Curriculum

BEGINNERS 1 (EQUIVALENT TO A1 IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people with very little or no previous knowledge of the language.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the Beginners 1 course, the student will be able to understand and use expressions that are used frequently on a daily basis, as well as simple phrases to satisfy immediate needs (shopping, eating out, ask for directions to find a place, etc). Also, the student will be able to greet people, introduce him/herself and others, and give and ask basic personal information about his/her home, belongings and people that he/she knows.

Topics:

1. Greeting and meeting people: Introductions (formal, informal). Give and ask personal information.

2. Rent an apartment: Describe a dwelling, locate objects, ask for an amount.

3. Around the City: Ask about places, for directions, ask and tell the time, ask for timetables.

4. Eating out: Ask somebody what he/she wants. Order food in a restaurant, express tastes. Ask somebody to do something. Ask: how much is it?

5. Tell me about you: Describe a person, state your age, talk about your daily activities.

6. Shopping: Describe materials, ask for permission, ask about prices, ask for opinions and answer, express preferences.

BEGINNERS 2 (EQUIVALENT TO A2 IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people with a basic repertoire of simple expressions of very frequent use, relative to personal information and specific immediate needs.

Learning Outcomes: At then end of the Beginners 2 course, the student will be able to use some sentence structures and grammar elements to start, keep and end simple conversations about ordinary subjects in predictable daily life situations (greeting, introducing people, eating out, shopping, etc). You will also be able to talk about the past using the appropriate form of the past tense according to the circumstances, and talk about future plans as well.

Topics:

1. Invitations: Invite somebody (for a coffee, date); accept or decline the invitation, insist, express obligation. Talk about actions happening now

2. Organise an excursion: Express plans, propose plans and alternatives. Express indifference. Express a probability, doubt or uncertainty. Talk over the phone.

3. Talk about the past (I)-What have you done lately?: Talk about past occurrences. Ask about the cause of something and justify yourself. Accept excuses. Talk about the recent past.

4. Talk about the Past (II)-Tell me what happened: Express an undetermined or inexistent quantity. Express interest in someone’s state of mind. Describe moods. Describe temporary qualities of objects.

5. Travel by plain: Ask and give information about means of transportation. Make comparisons. Express ownership. Ask about the weather and answer.

6. Talk about the Past (III)-Before and now: Describe habitual actions in the past. Express how frequently you do things. Talk about health and physical condition.

7. Instructions: Express obligation. Express possibility / prohibition. Conditional sentences (real conditions).

8. Talk about the Past (IV)-Occurrences of the past: Talk about actions interrupted by another action. Narrate events. Recount a person’s life.

INTERMEDIATE 1 (EQUIVALENT TO B1 IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people who are able to understand and express-verbally and by writing-basic and daily life ideas, and know how to describe in simple terms aspects of their past.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the Intermediate 1 course, the student will be able to express and understand the main ideas of a simple text or conversation about situations that are known to him or her (e.g. studies, leisure, etc) as long as they are clearly stated in standard Spanish. You will also be able to manage most of the situations that you find in a trip. Likewise, you will be able to describe experiences, occurrences, wishes, etc; and briefly justify your opinions or explain your plans.

Topics:

1. People: Talk about a person’s life, tastes and interests. Express continuity and duration. Express an action interrupted by another.

2. Feelings: Describe moods, describe somebody’s personality and temper. Ask and express opinions, and express agreement or disagreement

3. Instructions: Express obligation. Express absence of obligation. Give instructions and orders.

4. In the car: Express probability and hypothesis. Make suggestions. Ask for an address. Give directions to get to a place. Express approximate distance or time.

5. News: Report what another person said. React to a news. Ask for information, reply.

6. Health: Talk about health. Express conjecture. Express good wishes. Make recommendations.

7. Tourists and travellers: Talk about the occurrences of a trip. Express wishes and fears. Express complaints.  Catch somebody’s attention.

INTERMEDIATE 2 (EQUIVALENT TO B1+ IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people who are capable to maintain an interaction, and in general make themselves to be understood in a variety of situations, and know how to face daily life problems in a flexible way… but still make evident pauses to plan what to say and how to say it, and also, sometimes people find it difficult to understand them when they try to say exactly what they want.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the Intermediate 2 course, the student will be able to express ideas in a relatively fluent way and exchange more information with another speaker, i.e., he or she will be able to: make note when somebody asks for information or raises a problem; give concrete information required in an interview–but not with much precision-; explain the cause of a problem; sum up and give your opinion about a tale, speech or article; give detailed directions to describe how to do something; and verify and confirm information in a prepared interview although sometimes he or she have to ask the other speaker to repeat when his or her reply is lengthy or fast.

Topics:

1. At work: Talk about work conditions. Make comparisons. Express intensity. Value activities. Ask for confirmation when in doubt.

2. Social Life: Identify a person. Express surprise. Express embarrassment. Talk about a subject no matter if you are familiar with it or not.

3. Home stuff: Communicate orders. Express preferences and ask about them. Ask about the appreciation of something and react. Express indifference.

4. On sale: Buy in a shop. Ask for permission / ask a favour. Politely grant or deny permission. Assess prices, garments or objects. Express purpose.

5. Advices: Express unlikely conditions. Express wishes and opinions. Advise.

6. Leisure: Offer help. Make plans for the weekend. Express opposition to do something.

7. Debating: Participate in a debate. Structure an argument. Titles and polite addressing. Express doubts or obstacles to do something.

8. Stories: Recount past actions. Describe actions in the past. Recount actions that ended before another action in the past.

ADVANCED 1 (EQUIVALENT TO B2 IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people who want to gain fluency and be able to participate in more complex conversations, debates, arguments, etc.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the Advanced 1 course, the student will be able to interact with native speakers with enough fluency and spontaneity so the communication will take place effortlessly. He or she will be at easy in a social situation: starting a conversation, speaking when the moment is appropriate in the context of the conversation and ending it when necessary.

Also, the student will be able to write and speak clearly and in a detailed manner about diverse topics, and defend a point of view about general subjects, indicating the pros and cons of the different options brought to the discussion.

Finally, he or she will have gained a higher conscience of the language being able to correct mistakes that could lead to misunderstandings, and plan what is going to say and how to say it taking into account the effect that his or her comments will have on the other speakers.

Topics:

1. Communicational and Grammatical review.

2. Feeling well: Talk about health. Express obligation (personal and impersonal). Express judgements. Give instructions and advice. Buy in the supermarket.

3. The Latin wave: Talk about the life in the city. Describe a city. Describe somebody’s temper (I).

4. On campus: Talking about university education. Require information by writing. Locate actions in time.  Correct information.

5. Addicts to new technologies: Talk about new technologies and habits. Talk about addictions and their consequences. Describe a psychological profile.

6. Guilty or innocent?: Press charges. Express your opinion and argue. Participate in an internet forum.

7. Wounded Planet: Talk about the environment. Express disagreement. Concede. Express irony.

ADVANCED 2 (EQUIVALENT TO B2+ IN THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES)

For Whom: For people who want to improve the level of fluency gained in the previous course and further develop their conversational skills, especially cooperation strategies.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the Advanced 2 course, the student will have enhanced conversational skills such as: giving feedback about other speakers’ assertions and deductions in a conversation, making a follow up of those assertions to contribute to the development of the conversation, knowing how to skilfully establish a relation between his own contribution and that of other speakers, etc.. Also, the student will be able to use a number of cohesion mechanisms to fluently link phrases and make up a clear and cohesive speech. Likewise, at this level, the student further develops negotiation abilities.

Topics:

1. Thinking of you: Express feelings. Describe somebody’s state of mind. Describe somebody’s temper (II).  Express courtesy.

2. Women in crossroads: Express conditions. Talk about life options. Talk about discrimination. Arguing and structuring of speech.

3. Investigative Journalism: Talk about the press. Talk about risky experiences. Express tastes and opinions.

4. About movies: Comment movies. Express tastes in films. Tell a movie plot. Suggest and advise.

5. Good “cuisine”: Talk about cooking. Express tastes. Talk about past events. Tell an anecdote. Reported speech.

6. Science: Describe the characteristics of a machine. Talk about the advances of science. Describe processes. Talk about sci-fi.

PRIVATE CLASSES

We offer private one-to-one classes which can be arranged on demand. The format and content of these classes will depend on the specific needs of the student.

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