Spanish

Proficiency Levels, Learning Objectives and Course Content

according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

see also: Language Proficiency Levels and Course Levels


A1 CEFR

Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she owns. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

A1/1

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus (A1)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Asking for personal details and provide information. Greeting and saying goodbye. Expressing intentions, giving reasons. Talking about what can be expressed in other languages. Describing places. Saying what is there and where it is. Talking about climate and weather. Naming objects. Expressing need. Shopping at the store: asking about products and prices. Talking about preferences. Talking about appearances and character. Expressing likes and dislikes, as well as agreeing and disagreeing. Asking about preferences.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Categories of gender for nationalities and professions, verbs ser (to be), tener (to have) and llamarse (to be called), subject pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, regular verbs in the present indicative, use of por, para and porque (for and because), use of hay (there is), verb estar (to be, to be located), superlative adjectives, quantities, demonstrative pronouns, adjective+noun: describing objects, verbs preferir (to prefer) and ir (to go), verb gustar (to like), possessive pronoun. Accents to distinguish meaning (graphic accent).

A1/2

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus (A1)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Talking about habits. Expressing frequency. Asking for and telling the time of day. Communicating in bars and restaurants. Asking and providing information about food. Speaking about eating habits. Describing locations, neighborhoods and cities. Talking about what one likes best about certain places. Asking for directions and giving instructions. Expressing preferences and emphasizing certain aspects. Talking about experiences, abilities and skills. Talking about strengths and weaknesses.

Planned Grammar Topics: Irregular verbs in the present indicative, reflexive verbs, verbs poner (give, serve) and traer (bring), direct object pronouns, use of de (of, from) and con (with), quantities, prepositions and adverbs of place, perfect tense, saber (to know) + infinitive, poder (to be able to) +infinitive.


A2 CEFR

Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine situations requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

A2/1

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus 2 (A2)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Talking about habits. Saying how long we have been doing something. Talking about difficulties. Giving advice. Describing feelings. Recounting events from the past and relating them to each other. Talking about the beginning and the duration of an action. Identifying people and describing their appearance. Describing the relationship between people. Expressing likes and dislikes. Describing an apartment. Comparing things. Expressing coincidences. Describing objects (including those in a specific location). Mastering formal language situations: greetings, introductions, etc., asking for things, actions, requesting a favor. Asking for and giving permission. Making excuses and giving reasons.

Planned Grammar Topics:

Regular and irregular present tenses, reflexive verbs, expressions of time: desde and desde hace (since), formation and use of Pretétito Indefinido: past tenses, prepositions desde, hasta and durante (duration), correlation between caer bien/mal. Comparatives, prepositions and place adverbs, possessive pronouns, use of ser and estar (to be), verbs gustar, encantar and preferir (tastes and preferences expressions), gerund (regular and irregular forms), estar+gerund, conditional of poder and importar.

A2/2

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus 2 (A2)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics: Describing and evaluation past experiences. Speaking about intentions and expressing desire to do something. Discussing food preferences and habits. Explaining how to prepare a dish. Describing aches, pains, and illness symptoms. Talking about states of mind. Giving advice. Talking about habits, customs and living conditions in the past. Classify actions in the past. Arguing and discussing. Narrating about the past. Putting actions in order.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Perfect tense, use of perfect and indefinido (past), indirect object pronouns, forms with se, some uses of ser and estar (to be), verb doler (to hurt/ache), y, pero, además (conjunctions: and, but, moreover), formation and use of the affirmative imperative, imperfect tense, tenses for past and present, irregular indefinite forms, difference between indefinite and imperfect tense, past forms of estar + gerund, tenses.


B1 CEFR

Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered at work, school, leisure etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

B1/1

Texbook: Aula Internacional Plus 3 (B1)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics: Talking about habits. Narrating events in the past tense. Expressing an intention. Describing progress and order of an action. Intentions or projections for the future. Expressing prohibition, commitment, impersonality. Narrating an action: retelling the plot of a movie or a book and describing one’s own reactions.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Perfect and indefinite tenses, the use of past tenses, verbal phrases, future indicative, formation and use of futuro imperfecto, impersonal structures such as está prohibido, se prohíbe, es importante que... (it is forbidden, it is prohibited, it is important that...), quantities, connectors: y, entonces, en aquel momento, al final, de repente, de pronto... (and, then, at the end, all at once, suddenly...), direct and indirect object pronouns (accusative and dative forms).

B1/2

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus 3 (B1)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Making recommendations and suggestions. Giving instructions. Describing an advertisement. Expressing desire and need. Making a complaint and suggesting a solution. Making telephone calls. Rendering a message from a third person: relaying statements, questions, requests, and invitations. Telling a story or an anecdote. Connecting causes and consequences.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Formation and use of the affirmative and negative imperatives, the use of two object pronouns in a sentence, reflexive pronouns, present tense of the subjunctive: formation and use, regular and irregular forms, indirect speech: sequence of tenses in indirect speech, connecting sentences: connectors, causative-consequtive links.

B1/3

Textbook: Aula Internacional Plus 3 (B1)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Expressing feelings and interests. Showing disagreement: formal and colloquial expressions. Making comments or personal evaluations. Describing objects. Evaluating situations and facts: describing behavioral patterns. Future events, situations, and conditions. Conjectures. Mysteries of science.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Regular and irregular forms of the present subjunctive. Me fascina, me encanta... + que + subjuntivo (que + subordinate clauses after expression of emotion), superlatives with -ísimo, use of subjunctive in relative clauses (choosing indicative vs. subjunctive), first conditional: formation and use, future tense I, conditional clauses.


B2 CEFR

Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with mother-tongue speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a point of view on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

B2/1

Textbook: Aula Internacional 4 (B2)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics: Understanding and summarizing news stories, interviews, or reports that include opinions, discussions, and debates. Actively participating in extended conversations on most topics of general interest. Making assumptions about causes and consequences and speaking about hypothetical situations. Expressing personal opinions or feelings. Logically structuring arguments and connecting ideas.

Planned Grammar Topics: Past tenses, passive voice, passive voice in impersonal clauses, direct object, the use of subjuntivo or indicativo. Adverbial phrases, conjunctions and subordinate clauses, conditionals, subjunctive of imperfecto.

B2/2

Textbook: Aula Internacional 4/5 (B2)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Expressing and emphasizing feelings of varying intensity. Speaking about prior beliefs. Setting conditions and requirements. Expressing purpose and intent. In discussions, justifying and defending one‘s own views through arguments and comments.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Relative clauses, relative pronouns and adverbs, passive clauses, impersonal clauses, se -constructions, use of the present or imperfect tense of the subjunctive, conjunctions and time expressions.

B2/3

Textbook: Aula Internacional 5 (B2)

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Understanding and summarizing the plot and sequence of events in an fragment from a movie, a story, or a saga. Giving clear and detailed descriptions and accounts of one‘s own interests. Talking about a job: description and responsibilities in a job. Making predictions about the future and the environmental problems. Evaluating past events and talking about unrealized events in the past and their consequences.

Planned Grammar Topics:  Conjunctions of time, the use of past tenses, imperfect of the subjunctive, position of the adjective, temporal clauses, concession clauses, modal particles, structure and use of pronouns: object pronouns, doubling of accusative and dative pronouns, perfect tense in subjunctive structures, past perfect of the subjunctive, sequence of tenses in the subjunctive clause, conditional clauses.


C1 CEFR

Can understand a wide range of longer and more challenging texts and grasp implicit meaning. Can express oneself fluently and spontaneously without having to search for appropriate words. Can use language effectively and flexibly in social and professional life or in training and study. Can discuss complex subjects in a structured and detailed way, making appropriate use of various means of linking texts.

C1/1

Textbook: Vitamina C1

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Expressing abilities, tastes and preferences. Talking about values in society. Inviting and making suggestions, accepting and rejecting. Telling a story. Job description and selection process, speaking about an employee's skills. Discussing food culture: making assessments.

Planned Grammar:  Adjective constructions, intensification of adverbs and adjectives, verbs with prepositions, repetition of past tenses, final clauses + indicative or subjunctive, sequence of tenses in main and subordinate clauses, relative clauses, connectors, comparatives: relative and absolute superlatives.

C1/2

Textbook: Vitamina C1

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics: Describing animals, discussing environmental problems of our times: causes, consequence and solutions. Expressing causes and resulting feelings. Discussing forms of education. Talking about exceptional talents, alternative teaching strategies. Suggesting initiatives to improve the cityscape. Discussing geography and climate, travel, mass tourism and travel literature.

Planned Grammar:  Causal clauses, expressions of feelings such as joy, fear, sadness, anger, consecutive clauses, conditional clauses: real and unreal conditionals, sequence of tenses in main and subordinate clauses, temporal clauses, adjectives before and after nouns, expressing resignation, relief, hope, verbal phrases: intent, beginning, progression, conclusion.

C1/3

Textbook: Vitamina C1

Information regarding the current textbook for your course is available in the course booking instructions.

Speaking Topics:  Describing a sport: unusual kinds of sports. Talking about aesthetic preferences, demonstrating one's own opinion. Mindfulness. Conducting a negotiation. Marketing and business. Telling a literary story. Raising objections and expressing surprise. Making a counter-argument. Media articles of the 21st century. Actions or events that will be completed in the future before another future event or action.

Planned Grammar:  Concessive clauses +indicative or subjunctive, temporal agreement with verbs of opinion, relative clauses, impersonal and indefinite expressions: the pronoun se, future tense II, expressing doubt or probability: indicative or subjunctive, the use of the article when expressing presence or absence.


C2 CEFR

Can easily understand virtually everything he/she reads or hears. Can summarize information from a variety of written and spoken sources, giving reasons and explanations in a coherent presentation. Can express oneself spontaneously, with utmost fluence and accuracy, making clear and finer distinctions of meaning even in the most complex situations.

C2

Speaking Topics:

  • Expressing conjecture.
  • Expressing various degress of probability
  • Repeating, retelling, and summarizing what has been said. Reminding someone of something.
  • Responding to information by showing agreement and disagreement.
  • Relating and adding to information by showing opposites and contrasts.
  • Expressing preferences, desires, and feelings. Assessing and making evaluations, both positive and negative.
  • Expressing doubts and reservations.
  • Expressing surprise and astonishment.
  • Expressing and arguing, making complaints and protesting.
  • Making suggestions, giving recommendations.
  • Asking for and giving advice.
  • Accepting and rejecting advice.
  • Structuring a discourse. Recognizing and using discourse markers to signal relationships of reinforcement, logical sequence, and contrast.
  • Maintaining oral communication. Getting specific words or expressions across to the interlocutor. Following up on unclear or misused words or expressions. Explaining the meaning or intent of the conversation by way of summarizing.
  • Expressing a prohibition.
  • Giving permission under certain conditions.
  • Making compliments and responding to compliments.


Planned Grammar:

  • Morphology and use of the present tense and the imperfect of the subjunctive.
  • Sequence of tenses in indirect speech in reference to present, past or future.
  • Verbs that introduce a discourse.
  • Transformation of verbal tenses depending on the communicative situation.
  • Use of ser and estar.
  • Passive structures.
  • Gerund and participle.
  • Adverbs with gerund.
  • The use of lo + adjective.
  • Subordinate clauses.
  • Noun phrases with verbs in the indicative, subjunctive or future tenses.
  • Causal and concessive clauses with verbs in the indicative or subjunctive, introduced by frequently used conjunctions and conjunctive phrases.
  • Discursive links expressing cause and contradiction.
  • Discursive compounds of cause, opposition, and sequence of information.
  • Subordinate clauses: causative and consecutive clauses with verbs in the indicative or subjunctive, introduced by conjunctions and frequently used conjunctive phrases.
  • Impersonal structures.
  • Morphology and the use of the conditional.
  • Morphology and the use of the past simple, past perfect (pluperfect), and the subjunctive past perfect (pluperfect).
  • Conditional and concessive subordinate clauses.