Spanish 103: Intermediate Spanish I

The purpose of 103 is to help you increase the quantity and quality of the Spanish you can understand and use in oral and written discourse through the study of a series of cultural topics: from sports to cuisine, from ecology to politics, from health concerns to styles of artistic expression.

By the end of the course you should be able to:

• converse, write and read about topics familiar to you (your life and experiences, likes and dislikes, needs, daily activities, future plans) with relative ease.
• converse, read and write about cultural issues related to the Hispanic world.
• converse, write, and read about things that happened in the past.
• get the gist, supporting points, and details out of a variety of extensive audio and written texts.
• know about literary terminology and different Hispanic authors
• interpret Hispanic literary texts and other works of art.

Methodology

Total immersion in language and culture

Your instructor and course materials will provide you with numerous opportunities to develop communication skills and cultural competence through the use of oral and written discourse to explore things that are relevant to your life and the world around you. During every class session you will find yourself immersed in a rich Spanish language environment that will help you learn how to communicate meaningfully in Spanish and collectively explore the language and the cultures. Use it and enjoy it!

Keys to Success

1. Relax and don’t be afraid to speak up or to make mistakes.
2. Study on a daily basis by completing homework assignments, and studying the vocabulary and reviewing the grammar (associate those words and concepts with images, actions, and your own preferences and experiences, just like in class).
3. Meet with your instructor when you don’t understand something.
4. Talk with people that speak Spanish.
5. Listen to music in Spanish, watch TV and films in Spanish.
6. Seize all of the opportunities created for you in and out of class.
7. Respect the rules of the Spanish-only classroom, and demand that everyone else do the same.
8. Interact with the Hispanic world around you.
9. Seek out help (from your instructor or from a tutor) the moment you think you might be having trouble.

Spanish 103 counts for both the Spanish minor and major.