Spanish 123

Elementary Spanish

Course Introduction

Welcome to Spanish 123 with the Destinos telecourse. You and the other students taking this course come from a variety of backgrounds and are studying Spanish for one or more of several reasons. You may find that Spanish is an asset in your line of work. You may be planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country and would like to communicate in the language—an admirable gesture. Or you may simply be taking this course to fulfill graduation requirements. Even if you belong to this last category, it would please me immensely if you find that, when you have finished, the course a whole new world has opened up to you, and you have gained a whole lot more than just fulfillment of your academic requirements.

You are already familiar with the Destinos telecourse if you have taken Spanish 121 and 122 using this format. If Spanish 123 is your first contact with the Destinos series, you will find the course is quite different from traditional language courses. One important difference is the use of video materials that enhance immensely the printed material.

I hope you will find the course exciting and stimulating, and also entertaining. This does not mean you will have to study less than you would in a traditional course.

Discipline, motivation, study, and effective use of your time are crucial to your success in the course. The time and energy you invest in this course, however, will provide you with a sense of achievement and accomplishment that will make your effort worthwhile and rewarding. Through the technology of videotapes you will "travel" to several areas of the Spanish speaking world. You will be exposed to different accents as you hear the language as it is actually spoken in these areas. In addition, you will enjoy the richness and variety of Hispanic culture. Language is intricately linked to culture; thus, as you learn this language you will also learn about the culture of its speakers: not superficially but genuinely. You will do all of this while developing your comprehension, speaking, and writing skills in a stimulating and non-traditional format.

In Spanish 123, you will

• view the last 16 episodes of Destinos;
• acquire vocabulary that will allow you to talk in Spanish about everyday occurrences;
• become aware of cultural aspects of the Hispanic world; and
• master advanced grammatical concepts.

Table i.1 provides a brief overview of the vocabulary and grammatical concepts you will encounter in each unit.

Spanish 123 covers lecciones/episodios 37 through 52 in your textbook. However, lecciones 48 through 51 are reviews, and the purpose of lección 52 is to help you better understand the last video episode.

These lecciones do not present any new material (either grammar or vocabulary); so for all practical purposes the only lecciones you will be responsible for are lecciones 37 through 47.

Is Spanish 123 Right for You?

You must have completed Spanish 121 and 122 as prerequisites for Spanish 123. In the Destinos telecourse, Spanish 121 covers episodios 1 through 18 and Spanish 122 covers episodios 19 through 36. If you have completed Spanish 121/122 with a system other than the Destinos series, you will need to catch up with the story that Destinos tells. I've included a synopsis of episodios 1-35 with your registration materials. To challenge yourself, read the Spanish version before you look at the English.

In addition, the following videotape episodios and lecciones in your textbook and workbook/study guide will help you review the plot:

• lección 25: review of episodios 1-18
• lección/episodio 26: review of episodios 19-24
• lección/episodio 36: review of episodios 27-35

Note also that the appendix of your textbook includes a portrait gallery of all the characters of Destinos, with descriptions of their roles in the story.

You will probably also want to view at least some of the previous episodios. You can do this online at http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html, or at the Language Learning Center on the University of Washington campus.

You should also know how to form the present subjunctive tense of Spanish verbs, covered in Spanish 122 with Destinos. If you need a review of this verb form, study lecciones 29 and 30 in your textbook and workbook/study guide. Look especially at grammar points #79 and #83 in your workbook, and do the Actividades associated with each of these points. Your workbook includes a chart of verb conjugations in Appendix 3, and your textbook has a similar chart in Appendix 2.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you should be able, in Spanish, to

• ask and answer questions about everyday topics;
• perform daily routines (e.g., making phone calls, greetings);
• read and understand simple magazine and newspaper articles in Spanish;
• write short essays using all verb tenses; and
• describe examples of the richness and diversity of Hispanic culture.

The Online Environment

Your online course offers several advantages to the traditional classroom, including the comprehensive Online Student Handbook, the ability to communicate electronically with students and with your instructor, and links to a rich array of UW Library Services.

Online Student Handbook

This handbook answers questions about your online learning course, such as how to purchase your text, schedule an exam, obtain a transcript, and get technical help if you need it. The handbook also provides additional resources, such as how to order books or journals from the library and how to study for an online course.

Communication with Your Instructor and Student Peers

• Online Discussion Forums, designed by the University of Washington award winning Catalyst team, allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor. We encourage you to use the forum to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your course work with other students in this course.
• You can use e-mail to ask me a question or preferably post your question on the forum.

UW Library Services

As an online student, you have access to a wealth of Web resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your online learning experience. Organized by subjects, UW Library Services links you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

About the Course Materials

This course includes two required texts, eight videotapes, a set of two CDs, and suggests several optional texts. Video-based courses (or telecourses) are proving more and more effective in education, particularly in foreign language instruction. The Destinos telecourse incorporates 52 half-hour video episodes, print-based materials in a text and workbook/study guide, and an audio CD program. The benefits of such a course are numerous, especially for you as a distance learning student.

• These materials are all interrelated.
• The video episodios allow you to hear several varieties of Spanish as it is actually spoken in many areas of the Hispanic world; at the same time they give you an opportunity to experience its cultural diversity.
• As a distance learner, you will be studying independently, so you will appreciate the ample guidance provided in the textual materials, which by far surpass texts intended for regular classroom use. The text concentrates on the video episodes, and the workbook/study guide provides exercises to improve your knowledge of Spanish grammar and to use the grammar and vocabulary in creative ways. In the workbook/study guide you will also find self-test exercises with answers. These will prove especially helpful to you as a distance learning student.
• Finally, the audio CD program rounds off the series by allowing you to improve your oral and comprehension skills. The lecciones in both the text and workbook/study guide contain exercises that require that you use CDs.

Required Materials

• VanPatten, Bill, Martha Alford Marks, and Richard V. Teschner. Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2002. Each text comes with a set of seven audio CDs.
• VanPatten, Bill, Martha Alford Marks, and Richard V. Teschner. Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish: Workbook/Study Guide II. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2002.
• A set of eight videotapes, containing the last 16 episodios of Destinos (online at http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html).
• A set of two CDs to be purchased from UW Distance Learning.

Videotapes

You can view the 16 episodios of Destinos for Spanish 123 in three ways.

• Online. Go to http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html and click on the "VoD" (Video on Demand) icon next to the Destinos episode you wish to view. The episodes are free, and each is a half-hour in length. You will need to create a username and login password in order to view the episodes.
• Rent: You can rent the eight videotapes (each tape contains two episódios) from Distance Learning for the duration of this course. If you decide to rent the tapes, please fill out the Video Rental Agreement and send it to Distance Learning immediately.
• Lab: You can view the tapes free at the Language Learning Center on the University of Washington campus: Denny Hall, Room 108. Be sure to bring your UW Distance Learning ID card! Normal hours at the Language Learning center are:
  • Monday–Thursday:8A.M.–8P.M.
  • Friday: 8A.M.–4P.M.
  • Sunday: 5P.M.–8P.M.

The Language Learning center is closed during UW holidays and between academic quarters. Be sure to call ahead for current times.

Some television sets are equipped for close-caption, and will allow you to read the dialogs as well as listen to them. I recommend, however, that after seeing the episode using the close-caption feature, you see it again without the feature, and get used to the sound of the language.

Audio CDs

As you work through the lecciones in your textbook and workbook/study guide you will encounter a symbol depicting a pair of headphones. It indicates that the exercise or activity requires you to use the CD for that lesson.

Your work with the CDs is as important as the videotapes. You will be tested on listening and understanding, so be sure that you go over all of the audio-exercises. If you need help understanding the speaker, do not hesitate to contact your instructor.

The set of seven CDs that comes with your textbook accompany only the exercises in the textbook. For the workbook exercises, you need to purchase another set from UW Distance Learning.

Optional Extra Credit Materials

• Sturam, R., ed. Los Viajes De Rosa y Ernesto, A Step by Step Spanish Reader. Seattle: All Bilingual Press, 2007. Order online here. (ISBN 978-0-9745032-6-4)

Recommended Materials

• Spinelli, Emily. English Grammar for Students of Spanish. 3rd ed., Olivia and Hill Press, 1994 or newer
• Kendris, Christopher. 501 Spanish Verbs Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses in a New Easy to Learn Format, 4th Edition. Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1996 or newer.
• I also recommend you invest in a good Spanish/English dictionary. Everyone needs a good dictionary or dictionaries. The more involved you become in the language, the more you seem to need. For your purposes in this course, however, a good-size dictionary will be more than sufficient. Stay away from the little paperback ones; they can land you in trouble. Also, check stores that specialize in used books; you can find some excellent bargains in Spanish/English dictionaries. The University district in Seattle has several good used-book stores. and the University Bookstore carries the following excellent Spanish/English-English/Spanish dictionaries:
  • Harper Collins Spanish Dictionary. New Standard edition, 2002.
  • Larousse Standard English/Spanish Spanish/English Dictionary. King, Fisher and Chambers, 1996 or newer.
  • Harper Collins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary, 1996 or newer.

Free Online Grammar and Vocabulary Practice

Here are three Web sites where you can practice your grammar and vocabulary:

• Learn Spanish: http://www.studyspanish.com
• Spanish at Sweet Briar College, Virginia, USA: http://www.spanish.sbc.edu
• Spanish grammar exercises by Barbara Kuczon Nelson (Colby Web site): http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/exercises/

About the Course

This course includes instructions for completing the ten units that make up Spanish 123, as well as detailed explanations of many of the grammatical points you will be learning in this course. Notice the terminology: each "lesson" in this course (the work you should complete in about a two-week period) is called a unit, to distinguish it from the lecciones ("lessons") in your textbook and workbook. A unit may include more than one lección.

When I refer to pages in the textbook, I use a "T" before the page number; and I identify pages in your workbook/study guide with a "W."

To complete the course, you will submit eight assignments and arrange for a midterm and a final.

About the Assignments

Your assignments in this course are of two types: oral and written assignments. These two types of assignments help you develop the four basic skills of language learning:

1. reading comprehension
2. writing
3. speaking
4. listening comprehension

Oral Assignments

When you register for this course you have two methods for recording and submitting oral assignments:

1. Purchase a voice-mail account when you register to use as a method for recording and submitting oral assignments to your instructor. If you choose to purchase the voice-mail account you are assigned a voice-mail number to be used just for this course, and a temporary password. You will receive this information by mail.
2. Record oral assignments on your PC. If you have a PC equipped with a microphone you may choose to record your oral assignments and save them as a .wav file. You can then e-mail the file to your instructor.

Setting up Your Voice-mailbox

Here's how to set up your voice-mail account.

1. Call your voice-mail phone number.
2. When it answers, immediately interrupt the message by pressing "7," then follow the instructions. Note: After you enter your temporary password you will be asked to enter your permanent password. Please enter the password provided in the letter that accompanied your course materials.
3. Before you send your new oral assignment, listen to any messages containing your instructor's feedback from your last oral assignment.

What Are the Oral Assignments Like?

There are eight oral assignments in Spanish 123. These assignments have two objectives: they

• allow your instructor to listen to your pronunciation and offer you feedback to improve it where necessary; and
• allow you to show your mastery of certain grammar concepts.

For example, an oral assignment may ask you to pronounce a list of present subjunctive forms and also give the corresponding past subjunctive forms. In this assignment your instructor will hear your pronunciation and at the same time see that you know how to form the past subjunctive. Here is a sample:

• you will read comas, and
• immediately afterward, you will say the subjunctive form: comieras.

If you need to hear the words or sentences for each lesson, call the archive mail boxes (there is one for each lesson, and you will find the correct phone number in each lesson). The speaker will say the first part of the assignment, and you have to figure out the second.

Sending Your Oral Responses

You may want to print the following instructions to use as a handy reference when you turn in your oral assignments.

1. First, get into your own Oral by dialing the number 934-0XXX (see the number assigned to you your registration confirmation letter).
2. Press "7" as soon as the "operator" picks up. When you are prompted, enter the password provided to you in the letter that accompanied your course materials.
3. Press "1" to see if you have any message from your instructor (feedback from your last oral assignment) before you proceed to the next assignment.
4. Press "2" to send a message, and record your message. Note the following options:
   • to listen to your recording press "1"
   • to re-record your message press "*" (the "star" button);
   • to add additional information to your message press "5".
5. When you are finally satisfied with your message, press "#" (the pound key).
6. Type in your instructor's message box number.

As you submit your Oral exercises, speak slowly and clearly—especially when you are saying your last name. Repeat whatever you think necessary. Please follow the following format, so your instructor can record the submission of your assignment.

• Introduce yourself in Spanish: Me llamo . . .
• State your class line number (not your student ID number, but the five-digit number of your class, which appears on your assignment sheets): El número de mi clase es XXXX . . .
• Give the number of the oral assignment: Ejercicio oral número . . . (e.g., uno, dos, tres).
• Give the date (day and month): Hoy es el ____________ de _____________.

If you don't receive feedback from your instructor in a week or so, you should send e-mail to make sure your exercise arrived. Please do not leave your oral assignments to do all at once, because you need to listen to the corrections for each previous assignment before you do the next.

Note: When you send your instructor an e-mail with questions or requests, please remember to give your class number and five-digit class line number.

Written Assignments

The written assignments you turn in for grading

• allow you to put into practice the vocabulary and grammatical concepts you have learned;
• let your instructor see how well you are grasping the material; and
• serve as preparation for both your exams: the midterm and the final.

Spanish 123 includes eight (8) written assignments. You must complete the first four assignments before you take the midterm, and the last four before you take the final. In each assignment, you can expect questions on:

• pertinent video episodes
• vocabulary from the lección
• grammatical concepts discussed in the text, workbook, and especially the online lessons
• audio CD exercises

Your assignments also include reading short passages for comprehension, and writing short compositions. You'll find detailed instructions and examples in each assignment.

I recommend you get started right away! Procrastination is a virus that can be detrimental to your academic health.

Tips for Doing Assignments

The complete assignment for each unit includes a written component and a Oral component. After you finish the written part, you will be ready to submit your oral assignment. If you haven't yet called your Oral for this unit, do it now. You will find the corrections on your pronunciation or answers from previous assignments on your Oralbox, when applicable. Remember this is a required part of your assignment.

Although the self-tests are only for your own practice, I recommended you take them, to help you prepare for exams.

Special Keyboard Characters

You will need to use several special keyboard characters for typing in Spanish as you work through assignments. For your convenience, instructions for the most common are supplied here for a PC and a MAC.

On a PC

• To place an accent over a letter: press the Ctrl key and the single quote key (') at the same time. Then type the letter.
• To create a tilde over an n: press the Ctrl and Shift keys on the right side of your keyboard while you press the ~ key; then press the n key
• To create a Spanish question mark or exclamation point at the beginning of a sentence: press the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift keys as you press the ? or ! key

You can also look up these characters using the Insert menu. Select Symbol . . . and start searching for the character you want (this is a very tedious process—it's much easier to learn the keyboard shortcuts.)

On a Mac

• To place an accent over a letter: Press OPTION(Alt) + the letter, then release both and press the vowel you need. For example for sí (yes), you would press OPTION + e, and then i.
• To create a tilde over an "n": Press OPTION(Alt) + n, then press n.
• To create a Spanish question mark or exclamation point at the beginning of a sentence: Press Option+ Shift + ? or !

About the Examinations

You will take two proctored examinations: a midterm and a final. Both examinations are closed-book; bring no books or other materials except a a CD player! (Note: if you are taking your exam at a site at a University of Washington facility, you do not need to bring CD player; one will be provided for you.)

The midterm examination is two hours long and covers lecciones 37 through 41. The final examination is two and a half hours. It covers all the grammatical concepts you have studied in the entire course (i.e. lecciones 37 through 47), but only the video episodes, vocabulary lists, and reading material contained in the lecciones you have studied since the midterm: lecciones 42 through 47.

The exams are designed to test your:

• understanding of video episodes.
• knowledge of vocabulary presented in the relevant chapters.
• mastery of grammatical concepts.
• ability to comprehend a reading passage and a listening passage, taken from your books and CDs.
• skill and creativity in putting to use what you have learned as you write a composition.

Your online course materials include special units (Units Five and Ten) dedicated to preparing you for each exam. The format of these units is exactly like that of your exams. You will be able to check your answers to these practice exams.

Assessment and Grading

Your final grade is made up of four components, equally important:

1. eight written assignments
2. eight oral assignments
3. the midterm exam
4. the final exam

All your assignments will be converted to a percentile.

The average of your eight written assignments, plus the average of your eight oral assignments, plus your midterm and final exams will give you a total of 400 or less. Divide it by 4 and you will have the your final percentile.To figure out your numerical grade for the course (0-4) refer to the scale for conversions shown in table i.2. Note, however, you must earn a minimum of 60 percent on your final exam to pass this course.

About Extra Credit

Students will have the opportunity to earn extra credit by reading part of the book listed under "Optional Material," Los Viajes de Rosa y Ernesto, A Step by Step Spanish Reader, Audio Book and Grammar Guide. To submit extra credit, the audio CDs are not necessary, although they are recommended for whoever is interested in refining auditory understanding. The CDs are the Audio Book, and they narrate the complete story.

For each chapter there will be several questions, and 25 possible points (5 per chapter) could be added to your accumulated points if you read the five assigned chapters. For example:

If your total is 320 /4 = 80% = 2.5 final grade

You will have 345/4 = 86% = 3.1 final grade

Spanish 123 students need to choose from chapters 13 to 17, but if the student is new to Distance Learning, s/he will need to read the previous chapters to understand the plot.

You may complete any number of chapters you wish (chosen from chapters 13 to 17). When you are finished reading your selection, go to this link in your instructor's Web site and you will find the exercises:
http://faculty.washington.edu/ritaw/documents/rosalessons.pdf.

You do not need to complete the whole set of exercises for each chapter; complete only the ones under the subtitle "Comprehension."

Study Tips

The following steps will help you get the most out of the learning process.

• Destinos is a video-driven, beginning Spanish course. This means the content of the print materials correlates with that of the video episodios. Always complete the Preparación section of each lección (this is the first section in each textbook lección) before you view the corresponding episodio. Doing this is critical for your success; if you don't, you will miss much of what's going on in the videotape. This can cause you to be discouraged—and I don't want to see that happen to you.
• Watch the video episodio for the lección in question. For example, after you have completed the Preparación section for lección 37, watch episodio 37. Please note that each video cassette contains two episodes, so be sure to look at the right one.
• Complete the specified short exercises from the text, along with any audio CD activities. Check your answers in the answer section in appendix 1.
• Next, do the exercises that correspond to the lección in the workbook/study guide. I've modified some of the exercises in the workbook/study guide, as part of your written assignment.
• In addition to these, complete any exercise in your textbook and workbook that requires CD. This will prepare you for the listening comprehension components in your exams, which come directly from the audio CDs.
• Be sure to study the vocabulary inside the "Vocabulario del tema" boxes in your textbook. Again, the vocabulary component of your exams comes directly from these boxes.
• Take the self-test in your workbook/study guide. Check your answers in appendix 2 of your workbook.
• When you have completed these exercises, proceed with the relevant written assignment, which you will turn in. It is crucial you complete all assigned exercises from the online course materials before you proceed with your written assignment, because the assignments include material covered in these exercises. Of course, each assignment includes detailed instructions.

About the Course Developers

Rita Wirkala

My name is Rita Wirkala; Spanish is my native language, because I was born in Argentina. In 1987, after thirteen years of living in Brazil, I moved to the United States and became a Spanish instructor at several community colleges and the University of Washington.

I received my doctoral degree in Spanish Medieval Literature from the University of Washington, specializing in ancient Middle Eastern stories, called "teaching-stories," which have passed to Europe through the eight centuries of Arab presence in Spain.

Other personal interests are poetry, psychology, traveling, environmental problems, the effect of globalization on developing countries, and other current events. I am also involved in volunteer work with several international organizations related to Human Rights and humanitarian projects in developing countries, activities which I always share with my students and invite them to participate. This sometimes involves actual travel; and I have organized several study trips, which combine the study of language, culture and community service, to Guatemala, Perú, and Argentina.

My main concern, however, is to excel in my profession—which is to teach the Spanish language and culture in the challenging way represented by a "distance learning" approach. I want to make sure that my students know they can count on my help, guidance and flexibility, as well as prompt availability.

I hope you will find the time and energy to invest in this course. If there is a lesson that I can pass on to you from my own experience, it is this: the things that most lead to success in this enterprise of learning a foreign language are motivation and patience. If you apply yourself, you will learn!

Ganesh Basdeo

Ganesh Basdeo, the original developer of this course, is originally from Trinidad, the southernmost island in the Caribbean chain. He has taught Spanish at the University of Washington since September of 1985. Prior to this he taught Spanish at the high school and community college levels and offered adult education classes for UW Extension and Renton Vocational Institute.

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