Spanish

Course summary

Spanish is an invaluable international language, with over 550 million native speakers in 20 countries, including over 50 million in the USA. Scientists have found that fluency in more than one language improves your memory, enhances your intelligence, delays the onset of Alzheimer’s, and makes you much more marketable.  The Hispanic world, especially, has a dazzlingly diverse cultural heritage.  Whether you choose to read García Márquez’s incomparable magic realism, Lorca’s ground-breaking theatre, Borges’s short stories or Neruda’s poetry, there is a wealth of literature to explore. Hispanic painters – Velázquez, Goya, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, Kahlo, and filmmakers – Buñuel, Almodóvar, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñárritu among others – all add to the attraction of learning this largely phonetic, relatively straightforward and most useful of languages. Spanish is taught as an optional subject from the Lower Shell (Year 10). The CAIE IGCSE Spanish syllabus aims to offer insights into the culture of countries where Spanish is spoken. The examination tests all four skills (listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking and writing), and they are weighted evenly, all being worth 25% of the total mark. The qualification is graded from 9 down to 1. The Edexcel A Level syllabus covers the following main themes: the evolution of Spanish society; political and artistic culture in the Hispanic world; immigration through the ages; Franco’s dictatorship and the transition to democracy. The four language skills are tested traditionally, including translations into and out of the target language. The speaking exam involves the preparation of an independent research project. There is also the opportunity to study texts and films and write about them in Spanish.