The methodology for our Spanish courses is based on a communicative approach, because we believe that the most important aspect of our classes is that students are able to speak and understand Spanish in the real world. For this reason, our classes are conducted entirely in Spanish and our students can put the knowledge acquired in and outside of the classroom into practice.
We aim to help our students become independent language users, guiding them in acquiring and improving their comprehension and oral skills as well as written expression through grammar, vocabulary and socio-cultural elements of the language.
Our students can acquire these skills in a relaxed atmosphere and with the company of people from different cultures and nationalities.
To identify the specific needs of our students, we incorporate level testing as well as the advice of our teachers and Director of Studies. Students also can opt for private lessons which are tailored to meet individual needs.
Also, to emphasize the importance of socio-cultural aspects of the language, we offer classes based on themes that are prevalent in the Hispanic world.
At this level, our students learn the language forms necessary to meet their most basic needs: giving and asking for personal information, managing in shops and restaurants, asking for and giving directions, identifying people and places, talking about likes, showing agreement or disagreement or discussing daily life.
It is important that students are able to manage in places and situations found in everyday life, such as bars, restaurants, supermarkets, in class, on public transport, etc.
For these reasons, grammar, language norms and lexical items necessary to perform these functions satisfactorily will be studied. These include nouns and adjectives related to these concepts (gender, number and consistency), prepositions, the present tense, adverbs of frequency, the time, etc.
In this course, students will have mastered and developed the skills acquired at the previous level. Students will gain confidence to function in everyday situations and learn how to narrate and explain the events of their daily lives.
At the end of this level, students can manage in basic communicative situations with the tools necessary to express moods and physical feelings, asking and giving personal information and opinions, talking about housing, employment status and nutrition, and talking about what they have done or their current plans.
Some grammatical topics studied at this level include verb tenses such as the past, the future, comparatives and superlatives and uses of ser and estar (the verb to be).
At this level, students acquire the necessary skills to produce more precise language. In addition, they will begin to place more emphasis on the socio-cultural uses of the language.
In this course, students will acquire the resources needed to explain stories about the past, present and comment on a topic, talk about movies or books, give instructions, look for a job, etc.
Students can develop their oral and written skills through texts such as advertisements, job posts, housing ads, short articles, storylines in the context of artistic work, etc.
Higher level grammar topics will be covered, including the contrast between different forms of the past tense, conditionals, present subjunctive, direct and indirect objects, etc.
The upper intermediate level is characterized by a higher understanding of cultural elements such as idioms, words from different jargons, Hispanic celebrations, etc.
Students can acquire the necessary skills to understand and express themselves in oral contexts, formal and informal writing, provide details and nuances in varying situations and provide feedback. Developing students´ fluency and their pronunciation is also important.
Some grammatical concepts at this level are expanded using the present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive, conditionals, etc.
At the advanced level, students can improve their ability to understand more complex things like movies, literary texts, newspaper articles, etc.
Additional cultural topics and implications of everyday life of society will be addressed through texts related to the media. Students will learn to argue, rebut their ideas about a topic and grasp both general and detailed information from oral and written texts.
The topics covered in class are determined according to the needs and interests of students.
The DELE (Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language) exams are official exams organized by the Cervantes Institute and the University of Salamanca.
There are 6 DELE levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 that are scheduled at different times throughout the year.
The DELE exams are the only internationally recognized Spanish exams. Furthermore, they may be required to apply to academic institutions, in order to progress professionally or to obtain Spanish nationality.
The DELE exams test the range of skills that students will need to use Spanish in the real world.
There are different exam sessions organized by level. Some students may be examined at all levels and in others only a few.
Our DELE courses are conceived and designed to prepare for the DELE exams. These intensive courses last for 4 weeks with 2 hours of class, Monday through Thursday (32 hours total) with a small group of students. This way, we can ensure that our students practice the range of skills that are incorporated in the DELE exams.
DELE preparation courses at Oxford House Barcelona