Prerequisite for entry
Successful completion of Spanish level 3 at UCL CLIE or for learners who have a good command of the language and its main grammatical structures or have recently achieved a good grade at A-Level.
Term duration
10 x 2-hour classes
Progression
After 20 hours students may progress to level 4
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this course is to enable students to communicate and interact at an intermediate level and to further develop their skills and knowledge of the target language and culture.
Functions
- Express future plans and projects; expressing probability.
- Express prediction and hypothesis.
- Describe and discuss cultural behaviours and social norms.
- Ask and give cultural references and information.
- Talk about different habits in different countries.
- Making assessments and judging situations, events and states.
- Expressing dissatisfaction about current affairs.
- Expressing necessity, complaining and claiming.
- Talking about public services and searching for solutions.
- Describing scenarios in adds and movies.
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered:
- Ecology and resources.
- Life in the future, new technologies.
- Social and cultural norms and customs.
- Habits and Stereotypes.
- Society and urban problems. Infrastructures.
- Advantages and disadvantages of living in a city.
- Education.
- Movies, scripts and scenarios.
- Publicity and adds.
Grammar
- Future tense to predict: Tendremos más zonas verdes, Habrá más variedad.
- Conditional with future: Si voy a la fiesta me encontraré con Lola.
- Hypothesis about future: Seguramente vendrá… Supongo que querrá acompañarnos… Posiblemente estará enfermo…
- Prohibition and obligation: No se puede fumar. Esta prohibido cantar. Es obligatorio el casco. Se debe apagar el móvil.
- Impersonal clauses: Se dice, la gente dice, uno dice…
- Impersonal clauses for habits: Es normal comer… Es habitual no decir… Lo habitual es llegar… Vas alli y hablas con todos… Ponen mucha comida… La gente come mucho
- Quantifying people: La mayoria, casi todos, casi ninguno, todos, casi nadie, todo el mundo, la mitad de la clase…
- Impersonal structures to relate adds: Se ve un bosque, se oye una voz…
- Use of subjunctive (present tense):
- - Complaint and desire: exigimos que cambien el sistema, queremos que revisen la propuesta, pedimos que cambien los horarios, esperamos que nos contesten, deseamos que nos escuchen
- -Expressing good wishes: ¡Qué lo paséis bien! ¡Qué tengáis buen viaje!
- - Time clauses: cuando vengas, en cuanto me escriba, antes de que lleguen…
- Contrast indicative/subjunctive. Times clauses: Cuando, en cuanto, después de que…
- Imperativo afirmative and negative: Ven a Costa Rica. No crea lo que dicen.
- Conditional tense to make proposals: Deberían prohibir esas prácticas. Habría que hacer algo más…
- Deepening in direct and Indirect objects: lo / la/ les / se.
Learning Resources Required
- Course Book: Aula Internacional 3 (student’s Book). Difusión. ISBN: 978-84-15640-11-0
- Chapters 2, 3, 6 and 5.
- Online platform campus.difusion.com (materials to be used in class, as homework and for self-study; details will be provided in class). For this online platform, students will need to open their own account and then, for full access, purchase a premium account for a year access.
- We recommend you to acquire your book (Aula Internacional 3), or the platform, or both through the European Bookshop http://www.europeanbookshop.com/setbooks.php?institution=195705&class=900
- In addition, there is a range of language learning materials for self-study in the Self-Access Centre (SAC).