Conversational Spanish

Our Conversational Spanish class will help you learn to pronounce Spanish words correctly, with emphasis on vowels and certain troublesome consonants for English speakers. The course will address common tag questions and answers, learning kernel sentences with multiple interchangeable suffixes, and vocabulary building of essential nouns, adjectives, and verbs. There will be repetitions and drills of key phrases, as well as the opportunity to learn easy songs in Spanish as a means of increasing Spanish vocabulary.

In addition, the instructor will give short lectures on Spanish and Latin American customs, manners and etiquette. This will be complemented by short overviews of the history, geography, politics and religions of the region. At the conclusion of the course, there will be a voluntary outing to a local Mexican restaurant to practice ordering a meal in Spanish.

Please Note: This class cannot be used for credit toward any of our degree programs. If you have questions about foreign language requirements, please speak with an advisor.

Required Materials

Students should purchase a paperback Spanish-English dictionary or download a similar dictionary app for consultation.

About the Instructor

Jerry Scott is a retired foreign service officer FSO-1 (1967-1994) with the U.S. State Department. During his career, Mr. Scott served in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. He was the director of four overseas American cultural centers during his career, where his duties involved the overseeing of English and Spanish courses as a foreign language. He has conducted multiple training seminars for English as a Second Language teachers. He holds a certificate in English-language teaching from the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. State Department and has attended numerous seminars of language teaching and linguistics. He was rated outstanding in Spanish speaking and reading ability by the testing staff of the Foreign Service. His duties also included serving as an escort interpreter for official Spanish-speaking delegations to the U.S. Mr. Scott founded and served as CEO of the Scott School of English for Hispanics in Annandale, VA, from 2001-2006.