Spanish

The main BASE program has a duration ranging from four to twelve courses depending on the intensity: four Intensive courses, seven Semi-intensive courses, or twelve Weekly courses. The names of the levels are references to structural knowledge and proficiency in order to maximize small-group compatibility and conversational opportunities:

Basico

The foundation ("base" in Spanish) is set at this level in order to break down inhibitions and fears of actually using Spanish. You will learn to be able to use a great deal of practical vocabulary and how to ask and answer questions.  

You will be able to use greetings and introductions, get by in a restaurant or cafe, describe your and others' activities, identify and describe people and things, express likes and dislikes, describe emotions, request information, talk about schedules and holidays, and give directions. In a communicative context, there will be a focus on cognate identification, agreement, and regular and irregular verbs in the present tense.

Intermedio

You will build upon your previously-gained knowledge of the Spanish language by gaining fluency with describing daily routines, your plans, past events and times (e.g. your childhood), giving advice/recommendations, and an introduction to idiomatic usage. All of this builds on structure developed in the contexts of various lexical groups ranging from exercise to historic and current events.

Avanzado/Conversacional

Having already acquired fluidity, this level has the objective of maintaining the level you have acquired, as well as reaching a more fluent conversational level. With more confidence and a broader range of skills further complexities in the Spanish language are learned in the contexts of students' particular interests, as well as culture.

Students will be able to express opinions in not only real-life contexts but also in hypothetical contexts. As within the Intermediate level, you may personalize your learning further with a particular non-program elective, such as film, music, phonetics, grammar, literature, current events, etc.