Spanish 3 (Level 4)

Course Overview

Please note that each weekly session will be two and a half hours in length and run from 6pm to 8.30pm (please disregard any other timings on this page).

This Spanish 3 (Level 4) short course, leading to CEFR B2 (Upper Intermediate)/A-level+*, is aimed at developing your language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in Spanish to an advanced intermediate level of ability. It will also help you gain further insight into aspects of the culture and society of the Spanish-speaking world. You will consolidate your knowledge of tenses in the indicative and the subjunctive, and learn to use more complex sentences and structures, as well as idioms and expressions. You will be working with longer texts from a range of media, including news and current affairs programmes as well as films.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• understand extended speech and lectures and follow even complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar
• get the gist and key information from news and current affairs programmes in standard dialect
• understand films in standard dialect
• read articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular attitudes or viewpoints
• understand some contemporary literary prose
• interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes interaction with native speakers on everyday topics possible
• take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining your views
• present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to your field of interest
• explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options
• write clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects related to your interests
• write an essay or report, passing on information or giving reasons in support of, or against, a particular point of view
• write letters highlighting the personal significance of events and experiences.

Assessment consists of continuous (20%), listening in-class (20%), written in-class (35%) and oral in-class assessment (20%) and class participation (5%).

As a student on this course, you will study alongside Birkbeck students enrolled on one of our undergraduate or postgraduate courses, giving you the opportunity to network with a range of Birkbeck current students whilst you learn.

* Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Please note: this is only an approximate equivalence.

This can be taken as a standalone short course or as part of:

• Culture and Language (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese) (Certificate of Higher Education)

Credits: 30 credits at level 4