Classes

Spanish Class Times 2024

Tuesday evenings (Hove)

• 6 – 7:30pm or 7:30 – 9:00pm
  Beginners 1 (new beginners)
  6 – 7:30pm Upper-Intermediate
  7:30 – 9:00pm Pre-Intermediate

Wednesday evenings (St Peters)

• 6 – 7:30pm or 7:30 – 9pm
  Beginners 1 (new beginners)
  7:30 – 9pm Beginners 2
  7:30 – 9pm Pre-Intermediate
  6 – 7:30pm Intermediate 1
  6 – 7:30pm Intermediate 2
  7:30 – 9pm Upper-Intermediate
  6 – 7:30pm Advanced Conversation

Thursday evenings (Hove)

• 7:30 – 9:00pm Beginners 2
  5:30 – 7:30pm DELE Course
  6 – 7:30pm Intermediate 1
  6 – 7:30pm Intermediate 2
  7:30 – 9pm Advanced Conversation

Spanish Course Term Dates 2024

• Term 1: Tues 6 Feb – Thurs 11 April
  Term 2: Tues 30 Apr – Thurs 4 July
  Term 3: Tues 23 July – Thurs 26 Sept
  Term 4: Tues 15 Oct – Thurs 19 Dec

New enrolments are accepted in all 4 terms for all levels of our Spanish classes, except for the DELE course, which starts every two terms (depending on demand).

Beginners 1 Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 1, Units 1 & 2

Spanish classes for new beginners are offered each term, Tuesdays at Hove 6 – 7:30pm or 7:30 – 9pm, or Wednesdays at St Peters, 6 – 7:30pm. If you are a complete beginner with little to no knowledge of Spanish, this level is for you. We will cover basic Spanish for travel and encourage conversation as appropriate.
This Spanish course will cover:

Communication

• -Asking and giving personal information
  -Saying hello and goodbye.
  -Explaining motivations and intentions

Grammar

• -Genders (masculine and feminine)
  -The definite articles (el, la, los, las) and indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)
  -Verbs (ser, tener, llamarse)
  -Personal pronouns
  -Present simple (Presente de Indicativo)
  -Uses of por, para and porque

Vocabulary

• -Numbers 0 – 100
  -Nationalities
  -Professions
  -Workplaces
  -Leisure activities and hobbies

Beginners 2 Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 1, Units 3 - 5

These Spanish classes are for those who have had the equivalent of one term (15 hours) of experience in Spanish, held at St Peters on Wednesdays 7:30 – 9pm, or Hove on Thursdays 7:30 – 9pm.
This Spanish course will cover:

Communication

• -Describing places.
  -Expressing existence and location
  -Talking about climate and weather.
  -Expressing needs
  -Buying in shops
  -Talking about preferences
  -Talking about physical appearance and personality.
  -Talking about likes, dislikes and interests.
  -Talking about personal relationships

Grammar

• -The difference between the verbs: Hay, ser and estar.
  -The superlative and quantifiers (muy, mucho, mucha, muchos, muchas)
  -Questions: cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas, cómo, dónde.
  -The difference between: qué, cuál, cuáles.
  -Demonstratives (este, esta, estos, estas)
  -Articles + adjetives (el, la, los, las)
  -Tener que + infinitive
  -Verbs: preferir, ir, llevar and llevarse.
  -Verb: Gustar
  -Possessives
  -También, tampoco.

Vocabulary

• -Climate, weather and seasons.
  -Geography and information about countries.
  -Numbers over 100
  -Colours
  -Clothes, accessories and everyday items
  -Family members
  -Personality adjetives.
  -Music.

Pre-Intermediate Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 1, Units 6 - 9

These Spanish classes are for those who have had the equivalent of two terms (30 hours) of experience in Spanish and are held at Hove on Tuesdays 7:30pm – 9pm or at St Peters on Wednesdays 7:30 – 9pm.
This Spanish course will cover:

Communication

• -Talking about habits.
  -Expressing frequency
  -Asking for and giving the time
  -Asking for and giving information about food
  -Talking about eating habits
  -Learning how to get by in bars and restaurants
  -Discover villages, neighbourhoods and cities.
  -Talk about what you like the most about a place
  -Ask for and give directions.
  -Express tastes and highlight aspects
  -Talking about past experiences
  -Talking about skills and abilities

Grammar

• -The presente indicative of irregular verbs
  -Pronominal Verbs
  -Yo también/yo tampoco/yo sí/yo no
  -Primero/después/luego
  -The verbs poner and traer
  -Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)
  -Uses of de and con
  -Quantifiers
  -Prepositions and adverbs of place (a, en, al lado de, lejos, cerca…)
  -The pretérito perfecto
  -Saber + infinitive
  -Poder + infinitive

Vocabulary:

• -Days of the week
  -Times of day
  -Daily activities
  -Food
  -Typical dishes in Spain and Latin America
  -Services and places in cities
  -Adjectives to discover neighbourhoods and cities
  -Professions
  -Personality adjectives
  -Skills and abilities
  -Quantifiers

Intermediate 1 Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 2, Units 2, 3 & 4

These Spanish classes are ideal for people who have a good level (equivalent of 3 terms or more) in Spanish and want to improve their grammar as well as conversation skills. Intermediate 2 classes are held at St Peters on Wednesdays 6 – 7:30pm or at Hove on Thursdays 6 – 7:30pm.
This Spanish course will cover:

Communication

• -Talking about events in the past
  -Identifying and describing people
  -Communicating likes and preferences
  -Talking about relationships

Grammar

• -Past indefinite
  -The prepositions (desde, hasta, durante)
  -Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)
  -Defined articles (el, la, los las)
  -Comparatives and prepositions for location
  -Using verbs (ser/estar, gustar, preferir)
  -Possessive pronouns (el mío, la mía, el tuyo, la tuya)

Vocabulary

• -Biographies
  -Adjectives to describe people
  -Adjectives to describe objects
  -House Vocabulary
  -Using verbs in context (tener, llevar, parecerse)

Intermediate 2 Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 2, Units 5, 6 and 7

These Spanish classes carry on from Intermediate 2. Intermediate 3 classes are held at St Peters Wednesdays 6 – 7:30pm and at at Hove on Thursdays 6 – 7:30pm.
This Spanish course will cover:

Communication

• -Understanding communicative contexts:
  -Greetings, introductions
  -Asking for things, asking for favors
  -Asking for and granting permissions and excuses
  -Talking about past experiences
  -Expressing wishes and intentions
  -Tastes and eating habits

Grammar

• -The gerund (regular and irregular forms)
  -Use of the conditional (poder, importar)
  -Introduction to preterite tense (perfecto – indefinido)
  -Uses of (ya, todavía no)
  -Using verbs with infinitive (ir a, querer, pensar)
  -Direct object personal pronouns

Vocabulary

• -Courtesy verbs (poder, importar, ayudar, dar, dejar, prestar, poner, pasar, tener)
  -Places of interest and cultural context
  -Using the verb (parecer)
  -Food, recipes, restaurants
  -Use of (pero además, soler)

Advanced Conversation Spanish Course

No set textbook

May be taken on its own or together with Advanced Grammar. This class is for those with a level of fluency in the Spanish language. You will have studied Spanish for at least 2 years and/or have spent time in a Spanish speaking country. The entire class will be run in Spanish only. Classes are at Hove on Thursdays 7:30 – 9pm.
Classes will cover:

• Entire class held in Spanish only
  Different forms of the subjunctive and conditional tense
  Reading and discussing articles
  Activities to use all tenses and opportunity for correction by teacher where necessary
  Useful expressions to improve conversation skills
  Listening exercises
  Combining different tenses
  Topics vary each week and cover many areas to expose students to a large vocabulary

Upper-Intermediate Spanish Course

Textbook: Aula 2, Units 8, 9 & 10

May be taken on its own or together with Advanced Conversation. These Spanish classes focus on advanced grammar. Classes are held at Hove on Tuesdays 6 – 7:30pm and St Peters on Wednesdays 7:30 – 9pm. Students enrolling in both Advanced Grammar and Advanced Conversation will receive a 10% discount off the total fee.
Classes will cover:

Communication

• -Describing aches, pains, and symptoms.
  -Moods and advice
  -Talk about habits, customs, and circumstances (past tense)
  -Place actions in the past and present
  -Tell stories from the past
  -Topics to develop conversation skills

Grammar

• -Verb doler
  -Ser and estar
  -Affirmative imperative (imperativo afirmativo)
  -Imperfect past tense
  -Ya no / todavía + present
  -Time markers for the past and the present
  -Irregular forms (preterite)
  -Contrasting the preterite and the imperfect
  -Estar + gerund (past forms)

Vocabulary

• -Health and body parts
  -Moods
  -Historical periods and historical events
  -History and society
  -Stages of life
  -Memories
  -Emotions

DELE Spanish Course

Textbook: DELE Preparation for A2 exam

Specific course for students who want to sit a DELE exam and obtain certification. This course is suitable for those who have completed Intermediate 3 or Advanced Grammar, or similar level elsewhere. The Diploma of Spanish as a Second Language, or DELE qualifications (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) are recognised in all Spanish speaking countries. They are qualifications for non-native Spanish speakers and are offered by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, through the Instituto Cervantes. The four skills that are examined are:

• Reading
• Written and oral comprehension
• Grammar (including a diverse range of vocabulary)
• Speaking

There are six main levels of languages ability – A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 – in accordance with proficiency. The levels are specified by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference), which is an international standard for language learning. According to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) the A2 Spanish language learner can do the following:

• Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g., very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
• Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
• Describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

This course runs for 2 terms, 20 classes of 2 hours each. Thursdays 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Hove.

• DELE: Exam A2 (CEFR) preparation.
• Mock test activities in speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
• DELE tutor certified by Instituto Cervantes.