Yale-NUS offers a full range of courses in its Spanish Programme that will take students from being a novice learner to a proficient Spanish speaker, able to handle a conversation on a range of topics and with the possibility of spending a semester abroad in a Spanish speaking country. Our Spanish courses are lively, rigorous, and conducted predominantly in Spanish. No matter what their interest in Spanish is, students will find that this language opens the doors to over twenty different countries and 500 million people whose mother tongue is Spanish.
Faculty
- Amparo Espadas
Courses
For a complete list of courses, see below.
Pre-requisite(s): None
Beginning Spanish 1 is the introductory course to the language and culture of the Hispanic world. This course is designed to help you develop a basic ability to read, write, understand, and speak Spanish as well as to expand students’ cultural competencies. Since all linguistic skills cannot be fully developed in Beginning Spanish 1 alone, emphasis will be placed on the acquisition of basic structures, which will be developed and reinforced in subsequent courses.
Pre-requisite(s): YLS1202 Beginning Spanish 2 or with permission of instructor. A placement exam may be required.
This course is a continuation of Beginning Spanish 1. Beginning Spanish 2 pays close attention to aural/oral practice while strengthening basic grammar skills, writing, and reading comprehension. The course covers the second half of the eBook used in Beginning Spanish 1, and prepares students for Study Abroad opportunities via the Yale-NUS Centre for International & Professional Experience (CIPE) in their second summer at Yale-NUS or beyond.
Pre-requisite(s): YLS1202 Beginning Spanish 2 or with permission of instructor. A placement exam may be required.
This course is aimed at students who have completed the Beginning Spanish sequence or have had significant experience with the language (e.g., Study Abroad during their first summer at Yale-NUS or studied Spanish in high school). It offers a combination of listening and speaking practice with a review of key concepts of Spanish grammar via targeted reading and writing activities. This course continues to incorporate Hispanic cultural elements through representative texts and audio-visual materials from the Spanish speaking world.
Pre-requisite(s): YLS2201 Intermediate Spanish 1 or with permission from the instructor. A placement exam may be required.
This course is a continuation of Intermediate Spanish 1. Students taking this course will build upon what was covered in the first half and continue to expand their command of written and spoken Spanish. Intermediate Spanish 2 pays close attention to aural/oral practice while strengthening more complex grammar skills (e.g., the subjunctive, passive voice), writing, and reading comprehension. The course covers the second half of the textbook used in Intermediate Spanish 1 and prepares students for Study Abroad opportunities via the Yale-NUS Centre for International & Professional Experience (CIPE) and NUS.
Pre-requisite(s): Successful completion of Intermediate Spanish (YLS2201 and YLS2202) or with permission from the instructor. A placement exam may be required.
Students taking this course will build upon the material and topics covered in the introductory and intermediate sequences to expand their command of written and spoken Spanish while honing their literary analysis skills. The course will focus on a representative selection of texts (e.g. short stories, novellas) and films from various regions of the Iberian Peninsula. This course will address questions such as: “What is Spain?”, “Why is its unity in question?”, “Why does it matter?”, “How have different authors and film-makers dealt with this issue?”. Students will analyse and contextualise these works via in-class discussions and presentations on the history, traditions, and ideas embedded within them. This course will emphasise students’ engagement with the ideas in the texts paying attention to stylistics, genre, and voice in their work.
Pre-requisite(s): Successful completion of Intermediate Spanish (YLS2201 and YLS2202) or with permission from the instructor. A placement exam may be required.
Students taking this course will build upon the material and topics covered in the beginning and intermediate sequences to expand their command of written and spoken Spanish while honing their literary analysis skills. The course will focus on a representative selection of texts (e.g., short stories, novellas, films) from several Latin American countries. This course will address questions such as: “What is the Spanish legacy in Latin America?”, “What issues have these countries dealt with over their recent history?”, “How are these issues portrayed in their literature and films?”, “What are the differences and commonalities across countries?” Students will analyse and contextualise these works via in-class discussions and presentations on the history, traditions, and ideas embedded within them. This course will emphasise students’ engagement with the ideas in the texts paying attention to stylistics, genre, and voice in their work.
Learning Goals
By completing the Spanish language sequence, students will be able to:
- Understand main ideas in a variety of conversational settings
- Read complex texts, from different genres and of varying lengths
- Speak fluently and clearly in Spanish
- Take apart the various elements present in the Hispanic culture and see how they contribute to the whole
Events
In collaboration with the Society of Latinx, the Spanish programme regularly organises activities on campus to promote Spanish language and culture.
Resources
The Yale-NUS Library has created a resource guide with a variety of Spanish materials readily available to our students: http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/spanish
The Instituto Cervantes offers authentic programming from the Hispanic World on their website at: https://videos.cervantes.es
Another very useful resource from the Instituto Cervantes is: http://hispanismo.cervantes.es/
There are many useful online dictionaries available free-of-charge. Some dictionaries that provide extensive definitions in English and Spanish, and help with pronunciation include:
- Diccionario de la Real Academia
- http://www.spanishdict.com
- http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/
- https://forvo.com/languages/es/
- Don Quijote (Audio Recording)
Study Abroad
Tamara Barsova (Class of 2021)
Spain, Summer 2018
Spending six weeks in Seville, learning Spanish, was one of the most rewarding ways in which I could have spent my summer. Before this opportunity, my experience with learning languages was confined to a strictly classroom setting. Spending six weeks completely immersed — from ordering tapas in Spanish in local restaurants to conversing in Spanish with my host mom over a bowl of gazpacho — greatly improved my Spanish. Those six weeks felt like two semesters! My favourite part about this programme is that I took the knowledge gained in the classroom out to the streets, and then built upon it. The Spanish slang I picked up, and the words used colloquially that don’t have a specific definition but can only be understood once one understands their cultural context, are not things I could have learned from a textbook. Indeed, I would not call this only a “language program”, but a “language and culture” program. By going salsa and bachata dancing every night, having paella cook outs, and watching Spanish TV with my host mom, I learned a lot about Spain’s culture, traditions and customs. Meanwhile, my professors directed me to a plethora of museums where I learned about Spain’s history, arts, and politics. In turn, this has increased my love for the Spanish language even more!
