Spanish: Beginners - Part 2

Overview

This 10-week course is pitched at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet the level requirements. To help develop your fluency in the language, the course will focus primarily on speaking and listening skills, but will also include practice in reading and writing. You will have plenty of opportunities to practise the target language through hands-on class activities such as conversations and role-plays.

Programme details

Course starts: 19 Jan 2026

The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an overview of the main topic(s) likely to be covered in each session. Please note that these may sometimes change according to the tutor’s discretion to reflect the interests of course participants.

Week 1: The house. Rooms and furniture.

Week 2: Sports and leisure activities. Likes and dislikes.

Week 3: Telling the time. Week days and months. The weather.

Week 4: In the town: places & buildings. Opening & closure times.

Week 5: Daily routine 1.

Week 6: Daily routine 2.

Week 7: The weekend. Sports & free time activities. Housework.

Week 8: Work, studies, professions. Means of transport.

Week 9: Sports & free time activities. The Internet.

Week 10: A glance at the past tense (preterite). Revision.

Key grammar points:

* Different uses of the irregular verbs ser and estar

* Quantifiers

* Reflexive verbs in the present tense

* Basic prepositions and linking words

* Irregular verbs in the present tense (haber, venir)

Key functions:

* Describing houses and interiors

* Expressing likes and dislikes

* Discussing routines and free time activities

* Talking about the weather and telling the time

* Asking for and providing basic information

Textbooks

To participate in this course fully, you will need access to the following textbook: 

  • ELE Actual A1 / Borobio, V and Palencia, R

Certification

Digital badge

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download your digital badge. You will be able to add your badge to your email signature and share it on social media if you choose to do so. In order to be issued with your badge, you will need to have attended at least 80% of the course.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £300.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutors

Mr Esteban Cichello Hubner

Tutor

Esteban Cichello-Hubner studied International Relations, Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at Hertford College, University of Oxford and completed a teaching degree at the OU Education Department.  He then pursued his Spanish Philology studies at the University of Salamanca.  Esteban is an author and an experienced Foreign Modern Languages tutor who has taught several courses at the OUDCE.

Mr Leonardo Sanchez Gorosito

Tutor

Leonardo Sagor is a native qualified Modern Foreign Languages tutor. He is originally from South America and has taught several courses at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education throughout his career. He is also a composer, a guitar player and a talented singer. Leonardo graduated from  the University of Salamanca and obtained his PGCE at the University of Bedfordshire. He is a tireless traveller who has explored more than 50 countries. He recorded his voice for the legendary Michel Thomas language courses and is currently working on teaching Spanish through cinema.

Course aims

To enable you to communicate at a basic level with speakers of the target language in a limited range of practical, real-life settings.

Course objectives:

  • To help learners' to develop the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing for basic everyday communication in the target language.
  • To help learners' to consolidate their listening comprehension skills to understand the gist of very short, basic written texts and audio excerpts.
  • To enable learners' to use high frequency vocabulary and grammar structures for basic routine communication.
  • To equip learners' with an appreciation of the culture and civilisation of the country (or countries) in which the target language is spoken.

Teaching methods

You will learn through a communicative teaching approach with the emphasis on actively engaging in classroom activities in the target language. These are likely to include role-plays, pair- and small-group work, and conversational practice conducted in a supportive, friendly and informal learning environment.

The course has been structured to help you primarily to improve your speaking and listening skills and to develop a basic level of intercultural awareness in the context of social communication. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.

Learning outcomes

By the end of your course, learners will be better prepared to:

  • interact in a simple way using a basic range of language in routine everyday contexts;
  • understand and respond to basic spoken or recorded language relating to very familiar everyday situations;
  • demonstrate comprehension of very short, simple texts containing high frequency vocabulary and basic grammar structures;
  • write very short texts to provide basic personal information or simple descriptions.    

Assessment methods

You will be set short, optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.

Application

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands