Description and Objectives

Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world, with 500 million speakers worldwide, and the second most spoken language in the United States. Knowledge of the language can open many doors to cultural understanding, new friendships and job opportunities, as well as provide insight and appreciation for the structure of your own native language and its origins. The aim of this course is to bring together previous years of grammar, speaking, reading, and writing, and begin use them extensively in one’s daily routine, while at the same time increasing one’s knowledge of the subtle rules and nuances which make Spanish such an interesting and rich language.

Textbooks

Gramática Lengua Española by Larousse

This is the main workbook we will use. In addition there will be handouts, verb charts, vocabulary lists, and newspaper articles and short stories.

Course Requirements

80% of a student’s grade will be based on how well they perform on homework, quizzes, and tests, and the other 20% will be on spoken Spanish used in class. If a student gets a 100% on every written assignment but does not practice his speaking at all, the best he can get in the class is a B-.

Students will have a daily quiz on vocabulary and/or grammar, which will require about 10 minutes of study time each night. In addition, once a week there will be a two-minute presentation, in which the students are expected to improve each week, implementing the grammar and vocabulary accumulated over the course of the year. Every two to three weeks there will be a test based on the text from the book and class notes.

Grammar covered:

• The present tense
• The preterit tense
• The imperfect tense
• The preterit and imperfect tenses compared
• Future and conditional tenses
• SER and ESTAR
• The gerund and progressive tenses
• The past participle; Compound tenses
• Reflexive verbs
• Passive and impersonal constructions
• The subjunctive
• Commands
• Articles and nouns
• Pronouns
• Adjectives, Adverbs and comparisons
• Prepositions, interrogatives and Negation

Successful Students

• Bring their textbook and notebook to every class
• Study their vocabulary each night at home for a minimum of ten minutes
• Make sure that they correct any and all mistakes in the workbook in order to efficiently study for tests
• Prepare in advance for their show and tell each week
• Schedule time outside of class to work with Mr. Sushinsky on any questions or doubts about material or assignments
• Email Mr. Sushinsky anytime they are absent in order to prepare adequately for new assignments and not fall behind. Students who do not stay in touch when they are absent and do not make up the work at the first available opportunity will receive a zero for that grade.

Additional Resources

It is highly recommended to practice Spanish whenever possible. This includes speaking in Spanish with friends or relatives, listening to the radio or watching tv in Spanish, reading a Spanish newspaper, watching movies in Spanish, etc. There are a plethora of podcasts and websites that can help you with this.

Summer Assignment

AP Spanish Summer Assignment

You are expected to know all the conjugations for the regular verbs Hablar, Comer, and Vivir(with the exception of the preterit perfect indicative, the future subjunctive, and the future perfect subjunctive). There will be a test on the first day of school. Attached you will find a blank copy for Hablar, so you know exactly what you are expected to fill in on the test. Spelling and accents must be perfect in order to receive a perfect score.

Hablar test

The conjugations to hablar, comer, and vivir can be found in many places, including:

Click Here for Conjugations

Questions can be directed to Sr. Sushinsky at dsushinsky@heights.edu