Learn at a moderate pace with our Spanish Beginners short course. Starting in October, you will progress through three modules over a one-year period.
Whether you're learning Spanish for travelling, working abroad or with foreign companies, the Spanish Beginners course will enable you to communicate confidently on a basic level in everyday situations, socialise and not feel out of place in the country you are visiting.
This short course is an introduction to the Spanish language and way of life for the purpose of practical communication. Challenging but rewarding, the course is perfectly suited to those looking to develop a basic command of Spanish.
The course consists of one evening class a week, for a total of 30 weeks; spread across three modules, which is ideal for those with various commitments or working full-time.
All of our language short courses are taught by qualified native speakers and delivered at City, University of London’s main campus, in the heart of the capital.
The course covers the key vocabulary and basic grammar needed to hold conversations with native speakers, such as greetings, talking about yourself and others and also essential phrases to use when visiting a Spanish speaking country.
You will learn how to introduce yourself, your profession and family members, how to describe one’s house, office and items contained therein, how to speak about food and clothes including their colours. You will also learn how to explain modes of transport and itineraries and how to speak about hobbies and interests.
As well as learning to make statements about daily life in Spanish, you also learn how to abstract the relevant information by asking questions and practising these questions and responses in class. In order to build confidence and understand the structure of the language, you will learn articles, verb conjugation, pronunciation, comparatives and superlatives as well as adjectives. Past and future tense are introduced in Modules Two and Three.
If you have no prior knowledge of Spanish you must start with Module One, which takes place in October term.
If you have some basic knowledge of Spanish and you are already familiar with the content of Module One you may choose to enrol on Module Two or Module Three. See the Eligibility section below for more details.
If you are a complete beginner but you have missed October enrolment for the Spanish Beginners course you can join our Spanish Beginners Fast Track course in January or the Spanish Beginners Summer Intensive course in April/May.
Please make sure you have the correct level by using our online guidelines.
“ Ana was lovely and helpful. Really enjoyed the course ”
Anon
Former student
Modules are taught at progressive levels, if you have no prior knowledge you must start at Module One in the autumn (October).
If you wish to join Module Two of the Spanish short course (in January), you must have completed Module One or be familiar with the content taught in Module One, specified in the What will I learn? section.
If you wish to enrol on Module Three of the short course (in April/May), you must have completed both Module One and Module Two or be familiar with the content taught in these two modules, found in the What will I learn? section.
Please check your level by using our online guidelines before enrolling.
The emphasis in this course is on listening and speaking. The lessons focus on language that is required in authentic situations.
Classroom activities will include:
Listening to audio clips and watching videos are an important element in our lessons.
More comprehensive grammar exercises and reading texts are generally set as homework.
Your progress will be assessed on an on-going basis through homework and performance in class. You will receive verbal feedback from your lecturer when appropriate and written feedback with your homework.
Ele Actual A1
by Virgilio Boribio
Units 1-15 from the textbook are covered in the evening class.
You are advised to purchase a copy of the book, available from most major bookshops.
Ana Belen Rivas Vilar
Ana Belen Rivas Vilar has a BA in English Philology (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and trained at the International House London to teach Spanish to adults (September 2001).
Ana has been working as a Spanish tutor for City University since September 2002 and has taught in various institutions such as the North Hillingdon Adult Education, the International House, The City Lit Institute and Instituto Cervantes since 2004.
