Learning Spanish - Week 4

Happy Independence Day! ¡Feliz Día de la Independencia!

Time is flying! We have learned so much during these couple of weeks. We have learned about school and family. We will begin to learn soon about where we live: our houses.
This week we will continue practicing our writing and our understanding of other cultures. We have learned about Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Keep in mind that you have to select a country for your project. ¡Estudiamos mucho el español, clase! ¡Buen trabajo!

Ser vs. Estar

 I created a visual summary of Ser and Estar and I hope this helps you review and use "ser" and "estar" correctly.

 

Cuarto día - Fourth day

¡Hola a todos!

Hoy es el jueves 18 de junio. We practiced vocabulary and we used a student schedule to answer questions related to her classes and at what time she was taking those classes. In addition, we reviewed how to use questions words appropriately (Check post of tercer día to review this question words). It is important to practice the meaning of these words and the information they are asking. For example, if I have a sentence that "John lives in St. Louis" and you are asked to form a question, then, you could have used to options: Who? and Where? - Who lives in St. Louis?: John, and Where does John live?: in St. Louis. The same occur in Spanish. Yo estudio español en la mañana. I underlined the information that I want you to ask. "En la mañana" means in the morning so it is time. The best question word for this example is ¿Cuándo? - ¿Cuándo estudias (tú) español? Then answer: en la mañana.

Don't forget the question formation order:

Question phrase + verb + subject + complement     Textbook, p. 38

¿Cómo              llegas         (tú)      a la universidad?

Yo llego en autobús.

Another important concept we reviewed was the conjugation of verbs that end in -ar in the present tense. Practice these verbs because you will have to write about yourself using them. Textbook, p. 34

Tercer día - Third day

We had a busy day yesterday, martes, 16 de junio. Los estudiantes worked hard on their exams and after that, they learned about new vocabulario related to la universidad:

1. el horario - schedule
2. ¿Cuál es tu clase favorita? - What is your favorite class?
3. ¿Te gusta _(clase)?  - Do you like _(class)_?
4. ¿Por qué? - Why?
4. Me gusta (clase) porque es _____ y ______. - I like ______ because it is _(adjective)____ and _(adjective)____.
5. No me gusta (clase). - I do not like (class).

Question words:

¿Quién es? (singular) y ¿Quiénes son? (plural) - Who is/are
¿Cómo? - How?
¿Dónde? - Where?
¿Cuándo? - When?
¿Qué? ¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles?  - What?
¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles? - Which
¿Cuánto(s)? - How many? - countable (years, days, months, etc.)
¿Cuanto/a? - How much? - non-countable (sugar, flour, etc.)


We practiced pronunciation and we interviewed each other in Spanish. Everyday we practice vocabulario previously learned. This is important because it will help us remember the words.
In addition, we learned the conjugations for -ar verbs in the present tense.

Yo                      -a                       Nosotros/Nosotras                      -amos
Tú                      -as                      Vosotros/Vosotras                      -áis
Él, ella, usted     -a                       Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes                     -an

You can do a mental practice and conjugate the following verbs: hablar, llegar, cantar.

Segundo día - Second day

El jueves, el once de junio, we had an awesome day. We practiced more vocabulary to talk about ourselves and others. Yo soy alta. José es bajo. We learned about the agreement between noun and adjective. Adjectives need to agree in gender and number with the noun. We learned our numbers, days of the week, and months. Also, we studied definite and indefinite articles. We talked in Spanish. Gracias clase por un día muy bueno.

Vocabulario útil:

Yo soy... - I am... (nationality/profession/descriptive adjective)
Tú eres... - You (informal) are
Él/ella/usted es... - He/she/you (formal) is...
Yo tengo ___ años - I am ____ years old.
¿Cuál es tu día favorito? - What is your favorite day of the week?
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? When is your birthday?
Apellido - last name
Nombre - name
Hoy es el ______ de _______- Today is the (number/th) of (month)

Primer día - First day

Today we had a great class! We learned a lot of information in Spanish and we will continue practicing and rehearsing. I have posted the information about the workbook pages so you can start working on them step by step. Don't forget to continue practicing greetings and questions/answers in a conversation.

New expressions for classroom use

1. ¿Cómo se dice ______ en español? - How do you say _____ in Spanish?
2. Tengo una pregunta - I have a question.

La profesora está encantada. Los estudiantes son excelentes.

¡Bienvenidos!

Hola estudiantes:

¡Bienvenidos a la clase de español 1090.01! We are going to have a wonderful time learning Spanish.

Course description

In a world that increasingly requires us to think globally, the study of languages is an integral part of a comprehensive education. This is especially so at Webster University, which is committed to international cultural relevance and global thinking.

Spanish 1090, a first semester course, provides students with a

foundation for learning spoken and written Spanish and offers basic information about culture in the major Spanish -speaking countries. Listening and speaking will be emphasized in class, while writing and reading will be done mostly outside of class. Students will use, practice and/or interpret a variety of forms of discourse, such as letters, poetry, and signs, as well as the phonology, morphology and syntax of the language. In class only Spanish will be used so that students will receive intensive practice with the language, which will be supplemented with daily work outside the class from workbook, conversation and other activities.

Required Textbooks: Ramos & Davis, Portafolio, textbook and Activities Manual, Volume 1, McGraw Hill, 2009

Additional Material: audio CDs and publisher’s website (Spanish.college.hmco.com/students)

Learning Objectives:

~To expose the student to a rich input of spoken Spanish through a variety

of in-class socially appropriate forms of communicative activities and required listening activities;

~To practice the newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in

small group and pair work activities simulating real life and everyday situations;

~To introduce the student to Spanish culture through authentic materials,

such as simple articles, songs, films, videos and taped conversations

between native speakers;

~To develop basic writing skills through daily assignments and short written paragraphs.

Global Citizenship Program Learning Outcomes

Global Understanding: helps students understand cultures foreign to them, or international languages, or forces that draw people of the world together and forces that push them apart.

Intercultural Competence: Students will achieve a set of cognitive, affective and behavioral skills and characteristics that will support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts. Also, an understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

-demonstrate they can speak and write in isolated words and memorized phrases on certain subjects related to themselves and their environment (for example: family, home, daily routines);

-demonstrate they can identify discrete bits of knowledge from either spoken or written Spanish in contextualized situations that pertain to these familiar topics. Students will also be able to form simple questions.

-articulate how the learning of another language has affected them as individuals belonging to a particular cultural context and how they perceive themselves vis-à-vis the target cultural contexts. Students will be able to identify key cultural differences and similarities between target cultures and the culture of the country of instruction.

Exit competence: Novice mid language level according to the ACTFL proficiency scale.