Our Spanish classes are held at our downtown Seattle campus. Spanish is a Romance Language, closely related to French, Italian and Portuguese. There are many linguistic variations in the Spanish-speaking world; Spain alone has several dialects. These differences are mostly confined to pronunciation and vocabulary. Language structure and grammar are fairly standard throughout the Americas and Spain. With a little experience, all varieties are mutually intelligible.
Granada, Spain. Photo courtesy of Susan Hussey
Schedule
Registration for Summer ends on June 30. Confirmation (or cancellation) of class will be sent out on July 1.
If you would like a notification when a new schedule becomes available, please enter your email here.
Class | Instructor | Days | Time | Start date | End date | Scheduling Notes | Classroom |
| Spanish 1 | Hajar Pardakhtchi | Wed | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 7/10/24 | 9/11/24 | Zoom | |
| Spanish 1 | Hajar Pardakhtchi | Sat | 1:00 – 2:50PM | 7/13/24 | 9/14/24 | Zoom | |
| Spanish 2 | Anastasiia Sharmarina | Thur | 5:00 – 6:50PM | 7/11/24 | 9/12/24 | In person | TBA |
| Spanish 3 | Anastasiia Sharmarina | Thur | 7:00 – 8:50PM | 7/11/24 | 9/12/24 | In person | TBA |
| Spanish 7 | Paola Arbelaez | Wed | 7:00 – 8:50PM | 7/10/24 | 9/11/24 | Zoom | |
| Spanish Intm Conversation | Paola Arbelaez | Mon | 6:30 – 8:20PM | 7/8/24 | 9/16/24 | No class 9/2 | Zoom |
To sign up for classes other than LVL 1, please first complete our online placement test and let the office know upon completion. Placement tests are reviewed during registration period. If you don’t see a test for the language you are interested in studying, please reach out to wal at cityu.edu We will try to arrange a phone placement with our faculty.
All classes are 18.5 hours. Tuition is $400. Without payment of tuition, your registration is received but remains incomplete. Level 1 classes must have 4 complete registrations to run; level 2+ will run on a minimum of 3 complete registrations.
Click here for textbook information.
If you have any questions, please contact wal at cityu.edu
Levels
Spanish 1
The Spanish – Novice Low course (a.k.a. Spanish 1) is a 10-week course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners with no experience learning Spanish. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Spanish culture. The topics at this level include: exchanging greetings, asking a person’s last name, full name, and nationality, introducing family members, describing family relationships, talking about occupations / professions, inviting someone to dinner and making arrangements. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Low (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to communicate in highly predictable social situations providing information about themselves and others in the simple present tense. Students will be able to greet each other and say good-bye, introduce themselves and introduce others by name, nationality and occupation/profession, use number combinations from 0 to 5000 in situations to express address, phone numbers, dates, time, price and to ask and provide other factual information.
Grammatical competence: In addition to the vocabulary on basic personal information, objects, activities, preferences, and immediate needs, students will be able to respond to simple, direct questions or request information using basic grammatical expressions. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to Spanish 2.
Spanish 2
The Spanish – Novice Mid 1 course (a.k.a. Spanish 2) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice Low” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Spanish culture. The topics at this level include: living spaces, food and drink, dining out, travelling around the city, making plans and arrangements, asking friends out, visiting friends’ houses. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to make hotel and restaurant reservations, describe the home and its contents, interpret food recipes and menus, talk about leisure time and move around the city in public transportation. Students will also be able to ask about location, request food and beverages, and describe places of interest.
Grammatical competence: In addition to the vocabulary on houses and its contents, food and drink, and asking for directions, the students will be able to ask direct and indirect questions about time and places and request information using the present indicative tense and describe activities. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to the next level.
Spanish 3
The Spanish – Novice Mid 2 course (a.k.a. Spanish 3) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice Mid 1” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Spanish culture. The topics in this level include: making phone calls, arranging meetings, describing people’s physical appearance and personality, talking about ongoing and past activities, going shopping and describing climatic changes. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice Mid (ACTFL) or A1 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to conduct themselves in structured conversations in the present and past tenses. Students will be able to make appointments over the phone, describe people’s physical appearance and personalities, talk about the past, talk about the weather and the seasons, and go shopping expressing preferences. In addition to the use of the present and past tenses, students will be able to describe their preference when going shopping, describe family members and friends and participate in social conversations about vacation arrangements and ongoing actions.
Grammatical competence: In addition to the vocabulary and uses of ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ to express temporary and permanent states, the students will incorporate new grammatical structures using direct and indirect object pronouns in the present indicative and future tense, comparisons of equality and inequality, the superlative form, pronouns after prepositions, and reflexive pronouns and verbs. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to Level 4.
Spanish 4
The Spanish – Novice High 1 course (a.k.a. Spanish 4) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice Mid 2” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Spanish Culture. The topics at this level include: health complaints, healing and parts the body, habits in the past, life events, plans for the future, family celebrations, culture and traditions. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to communicate in highly predictable social situations providing information about themselves and others in the present, past and future tense. Students will be able to talk about health issues, past experiences, future arrangements, and describe personality traits in relation to family dynamics.
Grammatical competence: In addition to the vocabulary on pains, illnesses, parts of the body, character and personality, the students will be exposed to the impersonal use of “se”, the present subjunctive and the subjunctive to express doubt and hope. Students will be reinforcing the uses of the preterite and the imperfect, and will be exposed to the language structures needed to advance to Level 5.
Spanish 5
The Spanish – Novice High 2 course (a.k.a. Spanish 5) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice High 1” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The emphasis continues to be on speaking and getting comfortable with the language; however, in this level the students will advance their knowledge in grammar and take a deeper look of the subjunctive and other tenses. Topics include: expressing denial and uncertainty; talking about past expectations, wishes, and requests; describing states and conditions; expressing hypothetical conditions; talking about the past from a past perspective; describing ongoing states and activities; and expressing subjective perceptions and attitudes. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to maintain an even more structured conversation using both modes (indicative and subjunctive). They will continue to improve their reading abilities and pronunciation, and they will be able to write simple dialogues using the tenses learned so far. In addition, students will be able to give opinions and make suggestions, hypothesize about the present and the future, communicate about object-oriented events and actions, give opinions, make travel arrangements and discuss itineraries.
Grammatical competence: In addition to vocabulary and a deeper control of the verb tenses in the indicative and subjunctive, the students will be exposed to the uses of the impersonal infinitive, comparative and superlative forms, the past participle, the present perfect, the future tense, the conditional in affirmative and negative expressions, the indicative and the subjunctive in adjective clauses.
Spanish 6
The Spanish – Novice High 3 course (a.k.a. Spanish 6) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice High 2” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The emphasis continues to be on speaking and getting comfortable with the language; however, in this level the students will advance their knowledge in grammar and take a deeper look of the subjunctive and other tenses. Topics include expressing opinion and giving advice; talking about wishes and expectations; describing states and conditions; expressing hypothetical situations and making predictions; talking about the future from a present perspective; describing ongoing states and activities; and expressing subjective perceptions and attitudes. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Novice High (ACTFL) or A2 (CEFR) ranges.
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to maintain an even more structured conversation using both modes (indicative and subjunctive). They will continue to improve their reading abilities and pronunciation, and they will be able to write simple dialogues using the tenses learned so far. In addition, students will be able to give opinions and make suggestions, narrate ongoing events in the past, communicate about object-oriented events and past actions, discuss hypothetical situations, and hypothesize about the present and the future.
Grammatical competence: In addition to vocabulary and a deeper control of the verb tenses in the indicative and subjunctive, the students will be exposed to the uses of the imperative in its affirmative and negative forms, the gerund to narrate events in the past, the future tense to make predictions, and the use of indirect speech in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms to report given information.
Spanish 7
The Spanish – Intermediate 1 course (a.k.a. Spanish 7) is a 10-week continuation course on the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed “Spanish – Novice High 3” or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. The emphasis continues to be on speaking and getting comfortable with the language; however, in this level the students will advance their knowledge in grammar and take a deeper look of the subjunctive and other tenses. Topics include: expressing giving advice, follow instructions, express emotions and wishes, discussing healthy habits, expressing hypothetical conditions, describing ongoing states and activities, and expressing subjective perceptions and attitudes. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with proficiency levels in the Intermediate Low-Mid (ACTFL).
Communicative competence: By the end of the course, students will be able to maintain an even more structured conversation using both modes (indicative and subjunctive). They will continue to improve their reading abilities and pronunciation, and they will be able to write opinion paragraphs about topics of their interest. In addition, students will be able to give opinions, advice, and make suggestions, hypothesize about the present and the future, communicate about object-oriented events and actions, give opinions, and report messages.
Grammatical competence: In addition to vocabulary and a deeper control of the verb tenses in the indicative and subjunctive, the students will be exposed to the uses of the past participle, the present perfect, the future tense, the past progressive, the present subjunctive, and verbs in indirect speech.
Required Material
Destellos – Curso Intermedio de Lengua Española. Editorial Edinumen, 2017 Chapters 1-3
ISBN – 9781316504246
Spanish Intermediate Conversation
Prerequisite: Completion of Spanish 6 or placement or with instructor’s permission.
The Spanish – Intermediate Conversation course is focused on increasing comprehension and fluency in the language, expanding active vocabulary, and applying foundational grammar. It is intended for learners who have completed Spanish 6 or who demonstrate an Intermediate level of proficiency. Discussion on topics of interest will help students to express their ideas clearly, effectively, and accurately. The course is customized to fit the needs of class members. Motivated, diligent students can expect to finish with higher oral proficiency than they started, typically within the Intermediate (ACTFL) or B1-B2 (CEFR) ranges.
Spanish Film Conversation
Prerequisite: Completion of Level 6 or placement.
In this course, students will watch, study, and discuss a series of Spanish-Language films. The featured films will be the foundation for acquiring new vocabulary and expressions, learning and applying grammatical concepts, and building cultural awareness of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will also use and discuss supplementary materials related to contexts, themes, and linguistic content of the films.
The minimum requirement to enroll in this course is completion of Spanish Level 6 at WAL, or a placement interview demonstrating an appropriate intermediate proficiency. Participants in this course may be of varying proficiency levels, so strong efforts are made to accommodate different learners’ needs.
Custom Program
WAL can design a special language program for you or your group. Custom classes are planned with your needs and objectives in mind. WAL has the materials and instructional staff to provide you with an outstanding experience! Choose the number of hours you want to study and the dates of your study and we will design a program just for you.
Custom Programs may be contracted in 10-hour blocks that must be used within 5 weeks.Request a Custom Program here.
Corporate Programs
Communication is always key, especially in the world of business.Our experienced instructors are ready to come to your officewitha tailored, industry-specific approach to language instruction. Program content is customized to meet the needs of individual companies.
Instruction requires a minimum of 10 hours total and a minimum of 1.5 hours per lesson. Programs are generally scheduled on weekdays. Meeting dates and times are flexible. Instruction can be delivered at corporate sites or at our downtown office.
Please contact us at 206-239-4789 or wal@cityu.edu for more information or to receive quote.
Tuition
| Class Type | Cost per Term |
| Evening & Day Classes | $400 (effective 7/1/2019) |
| Custom Programs | $700/10 hours(effective 7/1/2017) |
| Shared Custom Programs | $450/10 hours per person (2-3 students) |
| Specialized Programs | $750/10 hours |
