Spanish: A Level

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Exam board: AQA

What is the course about?

This course is ideal for students who...
• have an interest in developing spoken and written fluency as well as grammatical understanding well beyond GCSE standards.
• enjoy using the language to express their opinions and justifying their comments on a broad range of social issues.
• enjoy reading and writing in a foreign language and learning about the culture and traditions of other countries.
• wish to carry out research into Spanish-speaking countries and their history, geography, society and the arts.

 

Duration:

2 years

 

What topics will be studied in year 1?

1. Traditional and modern family values.
2. Cyberspace and new technologies.
3. Gender Equality in the world of work and LGBT rights.
4. The influence of idols (models, music artists and film/tv celebrities) .
5. Diversity in Spain (regional languages and traditions).
6. Cultural and artistic wealth of Spanish-speaking countries (festivals, music, world heritage sites)
7. In-depth study of a Spanish-language film.

 

What topics will be studied in year 2?

1. Immigration in Spain.
2. Equality issues: racism, discrimination.
3. Multicultural Spain.
4. The problems of young people and their role in changing society.
5. Monarchy and dictatorships in the Hispanic world.
6. Social protests and their effectiveness
7. In-depth study of a Spanish-language literary work.

 

What do I need to study this subject?

In order to study this subject, you must have achieved at least B at GCSE level. If you do not have a GCSE but speak the language at home, you will need to complete a simple speaking and written task to help us assess your suitability for the course.

 

What can I do to prepare myself to study this subject?

• Sound knowledge of all GCSE topic-related vocabulary and grammar will be essential, especially good understanding and awareness of all verb conjugations
• A good GCSE revision handbook or textbook will be helpful.
• An interest in watching films and reading literature in the language of study is highly recommended.

Where can this lead me?

This two-year linear course can lead to a University degree as a main course of study or as an additional component in combined degrees. Languages are highly versatile and complement most subjects.

 

Why should I study A-level Spanish?

 

 

1 - Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language.
You’ll be able to talk to 480 million native speakers and far more if we include those who speak Spanish as a second language.

 

2 - It makes travelling a whole lot easier.
Do you think everyone in the world speaks English? The answer is clearly no!. Wherever you go, there will surely be someone speaking Spanish! Knowing the language will make your experiences as you travel even more memorable and native speakers will love you for trying to communicate in their own language.

 

 

3 - You can enjoy a wealth of literature and films and explore the rich and varied culture behind them.
Don’t settle for translations or subtitles, read books and see films in their original language to really get to grips with a different way to see the world.

 

 

4 - Improve your job prospects.
Outside the EU, Britain will need even more speakers of other languages to compete commercially. Businesses know this and they will value candidates with languages above everyone else. Languages will be key to accessing other markets around the world.

 

 

5 - Learn many other valuable skills in passing.
Studying a language at A Level will teach you other beneficial skills such as problem-solving, memorising, summarising, translating, critical thinking, communication and listening skills, organisation (deadlines to meet, notes and vocabulary to organise), researching and essay-writing. These long list of transferable skills will make you a more attractive candidate to employers and Universities.

 

 

6 - Understand the words of popular songs.
Show off to your friends by translating the Spanish lyrics to them.

 

 

7 - Learn other similar language much faster and easily.
By learning Spanish at advanced level, you will soon realise how much Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian or Catalan you can understand, since they all derived from Latin and share similar vocabulary and grammar.

 

 

8 - Deepen your knowledge of English.
As translating into and from English is a frequent exercise in lessons, you will expand your English vocabulary considerably, as you will be continually looking for synonyms and alternative translations and you will discover that a large number of Spanish words have an equivalent in formal English, which was also heavily influenced by Latin.

 

 

9 - Discover opportunities abroad.
Whether for study of for work, spending time abroad will be an enriching experience to you personally and will also look good on your CV. Learning Spanish will make it much easier to take the leap and live, work and/or study overseas and create memories that will stay with you forever.