SPANISH LANGUAGE
SELF-PACED COURSE
1. About this Course
This Spanish Language course reviews materials typically learned during the first and second year of college. The goal of the creator of this course – Modern States Education Alliance, a non-profit organization – is to prepare you to pass the College Board's CLEP examination and obtain college credit for free.
This course will help you to acquire the knowledge and skills required to comprehend written and spoken Spanish.
Taught by Dr. Isabel Castro, from Boston College, this course is organized into 30 grammatical points that contain short video lessons, exercises, readings and other instructional materials.
The “Spanish Language” course is completely self-paced. There are no prerequisites to take this course, and it is entirely free. Any student who wants to save time and money while completing freshman year in college can take it.
2. About the Spanish CLEP Exam
This exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. It covers both Level 1 and Level 2 content.
You will be required to demonstrate knowledge and skills in listening through oral exchanges and spoken selections, as well as in reading comprehension.
There are three separately timed sections: two Listening sections of 30 minutes in length; and one Reading section of 60 minutes in length.
Colleges may award different amounts of credit depending on each candidate’s test scores.
3. Required Knowledge and Skills
The CLEP exam requires you to comprehend written and spoken Spanish. The subject matter is drawn from the following abilities. The percentages next to the main topics indicate the approximate percentage of exam questions on that ability:
• 15% Section I:
• Listening: Rejoinders
• Listening Comprehension Through Short Oral Exchanges
• 25% Section II:
• Listening: Dialogues and Narratives
• Listening Comprehension Through Longer Spoken Selections
• 60% Section III: Reading
• 16% Part A: Discrete Sentences (Vocabulary and Structure)
• 20% Part B: Short Cloze Passages (Vocabulary and Structure)
• 24% Part C: Reading Passages and Authentic Stimulus Materials (Reading Comprehension)
4. Course Modules
Following are the main topics of the course:
Module 1: Hola, ¿Qué Tal?
1.1 Hola ¿Qué Tal?
1.2 Some Special Sounds: Ch, H, Ll y Ñ
1.3 The Spanish Alphabet: Consonants
1.4 The Spanish Alphabet: Vowels
1.5 Some Rules on Accents
1.6 Diptongos and
1.7 Accents on One-Syllable Words
1.8 Practiquemos
Module 2: La Familia
2.1 The Definite Articles
2.1.1 Abstractions
2.1.2 Totality
2.1.3 The Days of the Week
2.1.4 The Seasons
2.1.5 With Personal or Professional Forms of Address in the Third Person
2.1.6 Parts of the Body/Articles of Clothing
2.1.7 With Names of Languages
2.1.8 With the Preposition En/De
2.1.9 With Generic Places
2.1.10 With a Field of Knowledge of Study
2.2 The Indefinite Articles
2.2.1 Omission of the Indefinite Articles
2.3 Gender
2.3.1 Words Ending in –ma, -pa, and –ta That Are Masculine
2.3.2 Masculine Words That Appear To Be Feminine
2.3.3 Nouns of Invariable Gender
2.3.4 Gender and Meaning Change
2.3.5 Use of El Before a Feminine Noun
2.3.6 Other Feminine Words
2.4 Number
2.4.1 Nouns of Invariable Number
2.4.2 Identifying gender
2.5 Adjectives
2.5.1 A Note on Adjectives
2.5.2 Practiquemos
2.6 Adverbs
2.7 Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs
2.7.1 Comparison of Equality
2.7.1.1 Comparing Nouns
2.7.2 Comparison of Inequality: Nouns
2.7.2.1 Comparisons Followed By Numbers
2.7.3 Superlatives
2.7.3.1 Special Superlatives
2.7.3.2 Irregular Superlatives
2.8 Practiquemos
Module 3: La Rutina
3.1 La Rutina
3.1.1 Verbos Regulares
3.1.2 Verbos Irregulares
3.1.2.1 Verbos Que
3.1.2.2 Verbos Irregulares Only in the Yo Form
3.1.2.3 El Verbo Ir
3.1.3 Practiquemos
3.2 The Present Progressive
3.2.1 Irregular Present Participles
3.2.2 Uses of the Present Progressive
3.2.3 Typical Present Progressive Expressions
3.2.3.1 Practiquemos
3.3 Past Participle as an Adjective
3.3.1 Irregular Participles
3.3.2 Practiquemos
3.4 Reflexive Pronouns
3.4.1 Reflexive Pronouns
3.4.2 Practiquemos
Module 4: La Niñez
4.1 Preterite. What did these kids do yesterday?
4.1.1 Forms
4.2 The Imperfect
4.2.1 The Imperfect
4.2.2 Forms
4.3 Practiquemos
4.3.1 The Preterite vs. Imperfect
4.3.2 Cambio de
4.4 Pretérito
4.4.1 Practiquemos
Module 5: La Salud
5.1 Let’s Commands (Nosotros)
5.1.1 Formation
5.1.2 Pronoun Placement
5.1.3 Practiquemos
5.2 Singular Informal Commands (Tú)
5.2.1 Formation
5.3 Singular and Plural Commands (Usted/Ustedes)
5.3.1 Practiquemos
5.3.2 Practiquemos
5.4 Direct Objects and Indirect Object Pronouns
5.4.1 Direct Objects and Indirect Object Pronouns
5.4.2 Direct Objects and Indirect Object Pronouns
5.5 The personal a
5.5.1 La a Personal
5.6 Practiquemos
Module 6: Los Consejos y Recomendaciones. El Subjuntivo
6.1 Formation of the Subjunctive. Present
6.2 Dos Sujetos + QUE
6.2.1 Some Typical Phrases to Influence
6.2.2 When There Is Only One Subject
6.3 Practiquemos
6.4 Subjunctive to Express Emotions
6.4.1 Can You Give Advice to Pedro? Use the Subjunctive
6.4.2 What Advice Is Lolita Giving Us
6.4.3 Do you have any advice for Lilian and Santi?
6.5 Imperfect Subjunctive
6.5.1 Practiquemos
Module 7: Las Dudas y Las Certeza de la Vida
7.1 Practiquemos
Module 8: Conditional Clauses
8.1 Contrary to Fact Clauses (
8.2 Practiquemos
Module 9: Adjective Clauses. Lo Que Se Tiene, Lo Que Se Quiere
9.1 Explanation
9.2 Formation of Adjective Clauses
9.3 Antecedente No-
9.4 The Person Of Your Dreams
Module 10: Adverb Clauses: De paseo por una ciudad
10.1 Adverb Clauses: De paseo por una ciudad
Module 11: Ser and Estar
11.1 Explanation Of When to Use Ser vs. Estar
11.2 Adjectives That Change Meaning With Ser and Estar
11.3 Estar vs. Haber
Module 12: The Future and the Conditional: Cuando Sea Grande
12.1 The Conditional
Module 13: Por Barco, En Avión, Por El Mundo
13.1 Por y Para
Module 14: Gustos y Disgustos
14.1 Gustos y Disgustos
Module 15: Literature: “La Siesta del Martes” and Pronouns
15.1 Literature: “La Siesta del Martes” and Relative Pronouns
Module 16: La Voz Pasiva - The Passive Voice
16.1 The Passive Voice
Module 17: Los Números
17.1 Los Números and Telling Time
17.2 Hace + Tiempo and Los Números Cardinales
5. About Isabel Castro
Isabel Castro Escudero, Ph.D. in Hispanic Language and
Isabel Castro’s academic interests include Latin-American Literature from the 19th and 20th centuries. Born in Quito, Ecuador, and currently living in Wakefield, MA., Professor Castro, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism for Radio,
6. How CLEP Works
Developed by the College Board, CLEP (College-Level Examination Program®) is the most widely accepted credit-by-examination program.
CLEP’s credits are accepted by 2,900 colleges and universities, according to the College Board. These tests assess college-level knowledge in 33 subject areas.
Modern States Education Alliance is the non-profit organization behind these edX-style courses. Its project is called “Freshman Year for Free” and its mission is to make college more accessible and affordable through free, high-quality online education.
• CLEP® Spanish Language: at a Glance
• 'Passing the CLEP and Learning with Modern States' orientation course