The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover over a 10-week period, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers may decide to adapt their learning plans to the specific level, aims and interests of their classes. Use the tabs below to view the relevant Spanish course outline for your level. If you want to cover the same course outline in a shorter period of time, we also offer One-Week Online Courses and 5-week Courses.
Spanish Beginner 1
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Greetings and introductions
- The alphabet
- Personal information: name, address, telephone number, email address, age, marital status
- Countries and nationalities
- Professions.
- Numbers 0-100
- The family
- Describing people
- Colours
- Formal and informal ways of addressing people
Grammar:
- Number and gender
- Articles: definite and indefinite
- Demonstrative pronouns
- Personal pronouns
- Interrogative pronouns
- Noun-adjective agreement
- Present tense of basic verbs like ser, estar, trabajar, vivir, tener, llevar
- Quantifiers: muy, bastante
Cultural Content:
- The differences in the use of tú/usted and vosotros/ustedes between Spain and Latin American countries.
- Cultural differences when meeting people.
- Spanish language in the world.
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking
- Lots of listening
- Lots of pronunciation
Spanish Beginner 2
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Common everyday objects
- Shopping
- Numbers from 100
- In the town
- The house and furniture
- Leisure activities and sports
- Likes and dislikes
- Public places in a town
- The time
- Days and months
- Seasons and the weather
Grammar:
- Indefinite articles
- Demonstrative pronouns and articles
- Question words (¿cuál?, ¿qué?, cuántos?, ¿dónde?, ¿cómo?, ¿por qué?)
- Some uses of ser and estar
- Hay (there is / there are)
- Verb gustar
- Quantifiers: mucho/a/os/as, bastante/s, poco/a/os/as
- Prepositions
- Muy – mucho
- Llueve and nieva: present tense of the verbs to rain and to snow.
Cultural Content:
- Housing in Spain
- Latin-American music
- Public places in Spain, opening times.
- Geography in Latin-America
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking
- Lots of listening
- Lots of pronunciation
Spanish Beginner 3
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Daily routine and weekend activities
- Internet
- Leisure activities and sports (2)
- Professions
- Transport
- Giving opinions
- Describing what you did yesterday
Grammar:
- Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
- Reflexive pronouns
- Frequency adverbs
- Quantifiers: mucho, bastante, poco
- Question words: ¿cómo?
- Prepositions: de…a, desde…hasta, en, a, por
- Differences between saber and conocer (to know)
- Agreeing and disagreeing (también, tampoco, sí, no)
- Verb creer to give opinions
- Ser + bueno/malo
- Introduction to the past tense: preterito indefinido, regular and some irregular verbs (hacer,venir, ser, ir, estar)
Cultural Content:
- Travelling around Perú
- Spanish television habits
- Famous Latin-American people
Skills Work:
- Lots of speaking
- Lots of listening
- Lots of pronunciation
Spanish Elementary 1
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Expressing desire and needs.
- Plans and intentions.
- Health and feelings.
- Giving advice and suggestions.
- Body parts & remedies.
- Going shopping.
- Ordering food and drinks in a restaurant.
- Talking about what you have done.
- Excuses and apologies.
- Talking about personal experiences and opinions.
Grammar:
- I want / I would like + infinitive (Quiero / me gustaría + infinitivo)
- Have to + infinitive (Tener que + infinitivo)
- Need to + infinitive (Necesitar + infinitivo)
- Going to + infinitive (Ir a + infinitivo)
- Verb doler –form and syntax.
- Regular and irregular verbs in the present.
- Present perfect.
- Regular and irregular participles.
- Quantifiers: muy, mucho, etc.
Cultural Content:
- La siesta in Spain.
- Spanish food.
- Montevideo, Uruguay.
- Spanish music: El Flamenco.
Skills Work:
- Listening and responding.
- Reading for comprehension.
- Speaking activities to encourage interaction in class.
- Writing assignments as homework.
- Games to build vocabulary.
Spanish Elementary 2
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Shopping for clothes.
- Describing what people are doing.
- Offering food and drinks.
- Days of the week.
- Months of the year.
- Talking about past holidays.
- Describing the life of somebody (Biography).
- Requesting permission and favours.
Grammar:
- Comparison.
- Direct Object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)
- Verb ’estar’ + gerund (present continuous).
- Uses of verbs ‘ser’ and ‘estar’.
- ‘Para’ + personal pronoun.
- Past simple of regular and irregular verbs.
- Prepositions ‘de’ and ‘en’
- Verb ‘poder’ + infinitve
- The affirmative imperative
- Imperative + OD / OI pronouns.
Cultural content:
- El día de los muertos en México.
- Las islas Galápagos.
- Simón Bolívar el Libertador.
- La ñ una letra muy española
Skills Work:
- Listening and responding.
- Reading for comprehension.
- Speaking activities to encourage interaction in class and build confidence.
- Writing assignments as homework.
- Games to build vocabulary.
Spanish Elementary 3
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Talking by telephone.
- Talking about films and outdoors activities.
- Inviting people to go out: accepting and rejecting.
- Means of transport: Buying a train ticket.
- Asking and giving directions.
- Talking about free time activities in the past: weekends and holidays.
- Expressing possession and preferences.
- Talking about childhood memories.
Grammar:
- Want + infinitive (Querer + infinitivo)
- Can / Be able + infinitive (Poder + infinitivo)
- Regular and irregular verbs in the present.
- Comparisons.
- Regular and irregular verbs in the simple past.
- Regular and irregular verbs in the imperfect.
- Prepositions ‘a’ and ‘de’.
- Other uses of ’ser’.
- Direct and Indirect Object pronouns.
Cultural Content:
- Films in Spain and Latin-America.
- Going around in Madrid
- Free time and leisure activities in Spain.
- The Inca society.
Skills Work:
- Listening and responding.
- Reading for comprehension.
- Speaking activities to encourage interaction in class.
- Writing assignments as homework.
- Games to build vocabulary.
Spanish Advanced
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Entertainment, work, education, changes, cities, traditions, people and relationships, arts and politics, environment, ecology, publicity, media.
- Explaining news to others: reported speech.
- Expressing feeling for others and how others make us feel. Ex; me molesta que mis vecinos hagan ruido.
- Writing a letter of complaint.
- Expressing hypothetical situations in the past and the consequences they had or have. Ex: Si hubiera estudiado chino ahora tendria mucho trabajo.
- How to express regret.
Grammar:
- Revision of present, past perfect and past imperfect subjunctive tenses.
- Revision of affirmative and negative imperative tense.
- Past imperfect subjunctive.
- Third conditional sentences
- Conditional simple y compuesto.
- Direct and direct pronouns.
- Prefixes and suffixes.
- Prepositions.
Cultural Content:
- Spanish and Latin American Literature, poetry and music.
- Idioms.
- Slang vocabulary and expressions.
- Jokes.
- Proverbs.
- La isla de Pascua.
Skills Work:
- Lots of active oral practice.
- Lots of listening,
- Writing complaint letters, formal style.
- Debates.
- Orthography and accents.
- And lots of fun.
Spanish Advanced
Topics & Vocabulary:
- Entertainment, work, education, changes, cities, traditions, people and relationships, arts and politics, environment, ecology, publicity, media.
- Explaining news to others: reported speech.
- Expressing feeling for others and how others make us feel. Ex; me molesta que mis vecinos hagan ruido.
- Writing a letter of complaint.
- Expressing hypothetical situations in the past and the consequences they had or have. Ex: Si hubiera estudiado chino ahora tendria mucho trabajo.
- How to express regret.
Grammar:
- Revision of present, past perfect and past imperfect subjunctive tenses.
- Revision of affirmative and negative imperative tense.
- Past imperfect subjunctive.
- Third conditional sentences
- Conditional simple y compuesto.
- Direct and direct pronouns.
- Prefixes and suffixes.
- Prepositions.
Cultural Content:
- Spanish and Latin American Literature, poetry and music.
- Idioms.
- Slang vocabulary and expressions.
- Jokes.
- Proverbs.
- La isla de Pascua.
Skills Work:
- Lots of active oral practice.
- Lots of listening,
- Writing complaint letters, formal style.
- Debates.
- Orthography and accents.
- And lots of fun.
Spanish Proficiency
- A wide range of topics based around students’ own interests, could include topics of general interest: global issues, popular science, environment, media and advertising; culture and entertainment; beliefs and religions, etc.
- Materials used to spark conversation will include articles, DVD, video, internet extracts.
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