Introduction:

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the World with 329 native speakers. Other than Spain, Spanish is the official language of several countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In addition, it is widely spoken in several other nations.
The Spanish language and the origin of the dialects of Spain are derived from the linguistic evolution Vulgar Latin. Spanish is one of the Romance languages in the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European language family. There are two major dialects in Spain namely: Andalusian and Castilian. Spanish is considered to the world’s most phonetic languages. If you know how a word is spelled, you can almost always know how it is pronounced (although the reverse isn’t true).

 

Importance & Opportunity:

Once dismissed by many native English speakers, the cultural, political and economic relevance of Spanish can no longer be ignored. Among other languages such as Chinese, Russian, Arabic, the Spanish language is acquiring a growing global importance.
Written and spoken Spanish can be a boost for your career if you are interested to work in the Tourism sector which is an emerging one in Mauritius. On the other hand, there are jobs opportunities in many other countries due to the fact that the Hispanic customers are the speediest growing market section in for example countries like America. This language is also the second most used language in international communication and is one of the official languages of the UN along with its associates.
With the world turning into multilingual one, with Spanish, Arabic and Chinese seemingly becoming the main languages of future. Knowing Spanish can help anyone to fit in the changing trend in the trade market globally. Thus, foreign language proficiency is an important advantage for job seekers as there are an increasing number of businesses trading internationally, and more jobs in the future are opening up to enable trade on this level.
To conclude, it is undeniable that vocational skills are limited and most importantly for the international language cluster, there are many companies involved in different fields of businesses which are currently in need of these resources.

 

Course Content:

The core curriculum the language will be standardized based on the Common European Framework for Languages.

The competencies mentioned below will give learners all the abilities, skills, aptitude, and expertise needed to be a proficient and fluent speaker. Our goal for our students is to achieve full competency in four different fields of communication. This is what we call the 4SC’s.

Semantic competency: the speaker must know the linguistic systems: pronunciation, vocabulary, language structure and syntax. However, there should be no time limits when learning a language. This knowledge should be a natural result of the linguistic methods used in class and through daily interactive activities.

Speech competency: the selection, sequence and arrangement of ideas expressed must be eloquent and clear. It deals with the language structure, articulation and coherence of words.

Strategic competency: the speaker must have strategies that help fill in blanks in a conversation; that is, the way the person finds ways around gaps in understanding a speaker, or expressing an idea.

Social-cultural competency: related to extra-linguistic elements, social-cultural competency deals with style properties (voice inflexions, tone, etc.) and non-verbal language (hands or eyes movements, and, in general, how the body moves in a determinate conversation).

 


For Beginners

The students will be participating in an instructive program teaching them the basics of the new language and they are expected to acquire an intermediary level by the end. The course is based on the European framework A1, A2 and specific job oriented skills as demonstrated below;

 

A1 & A2 basics

  • Alphabet / Pronunciation
  • Greetings & presentation
  • Numbers / Articles & plural
  • Days & months / Time & date
  • Vocabulary directions & weather
  • Adjectives & possessive pronouns / Demonstrative pronouns
  • Prepositions
  • Food & habits
  • Verbs / Future
  • Housing & transport
  • Conjunctions / passive voice
  • Reading & conversation
  • Types of economic industries
  • Irregular verbs / Dictations

 

Job oriented skills (Optional)

  • Develop proficiency skills in speaking, writing, listening and reading.
  • Analyze and use basic grammar as a tool for effective communication.
  • Develop language learning strategies and skills – building techniques.
  • Understanding different cultural aspects of the language
  • Speaking on the phone with a client
  • Understanding the customer needs and responding back correctly.

Notional Study Hours – 42 hours

Duration of Course – 6 months

Hours per Week – 2 hours

Fees – Rs 15 000

Number of students per group – 10(Max)

Advanced Level

The programme based on the development of written expression, spoken fluency and presentation skills, focusing on oral expression and group work; vocabulary work; written expression; oral presentations; laboratory and language work.

 

On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:

    • Identify a variety of verb tenses and moods and reproduce verbs and other linguistic elements correctly; relate grammatical rules to a given context; write passages of medium complexity.

 

    • Compose brief essays on a variety of subjects; construct a variety of texts based on work done in class; summarise the meaning of texts; analyse short texts; write and deliver presentations.

 

    • Construct sentences and passages based on linguistic expressions encountered in class; complete exercises using various aspects of language; employ vocabulary suited to a particular topic or area of le use; use relevant linguistic concepts.

 

    • Identify linguistic elements of a given structure; apply grammatical rules to written and spoken expression; determine how linguistic rules aid communication; detect patterns in linguistic usage; recognize grammatical rules in use.

 

    • Organise information in a coherent and meaningful manner; present information in a coherent and meaningful manner; apply relevant linguistic concepts to phrases, sentences and longer texts; demonstrate the linguistic meaning and usage of expressions; communicate at an intermediate level of linguistic complexity.

 

    • Produce a variety of texts based on work covered in class; summarise the content of texts; analyse various aspects of texts; prepare a variety of compositions; deliver presentations on a particular topic; work in consultation with others; act as part of a team.

 

    • Demonstrate intermediate linguistic competence; communicate ideas, opinions and feelings of medium complexity; transmit relevant information; appraise data and opinions; show intercultural awareness.

 

    • Complete continuous assessment and class assignments correctly; answer exam questions with relevant and precise information based on course work completed throughout the semester.

Notional Study Hours – 48 hours

Duration of Course – 6 months

Hours per Week – 2 hours

Fees – Rs 18 000

Number of students per group – 10(Max)