El Idioma Español Y La Cultura Hispana: A Guide to the Spanish Language and the Hispanic World

Por Carrie McLaren y Frederick Keenan

EL IDIOMA ESPAOL Y LA CULTURA HISPANA: A GUIDE TO THE SPANISH LANGUAGE AND THE HISPANIC WORLD is an outstanding resource for any language learner. Authentic language is beautifully presented in context along with wonderfully-articulated and rich cultural content. Any trip through the Spanish-speaking world would be complemented by the learning that this great text will provide. A must-read for new and returning learners of Spanish. (James Steele, Course Director, Faculty of Education, York University)

EL IDIOMA ESPAOL Y LA CULTURA HISPANA is a fresh and unique approach to language learning and culture. It covers all of the grammatical tenses, vocabulary and current and historical facts that you will need to know for living and traveling in the Spanish-speaking world. The vocabulary is practical and based on everyday situations. The grammar is explained in an easy and comprehensible fashion with clear examples. The activities and exercises will help to solidify your knowledge and test your retention. Each chapter has a principal theme and also focuses on one of 20 countries in the world in which Spanish is an official language.

This Spanish textbook was written by two authors with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures. I am enthusiastic to see such a great publication. This is an exciting new book which thoroughly explores a variety of cultural themes and language structures. Opportunities are provided throughout for students to practice their oral communication skills via creative interactive speaking activities. (Usha Viswanathan, Professor, Centre for Language Training Studies in French, Glendon College)

EL IDIOMA ESPAOL Y LA CULTURA HISPANA teaches you not only how to speak Spanish but will also give you an in-depth knowledge and appreciation for Hispanic culture. It prepares you to be an informed visitor, not just a tourist, to all the countries of the Spanish-speaking world.

The unique and clever presentation of the Spanish language and culture from so many perspectives and countries was an engaging way to delve into learning. It captured the fun and global relevance of being multilingual. (Colin Schmidt, engineering graduate and travel enthusiast)

Purchase of this book includes a complimentary User Guide and access to a dedicated website of Spanish pronunciation.

Cover photo: Al Hilo del Tiempo, un mural colaborativo con vecinos y vecinas de Vitoria-Gasteiz dirigidos por Vernica y Christina Werckmeister en 2007. Parte del Itinerario Muralstico de Vitoria-Gasteiz

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: AuthorHouse
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 27 sept 2017
• ISBN: 9781524686673

Carrie McLaren

Frederick Keenan, a professional engineer, has worked and travelled over the past forty years in seventeen of the twenty Spanish-speaking countries focussed on in this book. The first decade concentrated on the five countries of the Andean Pact (and Paraguay) on a Canadian Government-supported collaboration to utilize the forest resources of the subregion for safe, economical and sustainable building materials. In the following three years, he was the Director of the Forest Industries Division, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and worked extensively in Latin America assisting countries to use their forest resources to obtain sustainable social and economic benefits. On his return to Canada, he became the Director of International Research at the University of Western Ontario and nurtured several programs of academic cooperation with universities and research institutes around the world, including the Hispanic world. During this time, he presented week-long workshops in Spanish on the management of international university cooperation at La Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia and La Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lectured in Spanish on sustainable forest utilization at the Instituto Técnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico and at the Junta del Acuerdo de Cartagena in Lima, Perú. (Publications resulting from these activities are listed at the front of the book). He keeps his Spanish up to date by periodic visits to El Centro Lingüístico Conversa in Santa Ana, Costa Rica, which involve intensive sessions with private tutors and home stays with local families who speak no English. In semi-retirement, he regularly presents case studies at the University of Western Ontario, London, that are set in Spanish-speaking countries. Carrie McLaren’s passion for languages has been a vital part of her successful career as a Spanish and French high school teacher. Head of the Modern Languages Department at Sir Oliver Mowat, Carrie has made lifelong learning a priority throughout her career. From international exchanges in Spain and Mexico and an immersion program in Costa Rica to continuing education courses at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Carrie has kept up-to-date on the current theories of modern language education. She brings this passion and knowledge to this new Spanish language textbook, which provides students with fun and easy-to-learn exercises designed to inspire the next generation of modern language learners. Carrie is currently working with Frederick in the creation of another Spanish book that will explore a variety of real life situations and experiences and how to cope with them.

Vista previa del libro

2017 Carrie McLaren and Frederick Keenan. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse    09/27/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8666-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8667-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017905876

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction to the Spanish Language & the Hispanic World

2. Schools & Cuba

3. Food, Drink & México

4. Leisure Time Activities & Argentina

5. Clothing & Guatemala

6. Family, Houses & Puerto Rico

7. Travel & La República Dominicana

Repaso de capítulos 1 - 7

8. Daily Routines & Panamá

9. Music, Dance & Bolivia

10. Body, Health & El Salvador

11. Media, Technology & Paraguay

12. Childhood & Uruguay

13. Directions, Means of Transport & Honduras

14. Festivals, Celebrations & Ecuador

Repaso de capítulos 8 - 14

15. The Environment & Costa Rica

16. Ancient Civilizations & Perú

17. Literature, the Arts & Colombia

18. Animals, Species in Danger of Extinction & Venezuela

19. Architecture & España

20. Development, Democracy & Nicaragua

21. Business & Chile

22. Usando su español

Acknowledgements

About the Authors and Editor

User Guide

There is a complimentary User Guide to accompany this book, which is available in electronic form upon request to the authors at [e-mail]

In the User Guide you will find the following:

• learning objectives and success criteria

• vocabulary lists and additional activities

• answers to all comprehension, practice and reflection questions

• suggested book, song and movie lists

• tips on how to incorporate technology in the classroom, including a list of useful links and helpful websites

Pronunciation Guide

There is also a dedicated website of recordings by a Spanish language teacher with mother tongue Spanish (Leyté González Navarro) of all the Pronunciation/Pronunciación exercises in this book. The links are keyed to the chapter you are using as follows:

https://soundcloud.com/user-827183871/el-idioma-espanol-y-la-cultura-hispana-pronunciation-chapters-1-7/s-VOL4C

https://soundcloud.com/user-827183871/el-idioma-espanol-y-la-cultura-hispana-pronunciacion-8-14/s-2jgWX

https://soundcloud.com/user-827183871/el-idioma-espanol-y-la-cultura-hispana-pronunciation-chapters-15-21/s-sfnQT

If you experience difficulty accessing these links, contact the authors at the above email address.

CAPÍTULO UNO

Introduction to the Spanish Language & the Hispanic World

Learning objectives for Capítulo Uno

When you have completed this chapter, you will:

• know how to greet people and say where you are from in Spanish

• know the Spanish alphabet and be able to spell your name

• know the subject pronouns

• conjugate one irregular verb ser (to be)

• know how to use the definite and indefinite articles

• be able to count up to 30

• know how to say the colours in Spanish

• correctly pronounce the names of the Spanish-speaking countries

• be familiar with the Spanish-speaking (Hispanic) world

• know how to use a dictionary

The Spanish-speaking world

Spanish (el español) is a true world language. Some 400 million people in the world speak Spanish as their first language and it’s the official language in 21 countries. Another 100 million people speak Spanish as a second language. This makes Spanish the third-most spoken language in the world, after Chinese and English. Within 50 years it is predicted that 10% of the world’s population will be speaking Spanish, including 50% of the population of the United States.

Canada, the United States and Mexico are the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and thus Spanish is an official language for commercial activity falling under the NAFTA agreement in all three countries. You will have noticed English, French and Spanish all used on the packaging of many products made in one of the NAFTA countries.

Spain is a member country of the European Union (EU), and consequently, Spanish is one of the official languages of the EU. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations organizations. It is also an official language of the Organization of American States, and of several major political and trade organizations in the Western Hemisphere and in other parts of the world.

The mother country of the Spanish-speaking world, of course, is Spain, where most people speak Castilian Spanish (el castellano), i.e. the version of Spanish originally spoken by the residents of the former Kingdom of Castile in the north of Spain and now throughout most of the rest of the country. The language has its origins in Latin, as do the other approximately two dozen Romance languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Romanian.

Here are the 21 countries that have Spanish as the official language. Go to the website for the Pronunciation Guide (see the page before Page 1), listen to how these country names are pronounced, and say them aloud until they sound right. The countries are listed in decreasing order of population, that is, the Spanish-speaking country with the greatest number of citizens (México) is listed first, and the country with the least number (Equatorial Guinea) is listed last.

And here are the flags of these 21 countries.

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There are several other countries in which many people speak Spanish, for example: Canada; the US apart from Puerto Rico; Brazil; the Philippines, which was once part of the Spanish Empire; Belize, a small English-speaking country in Central America that is surrounded by Spanish-speaking nations; and some islands in the Caribbean Sea. There are also some former Spanish possessions and current provinces in north-western Africa, such as parts of Morocco and Western Sahara, and the Canary Islands.

See the maps below and locate each of these Spanish-speaking countries (Equatorial Guinea, Spain and the Philippines are not shown).

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Central America and the Caribbean (CIA World Factbook)

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South America (CIA World Factbook)

Most of these countries speak Spanish because they were once part of the enormous and powerful Spanish Empire, which flourished in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

This textbook comprises 24 chapters, of which two are review chapters; also, there is an introductory chapter and a wrap-up chapter. This leaves 20 chapters. Twenty is exactly the number of countries having a population of one million people or more of which Spanish is the official language. (Equatorial Guinea, with a population of less than 700,000, is not included.)

Each chapter has a specific theme. Therefore we will focus on one country per chapter that, where possible, illustrates the general theme of the chapter. For example, the chapter of which the theme is schools and education is linked to Cuba, Mexico to cooking, Nicaragua to democracy, and ancient civilizations to Peru. Each of the countries in the Americas has developed in its own unique manner following its liberation from being colonies of Spain. You will learn Spanish with the help of this book as we discover how each Spanish-speaking country has evolved in its own remarkable and fascinating way.

What’s the difference between Hispanic and Spanish?

Hispanic (hispano or hispánico) broadly refers to the people, nations, and cultures that have a historic link to Spain. It applies to countries once colonized by the Spanish Empire. The Spanish language is the main commonality. In this book, the Hispanic world includes Spain and we use the term Spanish-speaking world to mean the same as Hispanic world.

Spanish (as an adjective) is used to refer to the people, nationality, culture and other things of Spain, and to the Spanish language.

Spanish (as a noun) is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers across the world. It is the language we will teach you in this book.

Some persons in Latin America do not appreciate being called Spanish, although Spanish-speaker is acceptable.

Country reflections

For each of the 21 countries listed below that have Spanish as an official language, determine:

a) the region that the country is located in; your choices are: Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Central America & the Caribbean; and

b) the major body(ies) of water on which the country has shorelines (for some countries, there may be more than one major body of water, or even none); your choices are: Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Landlocked.

Conversaciones en contexto

Diálogo 1 ¿Cuál es tu nombre?

The bolded words are examples of grammatical points that are explored in this chapter.

It is the first day of classes at an international school that hosts students from many different Spanish-speaking countries. See how students introduce themselves and say where they are from.

Preguntas de comprensión

1. ¿Cómo se llama la maestra?

2. ¿De dónde es Ana Flores Díaz?

3. ¿Cuál es el nombre de la persona de Costa Rica?

4. ¿De dónde es Pedro Méndez Peña?

5. ¿Cómo se llama la persona de Guatemala?

Hablamos

Get to know other people by introducing yourself to them in Spanish.

Extensión

You are a new student at the international school and you don’t speak very much Spanish. Create a dialogue in which you introduce yourself to someone. Ask them what their name is and where they are from.

Countries and their capital cities

On the Pronunciation Guide, listen to (and repeat) the proper pronunciation of both the countries and their capitals.

Play a popular car game where the first person says the name of a Spanish-speaking country or city and the last letter of that city or country will be the letter you use to come up with another city or country. If you get stuck, simply start over. For example: España –Argentina, Argentina – Asunción…

Vocabulario nuevo

Diálogo 2 ¿Cómo estás tú?

The bolded words are examples of grammatical points that are explored in this chapter.

Here are different people from different Spanish-speaking countries talking on the phone. See how they answer the phone when they are in different countries.

Preguntas de comprensión

1. ¿Cómo está Marta?

2. ¿Cuál es la dirección de Eduardo y Carmen?

3. ¿Cuándo es el cumpleaños de Jonatán?

4. ¿Quién celebra su cumpleaños el primero de junio?

5. ¿De dónde es Eduardo?

Hablamos

Introduce yourself to someone in your class and ask them how they are doing in Spanish.

Extensión

Role-play two students or friends talking on the phone. Greet the person who answers the phone and ask for the other person.

Here is a list of the students’ telephone numbers

Silvia Ramírez Torres: 55463685

Ana Flores Díaz: 80727291

Pedro Méndez Peña: 22301466

Raúl Ortiz Guzmán: 22580103

Carina Álvarez Cruz: 22883380

Jaime Smith: 22884466

Vocabulario nuevo

El alfabeto

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters in total. Listen to (and repeat) the proper pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet.

Práctica A

With a partner, take turns spelling the following names. Follow the example. Ej: ¿Cómo se escribe tu nombre? Mi nombre se escribe Profesora Suárez (pe-ere-o-efe-e-ese-o-ere-a ese-u-a-ere-e-zeta).

Práctica B

Using the phonetic alphabet, spell out the words below. Follow the example. Ej: Apellido a-pe-e-ele-ele-i-de-o

Los colores

Here are the colours labelled in Spanish. Listen to (and repeat) the proper pronunciation.

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The word for light is claro in Spanish. For example; light green is verde claro.

The word for dark is oscuro in Spanish. For example; dark green is verde oscuro.

Práctica A

With a partner, take turns saying the colours of the flags of Spanish-speaking countries. Follow the example. Ej: ¿De qué color es la bandera de México? Los colores de la bandera de México son verde, blanco y rojo.

Práctica B

Write down all the colours in Spanish that are in each item listed below. Follow the example. Ej: The clock in the classroom __blanco y negro__________________

1. Your eye colour___________

2. A chair in the room___________

3. The blackboard___________

4. A rainbow___________

5. Your favourite book or magazine___________

6. What you are wearing___________

7. Your pencil case___________

8. Your backpack or bag___________

Los números, los meses y los días de la semana

Here are the numbers from 0 to 30, the days of the week, and the months for you to learn. Listen to the proper pronunciation and repeat as each one is pronounced.

SEPTIEMBRE

• The number 0 is cero in Spanish.

• *The numbers 16, 22, 23 and 26 all take a graphic accent. One way to remember these numbers is that 2 x 3 = 6.

• All of the days are masculine. Wednesday and Saturday both take a graphic accent in Spanish.

• You never capitalize the days of the week or the months in Spanish unless they are used to start a sentence.

• The word for first is primero in Spanish. You will learn the other ordinal numbers in Capítulo Dos.

Práctica A

With a partner, take turns saying what day of the week it is using the September calendar above. Follow the example. Ej: 8 ¿Qué día es hoy? Hoy es jueves.

Práctica B

Write out the following addresses in Spanish. Follow the example. Ej: 3#20 Calle _3_ número _20_

tres             veinte

1. 12 #25__________________________                    6. 07 #20___________________________

2. 26 #13__________________________                    7. 21 #10___________________________

3. 08 #16__________________________                    8. 02 #25___________________________

4. 23 #03__________________________                    9. 24 #11___________________________

5. 19 #30__________________________                    10. 09 #22__________________________

Los pronombres personales

Here is the list of the subject pronouns that you will need in order to conjugate verbs and write your very first sentences in Spanish.

• Nosotras, vosotras and ellas are used to refer to a group of women or girls only.

• Tú is used to refer to one person whom you know or are familiar with. It can also be used with people who are the same age as you or younger.

• Vosotros and vosotras are used only in Spain to refer to a two or more people whom you know or are familiar with, excluding yourself.

• Usted (Ud.) and ustedes (Uds.) are used when you want to show respect to the person or group of people or if you have never met them.

There are some countries, such as Costa Rica, where usted is used more often than tú even when you know the person. When in doubt, it is always better to use the usted form unless the other person tells you that you may use tú ("tutear" them).

Práctica A – You

With a partner, say which form of you you should use in each of the situations below. Follow the example. Ej: your brother – tú; two strangers - ustedes

Práctica B

Translate the following subject pronouns into Spanish. Follow the example. Ej: She - Ella

El verbo ser

The verb to be in Spanish has two forms in Spanish: ser and estar. In this chapter you will learn the verb ser and in Capítulo Cinco you will learn the verb estar.

• Ser is an irregular verb and as such, it must be memorized.

• To say that you don’t do an action, you simply put "no" in front of the verb. Ejemplo: No soy de Costa Rica, soy de Ecuador.

Uses

Ser is used to describe more permanent or long term things such as:

descriptions – Yo soy alto. (I am tall.)

gender - Yo soy una mujer. (I am a woman.)

religion – Yo soy católico. (I am Catholic.)

nationality – Yo soy canadiense. (I am Canadian.)

date – Hoy es lunes. (Today is Monday.)

time – ¿Qué hora es? Es la una. (What time is it? It is one o’clock.)

profession – Yo soy profesor. (I am a teacher.)

materials that items are made of – La mesa es de madera. (The table is made of wood.)

possession - ¿De quién es el libro? Es de Elena. (Whose book is it? It is Elena’s.)

relationships - Ella es mi amiga. (She is my friend.)

location taking place - La fiesta es en la casa de Juan. (The party is at Juan’s house.)

Práctica A

With a partner, translate the following. Follow the example. Ej: I am = yo soy

Práctica B

Provide the correct subject pronoun for each verb. Follow the example. Ej: __Tú____ eres

Los artículos definidos e indefinidos

The definite article is the equivalent of the word the in English and it agrees in gender (masculine and feminine) and in number (singular and plural) with the noun that it modifies.

The indefinite article is the equivalent of the words a or some in English and, like the definite articles, it agrees in gender and in number with the noun that it modifies.

It is a good idea to learn the definite articles together with the nouns so that you remember the gender of each new word that you learn.

Práctica A

With a partner, take turns providing the definite and indefinite articles for each of the nouns below. Follow the example. Ej: médico = el médico y un médico

Práctica B

Translate the following sentences providing the appropriate definite or indefinite articles. Follow the example. Ej: ___los__ chicos = the boys

Translation using dictionaries

Until you have finally perfected your Spanish language skills, you will undoubtedly be using dictionaries – either online or on paper – to help you translate back and forth between English and Spanish. And so, it is important for you to know how to use a dictionary properly. Here are a few tips to help you.

1. When you look up a word, don’t just pick the first translation provided. Read through all of the choices and look at the examples provided to determine if this is the translation that you really want.

For example, if you translate the English noun principal into Spanish, it could be el director of a school, el rector of a university, el capital in finance, la protagonista in a movie, or la primera in an orchestra. This is why machine translations can sometimes provide hilarious mistranslations.

2. When you are choosing among the choices, it is essential to know which parts of speech you are using. Here they are with the abbreviations for them that are commonly used in dictionaries.

(with or without the period)

Why does this matter? Continuing with the above example, translate the Spanish word principal into English. If principal is a Spanish adjective, it means first or foremost. If principal is a Spanish noun, it means the boss or the chief, or even the first floor.

3. All nouns (n.) will be in the singular form and will tell you if a noun is masculine (m.) or feminine (f.) or both (common).

4. All adjectives (adj.) will be the masculine singular form, so remember to change the endings accordingly.

5. All verbs (v.) will be in the infinitive form so before looking up the meaning of a verb, you will first need to remember its infinitive. If you don’t know this, there is usually a grammar section provided in many dictionaries now.

6. All adverbs (adv.) will be in the singular form.

7. If you come across a word or expression that has multiple meanings, it is a good idea to look it up in the Spanish-English section as well. Using both halves of the dictionary is a great way to expand your vocabulary and understanding.

8. Many dictionaries will also include various sections that you may find useful.

a. alphabet

b. numbers (including time and date, weights and measurements)

c. maps

d. pronunciation

e. tips on writing in both languages including samples of different styles

CAPÍTULO DOS

Schools & Cuba

Learning objectives for Capítulo Dos

When you have completed this chapter, you will be able to:

• know the meaning of more than 100 words in Spanish, especially the basic vocabulary used for your classroom and your education

• conjugate the first category of regular verbs (the AR verbs)

• count up to 1000

• tell time using both the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock

• use hay

• use cognates, i.e. words that are similar in Spanish and English, to improve your reading comprehension

• correctly pronounce the letter A in Spanish

• talk about Cuba: its history, heroes, politics, localismos, economy, and achievements, especially its excellent education system

Return, for a moment, to the maps near the beginning of Capítulo Uno and locate Cuba. Here is an enlarged view of the country:

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Cuba (CIA World Factbook)

Vocabulario – En la sala de clase

Conversaciones en contexto

Diálogo 1 - ¿Qué clase?

The bolded words are examples of grammatical points that are explored in this chapter.

Two students, Juan and Leyté, are talking in the cafeteria about their classes and what they need to bring:

J = Juan                    L = Leyté

J: - Hola Leyté.

L: - Hola Juan.

J: - ¿Qué estudias (tú)?

L: - Yo estudio álgebra porque es muy difícil. ¿Y tú?

J: - Yo estudio inglés. ¿Qué necesitas (tú) para la clase de matemáticas?

L: - Pues, yo necesito un cuaderno, un lápiz, un borrador y una calculadora. ¿Y tú?

J: - Para la clase de inglés yo necesito un diccionario, un libro, un bolígrafo y unas hojas de papel.

L: - ¿Quién es tu profesor de inglés?

J: - Mi profesora es la Señora Páez. ¿Quién es tu profesor de matemáticas?

L: - Mi profesor es el Señor Ramírez.

J: - ¿Cuántos estudiantes hay en tu clase?

L: - Hay cuarenta estudiantes en mi clase. ¿Y en la tuya?

J: - Hay treinta y cinco estudiantes en mi clase.

L: - ¿Qué hora es?

J: - ¡Uf! Son las cinco y media y necesito ir a mi casa.

L: - ¡Hasta luego Juan!

J: - ¡Adiós Leyté!

Preguntas de comprensión

1. ¿Qué estudian Juan y Leyté?

2. ¿Qué necesita Juan para la clase de inglés?

3. ¿Qué es necesario para una clase de matemáticas?

4. ¿Quién es la profesora de inglés?

5. ¿Qué hora es?

Hablamos

Ask two other people what their favourite class is, and why, in Spanish.

Extensión

Create a dialogue about your first day in Spanish class.

Here is a list of different languages for you to learn.

Remember that you do not capitalize the names of languages in Spanish.

el inglés = English

el francés = French

el español = Spanish

el italiano = Italian

el alemán = German

el portugués = Portuguese

el japonés = Japanese

el chino = Chinese

el ruso = Russian

Vocabulario nuevo

Cuba at a glance

• Population: 11.4 million

• Land area: 110,860 sq. km

• Languages: Spanish

• Ethnic groups: mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1%

• Religions: nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to Fidel Castro assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, and Santería are also represented

• Capital: Ciudad Habana (Havana City)

Source: The World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

Cuba & education

Two of the main pillars of the Cuban Revolution have been education and public health. As a result, Cuba now boasts some of the highest rates of literacy and health care among the developing countries of the Spanish-speaking world. The Cuban adult literacy rate is essentially 100%. Moreover, recent studies have shown that primary school students in Cuba have high achievement levels in mathematics, reading and sciences.

In Cuba, general education is free of charge, compulsory and guaranteed for all children, including those with special needs, up to grade 9. After that, education may continue until graduation from any vocational, technical or professional school, institute or university that permits transition to a job. Continuation of studies is guaranteed, registration is free and resources varied depending on the level and area of studies.

The system is organized and directed by the government through the Ministry of Education with national jurisdiction, the provincial and municipal administrative offices for general education, and the Ministry of Higher Education that governs the universities and higher institutes.

Children start at five years of age in preschool and general education is divided into three cycles: grades 1 to 4, grades 5 and 6, and grades 7 to 9. They have to pass exams in grades 2, 4 and 6 to graduate from elementary school and the three years in secondary studies in order to move on to the next level. Exams for grades 6 and 9 are prepared at the municipal level and grade 12 exams are prepared at the provincial level. Resource availability, including information technology, vary across the island; subjects like English as a Second Language, for example, are in the curriculum from grade 2, but often get scrapped due to the lack of teachers. Nowadays, there are a number of private tutoring initiatives authorized by the government at different levels that are reassuring a higher quality and resources for those who need extra help to pass exams and can afford the service.

After general education is finished, students have many different alternatives from not pursuing any further education, passing from sciences, sports, arts, military, teaching and music vocational schools, to general pre-university schools. Most of them cover grades 10 to 12. Some of their graduates move on to the work force, others continue to a higher level of professional and technical education or to university. Most of those schools follow the boarding school model that includes some form of work practice. University candidates need to pass nationally administered entry exams in Spanish, mathematics and history of Cuba in order to be accepted in the different universities where there is also the possibility of working and studying part time.

Most university degrees are achieved in five years, except medical studies that require six years and include professional practice. La Universidad de la Habana, founded in 1728, is one of the oldest universities in the Americas.

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Dra. Vilma Páez Pérez, former Vicedecana, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Holguín, and Leyté González Navarro, BEd, OCT, kindly contributed much of the material in the Cuba & Education section of this chapter. Dra. Páez Pérez provided the above photograph of Cuban students: this picture was taken on the last day of school, on which students are allowed to arrange their hair any weird way they like. All students wear school uniforms, with the bright colours denoting their grade level.

Vocabulario – el horario

Diálogo 2 El horario

The bolded words are examples of grammatical points that are explored in this chapter.

Two students, Vilma and Elianis, are talking about their class schedules:

V = Vilma                E = Elianis

V: - ¿Cómo estás, Elianis?

E: - Estoy muy bien. ¿Y tú, Vilma?

V: - Estoy más o menos.

E: - ¿Por qué, Vilma?

V: - Porque mi horario es horrible.

E: - ¿Cuál es tu primera clase?

V: - Mi primera clase es matemáticas. ¿Y la tuya?

E: - Mi primera clase es inglés.

V: - ¿A qué hora es tu clase de educación física?

E: - Es en la tercera hora. ¿Y la tuya?

V: - Es en la séptima hora.

E: - ¿Cuál es tu última clase del día?

V: - Mi última clase es geografía con la Profesora Pérez.

E: - Ella es muy simpática. Ella siempre ayuda mucho a los estudiantes.

V: - ¡Sí! ¿Cuál es tu clase preferida, Elianis?

E: - Mi clase preferida es arte. ¿Y la tuya Vilma?

V: - ¡El almuerzo!

E: - ¿Hay clase ahora?

V: - No, no hay más clases por hoy.

E: - ¡Por fin! ¡Hasta mañana Vilma!

V: - ¡Chao Elianis!

Preguntas de comprensión

1. ¿Cómo se llaman las chicas?

2. ¿De dónde son?

3. ¿Qué idiomas habla Vilma?

4. ¿Qué hora es?

5. ¿Cuál es la clase preferida de Vilma y por qué?

Hablamos

Ask a classmate to tell you what classes they have today and tell them which ones you have in Spanish.

Extensión

Role play: a disorganized student who never knows what class he/she has or what to bring.

Here is a list of the different rooms and hallways within a school that that you will need to know:

el primer piso = first floor

el segundo piso = second floor

la planta baja = main floor

la biblioteca = library

la cafetería = cafeteria

el gimnasio = gymnasium

la sala de clase = classroom

el taller = workshop

el auditorio = auditórium

el laboratorio = laboratory

el edificio = building

Vocabulario nuevo

Introduction to Cuba

In 1492 Christopher Columbus, with his three small ships, was the first European visitor to Cuba. The island, the largest in the Caribbean Sea, became a colony of Spain for the next four centuries. Spanish settlers enslaved the indigenous people on the island, who almost completely disappeared due to European-introduced disease, forced labour, and other mistreatment. With the destruction of aboriginal society, the settlers began to exploit African slaves, who soon made up a large proportion of the inhabitants.

Later, the annual treasure fleets of gold and silver from