Spanish

Spanish

The aims of the Spanish course
This two-year course aims to develop the students' speaking, listening, reading and writing skills to the same high standard, leading to the examination offered by the AQA Board.

We aim to build upon the oral strengths of GCSE in order to provide students with the means to express their ideas through the language. The use of Spanish as the principal means of communication in the classroom plays an important part in this and in preparation for role-play, discussion and general conversation in the final exam.

Our ultimate objective is to convey to students the joy of working with words and language as well as preparing them for particular examination requirements.

Spanish is a world language: it is spoken by some 350 million people in 21 different countries. There are almost three times as many native speakers of Spanish as there are of French. Spanish is third in the list of the world's most spoken languages.

Se habla espagnol aqui

AS level Spanish
Designed to follow on naturally from GCSE, this one-year AQA course places virtually equal emphasis on each of the four language skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing. As students develop their knowledge of Spanish, they learn about Spain, the country and the people. We are satisfied that this course will not only provide future language specialists with a good foundation but will also enable students of a wide range of disciplines, from the creative arts to science and technology, to develop a useful auxiliary skill.

The AS course consists of two modules. The modules cover the four language skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing. They will all be taken at the end of the year.

You will also study the grammar of the language to help you to understand more complicated structures. First year students are encouraged to take part in the exchange and/or to opt for a work shadowing placement.

The table below sets out the topics studied and the way in which they will be examined.

AS Specification at a glance

Spanish for beginners (Ab-initio)
It is possible to study Spanish at Greenhead, even if you have never studied the language before. The ab-initio course is specially tailored to the needs of students and leads to AS-level at the end of the first year. There is then the option to continue to do A-level in the second year or to stop at AS-level.

A-level Spanish
If you continue into the second year of Spanish you will take a further two modules at the end of the year to gain an A-level qualification. The four language skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing are again tested.

The topics for this year are designed to extend your knowledge of the AS topics and to encourage you to think independently about moral and social issues.

There is very little new grammar this year as it is a consolidation year where you will be expected to develop your fluency and accuracy.

A2 Specification at a glance

The Spanish exchange
There is also the possibility to take part in the Spanish exchange as Greenhead College is linked with the IES Quercus in the province of Barcelona.