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 We searched a long time for a text that would suit what we were trying to accomplish
in our courses and, when we couldn't find one, we decided to create our own. We are
happy with the work we have done. We can
tell you without any reservations that it works.
Our curriculum consists of:
- Six levels, each of which is a
16-hour course, divided into eight 2-hour periods
- Conversation courses that supplement the curriculum
- Beginning conversation follows Level 3 (two hours per week),
- Intermediate conversation
is designed to follow Level 4 (four hours per week)
- Advanced conversation follows Level 6 (two hours per week)
Students
who already speak some Spanish should take our placement
test to see which level
we recommend.
We provide CDs as part of our curriculum, so that students can practice vocabulary,
pronunciation, and short dialogues on their own. We also encourage our students to
expose themselves to as much use of the language as possible— conversation
classes, and films, listen to foreign language TV and radio, read
newspapers, magazines and books, and explore the internet -- blogs, podcasts, radio
broadcasts, newspapers and more are easily accessible.
We recommend some links.
We have designed
our program to cover all important grammar issues while emphasizing speaking and
listening. Classes are very small, participatory, and interactive; teachers speak
in Spanish from the very beginning classes; some homework is included. The curriculum
can be modified to include occupation-specific vocabulary and phrases.
Although students do some reading and some writing, the focus of our curriculum
is on the spoken language. As is the case with any language course, grammar is an
important aspect of learning a foreign language, but unlike some other methods, we
teach grammar with the idea that you use it as you learn it. Each new concept is
introduced, followed by a variety of written, spoken and communicative activities
to help you incorporate each new idea into everyday speech.
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