Spanish B1

Lower intermediate level of Spanish

Total Course Hours: Approximately 120-150 hours

Course Objectives: (Based on Instituto Cervantes Guidelines)

• Understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.

• Deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken.

• Produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.

• Describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes, and ambitions, and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

Module Structure:

Each module focuses on a theme, and integrates:

• Goals: What the student will achieve.

• Functions: What the student will be able to do with the language.

• Grammar: Grammatical structures.

• Vocabulary: Key vocabulary.

• Skills Development: Listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Module 1: Personal Relationships and Social Interactions

• Goals:

• Describe different types of relationships.

• Express feelings and emotions.

• Give advice and recommendations.

• Functions:

• Describing people and their relationships.

• Expressing a range of emotions (joy, sadness, anger, surprise).

• Giving and responding to advice.

• Discussing social customs and etiquette.

• Managing disagreements and conflicts.

• Grammar:

• Review of A2 grammar (as needed).

• Present subjunctive

• Past subjunctive (imperfect subjunctive - introduction).

• Conditional sentences (type 1 - probable).

• Connectors for expressing emotions and opinions (e.g., me alegra que, me preocupa que, sin embargo).

• Vocabulary:

• Family members, friends, partners.

• Feelings and emotions (e.g., alegría, tristeza, enfado, sorpresa, preocupación).

• Qualities of people (e.g., amable, sincero, egoísta).

• Social expressions (e.g., ¡Qué bien!, ¡Qué lástima!).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding conversations about relationships and feelings.

• Speaking: Role-playing social situations, giving advice.

• Reading: Articles about social customs.

• Writing: Writing emails giving advice or expressing feelings.

Module 2: Leisure and Entertainment

• Goals:

• Discuss leisure activities.

• Talk about cultural events.

• Make and respond to suggestions.

• Functions:

• Describing hobbies and interests.

• Discussing films, music, books, and other forms of entertainment.

• Making and responding to suggestions and invitations.

• Expressing preferences and opinions about leisure activities.

• Narrating past events (e.g., going to a concert, seeing a film).

• Grammar:

• Past subjunctive (imperfect subjunctive - more practice).

• Conditional sentences (type 2 - hypothetical).

• Verbs of preference (e.g., gustar, encantar, preferir) with subjunctive.

• Connectors for sequencing events (e.g., primero, después, luego, finalmente).

• Vocabulary:

• Hobbies and interests (e.g., leer, viajar, deportes).

• Types of films, music, and books (e.g., comedia, rock, novela).

• Expressions for making plans (e.g., ¿Qué te apetece hacer?, ¿Te viene bien el...?).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding discussions about leisure activities and cultural events.

• Speaking: Discussing films, music, and books; making plans with friends.

• Reading: Reviews of films or books.

• Writing: Writing a review of a film or book, writing an invitation.

Module 3: The Media and Current Events

• Goals:

• Understand and discuss news.

• Express opinions on social issues.

• Analyze media.

• Functions:

• Summarizing news articles and reports.

• Discussing current events and social problems.

• Expressing opinions and arguing a point of view.

• Analyzing different types of media (newspapers, television, internet).

• Describing past events and their consequences.

• Grammar:

• Reported speech (indirect speech).

• Passive voice (basic uses).

• Connectors for expressing cause and effect (e.g., por eso, debido a, como resultado de).

• Subjunctive in reporting verbs (e.g., decir que, creer que, dudar que).

• Vocabulary:

• Vocabulary related to the news (e.g., noticia, titular, suceso).

• Social issues (e.g., desempleo, inmigración, contaminación).

• Media vocabulary (e.g., periódico, televisión, redes sociales).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding news broadcasts and interviews.

• Speaking: Discussing current events, expressing opinions in a debate.

• Reading: News articles, opinion pieces.

• Writing: Writing a summary of a news article, writing an opinion essay.

Module 4: Health and Well-being

• Goals:

• Talk about health and illness.

• Give advice on healthy habits.

• Discuss healthcare.

• Functions:

• Describing health problems and symptoms.

• Talking about treatments and remedies.

• Giving advice on healthy lifestyles (e.g., diet, exercise).

• Discussing different healthcare systems.

• Expressing concerns and hopes related to health.

• Grammar:

• Subjunctive in impersonal expressions related to health (e.g., es importante que, es necesario que).

• Conditional sentences (mixed conditionals - present result of past condition).

• Vocabulary related to parts of the body, illnesses, treatments.

• Vocabulary:

• Parts of the body (e.g., el corazón, el estómago, los huesos).

• Illnesses and symptoms (e.g., la gripe, el dolor de cabeza, la fiebre).

• Treatments and remedies (e.g., la medicina, el antibiótico, el remedio natural).

• Healthy habits (e.g., la dieta equilibrada, el ejercicio físico, el descanso).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding conversations with a doctor, health-related programs.

• Speaking: Describing symptoms, giving advice on staying healthy.

• Reading: Articles about health and wellness.

• Writing: Writing a letter to a doctor describing symptoms, writing an essay about healthcare.

Module 5: Education and Work

• Goals:

• Discuss education and employment.

• Describe job responsibilities.

• Express career goals.

• Functions:

• Talking about educational background and qualifications.

• Describing jobs, professions, and work environments.

• Discussing job responsibilities, tasks, and duties.

• Expressing career goals, ambitions, and aspirations.

• Applying for a job, writing a CV and cover letter, and participating in an interview.

• Grammar:

• Perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect) to talk about past experiences relevant to present.

• Subjunctive in job applications (e.g., busco un trabajo que me permita...).

• Connectors for organizing a CV and cover letter.

• Vocabulary:

• Education-related vocabulary (e.g., la carrera, la asignatura, el título).

• Job-related vocabulary (e.g., el puesto de trabajo, el sueldo, las responsabilidades).

• Skills and qualifications (e.g., habilidades, experiencia, formación).

• CV and cover letter vocabulary.

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding conversations about work, interviews.

• Speaking: Discussing jobs, describing your skills, participating in a mock interview.

• Reading: Job advertisements, CVs, cover letters.

• Writing: Writing a CV and cover letter.

Module 6: Travel and Culture

• Goals:

• Talk about travel experiences.

• Discuss cultural differences.

• Make travel arrangements.

• Functions:

• Describing travel experiences, destinations, and itineraries.

• Discussing cultural differences, customs, and traditions.

• Making travel arrangements (booking hotels, flights, etc.).

• Dealing with common travel situations (e.g., asking for directions, ordering food).

• Comparing and contrasting different cultures.

• Grammar:

• Review of verb tenses for narrating past experiences.

• Subjunctive for expressing opinions and reactions to cultural experiences.

• Connectors for comparing and contrasting (e.g., mientras que, a diferencia de, en cambio).

• Vocabulary:

• Travel-related vocabulary (e.g., el viaje, el destino, el alojamiento).

• Cultural vocabulary (e.g., las costumbres, las tradiciones, el patrimonio).

• Vocabulary for making reservations (e.g., reservar, confirmar, cancelar).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding conversations about travel, announcements at airports/stations.

• Speaking: Describing travel experiences, discussing cultural differences, role-playing travel situations.

• Reading: Travel blogs, brochures, articles about cultural events.

• Writing: Writing a travel blog post, writing an email to a hotel.

Module 7: The Environment and Social Issues

• Goals:

• Discuss environmental problems.

• Express opinions on social issues.

• Participate in discussions.

• Functions:

• Talking about environmental problems and potential solutions.

• Expressing opinions on various social issues (e.g., poverty, inequality).

• Participating in discussions and debates.

• Describing cause and effect relationships.

• Formulating arguments and justifying a point of view.

• Grammar:

• Conditional sentences (type 3 - impossible condition).

• Passive voice (advanced uses).

• Connectors for argumentation (e.g., en mi opinión, desde mi punto de vista, por lo tanto).

• Vocabulary:

• Environment-related vocabulary (e.g., el cambio climático, la deforestación, el reciclaje).

• Social issue vocabulary (e.g., la pobreza, la desigualdad, los derechos humanos).

• Vocabulary for expressing opinions (e.g., opinar, creer, considerar).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding documentaries, debates, and discussions about social and environmental issues.

• Speaking: Participating in debates, expressing and justifying opinions.

• Reading: Articles and reports on environmental and social issues.

• Writing: Writing an argumentative essay, writing a letter to the editor.

Module 8: Expressing Opinions, Attitudes, and Emotions in Detail

• Goals:

• Express a wide range of opinions.

• Justify opinions.

• Persuade and convince.

• Functions:

• Expressing a wide range of opinions, attitudes, and emotions with nuance.

• Justifying opinions and providing detailed reasons.

• Persuading and convincing others in a discussion or debate.

• Expressing agreement and disagreement politely and effectively.

• Analyzing and evaluating different viewpoints.

• Grammar:

• Advanced uses of the subjunctive (e.g., in complex sentences, with abstract nouns).

• Modal verbs (e.g., deber, poder, tener que) for expressing obligation, possibility, etc., with more nuance.

• Discourse markers for structuring arguments (e.g., en primer lugar, por otro lado, en resumen).

• Vocabulary:

• Vocabulary for expressing opinions and attitudes with precision (e.g., matizar, ponderar, sopesar).

• Vocabulary for persuasion and argumentation (e.g., convencer, persuadir, refutar).

• Vocabulary for describing subtle differences in emotions (e.g., estar ilusionado, estar esperanzado, estar decepcionado).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding nuanced discussions, debates with complex arguments.

• Speaking: Participating in complex discussions, presenting a persuasive argument.

• Reading: Analyzing complex essays and argumentative texts.

• Writing: Writing a persuasive essay, a formal letter presenting a viewpoint.