Spanish 2 — Independent Learners

Once you have decided that this course is appropriate for you, it will be helpful to know how the course functions. Each lesson is organized around a theme and divided into six sections. The sections are:

1. Funciones comunicativas: In this first section, you will be introduced to the practical function that the lesson serves in the real world – what it will enable you to do and why it is important. You will gain insight into how speakers of Spanish use certain types of language, for example how to make commands or give recommendations. In addition, through the presentation of short dialogues and video, this section contains much of the active vocabulary you will need for the lesson as a whole, so pay close attention! It is important to understand that you may not understand each and every word; don’t be frustrated, that is part of the learning process — to understand as much as possible from context without knowing each and every word.

2. Vocabulario: In this section you will find a very straightforward presentation of words and expressions that you will need to talk about the lesson’s theme. These lists most often are words that were not presented already in the “Funciones” section. You can click on each word to hear pronunciation and also see rollover translations.

3. Estructuras gramaticales: Here you will find the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the lesson, in other words, more detailed explanations of grammar rules and how the language works. So, you will learn such things as verb conjugations, or what word order to use in certain types of sentences, for example. This section will give you more insight into patterns of the language so that you can move from simple words to longer, more complex expression, both in writing and in conversation. Since you will be working independently in most cases, we have provided rather detailed explanations of how the language works.

4. Esbozos culturales: In Esbozos culturales, you will be reading short selections on a wide variety of cultural topics — famous figures from the world of art, music, film, and literature. In Esbozos culturales, you also will find readings about different Spanish speaking countries; these will provide you with a brief background of the countries, and give you some insight into just how diverse the Spanish speaking world is. In this section, you will also be exposed to grammar and vocabulary that you will strive to understand from context as there will be words, phrases and structures that you will not yet have mastered. In some cases, translations are provided, in others, you will be working from the context to understand the passage.

5. Actividades : This section has important assignments that give you the opportunity to synthesize the entire lesson and to practice all that you have learned. Here, you will find three different types of assignments: writing practice, oral practice and chat room practice. The writing practice are short paragraphs based on the lesson’s theme or messages; on occasion you will share your writing in a discussion board forum; in oral practice, you are given prompts to do one-on-one conversations with your professor or a native-speaker assistant – to practice what you have learned in a natural, conversational contexts; in this section you will also find assignments to make voice recordings so that you can gain extra oral practice and receive feedback on your pronunciation. Chat room assignments ask you to practice a little more to use the language creatively!

6. Evaluación : In this section you will find a lesson test, based on the vocabulary, grammar and cultural topics. These tests are quite similar in structure and content to the exercises and assignments that are in each lesson.

7. Material complementario : This section is optional. While some of the extra vocabulary words may appear on occasion in exercises, the materials here will not be included in tests (unless your own instructor specifies otherwise). There are extra vocabulary lists to add on to what you have already learned, web resources that provide links to videos and texts that supplement the lesson. This section is meant to give you some additional resources but is not mandatory.