This course is aimed at students from different nationalities whose first language is not Spanish. It focuses on practicing the four language skills—listening, reading, speaking, and writing—with special emphasis on teaching the language for communication purposes.
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
I. General Objectives
The student will:
- Develop communicative, reading, and listening comprehension skills by using appropriate grammatical structures and vocabulary in real-life contexts.
- Identify and compare cultural elements from Spanish-speaking countries with their own culture.
II. Specific Objectives
- Understand audio and video materials on various everyday topics at an elementary level.
- Exchange information on personal topics and daily activities.
- Analyze simple authentic documents of general interest, such as comic strips, postcards, formal and informal letters, and short articles from magazines, newspapers, and novels.
Write simple formal and informal texts with a minimum length of 110 words, using appropriate grammar and vocabulary in real-life contexts.
TEACHING METHOD
Communicative approach, through activities such as listening exercises, videos, role-playing, interviews, and elementary-level debates; reading aloud; short presentations on general interest topics; pronunciation correction; and the use of digital materials and websites.
COURSE CONTENT
Topics and Subtopics
UNIT 1. GENERAL INFORMATION, APPEARANCE, AND PERSONALITY
1.1 Attributive uses of ser and estar
1.2 Predicative uses of ser and estar and other attributive structures
1.3 Adjectives
UNIT 2. INDIVIDUALS
2.1 Temporality
2.2 Uses of the present tense
2.3 Adverbs
UNIT 3. PLACES
3.1 Uses of the imperfect tense
3.2 Uses of the present perfect and the preterit tense
UNIT 4. TIME
4.1 Temporal values of the subjunctive forms
4.2 Common temporal relationships between the indicative and the subjunctive
4.3 The subjunctive in independent clauses I
4.4 The subjunctive in independent clauses II
UNIT 5. HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
5.1 The subjunctive in complement clauses
5.2 Relative clauses
UNIT 6. VACATIONS
6.1 Uses of the future tense
6.2 Uses of the hypothetical simple future
EVALUATION
A certificate of completion will be granted to students with at least 80% attendance.
BRIEF CURRICULUM SUMMARY OF THE INSTRUCTOR
Iván Romo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts from the University of Guadalajara. He is certified as an English Language Teacher by the University of Cambridge, England, and authorized as an international oral examiner by the same institution. He also holds English teaching certifications from UNAM and the Anglo-Mexican Cultural Institute, where he worked for six years as a teacher and Academic Supervisor.
He has served as Human Resources and Training Coordinator at the Tax Administration Service (SAT), Academic Coordinator at the Language Center of Universidad Latinoamericana, and Coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Interpreting and Translation at Universidad Tecnológica Americana.
He has worked as a Spanish-English and English-Spanish translator and has taught English for over 25 years at various institutions, including the Mexican Football Federation, General Motors, Bancomer, Grupo Financiero Inverlat, DIAGEO, Ernst & Young, Ogilvy Mexico, Universidad Intercontinental, and Universidad Tecnológica Americana.
He has also taught Spanish for foreigners at General Motors and De la Rue México. Currently, he serves as Academic Director and Business English Specialist at Enfoque Inteligente, S.C.