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Accelerated Beginning Spanish (SPAN 1120)
Total Credits:
5
Lecture Credits:
5
Description:
This accelerated course combines the content of our Beginning 1 and Beginning 2 classes. You should consider this course if you have taken some previous college or High School Spanish and would like to review some basic elements more quickly. You might also find it suitable if you have previous experience with similar languages like French, Italian, Portuguese or Romanian. You will get an accelerated review of the basic material, and then focus on developing the use of past tense and object pronouns.
Topical Outline:
1. Listening: Students listen to native speakers, authentic dialogues, contemporary movie excerpts, weather, news media, etc., as a means of introducing and reinforcing grammar, vocabulary, colloquial expressions, and accents
2. Speaking: Students discuss themselves and their own lives, attitudes and values in contrast to their counterparts in the target culture. For example, students compare attitudes toward family, the educational systems, political views and attitudes across America
3. Reading: Students analyze the content of short primary texts such as newspaper articles, television commercials, and poems
4. Writing: Students write short compositions, journal entries, notes, messages, and short descriptions using simple sentences
5. Lexical-Grammatical Topics: saber and conocer, direct object pronouns and the personal a, indirect object pronouns, the verb gustar and similarly constructed verbs, regular and irregular preterit, double object pronouns, comparatives and superlatives, preterit vs. imperfect, relative pronouns, reflexive verbs and pronouns. Some specifics may vary depending on the specific textbook
6. Culture: Students acquire cultural information for the purpose of understanding and appreciating the products, practices, and perspectives of other cultures. Topics may include: food and mealtimes, new types of tourism in the Spanish-speaking world, important holidays, sports and medicine
Learning Outcomes:
1. Write short compositions on familiar topics, and read and discuss level appropriate, authentic materials. They will demonstrate strong usage of present and emerging usage of the preterite tense (ACTFL Novice mid or above)
2. Participate in paired and group activities to practice self-expression on personal, cultural, and current topics within limits of linguistic ability (ACTFL Novice Mid or above)
3. Demonstrate skill in reading authentic Spanish language text at the Novice High level or better
4. Understand the spoken language at the ACTFL Novice high level or above
5. Demonstrate a developing understanding of history, political science, art, and music of the target culture through the target language by comparing and contrasting cultural behaviors in everyday situations. Refer to MnTC goal 8 outcome and assessment for the skills not specifically related to linguistic skills (Writing & Speaking-ACTFL Novice mid, Reading & Listening-ACTFL Novice high)
Prerequisites:
One year of high school Spanish with a grade of 'C' or higher, or previous beginning Spanish experience in college, or Instructor Approval
MnTC:
Goal 8