Introduction

This course is designed for intermediate-advanced Spanish students interested in learning more about the culture and civilization of Spain. It is a practical course of conversational Spanish. Grammar is not the focus of the course and it will be addressed only if it results in a problem of understanding. Anyway, we have included at the end of each topic an optional section with a grammar review of some difficult aspects of the Spanish grammar.

Theapproach of the course is pragmatic and the topics are intended to facilitateinteraction in the four communication skills: passive, reading and listening,and active, writing and speaking. For this purpose, each topic will providea variety of input information, not just through the manual itself, but takingadvantage of the sources of information that we may access with Internet,both in written form: newspapers, magazines, articles, etc., as audiovisual:television, videos, radio, songs, etc. Many of these input activities willbe assigned as homework saving the classroom time for more communicativeactivities, sharing the information they have received, discussing it with otherstudents, both in small groups as in thegroup-class, seeking to draw conclusions on the topic. These discussionsare oral but each student should have prepared a written summary of the themefor that day. At the end of each chapter they may have a writtentest to assess their knowledge and encourage them to improve their writingskills. 

For the evaluation of these works we may assign a percentage (i.e.30%) for grammar and vocabulary, but giving them the opportunity to correct theerrors and recover all the points lost. The idea is to make sure that eachstudent corrects all the mistakes. We may assign a time limit, i.e.a week, in which they, on their own, or with the help of a tutor, will have tofix all the grammatical problems that were marked.

In addition to the small tests at the end of each chapter,each student will prepare, over the length of the course, a paper on a topic oftheir choice (reacted with the class) which they will present both in writingand orally to the class before the end of the semester.

A second project that we may ask each student, is to read abook of a Spanish author of which they will also have to make a written reportand oral presentation.

The final exam may be oral (they do a written test for each chapterand two papers) on one of the topics (choosing one among two or three drawn atrandom).

The final evaluation of the course depends on the teacher,but we might distribute the weight between the oral final exam, classparticipation, the chapter tests, written reports and oral presentations.

The material for each topic will be organized as follows:

 Readings: textbook with images and questions for understanding and reflection 

  links to selected articles online 

 Videos: links to selected online videos 

 Films: Film: a feature film related to the topic 

  Short: a short film with activities to view in class 

  Humor: A very short video to see and work in class

 Literature: a writer from Spain and a book related to the topic 

 Art: a relevant aspect of Spanish art (painting, sculpture, architecture ...) 

 Music: a song related to the topic 

 Grammar: review of one grammatical aspect

Topics:

1. Origin and influences

2. Empire and decline

3. Spain today

4. Women and men

5. Youths and elders

6. Festivals and rituals

7. Cities and monuments