and invite. - Schedules: food, shops, work, etc. - Punctuality. - Clothing: what's appropriate and what isn't. - Spain (autonomous communities, provinces and languages). - Linguistic markers in social relations. - The use and choice of greeting. - Ways to address someone. - Appropriate use of please and thank you.

The course will comply with the syllabus, carrying out interactive activities to facilitate students' learning.

The methodology applied in language classes and in Spanish, in particular, is as follows:

- Participatory sessions, giving priority to communicative aspects though without obviating grammar
- Greater emphasis on oral skills through presentations, class discussions and interactive activities between students, all in a comfortable setting that facilitates students' learning.
- Motivating students in class to encourage their participation and learning.

"Gramática de uso del español" A1-A2. Aragonés, L and Palencia, R. Ed. SM Ele.
Aula 1 (new edition) Ed. Difusión.
Bilingual dictionaries

Group	Teacher	Department
Ed: 1	Francesco Spinoglio	Spanish Section

Group	Teacher	Department
Ed: 2	Francesco Spinoglio	Spanish Section