LEANDER HIGH SCHOOL
SPANISH I AND II COURSE SYLLABUS
Sr. De Hoyos - Room 405

COURSE DESCRIPTION: These courses are basic communication courses focusing on reading, writing, comprehending and speaking Spanish. The students will be able to communicate in different tenses. The students will also be exposed to the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries. Connections will be made between Spanish and other subjects. The students will relate the target language to real world experiences through major projects and assignments using the community and via internet and other media communications.

PARTS OF SPEECH AND OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION
1. A noun names a person, place, idea or thing.
2. Every noun has an article. The article is definite (the) or indefinite (a, an, some). In Spanish, it is also masculine or feminine, and singular or plural. When learning a new noun, also learn the definite article that goes along with it.
3. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.
4. A verb shows physical action, mental action or a state of being. The original form of the verb found in the dictionary is called the infinitive. Infinitives in Spanish end in one of three ways: -AR, -ER, or –IR.
5. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they describe, and they are generally placed after the noun.
6. The subject of a sentence is the person or thing doing the action.
7. Subject pronouns can take the place of a person’s name in a sentence. They are not always necessary to include.
yo = I nosotros = we
tú = you vosotros = y’all
él/ella/usted = he/she/you ellos/ellas/ustedes = they (masc.)/they (fem.)/you guys
8. “Vosotros” is only used in Spain/by people from Spain in less formal situations. The equivalent in the U.S. and other Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas is “ustedes,” for both formal and informal situations.
9. “Tú” is used to say “you” to a friend or close acquaintance. “Usted” is used to say “you” when the speaker would like to show respect, or with someone the speaker doesn’t know well
10. There is no ’s in Spanish. Use the word “de” and then the person’s name or relationship to you to say to whom something belongs. If the owner’s name is removed from the sentence or question, a possessive pronoun shows ownership.
11. A direct object pronoun (DOP) is used to say “it” or “them.” A DOP corresponds in gender and number to the noun it replaces. A DOP goes before a conjugated verb, OR attached at the end of an infinitive, a command, or the present progressive.
12. The “-ing” form of a verb is the present progressive. Use a conjugated form of the verb ESTAR in front of the verb. The equivalent of “-ing” in Spanish is “-ndo”: add –ando to the stem of –AR verbs, and –iendo to the stem of –ER/-IR verbs.
13. A cognate is a word that is similar in Spanish and English.
14. An idiom is an expression or figure of speech that cannot be directly translated.
15. A double negative is when there are two negatives in a sentence. Correct English grammar does not use double negatives. Spanish does.
16. The prepositions a and de form contractions when followed by the article el. A+el = al and de + el = del.
17. When con is followed by mí or ti, the word changes: conmigo, contigo.

SPELLING/PRONUNCIATION/PUNCTUATION
18. Vowels are always pronounced the same way. A = “ah.” E = “eh.” I = “ee.” O = “o.” U = “ooh.”
19. Ñ = like “ny” in “canyon”
20. H = is always silent!
21. LL = like “y” in “yellow”
22. When spelling, the only double letters are “rr,” “ll,” and “cc.” When spelling cognates like “professor” double consonants are not used (profesor).
23. Days of the week and months of the year are not capitalized.
24. When you see “@” at the end of a word in a vocabulary list, that means it can be masculine (end in –o) or feminine (end in –a.).
25. Questions have an upside down question mark (¿) at the beginning of the question and a right-side up question mark (?) at the end.
26. Exclamations have an upside down exclamation point (¡) at the beginning of the exclamation and a right-side up exclamation point (!) at the end.
27. Accent marks only go over vowels. The mark goes up from left to right. The mark takes the place of the dot over a lowercase “i.”

GEOGRAPHY
28. Spain (España) is in Europe. The capital is Madrid.
29. México is in North America. The capital is Mexico City. (La Ciudad de México)
30. Guatemala is in Central America. The capital is Guatemala City. (La Ciudad de Guatemala)
31. El Salvador is in Central America. The capital is San Salvador.
32. Honduras is in Central America. The capital is Tegucigalpa.
33. Nicaragua is in Central America. The capital is Managua.
34. Costa Rica is in Central America. The capital is San José.
35. Panamá is in Central America. The capital is Panama City. (La Ciudad de Panamá)
36. Colombia is in South America. The capital is Bogotá.
37. Perú is in South America. The capital is Lima.
38. Ecuador is in South America. The capital is Quito.
39. Chile is in South America. The capital is Santiago.
40. Argentina is in South America. The capital is Buenos Aires. SEE MAP? (use same #’s)
41. Uruguay is in South America. The capital is Montevideo.
42. Paraguay is in South America. The capital is Asunción.
43. Venezuela is in South America. The capital is Caracas.
44. Bolivia is in South America. The capitals are Sucre and La Paz.
45. Brazil is also in South America. People in Brazil speak Portuguese.
46. Cuba is in the Caribbean Sea, south of Florida. The capital is La Habana.
47. La República Dominicana is also in the Caribbean Sea. The capital is Santo Domingo.
48. Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean Sea. The capital is San Juan. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.

VOCABULARY
49. Know Top Ten Greetings/Goodbyes/Introductions
50. Know numbers 0-31
51. Know Top Ten Time Phrases
52. Know Months/Days/Seasons
53. Know numbers 32-100
54. Know Top Ten Adjectives
55. Know Top Ten Question Words
56. Know Top Ten Frequency and Negation words.
57. Know Top Ten Activities
58. Know Top Ten Regular –AR verbs
59. Know Top Ten Regular –ER verbs
60. Know Top Ten Regular –IR verbs

GUSTAR
61. The verb GUSTAR is used to talk about things people like or what they like to do.
62. GUSTAR translates as “to please.” To use it, you’re really saying that something (a thing or an activity) pleases someone, not literally that they like it.
63. When more than one thing is liked, “gusta” becomes “gustan.” With more than one activity, “gusta” is still used.
64. I like = me gusta(n); You like = te gusta(n); He/she/you like(s) = le gusta(n); We like = nos gusta(n); Y’all (in Spain) like = os gusta(n); They/you guys like = les gusta(n).

VOCABULARY
65. Know Top Ten Sports
66. Know Top Ten Places
67. Know Top Ten Weather Expressions


PRESENT TENSE OF REGULAR VERBS
68. Verbs are conjugated depending on the subject of the verb.
69. To conjugate a regular verb, take off the last two letters. Then add the ending for the appropriate subject pronoun.
70. The ending for “yo” is –o.
71. The ending for “tú” is –as for –AR verbs, and –es for –ER and –IR verbs.
72. The ending for “él,” “ella,” or “usted” is –a for –AR verbs, and –e for –ER and –IR verbs.
73. The ending for “vosotros” is –áis for –AR verbs, -éis for –ER verbs, and –ís for –IR verbs.
74. The ending for “nosotros” is –amos for –AR verbs, -emos for –ER, and -imos for –IR verbs.
75. The ending for “ellos,” “ellas,” or “ustedes” is –an for –AR verbs, -en for –ER and –IR verbs.

VOCABULARY
76. Know Top Ten School Supplies
77. Know Top Ten School Subjects
78. Know Top Ten School Events and Locations
79. Know Top Ten TENER idioms

PRESENT TENSE OF IRREGULAR VERBS
80. Some verbs have irregular “yo” forms. They don’t follow the simple “-o” pattern. One group of these verbs is sometimes referred to as “-go” verbs, because there is a “g” added in just the “yo” form. This group includes the verbs TENER, HACER, SALIR, VENIR, TRAER, DECIR, and PONER.
81. Another group of verbs has a “y” at the end of the “yo” form. This group includes ESTAR, DAR, IR and SER.
82. Another group of verbs has a “z” before the “c” in the “yo” form. This group includes PARECER and CONOCER.
83. IR (“to go”) is completely irregular. One way to remember that each form begins with a “v” is that you usually need a vehicle to go somewhere. The endings match those of regular –AR verbs.
84. The “yo” form of SABER is sé.

VOCABULARY
85. Know Top Ten Family Members
86. Know Top Ten Home Words
87. Know Top Ten Chores
88. Know Top Ten Prepositions
89. Know Top Ten Stem-changing EIE verbs. There is nothing about stem-changing verbs that would indicate that they are different. You just must know that they change and how.
90. Know Top Ten Stem-changing OUE verbs. There is nothing about stem-changing verbs that would indicate that they are different. You just must know that they change and how.

PRESENT TENSE OF STEM-CHANGING VERBS
91. Stem-changing verbs have an extra step when conjugated. The yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes forms have a vowel change.
92. Stem-changing verbs change in one of four ways: EIE, OUE, EI or UUE.
93. The vowel that changes in stem-changing verbs is the first one back from the end after the last two letters are taken off.
94. The nosotros and vosotros forms don’t change. One way to remember this is to envision a boot drawn around the other four forms. Nosotros and vosotros are outside of the “boot.”

VOCABULARY
95. Know Top Ten Food/Drink Words
96. Know Top Five Stem-changing EI verbs. There is nothing about stem-changing verbs that would indicate that they are different. You just must know that they change and how.

SER and ESTAR
97. SER and ESTAR both mean “to be.” One way to remember when each one is used is to think of the word DOCTOR with SER, and the word PLACE with ESTAR. The letters of these words correspond to the first letter of the different uses of each verb. DOCTOR = Date, Origin, Characteristic, Time, Occupation and Relationship. PLACE = Position, Location, Action, Condition and Emotion.
98. SER is conjugated yo soy, tú eres, él/ella/usted es, nosotros somos, vosotros sois, ellos/ellas/ustedes son.
99. ESTAR is conjugated yo estoy, tú estás, él/ella/usted está, nosotros estamos, vosotros estáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes están

COMMANDS
100. Commands are used to tell someone what to do/what not to do.
101. To form affirmative commands (to tell a friend/an acquaintance what to do), use the “usted” form of the present tense of the verb. Simply put, just drop the “s” from the “tú” form.
102. To form negative commands (to tell a friend/acquaintance what NOT to do), start with the “yo” form of the verb, drop the “o,” and add –es for –AR verbs and –as for –ER or –IR verbs.
103. There are seven verbs that have irregular affirmative command forms: HACER (haz), DECIR (di), SALIR (sal), TENER (ten), IR (ve), PONER (pon), VENIR (ven) and SER (sé).
104. There are five verbs that have irregular negative command forms: SER (no seas), IR (no vayas), DAR (no des), ESTAR (no estés).

VOCABULARY
105. Know Top Ten Reflexive Verbs
106. Know Top Ten Body Parts

PRESENT TENSE OF REFLEXIVE VERBS
107. Reflexive verbs are used to talk about an action someone does to themselves.
108. Reflexive verbs in the infinitive form can be recognized by the “se” at the end.
109. To conjugate this type of verb, you must first remove the “se” from the end.
110. “Se” changes depending on the subject of the reflexive verb. The reflexive pronouns are “me” for yo, “te” for tú, “se” for él/ella/usted, “nos” for nosotros, “os” for vosotros, and “se” for ellos/ellas/ustedes.
111. The reflexive pronoun goes in front of the conjugated forms of a verb. It can go in front of OR be attached at the end of a command, an infinitive, or the present progressive.

VOCABULARY
112. Know numbers 200 - 1,000,000
113. Know Top Ten Clothing Words
114. Know Top Ten Colors. Colors work like adjectives: they agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

PRETERITE TENSE
115. The preterite tense is used to talk about what happened at a specific point in the past and to narrate a sequence of events in the past.
116. Conjugation of regular verbs in the preterite tense works similarly to conjugation in the present tense. Take off the last two letters before adding the appropriate ending.
117. The endings for the preterite tense of regular –AR verbs are: yo = é; tú = aste; él/ella/usted = ó; nosotros = amos; vosotros = asteis; ellos/ellas/ustedes = aron. The endings for regular –ER and –IR verbs are the same as each other in the preterite: yo = í; tú = iste; él/ella/usted = ió; nosotros = imos; vosotros = isteis; ellos/ellas/ustedes = ieron.