INTERMEDIATE / ADVANCED CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH
"STRENGTHENING LISTENING-COMPREHENSION AND SPEAKING SKILLS"
August 5 - October 28, 2019
Mondays, 6:00pm - 7:30pm (No classes on the 3rd Mondays of each month)
10 Week/Class Session
Room 43
1039 E. 43rd Street
Chicago, IL. 60653
Mondays, 6:00pm - 7:30pm (No classes on the 3rd Mondays of each month)
10 Week/Class Session
Room 43
1039 E. 43rd Street
Chicago, IL. 60653
|
Registration:
- $200 (Early Bird Special - Only Good through 08/01/2019) - $250 (After 08/01/2019) Payment Methods: - Use the links to the right to pay by credit or debit card. - Pay cash or money order on the first day of class. |
|
Cancelation Policy:
- If El Caobo Internacional should cancel the course before completion, students will be reimbursed the prorated amount for the classes not conducted.
- If a student must cancel his or her participation in the course before completion, El Caobo Internacional will try to reach an agreement with the student to attend a future course for the number of sessions missed by the student. There are no cash refunds.
- If El Caobo Internacional should cancel the course before completion, students will be reimbursed the prorated amount for the classes not conducted.
- If a student must cancel his or her participation in the course before completion, El Caobo Internacional will try to reach an agreement with the student to attend a future course for the number of sessions missed by the student. There are no cash refunds.
Course Materials:
- The instructor will provide print-outs of all necessary course materials.
- Students should bring a Spanish-English dictionary to class with them.
- Students should bring writing materials to class with them.
- The instructor will provide print-outs of all necessary course materials.
- Students should bring a Spanish-English dictionary to class with them.
- Students should bring writing materials to class with them.
ABOUT INTERMEDIATE / ADVANCED
CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH
"STRENGTHENING Listening-Comprehension and Speaking SKILLS"
INTRODUCTION
This is an Intermediate-Advanced level course, with serious emphasis on listening-comprehension and speaking!
The principal material used in all of our courses have been developed to present Spanish as a spoken Ianguage, and the skills of listening-comprehension and speaking are accordingly emphasized. This series of courses was developed by the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. State Department. The U.S. government has used these materials for decades in order to teach diplomats, CIA agents, FBI agents and DEA agents how to speak Spanish. The method of presentation will likely be new to students who are only acquainted with more traditional methods of language teaching. In order to understand the materials, one must first understand the method upon which they are buiIt.
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
The method we use is known as GUIDED IMITATION and has been used by a considerable number of teachers for many years. Its goal is to teach one to speak easily, fluently, with very little accent, and to do this without conscious effort, just as one speaks his or her own language without conscious effort. There are two very important aspects of this method. First, learning a relatively small body of material so well that it requires very Iittle effort to produce it. This is referred to as OVER-LEARNING. If a student over-learns every dialog and drill as he or she goes through the courses, he or she will almost certainly experience rapid progress in learning the language. The second aspect is learning to manipulate authentically the sounds, sequences, and patterns of the language. The important implication here is the reaIity of both the model and the imitation. The instructor, in this case Earl Hall, who in additional to being a Spanish teacher has worked as a professional Spanish-English-Spanish court interpreter and translator, provides Spanish as people reaIIy speak it in actual conversations, and the student will be helped to achieve an accurate imitation. Above all, the normal tempo of pronunciation must be the classroom standard; slowing down is, in this context, distortion.
PRONUNCIATION
In Level 1, initial instruction is focused primarily on pronunciation problems. Drills on other aspects of the language are deliberately postponed because of the importance of developing good pronunciation habits from the very beginning of the course. Pronunciation is extremely important. It is the basis of all real fluency. A person is readily able to understand anything he or she can meaningfully say, if the correlation between the way he hears it and the way he says it is reasonably similar. Obviously, the more similar, the greater the ease of comprehension.
The basis of the student's imitation is of course the teacher, whose pronunciation is the ultimate source of authority. The fundamental classroom procedure for learning new material throughout our courses is repetition by the student in direct immediate imitation after the teacher. The imitative repetition may at first be done in chorus after the teacher, and subsequently by each individual, or it may be individualized from the start. In either case the student should wait for the teacher's model. Imitating after another student too frequently results in compounding the errors of both. If a person is fortunate enough to begin studying a second language before the age of eight or ten, the powers of imitation are normally sufficient to ensure excellent results in pronunciation without resorting to technical explanations of how sounds are produced. If occasionally an individual has managed to retain this gift that all of us had in childhood, so much the better, but most adults need more specific guidance based on an awareness of the particular problems of producing particular sounds. The drills and explanations are devoted to the specific problems an English speaker with his English habits of pronunciation will have in accurately imitating the sounds and sequences of sounds of Spanish.
It is well to remember that a sizeable investment in pronunciation practice early in the course will pay handsome dividends later; correct pronunciation safely relegated to habit leaves one's full attention available for other problems of learning the language.
Grammar
Learning grammar is not the goal! For most people, the goal is not to become a grammar expert. The goal is to be able to speak Spanish conversationally. Grammar is only one of the means to the end of speaking Spanish. We believe in grammar, and we include it in our method. However, let's be honest. Studying grammar will not make you fluent. To reach a conversational level you need to speak the language and speak it often.
This is an Intermediate-Advanced level course, with serious emphasis on listening-comprehension and speaking!
The principal material used in all of our courses have been developed to present Spanish as a spoken Ianguage, and the skills of listening-comprehension and speaking are accordingly emphasized. This series of courses was developed by the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. State Department. The U.S. government has used these materials for decades in order to teach diplomats, CIA agents, FBI agents and DEA agents how to speak Spanish. The method of presentation will likely be new to students who are only acquainted with more traditional methods of language teaching. In order to understand the materials, one must first understand the method upon which they are buiIt.
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
The method we use is known as GUIDED IMITATION and has been used by a considerable number of teachers for many years. Its goal is to teach one to speak easily, fluently, with very little accent, and to do this without conscious effort, just as one speaks his or her own language without conscious effort. There are two very important aspects of this method. First, learning a relatively small body of material so well that it requires very Iittle effort to produce it. This is referred to as OVER-LEARNING. If a student over-learns every dialog and drill as he or she goes through the courses, he or she will almost certainly experience rapid progress in learning the language. The second aspect is learning to manipulate authentically the sounds, sequences, and patterns of the language. The important implication here is the reaIity of both the model and the imitation. The instructor, in this case Earl Hall, who in additional to being a Spanish teacher has worked as a professional Spanish-English-Spanish court interpreter and translator, provides Spanish as people reaIIy speak it in actual conversations, and the student will be helped to achieve an accurate imitation. Above all, the normal tempo of pronunciation must be the classroom standard; slowing down is, in this context, distortion.
PRONUNCIATION
In Level 1, initial instruction is focused primarily on pronunciation problems. Drills on other aspects of the language are deliberately postponed because of the importance of developing good pronunciation habits from the very beginning of the course. Pronunciation is extremely important. It is the basis of all real fluency. A person is readily able to understand anything he or she can meaningfully say, if the correlation between the way he hears it and the way he says it is reasonably similar. Obviously, the more similar, the greater the ease of comprehension.
The basis of the student's imitation is of course the teacher, whose pronunciation is the ultimate source of authority. The fundamental classroom procedure for learning new material throughout our courses is repetition by the student in direct immediate imitation after the teacher. The imitative repetition may at first be done in chorus after the teacher, and subsequently by each individual, or it may be individualized from the start. In either case the student should wait for the teacher's model. Imitating after another student too frequently results in compounding the errors of both. If a person is fortunate enough to begin studying a second language before the age of eight or ten, the powers of imitation are normally sufficient to ensure excellent results in pronunciation without resorting to technical explanations of how sounds are produced. If occasionally an individual has managed to retain this gift that all of us had in childhood, so much the better, but most adults need more specific guidance based on an awareness of the particular problems of producing particular sounds. The drills and explanations are devoted to the specific problems an English speaker with his English habits of pronunciation will have in accurately imitating the sounds and sequences of sounds of Spanish.
It is well to remember that a sizeable investment in pronunciation practice early in the course will pay handsome dividends later; correct pronunciation safely relegated to habit leaves one's full attention available for other problems of learning the language.
Grammar
Learning grammar is not the goal! For most people, the goal is not to become a grammar expert. The goal is to be able to speak Spanish conversationally. Grammar is only one of the means to the end of speaking Spanish. We believe in grammar, and we include it in our method. However, let's be honest. Studying grammar will not make you fluent. To reach a conversational level you need to speak the language and speak it often.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: EARL HALL
Education
- Bachelor of Arts, Teaching of Spanish (2003) – University of Illinois-Chicago
Affiliations and Recognitions
- El Cuerpo de Intérpretes Profesionales (President)
- Confederation of Latin American Students (Spanish Tutor)
- Violet Bergquist Award (Award Recipient): an annual endowment given to the best student of Spanish
- Rho Psi Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi (Member): the Hispanic National Honor Society
Related Professional Experiences
El Caobo Internacional (2003-Present)
- Teacher: Taught Spanish courses at the Illinois Institute of Technology for the Quality of Work Life Committee
- Teacher: Taught Spanish classes to Chicago area businessmen for Inlingua International School of Languages.
- Teacher: Taught English as a second language to Chicago area businessmen for Inlingua International School of Languages.
- Interpreter/Translator: Provided simultaneous interpretations, consecutive interpretations, and sight-translations as needed to defendants appearing in felony, misdemeanor, and bond court for the 19th Judicial Circuit, Lake and McHenry Counties, Illinois.
- Interpreter/Translator: Actively provide consecutive and simultaneous interpreting and translation services, as needed, for several attorneys, as well as for two well-established translation companies in Chicago. Assignments include criminal and civil trails, arraignments, arbitration hearings, depositions, client interviews, medical examinations, et cetera.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for Walgreens.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for the State of Illinois’ Department of Financial Institutions.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for Vertis Communications. (Kansas City, MO.)
- Translator: Translated and edited survey questions based on surveys of prime-time television commercials on ABC, NBC, CBS, - Telemundo and Univisión for General Motors Planworks: English to Spanish and Spanish to English.
- Translator: Translated language module for the Sears’ Gift Registry, used in over 900 stores nationwide.
Luther South High School
- Spanish Teacher: Taught Spanish levels I, II and III and initiated and organizaed the Spanish Club.
Initiated and organized the Spanish club.
Engineering Export Promotion Council of India
- Marketing Manager - Latin America
University of Chicago - Office of Special Programs
- Teacher: Completely overhauled the Spanish program by introducing a sharper focus on the student’s listening-comprehension and speaking skills.
- Bachelor of Arts, Teaching of Spanish (2003) – University of Illinois-Chicago
Affiliations and Recognitions
- El Cuerpo de Intérpretes Profesionales (President)
- Confederation of Latin American Students (Spanish Tutor)
- Violet Bergquist Award (Award Recipient): an annual endowment given to the best student of Spanish
- Rho Psi Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi (Member): the Hispanic National Honor Society
Related Professional Experiences
El Caobo Internacional (2003-Present)
- Teacher: Taught Spanish courses at the Illinois Institute of Technology for the Quality of Work Life Committee
- Teacher: Taught Spanish classes to Chicago area businessmen for Inlingua International School of Languages.
- Teacher: Taught English as a second language to Chicago area businessmen for Inlingua International School of Languages.
- Interpreter/Translator: Provided simultaneous interpretations, consecutive interpretations, and sight-translations as needed to defendants appearing in felony, misdemeanor, and bond court for the 19th Judicial Circuit, Lake and McHenry Counties, Illinois.
- Interpreter/Translator: Actively provide consecutive and simultaneous interpreting and translation services, as needed, for several attorneys, as well as for two well-established translation companies in Chicago. Assignments include criminal and civil trails, arraignments, arbitration hearings, depositions, client interviews, medical examinations, et cetera.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for Walgreens.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for the State of Illinois’ Department of Financial Institutions.
- Translator: Translated human resources policies and procedures for Vertis Communications. (Kansas City, MO.)
- Translator: Translated and edited survey questions based on surveys of prime-time television commercials on ABC, NBC, CBS, - Telemundo and Univisión for General Motors Planworks: English to Spanish and Spanish to English.
- Translator: Translated language module for the Sears’ Gift Registry, used in over 900 stores nationwide.
Luther South High School
- Spanish Teacher: Taught Spanish levels I, II and III and initiated and organizaed the Spanish Club.
Initiated and organized the Spanish club.
Engineering Export Promotion Council of India
- Marketing Manager - Latin America
University of Chicago - Office of Special Programs
- Teacher: Completely overhauled the Spanish program by introducing a sharper focus on the student’s listening-comprehension and speaking skills.