Taught in Spanish. This course provides a general overview of customs in contemporary Spanish culture and how they evolved throughout Spanish history. Our aim is for you to understand Spanish social behavior and ways of thinking to help overcome any culture shock that you may feel while adjusting to life in Spanish society. The class dynamic combines important cultural content with time dedicated to communication activities, including conversation, debates, and role-playing games, requiring active participation from all students. Language practice will be based on current topics, course material, and conversational situations that you may encounter in your daily life in Madrid.
Another of the objectives of the course is to fill grammatical gaps for English-speaking students with an advanced intermediate level in Spanish. We will incorporate idioms and specific vocabulary for everyday situations and current issues to facilitate real-world conversation. During the first part of the course, we will review vocabulary, phonetics, and basic grammatical structures as they come up in the course material and per your requests. The goal is for you to acquire a good level of communicative competence in all language skills, both oral and written.
The class is based on active participation, and course topics are chosen to encourage conversation and debate. Many of the different topics are related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in contemporary Spain. We will also visit places of cultural interest.
Pre-req: Four semesters of college-level Spanish or the equivalent
Department: Spanish
Location: Madrid
Semesters: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3