Spanish I (offered every year)

Why Study Spanish?

Few skills are as important in our world as the ability to communicate. Knowledge of Spanish allows you to communicate with 350 million people in 21 countries—including our own! In fact, if you speak Spanish and English, you can communicate with over 70% of the world’s population!

We learn a language because we want to connect with people—be it in our churches, on mission trips, in our jobs, in our daily life—so we want to start getting to know Spanish-speaking people: what they eat, what they believe, how they live! Qué bueno, ¿no?

Course Description

In Spanish I we will immerse ourselves in the Spanish language and cultures through story-telling, acting, reading, writing, music, literature, educational games, and other interdisciplinary activities. Students will learn to conjugate verbs in various forms of the past, present, and future tenses, while growing in confidence and ease of expression. TPRS (Total Physical Response and Storytelling)—a proven method for building fluency—will frequently be used in the classroom. There will be two projects, focusing on researching the Spanish-speaking country of their choice as well as a story-telling project. Throughout the year, students will progress towards their goal of fluency, with increased opportunities to speak and interact with one another.

major topics covered

• Verb conjugation: conjugating regular and irregular verbs in the present, preterit, present progressive, and near future tenses

• Pronouns: learning to use subject, direct object, indirect object, possessive, reflexive, and prepositional pronouns

• Principles of spelling and pronunciation

• Noun/adjective agreement and placement

• Definite and indefinite articles

• Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns

• A wide variety of vocabulary, including time, shapes, colors, conversational phrases, weather, clothing, buying, food, animals, giving directions, and much more.

• Spanish and Latino culture, learned in conjunction with the language and through special projects.

Major skills developed

• Students will learn to read, write, and speak through TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) and other methodologies.

• Students will learn and practice grammar including the present, present progressive, and preterite tenses; pronouns; and other grammatical features of the Spanish language.

• Students will discover the connection between language and culture, and will gain appreciation for the food, music, and culture of Spanish-speaking countries through classroom activities, projects, and field trips.

Book List

Forthcoming! We will be using updated books starting in the 2021-2022 academic year!

Course Prerequisites

Spanish I is offered to students who are brand new to Spanish or who have successfully completed one or two years of Intro to Spanish at New Hope.

National Spanish Honor Society

The “Nueva Esperanza” (New Hope) chapter of National Spanish Honor Society, or “Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica!” Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH) is an honor society for high school students enrolled in Spanish and/or Portuguese, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). At present there are over 2,000 national and international chapters.

The purpose of the society is to recognize high achievement of high school students in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and to promote a continuing interest in Hispanic and Portuguese studies. For more information (and even and informative video!) visit the SHH website.