This 10-week course is pitched at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course meets some of 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 discussions and role-plays.
Spanish: Intermediate - Part 1
This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.
Overview
Programme details
Course starts: 27 Sept 2023
The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an indication 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: Introduction to the course. Knowing each other. Spanish and you.
Week 2: Learning strategies to improve your Spanish.
Week 3: Geographic varieties in the Spanish language.
Week 4: Life in the 21st century. Talking about future plans and making predictions.
Week 5: Expressing probability while learning about Latin America.
Week 6: Giving opinions on cultural differences and similarities.
Week 7: Narrating past events. Describing the context of a past event.
Week 8: Meeting new people.
Week 9: Talking about important events in one's life.
Week 10: Presentations. Revision activities.
Key grammar points:
* Indicative tenses revision: present, present perfect and past simple
* Desde hace, llevar + tiempo + gerundio
* The plueperfect tense: había + participio pasado
* The future forms: going to + infinitive, I will
* Relative pronouns
* Introduction to the subjunctive mood
Key functions:
* Talking about actions that occurred once and during a period of time
* Describing situations and circumstances
* Expressing probability
* Expressing opinions and wishes
Recommended reading
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
- ELE Actual B1 "Libro del Alumno" / Virgilio Vorobio
Certification
Students who attend a minimum of 70% of classes will receive a Certificate of Attendance.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £251.00 |
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:
Tutors
Mr Esteban Cichello Hubner
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
Leonardo Sagor is a native qualified Modern Foreign Languages tutor. He is originally from South America and has taught several courses at the University of Oxford's 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 help you to practise and consolidate the language required to express yourself with a degree of fluency and spontaneity in some situations regularly encountered at work, educational settings, leisure centres and while travelling abroad.
Course objectives:
- To develop the learners’ language skills to be able to deal with a range of situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.
- To consolidate reading comprehension skills to enable learners to understand a range of texts written in everyday and job-related language.
- To equip learners with the vocabulary and grammatical structures required to write straightforward, connected texts on some topics which are familiar or of personal interest.
- To increase the learners’ intercultural awareness and understanding of some of the differences and similarities in social and everyday practices between their own and the target culture.
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, collaborative and informal learning environment. The course has been structured to help you primarily to improve your speaking and listening skills and to deepen your intercultural awareness of a range of practices and frames of understanding in the target culture. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures in a communicative context and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- exploit language to deal with a range of situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the target language is spoken;
- understand the main points of clear standard speech on a range of familiar matters regularly encountered at work, educational settings and leisure centres;
- read and understand a range of simple texts which include job-related language, descriptions of events, reasons or opinions;
- write straightforward connected texts on familiar topics or matters of personal interest.
Assessment methods
You will be set optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.
Application
Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).
Level and demands
Selection criteria
Our public programme is open access, and most adult language classes are mixed ability. To benefit from this course, participants will have done one of the following:
- gained a GCSE (Grade A/A*) in Spanish, or
- achieved A2 Level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in Spanish.