Is the Semester Program for Me?

The semester-long Spanish language courses are available to students at all levels of proficiency, and no prior learning experience is required to register.

The student body in these courses largely consists of young people between the ages of 18 and 26 who wish to learn Spanish either as part of their studies, to increase career opportunities, or as a formative cultural and linguistic experience taken on during a year-long break from their regular studies.

Middle-aged students taking a year off of work to study Spanish, and older students who wish to retire in Spain also constitute a fairly common student profile in these courses.

The structure of the semester course is similar to that of the shorter-term courses, except that students receive a much deeper immersion into the material presented.

On the first day of the program students take a proficiency test that will help determine their appropriate level placement. Students also receive the class schedule on this day.

The daily class structure is as follows:

• Hours 1-2: Spanish language and grammar.
  This course aims to improve students’ fluency in Spanish, paying special attention to grammar and vocabulary. Following a communicative and functional approach, the course offers students a wide range of tasks and activities which make them get familiar with real communicative contexts.

• Hour 3: Students take optional subjects:
  CONVERSATION AND COMPOSITION
  Along this course, students work on their writing and speaking skills through the analysis and production of different written and oral texts.
  SPANISH HISTORY
  This course introduces and analyses the different periods, facts and relevant figures that, from Prehistory to current days, have been building the multicultural History of Spain. Practical approach through images, texts and documents.
  THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SPANISH HISTORY
  This course is intended to give some light on the role of women along the History of Spain. An outline about their role in different historic periods will be exposed, from the Medium Age till the current times.

• Hour 4: Students take optional subjects:
  ORAL SKILLS PRACTICE
  During this course, students will develop their listening and speaking skills through guided activities which reproduce a variety of real communicative contexts.
  THE ARAB WORLD IN THE HISPANIC CULTURE
  The main purpose of this course is to analyze the culture, art, traditions and literature from the Arab world, as well as the Arabic language, and the way they have contributed to forge the Hispanic identity, together with the influences of other peoples.
  SPANISH LITERATURE
  This course offers a general overview of the Spanish literature from the Medium Age till the present time. The different literary periods are introduced, following a chronological order and basing the classes on the study of real texts. This way, students get to track them in the political, historical and social contexts where they appeared.
  SPANISH CULTURE
  The objective of this course is to help the student understand the different aspects of the Spanish culture. The program includes not only information about geographic, political, historic aspects, but also the customs, behavior, and values which form a part of the Spanish character.

• Hour 5: Students take optional subjects:
  SPANISH ART
  With this course, students learn the main periods and trends of the Spanish art through History. During the course, students analyze the most important art works (paintings, sculptures and architecture) of the Spanish Heritage.
  SPANISH FOR BUSINESS
  This course is designed for students who need to go deep into Spanish more specifically, focusing on the variety of language used for business. Special emphasis on specific vocabulary regarding this area and on the main language skills within this domain.
  WRITTEN SKILLS PRACTICE
  With this class, students will learn to use their writing skills as a communicative tool. They will improve their writing through the reading comprehension and the production of different texts.
  SPANISH AND LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA
  This course aims to analyze in detail the narrative strategies thanks to which cinema can be defined as an artistic expression. For that purpose, students will view and study a set of films from Spain and Latin America, filmed in different periods.