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SPAN 1110 (UGA) 
Accelerated Elementary Spanish (4 semester hours) 

This course can be taken
    -> as a print course

Lessons for this course can be submitted and/or be returned
    -> via U.S. mail
    -> via fax return from IDL

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Not open to students with credit in UGA SPAN 1001 and SPAN 1002.

Accelerated course reviewing basic principles of the Spanish language for students with some background of high school Spanish.

Requirements: Twelve lessons, two examinations.

Instructor: Dr. Teresa Perez-Gamboa, Spanish Language Coordinator, The University of Georgia.

Interim Instructor: Julia Barnes, The University of Georgia.

Texts: Medina, Nuevos Destinos: Spanish in Review, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2003, plus videotapes, student manual, and audio CD program to accompany the textbook.

SPAN 1110 Course Overview

Introduction

Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world and the most popular foreign language in the United States. The number of Spanish-speaking residents of the United States has been increasing rapidly during the last two decades. We are all aware that the new century implies faster advances in technology, more frequent use of the Internet, and increasing globalization. Due to all of these facts, foreign language teaching and learning materials have gone through a lot of changes in the last ten years.

Nuevos Destinos is a video-driven course that will tell you an exciting story of travel, mystery, intrigue, romance, and fun. Watch the videos and listen to the CDs as many times as you need in order to understand and get the main ideas of each episode. You will also review vocabulary and grammar through the engaging activities and exercises found in the Nuevos Destinos textbook and workbook.

The textbook consists of a preliminary chapter and fifteen regular chapters that correspond to the fifteen video episodes. The chapter structure consists of seven sections:

  1. The Metas provides a brief summary of the video storyline (La trama) and also indicates the communicative and cultural objectives (Comunicación y cultura).
  2. El vídeo contains pre- and post-viewing video activities that focus on the storyline. The inclusion of a unique feature called Hace cinco años will help you distinguish between the original story told in the Destinos video and the new story that we will be following, Nuevos Destinos.
  3. The Enfoque léxico contains the chapter’s theme vocabulary and vocabulary-based activities. The brief Nota cultural boxes are found in this section.
  4. The Enfoque cultural presents cultural information about the Spanish-speaking world, generally focusing on prominent figures, major regions, and historical and cultural facts.
  5. The Enfoque estructural presents the grammar points. The Para terminar: Actividad final is the last section of the chapter and ties together the chapter’s theme, vocabulary, and grammar.
  6. Every other chapter contains a Lectura that presents an authentic literary selection. You will be introduced to some of the important literary works of the Spanish-speaking world while improving your reading skills in Spanish.

The Student Manual will help you to expand your abilities in the four basic skills of language learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. You will also practice basic vocabulary and grammatical structures found in the textbook. In addition, you will have the opportunity to do the following:

  • review the Nuevos Destinos video episodes and find out more about the characters
  • expand on your ability to comprehend spoken Spanish
  • practice the use of “problem words” that often have one meaning in English but several meanings in Spanish
  • improve your reading and writing skills in Spanish
  • learn more about the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world and its people, customs, and cultural heritage

The Student Manual also has pronunciation sections in the Preliminary Chapter and Chapters 1 through 7 so that you can practice some Spanish vowel and consonant sounds that are often problematic for native speakers of English.

The four-hour video is the foundation for the Nuevos Destinos materials. There are fifteen episodes, each of which is approximately fifteen minutes long. In each episode, you will watch the story unfold between the two main characters, Raquel Rodríguez and Lucía Hinojosa, as they investigate the current legal mysteries surrounding the Castillo family. There will also be numerous flashback scenes from the original Destinos series as Raquel recounts that investiga-tion to Lucía.

Raquel Rodríguez is a Mexican-American lawyer from Los Angeles, California. Five years ago, Raquel investigated a case for the wealthy Castillo family of Mexico. Now, another case involving the Castillo family has arisen, one that is puzzling right up to the very end.

Lucía Hinojosa is a lawyer from Mexico City. She is the executor of the Castillo estate and has been asked to consult Raquel about the original investigation carried out five years ago. Her task is to solve the current mystery surrounding the Castillo family.

Keep in mind that you are not expected to understand every word in these early episodes. Do not try to translate what you hear into English. Instead, try to make educated guesses about what is happening based on visual clues and your knowledge of the way soap operas are often organized. Listen and repeat as often as possible while watching the video. You should watch the episodes more than once.

Grading and Examinations

This course is divided into twelve lessons and two exams (a midterm and a final). Each lesson that you complete will cover one or sometimes two episodes in the book. You are responsible for doing all written and oral exercises in your textbook and workbook, but you are expected to turn in only those exercises listed in the Written Assignment section at the end of each of the twelve lessons.

It is very important to follow instructions when completing the assignments. You can either write or type your responses, but they should be clear and neat. Make sure you write out the questions and page numbers, indicating whether they are from the textbook or manual. You can also photocopy your lessons from the workbook, send me the original, and keep the photocopy.

Lessons 5 and 11 have an oral component to the assignment. You will be asked to record yourself answering some questions from the textbook and workbook, and you will also be asked to read some passages. Rewind your tape to the beginning before you send it to me.

The midterm and final exams each count for 25 percent of your overall course grade. Your combined grade on the written assignments accounts for the other 50 percent. Please note that IDL policy requires that you pass the final examination in order to pass the course, regardless of grades earned on the lessons or midterm. More detailed information about the examinations can be found in this course guide immediately following Lessons 6 and 12.