This course is part of the Intermediate Spanish: Culture and Leisure ExpertTrack
Intermediate Spanish: Heritage and Popular Culture
Discover the rich cultural heritage of the Spanish-speaking worlds with a focus on popular cultural expressions.
Duration
4 weeksWeekly study
4 hours100% online
How it worksIncluded in an ExpertTrack
Course 3 of 3
Intermediate Spanish: Heritage and Popular Culture
Uncover what gives Spanish-speaking communities their cultural identity
On this course you’ll develop your knowledge of popular cultural expressions in Spanish-speaking worlds, from traditions and customs, to popular music and TV, learning vital vocabulary and structures along the way.
Learn about cultural heritage, customs, traditions, and celebrations
You’ll discover the importance of tradition and customs in Spanish-speaking worlds within local, national, and international dimensions, including symbols and rituals in well-known festivals.
You’ll also learn about more personal celebrations including birthdays, marriages, and other family occasions. Practical activities will help you talk and write about these using the past tense.
Putting your new skills into action, you’ll practice giving short written or oral presentations on cultural subject matters such as celebrations. This will help you develop listening strategies to engage in authentic conversations.
Explore Latin music and rhythms
You’ll gain new skills to talk about music, including naming instruments, types of music, and places where it can be heard. You’ll broaden your knowledge of Latin music, unravelling its roots and socio-political links.
You’ll investigate how influences from native America, Africa, and Europe have evolved to create distinctive Latin rhythms, such as tango, merengue, salsa, bachata, or flamenco.
Discover popular TV shows in Latin American countries and Spain
You’ll examine some well-known television programmes including comedies, telenovelas (serial dramas) and TV series in Latin American countries and Spain, and use your new language skills to reflect on the impact of these on modern Spanish-speaking societies.
You’ll end this course with an exciting opportunity to apply your new language skills in the creation and narration of your own short story.
What topics will you cover?
- Customs, traditions, and celebrations
- Myths and legends
- Origin and roots of Latin and Spanish music expressions
- Telenovelas and popular TV series as part of Spanish and Latin American cultural expression
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Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Develop your ability to understand written and spoken Spanish
- Apply understanding of areas of Spanish grammar
- Develop your receptive and productive Spanish vocabulary
- Explore social practices, rituals and festive events of communities and groups living in Spain and Latin American countries
- Develop your ability to engage and discuss traditions and customs in Spain and Latin American countries
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for those who are at Level A2, working towards Level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Learners should feel confident to use the language in most situations likely to arise while travelling in the worlds of Spanish.
The OU’s language ExpertTracks are designed to help you progress with each one you study. It’s suggested you work through them in order to effectively develop your language skills.
Learners would benefit from having completed Intermediate Spanish: People and Places before taking this ExpertTrack.
Who will you learn with?
A lecturer in the School of Languages & Applied Linguistics at The Open University with extensive experience in designing and applying online teaching materials. Esther is also a freelance translator.
Who developed the course?
The Open University
As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.
Established
1969Location
Milton Keynes, UKWorld ranking
Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020
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- Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
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- Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
- Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
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Learning on FutureLearn
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- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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