Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!

What you will study

Whether you want to visit, work or live in a Spanish-speaking environment, you will get more out of the experience if you can communicate effectively with people. In this short course you will begin to develop your reading and listening skills in Spanish and learn to speak and write the language to communicate in everyday situations. You'll learn basic structures of Spanish along with key vocabulary to meet and greet people and to talk about yourself and others. This course will also increase your awareness of the cultural diversity of Spanish-speaking countries.

In Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!​, you will learn how to:

• say your nationality
• give your age
• explain where you come from and where you live
• talk about jobs and occupations
• ask for and give information about other people
• use numbers up to 100 and above
• talk about family members
• say what people look like and describe their personality
• talk about clothes
• talk about houses
• book accommodation.

Learning a language is also learning about culture, so you will discover how to interact when meeting and greeting people in formal and informal situations in Spanish-speaking countries. You will learn about the cultural context of Spanish names, and you will explore the unique features of houses and cities in Spain and Latin America.

Throughout the course, you will improve your ability to understand spoken and written Spanish and to communicate your own information and ideas. You will acquire a knowledge of the basic structures of Spanish along with key vocabulary. Each week comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, exercises, explanations and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either in a notebook or on your preferred digital device. There are regular revision weeks and at the end of each week, there is a quiz for you to practise what you’ve been learning.

We look forward to seeing you soon. ¡Hasta pronto!

You will learn

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• communicate with speakers of Spanish in a limited range of predictable and simple contexts relating to everyday situations
• understand and use simple Spanish grammatical structures (for example, questions and statements), and common, terms for everyday objects and events
• recognise and use basic Spanish phrases in formal and informal styles of communication and use polite forms of address and greetings
• show basic intercultural communicative competence, including an awareness of Spanish-speaking cultures and societies.

The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level A1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).

Regulations