Spanish

“Language helps us capture the world, and the less language we have, the less world we capture.”

Fernando Lázaro Carreter

Year 7

The Rationale

The students learn the sounds (phonics) of the language early to help them with the pronunciation and spelling.   Spanish is a very phonetic language with few grey areas for the foreign learner.  In theory, they should be able to see a Spanish word and know how to pronounce it and they should be able to hear a word and be able to spell it.  They learn common words that appear across every topic in a sequence to build their knowledge of high frequency vocabulary.  They do this alongside learning topic vocabulary.  They learn the grammar in context throughout the course and in a sequence that grows in complexity as the learners become more proficient.  By the end of Year 7 they should be able to link words and phrases together using basic connectives, say what they (dis)like and why, use verbs in the present tense. 

Year 8

The Rationale

The students continue to consolidate their understanding of the phonics through being asked how to pronounce new words based on what they already know and by listening to Spanish and writing what they hear.  The high frequency vocabulary is extended and developed and students begin to see old topic vocabulary words cropping up again in new contexts, alongside new topic vocabulary.  The students use their knowledge of verbs from last year and apply it to learning the past tense and consolidating their understanding of infinitives and the near-future tense.  By the end of Year 8 they should be able to produce more detailed and extended sentences, using time markers, sequencers and frequency phrases and verbs in the present, past and near-future tenses. 

Year 9

The Rationale 

The students should be very familiar with the sound-spelling patterns in Spanish and able to listen and write / see and pronounce old and new words.  They will be expected to remember high frequency vocabulary and be using a wider variety of common and some less common vocabulary.  They will be using very common verbs with ease across three tenses and should be becoming more familiar with verbs that crop up less often.  We will begin to see examples of other tenses in context.  By the end of Year 9 they should be able to produce extended sequences of spoken and written language with greater detail and a higher level of accuracy.  Some students will be including some more sophisticated connectives and more unusual vocabulary to enhance their language skills.