Introductory Module

BIENVENIDO A APRENDER ESPAÑOL

Introduction Icon.png Introduction

This Module will introduce you to commonly used vocabulary and guide you round your course book.  Also, you will learn about places where Spanish is spoken or ‘los países hispanohablantes’ (Spanish-speaking countries). (If someone is ‘hispanohablante’, they speak Spanish.) ‘Bienvenido’ means ‘welcome’.

As this is an introductory module, there is no assignment at the end of it and you can move swiftly on to Module One when you finish it.

However, first you need to learn how to use the book.

Cómo usar este libro

Read Icon.png Reading

Please turn to page iv to find out ‘Cómo usar este libro’ – How to use this book and work through the following guidance.

First you are shown how the objectives ‘objetivos’ introduce each unit ‘unidad’ immediately under the title and are divided into three sections – vocabulary, grammar and communicative competencies. Read these when you start a module so that you know what you are aiming to learn.

Next you are introduced to the ‘iconos’ - icons - work out what leer, hablar, escribir, escuchar and trabajo en grupo mean by looking at the icons.  If you can’t work them out, look them up.  The first four are very important verbs to do with using (and learning) a language.  When you see them, you will know what kind of exercise you are going to be doing.

Then we have the ‘actividades’ - activities – the book gives an example ‘Vas a escuchar tres diálogos etc.’ (You are going to listen to three dialogues...).  Notice the ‘listening’ icon at the beginning. 

Next, you are introduced to the different ‘apartados’ or sections.  The first is ‘prueba y evaluación’ – test and evaluation - and the second, in a green box, is vocabulary.  Since the vocabulary is only in Spanish, you may have to look up some translations yourself in a dictionary.

The orange box is used for the ‘Rincón cultural’ or Culture Corner and gives you interesting information about Spanish culture.  See if you can work out what the example Rincón Cultural is about.

The ‘Apartados de gramática’ or Grammar Corners are also in green boxes and are supposed to bring your attention to grammar points in the text and help you to practise them.

At the end of each Unit, there are ‘Preguntas tipo de examen’ – Questions of the type you will find in the exam. See if you can work out what kind of test is being practised on page v.

The purple boxes contain ‘Consejos’ or advice. Note that a ‘destreza’ is a skill.

Finally, ‘Lengua’ – language - the blue boxes help you to understand the structure of the Spanish language.

Now spend a few minutes looking at Module 1 (page 10-12) of the book to see how all of these sections are arranged in the modules themselves.

Look at page vi.  Don’t worry if you can’t understand all of it at this stage.  The first paragraph tells you that the book will help you to prepare for your IGCSE exam and give details of what you will learn – speaking, reading, writing and listening about lots of topics.

It also says that by the end of the course you will know much more vocabulary, grammar and culture and that you will certainly enjoy improving your Spanish. We hope so!

Vocabulary.png Vocabulary

Some useful vocabulary for reading the first paragraph:

  • ayudar – to help
  • saber – to know
  • seguro – certainly
  • disfrutar – to enjoy
  • mejorar – to improve

Review Icon.png Task

The next paragraph tells you that Spanish (or ‘Castellano’ as the language is also called (!)) is one of the most important languages in the world and then you are given some data about the language.

Can you work out which language family Spanish belongs to (‘pertenece’)?  What other languages have influenced it? (Do some internet research to find the answers.)

Actividades

Interact Icon.png Exercises

Now do the exercises on page vi-viii, all of which are useful to help you think about Spanish, where it is spoken and what other languages have influenced it.  However, if you don’t have much time, you could skip Exercises 1 and 2 and just concentrate on finding the Spanish-speaking countries on the map on page vii and their flags on page viii.

We are not offering a full translation of the whole book, as you should be able to understand a lot of the instructions on your own at this stage, but a partial translation and lots of hints and tips to help you. If you still find words you can’t understand, use a dictionary to look them up, or go to this site:

EXPLORE - Spanish Dictionaries (WordReference)

Make sure you look down the Word Reference page to see words used in context as well.

See if you can answer the questions on page vi. Again, do some internet research to find the answers.  If you can’t understand the questions, below are translations to help you at this early stage:

Exercise 1

  1. There are approximately 500 million Spanish speakers in the world. Do you know which is the country with most speakers?
  2. It belongs to the Romance language family (derived from Latin) but has influences from other languages such as Arabic, French, Italian, indigenous languages of America such as Nahuatl or Quechua. Do you know any Spanish words which come from these languages? (Notice here that, unlike in English, in Spanish languages are spelled with a small letter.)
  3. Spanish is one of the languages of the United Nations. Do you know any other international organisation which uses Spanish?
  4. Spanish has a special letter, the ñ. Do you know if this letter is used in another language?
  5. Spanish uses two question marks ¿?. Do you know if they are used in any other language?
  6. In some countries, Spanish coexists with other languages. In which country are the following languages spoken as well as Spanish:  Aymara, Catalan, Gallego, Guaraní, Quechua, Shuar, Euskera?  (Google these if you don’t know where they are spoken.)

Exercise 2

Can you think of any words of Spanish origin that are used in your language? 

Exercise 3

Here you have a list of Spanish-speaking countries.  Link them with their capital cities.

Exercise 4

Look at the map.  See if you can identify the numbered countries.

Exercise 5

Do you know which country has which flag? Look up any you don’t know.

Exercise 6

Say whether the following are true or false ‘verdaderas o falsas’.  Use the internet to look up any answers you don’t know.

Vocabulary.png Vocabulary

Useful vocabulary for understanding these questions:

  • idioma – language
  • Filipinas – the Philippines
  • ningún país – no country
  • menos...que – fewer .... than
  • palabra – word
  • igual – the same
  • aceite – oil
  • zanahoria – carrot
  • origen – origin

Interact Icon.png Stretch

Exercise 7

You only need to do this if you are studying in a class or are particularly interested.  It asks you to choose a topic from Exercise 6, look up some information and prepare a presentation.  You may wish to present this to your family or friends.

Download Icon.png Download

Finally, please work through our PowerPoint which aims to help with pronunciation of commonly used words (note: the file is very large and will take a long time to download on slower connections).

READ & WATCH - Guide for Spanish Pronunciation (PowerPoint)

A Canvas version of the slides and videos from this PowerPoint is available for those who have trouble accessing the above file:

READ & WATCH - Guide for Spanish Pronunciation

Now you are ready to begin our IGCSE course at Module One.