Course Description. Study of the basic knowledge of the Spanish language in the following areas: vocabulary, grammar, culture, conversation, listening, reading and writing. Students with no previous experience in foreign language are strongly encouraged to enroll in a Spanish I Lab course. There are no prerequisites.

Instructional Methodology. The class time will be used to cover most of the areas already mentioned in the previous paragraph. The constant participation of the students working either individually, in pairs, or in groups in a wide variety of conversations and exercises will be emphasized in every single class. The success of the class depends in the serious involvement of the students with the materials worked in class time as well as those worked at home. The pronunciation and listening comprehension will be worked in class, and at home or at the library with the tapes or CDs which are part of the lab manual. 

Course Rationale. In addition to offering the basic knowledge of the Spanish language, this course is intended to fulfill one semester of the foreign language requirement as needed for the Associate Degree plans and transfer credit to four year institutions. The number of courses varies from discipline and institutions.

Lab Manual and Workbook: The student will need to do the Lab Manual at home or at the library. The CDs are at the library. The Lab Manual and the Workbook are due on the day of each test. Students must avoid turning in late workbook and lab assignments, those most likely will not be graded. For the workbook exercises, the student will need to check your answers and provide corrections, preferably, with a different color pen. The answers to most exercises in the workbook and the lab manual are found at the back of them. Students need to bring their workbooks regularly to class in order to go over some of the exercises.

Testing: There will be a total of four tests and one final exam. Students will also be tested on their speaking abilities through an oral interview the last week of class.

Homework: There will be extra homework which will consist of five compositions done at home, and will include relevant topics as well as important grammatical structures.

Course Policy

Attendance and Punctuality. You must attend class regularly. If you are absent more than three times, you will lose 5 points from every additional absence from your participation and attendance points. If you are absent more than six times, you lose your right to continue in class and I will drop you. Please, inform me of any possible conflict that may affect your attendance in this class. Because of the nature and content of the materials to cover in this class, punctuality is also very important and I expect the students to be on time for class. A walk out will be considered as an absence and three tardiness will be considered as one absence.  The final withdrawal date for this semester is August the 1^st..

Due to state law, a charge of $ 60 per credit hour ($300 for a 5 - credit course and $180 for a 3 - credit course) will be added to the regular tuition for a course in which you have been officially registered twice before. You are considered officially registered after the 12th day of classes in the spring and in the fall, and after the fourth day of classes in the summer. The only foreign language courses exempted from the "rule of three" are the lab. classes  with the course number 0041. Learning a foreign language requires a substantial amount of time and discipline, and these classes often have a high drop rates. Therefore, it is extremely important that you carefully consider whether you have the time and dedication to successfully complete this course this semester. Otherwise, make sure that you drop it before the end of the add/drop period.   

Incomplete. ACC states that incomplete grades can only be given when there is a verifiable case of emergency occurring after the last day to withdraw. In the event one student is granted with an incomplete, the necessary work to complete the course should be turned in before the end of the following semester. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a grade of F for the course.

Dishonesty. The student is expected to do his/her assignments and to take exams on individual basis. Any act of student dishonesty on assignments or exams will not be tolerated and will be reported to the corresponding dean. Please, see Student Handbook 2002-2003, p.32 for the detailed definition of scholastic dishonesty.

Students with Disabilities. ACC offers in its campuses support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities are more than welcome to request reasonable accommodations through the Office of Students with Disabilities on the campus were they expect to take most of their classes. It is recommendable to contact this office two or three weeks prior to the beginning of the semester.

Freedom of Expression. Each student is strongly encouraged to participate in class. In any classroom activity that includes discussion and critical thinking, there is more likely to be a wide variety of viewpoints. This variety enhances the learning experience and create an atmosphere where students as well as instructors think and learn. On sensitive and volatile topics, students may sometimes disagree not only with each other but also with the instructor. It is expected that faculty and students will respect the views of others when expressed in class discussions.   

Testing Center. The testing Center hours and Faculty and Students Summary Guide for Use of ACC Testing Centers are on the web at:  http://www.austincc.edu/testctr/

Grades. The grades in this course depend exclusively on the points scored by the student on the different tests, assignments, homework, laboratories, and activities, as well as on the final oral interview. This means that the student earns his or her grade in this class. A student who wants to receive a particular grade at the end of the semester must make sure that he or she scores the required points to earn it. The scale for the grades this semester is as follows: A= 900 to 1,000 points; B= 800  points to 900; C= 700 points to 800; D= 600 points to 700; F= less than 600 points.

Grade Breakdown:

        Four tests:                                               400  points 40%

        Comprehensive Final Exam:                     200  points 20%

        Quizzes                                                   100  points 10%

        Oral Interview and

        Written Assignments:                               150  points 15%

        Workbook and Lab Manual:                   100  points 10%

        Participation   and attendance:                   50  points    5%

Textbook: SPAN 1511/1512 Apúntate  (Dorwick and  Pérez-Gironés, Knorre, Text

                  and  Workbook.) Listening exercises in the Laboratory exercises require the

                  use of CD  available in the ACC libraries.

Optional:   University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary

                  501 Spanish verbs

                 English Grammar for Students of Spanish

        Week 1                                                    Introduction to the course.

                                                                        Pasos Preliminares. Greetings, alphabet,  

                                                                        describing, vowels, numbers 1- 30, hay.

                                                                         Lectura Cultural   

        Week 2                                                    Continuation Pasos Preliminares Likes,

                                                                        time Chapter 1. Classes, Hispanic education,         

                                                                        question words, dipthongs, culture U.S.

                                                                        articles.                                                                                                             

        Week 3                                                    Continuation Chapter 1, Subject pronouns,

                                                                        Ar Verbs, estar.Review for Test # 1

                                                                        Test #1 (Pasos Preliminares Chapter 1)      

                                                                        Chapter 2. Family, numbers 31-100.

        Week 4                                                    Continuation Chapter 2. Age,  forms and                  

                                                                         placement of adjectives, Culture: Mexico,

                                                                         verb ser, reasons, possessive adjectives,

                                                                         ER/IR verbs, omission of subject, how      

                                                                         frequently.   Chapter 3. Clothing, colors, numbers

                                                                         1,000  to 1, 0000, 0000, demonstrative adjectives,      

                                                                         Culture: Guatemala and Honduras.                                                               

        Week 5                                                    Continuation of Chapter 3. Stem-Changing

                                                                         verbs, mucho/poco, verb ir.            

                                                                         Review for Test # 2

       Week 6                                                     Test # 2 (Chapters 2 & 3). 

                                                                        Chapter 4. Days, house and furniture,

                                                                         prepositions, culture: El Salvador and

                                                                         Nicaragua, verbs with irregular yo forms.                                         

        Week 7                                                     Continuation Chapter 4. Stem-Changing

                                                                          verbs, reflexive verbs.  

       Week 8                                                      Chapter 5. Weather, verb tener, months and

                                                                         dates,  El Niño, prepositions, object of

                                                                         pronoun.

        Week 9                                                     Continuation Chapter 5.  Culture: Costa

                                                                         Rica, present progressive, ser vs. estar,

                                                                         comparisons. Review for Test # 3  

                                                                         Test # 3 (Chapters 4 and 5 )Chapter 6.

                                                                          Food,  idioms with verb tener.                                                                                                                         

       Week 10                                                    Continuation Chapter 6, verbs saber and conocer , 

                                                                          culture: Panama, direct object pronouns. Acabar de,

                                                                          negation. Test # 4 (Chapter 6).  

       Week 11                                                   Continuation Chapter 6. Formal commands.

                                                                         Review for the final exam.

                                                                         Oral Interviews.

                                                                         Comprehensive Final Exam.

Note: It is at the discretion of the  professor to change the order of course subjects, or to extend the time allocated to course subjects, or to change the date of a test if he considers the change necessary for the class.                                                                         

The main objective of the course is to help students to develop skills in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing in the Spanish language at a basic level. The  ability of the student to understand and communicate  will develop along with his or her  knowledge of the vocabulary and grammatical structures

of the language. Every student should allow two or three hours a day  for the study of the Spanish (at least one and a half or two hours outside of class for each hour in class). If a student feels that he or she needs extra help, there are Spanish tutors at the Tutoring Labs on all major campuses. This service is free to ACC students. By the end of the semester the students should be able to: speak with certain degree of fluency and correctness; write compositions; read diverse materials; comprehend presentations and conversations; and to continue the understanding of the different aspects of the Spanish and Latin American cultures.