Webster University: Course Offerings

International Language Center

The Centro Internacional de Idiomas (International Language Center) was founded in response to Mexican and foreign students' desire to develop the language skills necessary for succeeding and actively participating in today's world.

Most students enroll in the Spanish and Culture program at UAG, where they receive language instruction based on cultural content. After an initial placement examination, students are assigned to courses on one of eight levels, which range from absolute beginner to fluent.

Students who place in levels 6-8 may enroll in one or more regular UAG courses in addition to the CII program. Courses are offered every four weeks. Each level is opened with a minimum of two students and a maximum of fifteen. Students who place about level 8 take only regular UAG semester courses.

Courses Offered

Level	Brief Description
One	Spanish as a second language for beginners covers basic topics as personal subject and object pronouns, gender and number, "ser" vs. "estar", and the present tense verbs. It is aimed at communicating basic needs, and talking about one's own and other people's activities in the present and future tenses. It prepares students to survive in the culture.
Two	It prepares students at an advanced beginning level to talk about their world, not only in the present tense but also in the past. It emphasizes the differences between the perfect and imperfect preterit, and how to handle several prepositions such as "como" and "para". Students learn to talk on the phone fluently, go to restaurants, visit different site around town as well as go shopping.
Three	Aimed at intermediate students, it prepares them to give orders, make comparisons and express conditions. Students also practice structures such as passive voice, present perfect, and the use of direct and indict object pronouns in the same sentence. They can speak about the world surrounding them beyond their basic needs.
Four	Students at a high intermediate level widen their abilities to express themselves by learning the present and past tense subjunctive. This enables them to express remarks, emotions, doubts, and to give indirect orders at real and hypothetical levels. They learn the correct way to handle concepts and terms related to economics, business and interpersonal relationships and the environment.
Five	Advanced students will handle the verbs "ser" and "estar" in all tenses as well as all their equivalents. They will learn how to express present and past hypothetical situations and conditions. They will practice with verbs and prepositions. They will learn how to express their opinions about diverse topics and to defend their points of view through criticism, discussions, speeches, and debates.
Six	Advanced students will handle with precision cases that pose gender and number problems. They will correctly apply accentuation and punctuation rules. They will distinguish cognates from false cognates. They will manage nuances in the past, differentiating between the present and past perfect, preterit and imperfect tenses. A two hour introduction to Latin American Literature and extracts of longer works will be used to prompt discussions of social and cultural conditions, past and present.
Seven	Two hours of advanced grammar focusing on practice and application; different types of reading materials such as essays, newspaper articles, and so forth. Two hours of literature for advanced students focusing on major literary movements in Spanish American literature (Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, "Credolism", and Magical Realism). Required course work includes written analysis of six works of literature and videos related to the readings.
Eight	Two hours of grammar exposing students to specific situations, colloquialisms and vocabulary that will lead to a more natural production of the Spanish spoken in Mexico. Two hours of conversations. This course will allow students a deeper look into the culture, to understand it better and form their opinions about various issues within the Mexican context. Students will do field research on a relevant topic for their term paper.