Spanish 3
Overview
Course Description
This course teaches students to communicate confidently in Spanish using present, preterite, imperfect, and subjunctive tenses; read and respond to authentic Spanish literature and cultural texts; and develop a rich understanding of the history, art, and people of eight Spanish-speaking countries. Students who complete Spanish 3 are well-prepared for advanced academic and collegiate study in Spanish, for a deeper appreciation of the diverse cultures and histories of the Spanish-speaking world, and for a lifelong ability to connect with Spanish speakers across many nations and contexts.
Prerequisites
Students should have completed Spanish 2 or an equivalent course before taking Spanish 3. Students should be comfortable with basic present-tense conversation and have been introduced to the preterite tense. No prior knowledge of the imperfect or subjunctive is assumed. We offer a Spanish Placement Assessment to help families determine where students fit in the Academy Spanish program. The ultimate decision rests with parents.
Students Will Learn
- How to read and comprehend Spanish-language texts at the intermediate level with increasing fluency
- How to use present, preterite, imperfect, present subjunctive, and past subjunctive tenses accurately in writing and conversation
- How to narrate stories and personal experiences in Spanish using a full range of past tenses
- How to recognize and discuss the cultural heritage of eight Spanish-speaking countries
- How to connect the grammar and vocabulary of Spanish to authentic literary and biblical texts
- How to write increasingly complex Spanish paragraphs from guided compositions to independent free narrations
- How to engage in weekly Spanish conversation and discussion rooted in reading and cultural content
Live Class Sections
Spanish 3 is a yearlong course. Registration opens in late February.
What to Expect Weekly
We estimate that the course workload will take 5–7 hours per week. During a typical week in this course, students will complete the following coursework:
- 90 minutes of live class instruction
- 15–25 pages of reading
- Weekly written response in Spanish (guided composition, narration, or cultural reflection)
- Weekly vocabulary quiz (10 – 15 words or phrases)
- Cultural spotlight reading and discussion post (one country per four-week unit)
- Grammar practice exercises aligned to the week’s tense focus
Throughout the year, students complete a midterm and final exam.
Course Materials
3-Ring Binder (required)
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Description
Students will be using a 3-ring binder to hold and organize their work throughout the course. It is recommended that students use at least a 1.5” 3-ring binder.
El Viaje de su Vida (Spanish)
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Description
El Viaje de su Vida is one of four TPRS readers (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) used in this course. TPRS readers are written specifically for language learners. These four books were selected because they work together as a unified arc, grammatically, thematically, and spiritually. Each reader introduces grammar structures to students through engaging stories. In El Viaje de su Vida, Carlos, an American teenager, travels with his family on a cruise. His vacation turns into an adventure after he notices a theft taking place.
Reason For Teaching
This text is written in the present and past tense; every verb reinforces the grammar target for the first four weeks of the course. It is set in Yucatan, Mexico, introducing Latin American geography and ecology to students which will help the students better understand the language. The mystery structure creates genuine reading motivation, which drives language acquisition. The protagonist’s navigation of an unfamiliar place in search of truth will connect to students’ interactions with a Spanish translation of the Bible.
Disclaimer
The biblical connections are not explicit in the text, but emerge naturally from the story’s themes. A Voodoo doctor, witch doctor, and el Mal del Ojo are mentioned, but nothing sacrilegious happens and students will learn how Christian teachings were blended with native practices in many parts of the Caribbean.
Patricia va a California (Spanish)
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Description
Patricia va a California is a TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) novel written for language learners. The story focuses on Patricia, a Mexican teenager who travels to California to visit family and encounters both differences and unexpected connections between her life in Mexico and life in the United States. The story is warm, humorous, and grounded in the details of cross-cultural experience that students find relatable.
Reason For Teaching
This text is written in the present and past tense. High-frequency vocabulary and natural repetition help students acquire new past tense forms quickly through context rather than memorization. The story’s setting will help students learn the geographical continuity of Spanish culture into Mexican history and art, which impacted the modern language. Students will compare Patricia’s trip to an unfamiliar place to the journey of Joseph from the Bible.
Disclaimer
The biblical connections are not explicit in the text, but emerge naturally from the story’s themes.
Casi se Muere (Spanish)
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Description
Casi se Muere is a TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) novel written for language learners. This story is about a teenage girl who navigates recovering from an accident. Told through both memory and flashback, the story alternates between what was happening (imperfect) and what happened (preterite), giving students a solid foundation for one of the most important grammatical distinctions in Spanish.
Reason For Teaching
The narrative structure of this text—present action interrupted by memory—makes the contrast between the preterite and the imperfect naturally built into the story. The story-controlled vocabulary ensures students will understand what is happening even as grammar becomes more complex. The emotion in the story produces the kind of engaged reading that accelerates language acquisition and students will find connections between the story’s arc of crisis and restoration and prodigal son’s return in Luke 15.
Disclaimer
The biblical connections are not explicit in the text, but emerge naturally from the story’s themes. The story is melodramatic in that a boy almost chokes on food, but not is not graphic.
Vida o muerte en el Cusco - Novel (Spanish)
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Description
Vida o Muerte en Cusco is a TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) novel written for language learners. This story is about Elena, a high school senior who arrives in Peru for a vacation with her mother. Elena did not want to go on the trip with her mother, preferring to stay in the USA with her friends, and acts rather irritable. When her mother is in a sudden accident, however, Elena finds herself navigating a language and culture she refused to learn. The story shifts from resistance to transformation, and the grammar follows suit.
Reason For Teaching
The text will introduce students to Level 3+ with multiple tenses, preterite, imperfect, and subjunctive all appear naturally in the narrative, matching the grammar arc of the course. The Peru setting will introduce students to the culture and history of another Spanish country. Elena’s experience will connect to students’ interactions with a Spanish translation of the Bible, specifically Psalm 139 and John 17.
Disclaimer
The biblical connections are not explicit in the text, but emerge naturally from the story’s themes.
Biblia Nueva Versión Internacional (Bible, NVI translation)
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Description
Biblia para Regalos y Premios is a Spanish translation of the Bible that includes both the Old and New Testaments.
Reason For Teaching
One of the most powerful ways to practice a language is to interact with a text with which you are already familiar. Spanish 3 continues the practice employed in both Spanish 1 and 2 of using the Bible as a language resource. Through interacting with the text, students will practice thinking and writing in Spanish, as well as practicing their translation skills. Students will become increasingly comfortable conversing in Spanish as they dialogue with their teacher and peers, engaging with familiar stories that tie into the themes students are encountering in the other texts.
Here is an example of the translation that would work for this course.
Computer Microphone (required)
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Master Teacher
Sara Hall
Sara Lagos-Hall has a bachelor of science degree in interdisciplinary studies from Liberty University with concentrations in counseling, religion, and English. She has a minor in writing and 15 graduate credits in rhetoric and composition. Sara was born in ... View full bio »
Before taking this course
While not a prerequisite, successful completion of this course (or an equivalent course) is encouraged. This ensures your child is prepared to engage with the course material at a deeper level.
