Upon successful completion of the program, students would be expected to be able to communicate about familiar things, events and opinions, and to have developed skills and strategies for continuing their learning of the language in Spanish-speaking countries. Those students with prior knowledge of Spanish, who enter the program at a higher level, would be expected to be able to communicate comfortably on a wide range of themes, with the ability to adjust their language according to social variables such as formality, age and status. There are six hours of language classes per week. By the end of the subject, students would be expected to have achieved 'elementary proficiency' and be able to satisfy immediate communication needs required in basic social interaction, using expressions and phrases they have learnt. The program allows for the development of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and an understanding of the sociocultural contexts in which the language is used.
Students gain, in particular, an awareness of the background of Hispanic countries.
Students also develop strategies for predicting the meaning of new expressions and anticipating ways they might express new meanings. Spanish 1 consists of 78 hours of classroom instruction. The approach adopted is communicative and provides students with many opportunities to interact and use the language in various social and cultural contexts. Audiovisual equipment and computers will be used to facilitate learning. By the end of the subject, students would be expected to have achieved 'minimum survival proficiency' in speaking, listening, reading and writing, and be able to satisfy immediate communication needs and minimum courtesy requirements in basic social interactions.