Spanish

Spanish 1 and 2


We're very excited to be offering two levels of Spanish so students can start with nothing and end up being prepared to take exams, whether that is UK IGCSEs/GCSEs or even Spain's official exam. 

The ultimate aim, however, is to guide your teen to a level of mastery where fluid - if not fluent - conversation is possible, and to set up general principles of foreign-language study that can be transferred to other languages should your child choose to pursue them.



Dreaming Spires Spanish
aims for real-world application


Dreaming Spires Spanish 1


This course, intended for students who are at least 12 years old, is for the benefit of total beginners and anyone who would not be able to meet the pre-course proficiency requirements of Spanish 2. Its primary purpose is to lay the foundations of the Spanish language and the art of learning Spanish. 

It is a beginning. 

By the end of the one-year course, students ought to have become relatively independent learners of Spanish, able to access a wide range of resources to improve their Spanish and to ask the right questions to maximise their learning potential. It is hoped that by the end of the year students will have established fixed habits of study and practice that will lead in time to mastery of the language. It is also hoped that students will be able to converse in the language on a few useful topics (such as family, home, studies and interests).

The course is designed for home educated children and teens with a focus on the real-life use of a real language as well as on inspiring and empowering independent learning. The course is not designed to work towards a particular examination but to equip students to speak and understand Spanish. 


That being said, it is expected that students who complete the Spanish 1 course will have laid the groundwork for Spanish 2, and thus, will have started down the road to exam success.



Dreaming Spires Spanish 2


Unless a student has already completed Dreaming Spires Spanish 1, all Spanish 2 students will undertake a pre-course evaluation to ensure that it's the right place to be for their level.

Spanish 2 builds on the foundation established by those who have learnt Spanish in childhood, or those who have taken the beginners’ course: Spanish 1


It's intended that those who complete Spanish 2 should be capable of sitting Spain’s official language proficiency test DELE at level A2, or to take the Spanish GCSE or IGCSE exams in the UK. Some specific preparation may be required before sitting particular exams, but the general proficiency level will be that of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages level A2 and equivalent.

A short cramming/exam prep course could be run on a private basis for those who wish to apply their knowledge to a particular syllabus. 

However, the main focus of the course is not about being coached to take a test, but to equip students to speak and understand Spanish in real life. This is based on the premise that language is not primarily an academic subject but a means of understanding and responding to a culture, a country, a peoples.

To that end, students who have completed the Spanish 2 course should be able to communicate effectively with confidence in ordinary situations in a Spanish-speaking country, to access all the information they need, and to communicate their needs to others. 



Una sirena de Valencia

How Dreaming Spires Spanish Courses Work


As in all Dreaming Spires courses, we use an online secure environment called Coursesites where the course materials are uploaded for 24/7 access. It's here that a student can find links to previous webinars, pdf documents, homework assignments, and additional materials to enhance one's learning experience. It's also here that students will submit their homework for Señor B to evaluate, and participate in small groups for more intensive application of language practice.

The live portion is launched from the Coursesites page. We make use of Powerpoint presentations where the tutor speaks live using a mic, while the students use the chatbox to type comments, questions, and observations.

Señor B, more than any other course we offer, makes generous use of the live talk function for the students, too, since the nature of foreign language tuition is to pronounce words correctly and practise using them in context.

Each webinar will review previous material, introduce new concepts, and give plenty of scope for students to interact for optimum success at learning a new language.

One thing a Dreaming Spires Spanish course is NOT - it is NOT a boring, dry textbook approach where a student drudges through dead words on a page: this is LIVING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, and the only kind that actually STICKS.

For days and times of Dreaming Spires Spanish courses, see the current timetable here:






1 comment:

  1. From what I'm reading above I'm understanding that a child who tests as able to start the level 2 course should be ready to sit igcse exams at the end of the 30 weeks. Is that correct? Is that the same for the French level 2 course? Thank md

    ReplyDelete

Suggestions, ideas, tweaks, or maybe you're just a happy Dreaming Spires student who wants to leave some encouraging words! Thanks for posting! Kat