Advanced class, Winter 2020

Spanish Conversation Classes

In addition to private tutoring, we offer Spanish conversation classes for small groups in Austin, Texas. Class size will be between 3-10 people to give the most opportunity for practice and individualized attention. Whether you want to practice Spanish for school, travel, for work, or for some other specific area, please get in touch with us to discuss your goals.

See detailed course descriptions below. Courses meet for 8 weeks, 1.25 hours one day/night per week. Sometimes we schedule 10-week courses, but schedules are always communicated in advance. The cost for an 8-week course is $300 (starting July, 2022). Please check out the upcoming class schedule.

Get in touch to set up a 20-30 minute conversation to check your level.

Levels & Detailed Descriptions:

Beginning I:

Designed for true beginners who have never studied Spanish or took very limited Spanish in high school or college (0-1 semesters).

-Course will begin with proper pronunciation and introduce the structure of question and sentences, subject pronouns, definite & indefinite articles, agreement between articles/nouns/adjectives, and regular present tense, and 3 irregular verbs: ser, estar & haber. There is a heavy emphasis on conversation and improving listening skills. Every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary units: Greetings & Farewells, Interrogative words, Descriptions & Emotions, Colors, Numbers up to 60, Days, Months & Seasons, Telling Time, Professions, and Locations.

Beginning II:

Designed for those who have had very limited exposure to Spanish, such as 1 semester in high school or college or took Beginning I.

-Course will review regular present tense and irregular verbs (ser, estar & haber) covered in Beginning Spanish before introducing other irregular and stem-changing verbs (tener, venir & ir) & the simple future tense. We will also work on possessive adjectives. Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary: Family, Physical Descriptions & Personality Traits, Emotions & Conditions, Locations, and Tener expressions.

High Beginning I

Designed for those who have had very limited exposure to Spanish, such as 1 semester in high school or college.

-Course will continue working on regular present tense and irregular verbs (ser, estar, haber, tener & ir) covered in Beginning I & II Spanish before introducing other irregular and stem-changing verbs. We will also continue working on gustar-type constructions and introduce direct object pronouns. Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary: Hobbies, Sports, Leisure, Food, Numbers 1-100, Body Parts & Sickness, Weather

High Beginning II

Designed for those who have had very limited exposure to Spanish, such as 1-2 semester(s) in high school or college.

-Course will review present tense (including regular & irregular verbs), focusing more on irregular yo forms, introduce equal and unequal comparisons, and introduce the uses of saber vs. conocer. Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary: Extended Family, Hobbies, Clothes & Colors, Accessories, Stores

Intermediate I

Designed for those who have had ~2 semesters of college Spanish; This level is ideal for those who are familiar with basic present and future tenses, but want to start learning the past tenses (preterit & imperfect). We’ll spend the first half of the session on the imperfect tense and the second half of the session on the preterit tense. Heavy emphasis on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension, and improving vocabulary.

-Vocabulary units: Hobbies, the House & Chores, Body & Illnesses, Holidays & Celebrations, Ordinal Numbers, Special expressions with tener, and Childhood Activities

Intermediate II

A continuation of Intermediate I, this class is designed for those who have had ~2-3 semesters of college Spanish; This level is ideal for those who are confident with the present and future tenses, but want to start reviewing and practicing the past tenses, including more irregular verbs. Heavy emphasis on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension, and improving vocabulary.

-Course will (re)introduce and focus on the imperfect and preterit tenses and uses. Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary units: Descriptions, Food & Cooking, Leisure Activities, Outdoors & Nature, Shopping & Markets, Childhood Activities, Travel

Intermediate III

A continuation of Intermediate I & II, this class is designed for those who have had ~2-3 semesters of college Spanish; This level is ideal for those who are confident with the present and future tenses, but want want a more thorough review of the past tenses (preterit & imperfect). Students should have a good grasp of both tenses since we will be going more in-depth with super irregular verbs and navigating preterit vs. imperfect in conversation. Heavy emphasis on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension, and improving vocabulary.

-Vocabulary units: Travel / Trips, Activities at home, Activities during college, Technology, Life Events

High Intermediate I

Designed for those who have had ~3 semesters of college Spanish; This level is ideal for those who are familiar with the present, past, and future tenses, but want more conversational practice & a review of the present progressive, present perfect, and other ways to talk about the future. Heavy emphasis on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension, and improving vocabulary.

-Course will review the present perfect, present progressive, and future constructions. Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary units: Descriptions of people & hobbies, food & cooking styles, professions, music, sports, and nature.

High Intermediate II

Designed for those who have had ~3-4 semesters of college Spanish; This level is ideal for those who are very comfortable with present, past and future tenses, but want really start understanding and using the commands. Heavy emphasis on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension, and improving vocabulary.

-Course will introduce formal and informal commands (with and without pronouns). Heavy emphasis on conversation & every class will include some sort of authentic material in Spanish (ie. songs, comics, videos, podcasts).

-Vocabulary units: Family, Descriptions, Hobbies, Health & Wellbeing, Clothing & Fashion, Diet & Nutrition

High Intermediate III

Designed for those who have taken the High Intermediate II class, had ~3-4 semesters of college Spanish, or enough exposure to have full conversations in Spanish with ease; This level is ideal for those who can easily converse in the present, future, past, and present perfect tenses, but really want to focus on conversational practice with the aforementioned tenses and improve their vocabulary.

Advanced I

Designed for those who have had 4+ semesters of college Spanish or enough exposure to have full conversations in Spanish with ease; This level is ideal for those who can easily converse in the present, future, past, and present perfect tenses. Ideal for those who want conversational practice with the aforementioned tenses, but major emphasis on the subjunctive mood and improving on more colloquial vocabulary. This is a 100% immersion class, focusing on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension.

Advanced I Topics

Designed for those who have taken the Advanced I class, have had 4+ semesters of college Spanish, or enough exposure to have full conversations in Spanish with ease; This level is ideal for those who can easily converse in the present, future, past, and present perfect tenses. Each group is customized to their previous classes and revisiting / focusing on the aforementioned tenses and improving on more colloquial vocabulary. This is a 100% immersion class, focusing on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension.

Advanced II

Designed for those who have had 4+ semesters of college Spanish or enough exposure to have full conversations in Spanish with ease; This level is ideal for those who want conversational practice focusing completely on more complex situations of indicative vs. subjunctive, past subjunctive, and conditional. We will also continue working on more colloquial vocabulary. This is a 100% immersion class, focusing on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension.

-Course will focus on subjunctive and “if clauses” in the context of conversation topics, music, film clips, videos, and cultural topics. Vocabulary will also be included, based on the audio-visual resources we use in class.

Advanced II Conversation Topics

Designed for those who have taken the Advanced II class, had 5+ semesters of college Spanish, have lived in a Spanish-speaking country, grew up speaking Spanish, or has had enough exposure to have full conversations in Spanish with ease. This level is ideal for those who want to improve their conversational skills as we explore a broad range of conversation topics, while improving their colloquial vocabulary. We will have a number of conversational topics and grammar and vocabulary will be further clarified as questions come up. This is a 100% immersion class, focusing on improving conversation, confidence, oral comprehension.