Spanish

Course summary

Taking A Level Spanish allows students to reach a high level of fluency in one of the major international languages. From cinema and literature to history and politics, A Level Spanish will challenge you to think, and inspire you to delve ever deeper into the incredible diversity of cultures not only in Spain but also in Latin America The AQA Spanish A Level will introduce you to a wide range of topics of contemporary interest, including Social Issues and Trends, and Political and Artistic Culture in the Hispanic World. This means you will learn about a range of subtopics, including popular culture, regional customs and traditions, cyberspace, immigration and integration, the Spanish Civil War, Latin American dictatorships and contemporary social protest movements. You can expect to make rapid linguistic progress in your Language lessons, developing your skills in listening, reading, translation (from and into Spanish) and summary (from both audio and printed material). In your literature lessons, you will learn to write essays of critical analysis on Spanish literature and film. Set texts are the film Volver, by Pedro Almodóvar, and the play La Casa de Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca. Your oral lessons will prepare you for the oral examination, for which you will choose a topic to investigate for your research project. You are strongly encouraged to organise an independent visit to Spain or another Spanish-speaking country during the Lower Sixth year and we can advise on companies who offer work experience or language courses. Closer to home, there will be opportunities to visit exhibitions, lectures, films and plays, some of which may be organised by the department. At all times, you will be encouraged to listen to podcasts, watch films and keep up to date with Spanish and Latin American current affairs. In school, there is a lively debating club which prepares for the Spanish Debating Competition in the Spring Term. You may also run clubs for younger years, such as a Cinema club or Spanish Chats. Recent G&L students of Spanish have gone on to read Spanish at a variety of top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, either combining with another language (eg French or ab initio Portuguese or Arabic) or another discipline (eg Law, English, Maths, History, History of Art), as well as in the USA. The skills and experiences you gain on your Year Abroad are highly prized by employers.