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Advanced Spanish
Outcomes & Topics
Introduction
Advanced Spanish offers learners an opportunity to practice speaking and listening skills and to learn other aspects of the Spanish language. Emphasis is on conversational activities. Reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar are also incorporated. 

Advanced outcomes and associated topics to achieve them are included below. Topics are derived from various Spanish Practice Makes Perfect books and other instructional resources. The topics are a representative sample. Others are included depending on learner interests and instructor assessment of learner needs.

Advanced-level classes are conducted entirely in Spanish.  
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Moving from intermediate to advanced level
It is common for learners to be reluctant to move from intermediate to advanced. Reasons include feeling like they are not ready, reluctance to leave friends behind with whom they have established strong social bonds, and feeling intimidated about meeting and working with more experienced advanced-level participants. 

Advanced learners are still learning Spanish. They remember their own journey from beginner to advanced and are warmly welcoming to newcomers. 

If the ultimate objective is to be able to listen to, understand, and speak in Spanish and engage in spontaneous conversation, learners need to enroll in advanced classes when they have achieved the intermediate outcomes.
 
Outcome & Topic List Uses
Like the beginner and intermediate topics lists, the advanced list can be used to self-assess comfort-level with and understanding of each topic. Self-assessment results help instructors determine topics to include when they develop instructional plans. 

Instructors use this information to develop lesson plans and track student progress.
 
Outcomes
Advanced level Spanish is designed to help learners master more advanced grammatical concepts and to advance their conversational Spanish capabilities. 
  • Vocabulary and Comprehension: Has comprehensive vocabulary. Needs to translate words occasionally, but can listen to or read passages without needing to do extensive translation. Can read and demonstrate comprehension of various written forms including newspapers, printed and electronic articles and letters, and literature. Can use both simple and more complex Spanish language and idiomatic expressions. Understands many colloquial and idiomatic expressions.
  • Grammar: Comfortable learning advanced grammatical concepts. Understand and can use subjunctive and imperative moods, passive constructions, and perfect tenses.
  • Verbs:
    • Able to use all forms of the subjunctive verb tense. Can properly use vocabulary and a variety of verb tenses in the indicative mood (present, preterit, imperfect, future, conditional, perfect) as well as the present, past and perfect tenses of the subjunctive mood.
  • Conversation: Can comfortably listen to, understand, and converse with others in Spanish. Can describe and narrate past experiences using the preterite and imperfect tenses. Understands and can use the present subjunctive tense. Able to converse in and comprehend Spanish with an increasing awareness and control of grammatical tenses and moods about personal topics such as personal preferences and opinions, accomplishments, make requests, and discuss future plans.

Information about Spanish Language (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2) Levels
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching Assessment

Topics

Decisions about topics that are taught each session are made by the instructional team based on student level and recent class topics.
1. Conditional tense review (-ia endings)
2. Progressive tenses:  present participle 
3. Compound tenses: Present perfect & past perfect tenses
5. Compound tenses: future perfect & conditional perfect
6. Active vs passive & formation of passive voice
7. Subjective Mood: Present & present perfect subjunctive tenses
8. Subjective Mood Past Tenses: Imperfect & pluperfect subjunctive
9. Commands
10. Confusing verb pairs
11. Use of impersonal "se"
12. Verbs requiring preposit in English, but not in Spanish
13. Dialog: Story-telling:  discuss near or distance past
14. Dialog: Negotiating
15. Writing skills
16. Idioms; colloquial and special phrases
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