Spanish 103
BEGINNING SPANISH
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Atitlán, Guatemala 2005
 
This course is for those who have successfully passed Spanish 101 and 102 or who have taken two or more years of Spanish in high school. In this course, you will build on the communicative speaking, writing, listening and reading skills that you acquired in Beginning Spanish I and II. The "Vistas" series, text, and Web SAM are used in class. Class activities are carried out almost entirely in Spanish. For the most part, grammar should be studied at home; a small percentage of class time is intended for grammar instruction and practice. Reading skills are developed through "Vistas," and writing skills are developed through process writing, a multi-step writing process which entails composition writing, rewrites, etc. Because Spanish class is about the only place where a student can practice listening and speaking, class attendance is critical.
 
 
REQUIRED TEXT/MATERIALS
 
Blanco, José A. and  Donley, Philip Redwine. 2005. Vistas. Introducción a la lengua española. 2nd. Edition. Boston, Ma: Vista Higher Learning.
 
Blanco, José A. and  Donley, Philip Redwine. 2005. Vistas. Introducción a la lengua española. WebSAM. 2nd. Edition. Boston, Ma: Vista Higher Learning.
 
 
MOODLE SITE
 
A copy of the syllabus as well as other associated materials and resources will be available on Moodle. It is your responsibility to consult and verify the course site (http://moodle.gac.edu/).
 
 
COURSE GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
 
The main goal of this course is to help you to develop communicative proficiency in listening comprehension, reading, writing and speaking. To this end:
  1. you will learn and practice vocabulary that will allow you to talk in Spanish about everyday occurrence;
  2. you will learn, review, and practice the Spanish structures (uses of the subjunctive, the conditional, the present perfect, the past perfect, the future, commands, etc.);
  3. you will learn the use of punctuation marks, some common abbreviations, the spelling of words in Spanish;
  4. you will read different texts (poems, fables, excerpts from novels, etc.) in Spanish;
  5. you will write compositions (letter, email, personal plan, etc.) in Spanish;
  6. you will listen to a short speech, songs, film review, etc., and watch television commercials, news reports, fotonovela, etc.
 
 
GRADE BREAKDOWN
 
  1. Participation: 10%
  2. Homework: 10%  
  3. Composition: 20%
  4. Oral Interview: 10%
  5. Exams: 50%