We offer a variety of Spanish classes to help students learn not only the four skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking – but also how to interact in Spanish.
Curriculum
The Spanish language is the official language of Spain and several Latin American countries, including Mexico and Argentina, and is spoken by more than 430 million people in over 20 countries and areas of the world. Hispanic people in the U.S. and the Philippines also use Spanish, and in terms of the number of speakers and areas, Spanish consistently ranks in the top 5 of languages spoken in the world. In addition, it is one of the official languages of the UN, along with Arabic and other languages spoken in the victorious countries of World War II.
Thus, Spanish is one of the most important languages in the world. In line with this, Tohoku University offers the class “Introduction to Spanish I” for students to learn beginner’s Spanish. After that, the class “Introduction to Spanish II” is available to reinforce the basics and raise the level of students’ Spanish language skills. These Basic Spanish courses are designed to help students acquire Spanish skills to the level of A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
From the second year, “Spanish in Practice I and II”, in which the students apply the knowledge and skills they gained in the “Introduction to Spanish” courses, are offered. In these classes, it is possible for students to cultivate applied Spanish skills based on the basic Spanish language skills they acquired in their first year. Finishing these courses will raise student’s acquisition of Spanish to the level of A2 of the CEFR standards mentioned above.
The Spanish language curriculum of Tohoku University offers more than 30 classes, mostly for students in their first and second years. There are no duplicate classes among them. There is a great variety of classes, but they all have the common goal of enhancing Spanish skills. For example, there are classes that focus on Spanish grammar, aim to enhance conversational fluency or proficiency in Spanish, and explore the cultural background surrounding the language. Some classes are taught by native Spanish teachers and others are assisted by native teaching assistants. However, it is not always the case that classes taught by native teachers focus on conversation while classes given by non-native teachers focus on grammar. The styles of some classes are decided at the teacher’s discretion, at students’ request, or according to students’ capabilities.
Our Spanish language curriculum offers classes as described above to enable students to efficiently learn the conventional four skills and interaction.
