Spanish
Spanish at A Level is the gateway to communication with the over 400 million Spanish speakers worldwide and a key to a fun and truly diverse culture.
Lower Sixth builds on the foundations laid at IGCSE. Familiar topics form the basis of the first parts of the language course, but a lot of new vocabulary is added. As the language course progresses, more advanced structures are introduced, and these require a sound understanding of the more basic structures if they are to be effectively added to your linguistic armoury. By the end of the first term, you should find yourself beginning to cope successfully with understanding and communicating in genuinely advanced Spanish. By the end of the two year course to A Level, our best students achieve near-native fluency in a wide variety of topics and situations.
Work will be done mainly in Spanish. Your teachers will speak to you in Spanish for the great majority of the time and you will be expected to conduct yourself, even for the most routine issues, in Spanish. You will be expected to undertake a good deal of independent work as well as the work set.
The two main areas of study during the Spanish A Level are: Social issues and Trends and Political, Intellectual and Artistic culture.
Entry Requirements
Grade 7 in Spanish
You should aim to begin the course with a firm knowledge of the major verb tenses and forms for both regular and irregular verbs. A working knowledge of the bulk of IGCSE vocabulary will also be assumed. Topics will be introduced by reading a variety of original texts and listening to recorded authentic material, often from Internet sources. All you do will improve your ability to communicate in speech and in writing, develop your ability to construct a convincing argument and use evidence appropriately, and as you do so, you will also gain confidence in defending your arguments against those of others.
Topics Covered
Over the two year course, students will study the following:
Lower Sixth
• Aspects of Hispanic society: current trends: Traditional and modern values, cyberspace, gender equality.
• Artistic culture in the Hispanic world: Role models, Spanish regional identity, cultural heritage.
• Film - El Laberinto del Fauno
Upper Sixth
• Multiculturalism in Hispanic society: immigration, racism, integration.
• Aspects of political life in the Hispanic world: young people’s issues, monarchies and dictatorships, popular movements.
• Literature - La Casa de Bernarda Alba
Methods of Assessment
The A Level exam consists of 3 papers:
Paper 1 - Listening, Reading & Writing
Students will have to respond (in Spanish) to passages from a range of contexts and sources as well as translate two short texts, one into English and one into Spanish.
Paper 2 - Writing
Students will answer two essay questions in Spanish about the film and book studied in lessons.
Paper 3 - Speaking
Students will have a 20 minute speaking assessment, where they will have a discussion around one of the themes studied in class and also present and discuss their own research project.
Enrichment Opportunities
The department offers students the opportunity to travel to Salamanca during February half-term. The 6-day trip involves staying with families (normally in pairs) and attending daily culture and language classes at a local language school (4 hours/day).
Meet the Staff
If you have a specific enquiry for the Spanish Department, email spanish@kes.hants.sch.uk
| Sra. E.M. Ladislao | Head of Spanish- i/c of Salamanca trip |
| Mr. A.J.M. Sinclair | Head of Languages; Spanish, French, i/c of Cataluna trip |
| Mr. Gavin Lawson | Spanish, Japanese, i/c Andalucía trip. Co-ordinator for the Very Able |
| Miss V.B. Pastor | Spanish, AEL |
| Mrs. S. Rugge-Price MA | Italian co-ordinator, Spanish- i/c Milan trip |
| Srta M. Redero | Language assistant |
