Spanish I (Period 1)

Spanish I is an introductory level course for students who have no previous knowledge or exposure to the Spanish language. The course outline is as follows:

Capítulo 1: ¡Empecemos!
Location: España
• Vocabulary: Greetings and goodbyes. Numbers 0-31. Telling time. Days of the week and months of the year. Alphabet
• Functions: Asking someone’s name. Asking how someone is. Introducing someone. Says where and others are from. Giving the time, the date and the day. Spelling word and giving e-mail addresses
• Grammar: Subject and verbs in sentences. Subject pronouns. Present tense of the verb ser. Punctuation marks with written accents
• Culture: Diminutives and nicknames. How students address teachers. Comparaciones: Greetings and goodbyes. Comunidad: Spanish clubs and associations.

Capítulo 2: A conocernos
Location: Puerto Rico
• Vocabulary: Describing friends. Numbers 32-100. Likes and dislikes.
• Functions: Describing people. Asking someone’s age and birthday. Talking about waht you and others like. Describing things
• Grammar: ser with adjectives. Gender and adjective agreement. Question formation. Nouns and definite articles. The verb gustar,¿Por qué?and porque. The preposition de.
• Culture: Ways to describe people. Legal driving and voting age. Comparaciones: Describing yourself and your best friend. Comunidad: Customer surveys in Spanish.

Capítulo 3: ¿Qué te gusta hacer?
Location: Texas
• Vocabulary: Sports and leisure activities. Weekend activities.
• Functions: Talking about what you and others like to do. Talking about what you and others like to do. Talking about very day activities. Saying how often you do things
• Grammar: Gustar with infinitives. Pronouns after prepositions. Present tense of querer with infinitives. Present tense of –ar verb. Present tense of ir and jugar. Weather expressions
• Culture: Team sports in Latin America. Introducing friends to parents. Comparaciones: Weekend activities. Comunidad: Volunteering in your community. Who pays when going out with friends.

Capítulo 4: La vida escolar
Location: Costa Rica
• Vocabulary: School supplies and items needed for school. Classes. School events. Places at school
• Functions: Saying what you have and what you need. Talking about classes
• Grammar: Indefinite articles; ¿cuánto?, mucho and poco. Present tense of tener and tener idioms. Venir and a + time. Ir a + infinitives. Present tense of –er and –ir verbs and tag questions. –er/-ir verbs with irregular yo forms
• Culture: Beginning of the school year. Electives and tracking. Comparaciones: A typical day at school. Comunidad: Exchange students. Passing and failing courses. School schedules and sessions in Costa Rica.

Capítulo 5: En casa con la familia
Location: Chile
• Vocabulary: Family members. Describing people (physical and personality). Rooms in the house. Furniture and accessories
• Functions: Describing people and family relationships. Talking about where you and others live. Talking about your responsibilities.
• Grammar: Estar with prepositions. Negation. Tocar and parecer.
• Culture: Hispanic surnames. Extended families. Comparaciones: Describing Family. Comunidad: Surnames and family trees. Climate and houses.

Capítulo 6: ¡A comer!
Location: Mexico
• Vocabulary: Lunch foods. Foods you might order in a restaurant. Describing food. Table setting. Breakfast and dinner foods.
• Functions: Commenting on food. Taking an order and making polite requests. Talking about meals. Offering help and giving instructions
• Grammar: Ser and estar. Pedir and server. Preferir, poder and probar. Direct objects and direct object pronouns. Affirmative informal commands. Affirmative informal commands with pronouns.
• Culture: Mexican food; atole. Corn as a staple food. Comparaciones: Favorite dishes. Comunidad: International restaurants. Main meal of the day. Snacks.

Capítulo 7: Cuerpo sano, mente sana
Location: Argentina
• Vocabulary: Daily routine. Personal items. Parts of the body. Telling how you feel. Healthful advice
• Functions: talking about your daily routine. Talking about saying fit and healthy. Talking about how you feel. Giving advice.
• Grammar: Verbs with reflexive pronouns. Using infinitives. Stem-changing verbs. Estar, sentirse and tener. Negative informal commands. Object and reflexive pronouns with commands.
• Culture: Argentina’s ski resorts. Comparaciones: keeping in shape. Comunidad: Spanish in health care. Argentine food. Mate.

Capítulo 8: Vamos de compras
Location: Florida
• Vocabulary: Clothing. Colors. Stores and the things you buy there
• Functions: Asking for and giving opinions. Asking for and offering help in a store.
• Grammar: Costar and numbers to 1 million. Demonstrative adjectives and comparisons. The verb quedar.
• Culture: Clothing sizes. Guyaberas. Comparaciones: Shopping. Comunidad: Clothes from around the world.

Capítulo 9: ¡Festejemos!
Location: La República Dominicana
• Vocabulary: Holidays. Holiday activities.
• Functions: Talking about your plans. Talking about past holidays.
• Grammar: Preterite of –er and –ir verbs. Review of the preterite. Pensar que and pensar with infinitives.
• Culture: Domincan carnaval. Pasteles en hoja. Comparaciones: Holidays and celebrations. Comunidad: Hispanic celebrations in the U.S.

Capítulo 10: ¡A viajar!
Location: Perú
• Vocabulary: Airport and travel terms.
• Functions: Asking for and giving information. Reminding and reassuring.
• Grammar: Review of the preterite. Preterite of –car, -gar, -zar verbs. Preterite of hacer.
• Culture: Uros islands. Quinoa. Comparaciones: Traveling. Comunidad: Tourism and Spanish.