Level
I 42 hours: For those with no background; or those who have
traveled, studied a little or have some vocabulary, but struggle
to form sentences. Covers: Introductions, numbers, colors, foods,
parts of the body, small talk, present tense, simple ways to express
past and future; carry on a simple conversation. Approximately
1000 vocabulary words.
Level
II 42 Hours: For those who can put sentences together and
understand when people speak slowly, who have perhaps a 1000-word
vocabulary and a sense of the language's structure. Covers: Review
of the above, stress on conversational fluency in real-life situations;
concentration on different verb tenses. Approximately 800 additional
words.
Level
III 42 Hours for those who have completed the Intermediate
level and want to increase their vocabulary, fluency and ease
in using more varied verb tenses. Specialized vocabulary and the
subjunctive mood are integrated as students think and speak in
Spanish.
Determine
Your Level
If you
find yourself “in-between” Level I and Level II, the following
diagnostic guidelines will help determine which level would most
benefit you.
1. Have you
studied Spanish for more than 2 years?
2. Have you spent more than 2 months living in a Spanish speaking
country?
3. Can you communicate with native speakers on a basic level,
get your point across and get the gist of what they’re saying?
4. Do you have an understanding of the regular and irregular verbs
in the present tense, but feel unsure in the past and future tenses?
5. Do you understand the structure of the language, but just wish
you could communicate better?
6. When you receive phone calls can you understand well enough
to respond and make yourself understood?
7. Can you read and understand the story below,La Luna y el sol?
8. Do you think you could summarize it in Spanish verbally?
9. Do you speak to people at work in Spanish on a fairly regular
basis?
10. If you found you were right in between the two levels, would
you prefer to be the “least prepared” in the group and push yourself
over taking it from the beginning in order to review and be sure
that you had the basics?
If you answered
“yes” to over half of these questions, you belong in a Level II
class. 90% of the course is conducted in Spanish and the emphasis
is developing fluency and handling sticky grammatical points.
If you answered “yes” to all of the questions you belong in the
Level III class.
If you’re
still not sure, you could go over the story once more, write a
brief summary in Spanish and send it to Expanded Learning in Denver.
Or, you could call Expanded Learning and make an appointment to
talk to one of their teachers. By chatting in Spanish for a few
minutes you could find out definitely what level would be best
for you.
Now,
the story:
La
Luna y El Sol
La luna y
el sol vivían por mucho tiempo en la tierra. El sol era ardiente
y la luna bastante fría. Y por esta razón los dos no se entendían
bien.
Cierto día
la luna tomó la decisión de separarse de su compañero el sol.
Buscó una canasta bien larga y subió al cielo para caminar por
allí durante siglos y siglos. Un día el sol se preguntó con curiosidad:
¿Qué está haciendo la luna en el cielo? ¿Qué cosas maravillosas
habrá visto?
Y se decidió
hacer lo mismo que la luna, subir por una canasta al cielo y quedarse
allí para siempre.
Pero arriba
en el firmamento continuaban enojados. La luna no quiso caminar
con el sol y escogió entonces la noche para sus correrías, dejando
el día para el sol. Pronto la luna se aburrío de caminar sola
y sin compañía. Se acordó de una buena amiga, una campesina, con
la que siempre se reunía en la tierra. Y una noche le llamó y
le dijo:
"Oye, querida
amiga, sabes que el firmamento es como la tierra un gran terreno
de sembradió. Echa los frijoles que guardas en tu casa como semillas
al cielo y vas a ver como crecerán."
Y la buena
amiga echó los frijoles que tenía en todas direcciones. Pero,
¡qué sorpresa! Antes de nacer y echar raíces, los frijoles se
encendieron en la primera noche en el firmamento y continuaron
encendiéndose en las demás noches por todos los tiempos. Los frijoles
se habían transformado en estrellas que acompañan desde entonces
a la luna en su recorrido por el cielo.
(Anónimo)
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