Spanish Language Services in Portland, Oregon

Course Description: This is the first intermediate-level course in Spanish, it is recommended for those who successfully completed all of our Beginner series, or who have previously studied Spanish and are able to comfortably converse in the present tense in Spanish. This course introduces students to the two past tenses, preterit and imperfect, and also provides grammar review, additional vocabulary, more writing opportunities in Spanish and enhancement of cultural awareness.

Through intensive practice and writing, after completing Intermediate I you will be capable of talking about past vacations, recent past events, or childhood memories, and of writing stories in the past tenses.

Prerequisite: Spanish Beginner III or equivalent

Duration:

• Intensive series: 5 weeks (2 classes/week)
• Regular series: 10 weeks (1 class/week)

Course Outline:

1) Introduction to the Preterit Tense (Past)
2) Irregular Verbs in the Preterit
3) Verbs with special meaning in the Preterit
4) Introduction to the Imperfect Tense
5) Contrast Preterit and Imperfect
6) “Se” and Impersonal Expressions

Key Vocabulary:
1) Travel - in the hotel
2) Traditional Food of Latin America
3) Academic subjects - University
4) Politics - changes in Government
5) Personality adjectives
6) Childhood games and activities
7) Fairy Tales
8) Cooking - Recipes

Bibliography:

1. Bregstein, Barbara; Easy Spanish Step by Step; McGraw Hill ed. 2006
2. Valette, J.P., Valette, R.M.; Spanish for Mastery 2 – Entre Nosotros; D C Heath & Co, 1994.