Working People’s Spanish
Are You Interested in Learning or Improving Your Spanish?
The Portland Restaurant Workers Association (PRWA) is proud supporter of Working People’s Spanish, a community focused language program offering donation based, highly interactive Spanish Language/Conversation classes.
Recommended donation is $7 per class. Reserve your place in class with a One Month Pass, $25 suggested donation, or a 10 Class Pass, suggested donation $45. No one turned away for lack of funds. Drop-Ins welcome on first-come first-serve basis.
To receive more information about the classes, email Crystal at ctenty1@gmail.com.
March 2010 Schedule:
| Class Level: | Day & Time: | Location: |
| Intermediate | Wednesday, 6:30-8:00pm | Laughing Horse Books 12 NE 10th Ave. Portland, OR |
| Spanish-English Dual Immersion | Thursdays, 6:30-7:30pm | Madison High School (Sun Program) 2735 NE 82nd Ave (82nd and Halsey) Portland, OR |
Intermediate: Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00pm
This course is designed for beginner students that are ready to take the next step forward in acquiring Spanish as a second language. The diverse activities designed for this course will focus on improving the understanding of Spanish grammatical concepts and the comprehension/production of the target language. There will also be a focus on informal non-prescriptive use of Spanish such as idiomatic expressions, slang, and dialectical variations of the language. There will be some attention paid to linguistic themes but they will not be heavily explored. The main purpose of the class is to provide the student with a strong foundation in the language and the necessary resources to independently further their acquisition outside of a instructional setting.
Homework: There will be no expectations to complete homework for this course, however outside studying is encouraged to reinforce concepts covered in class. There will be plenty of materials and resources available for students who would like out of class studying activities.
Materials: There will be many materials used in the class, all of which will be provided by the instructor. Bring paper and a pencil for notes!
To the student: Everybody is welcome in this class including drop-ins. Students attending this class should already have some of the basics down and be able to express themselves comfortably in the Spanish present tense. Each week a new theme/concept will be introduced, so the class will go at a fairly quick pace. Unless the class as a whole would like to explore a concept/theme in more detail or if any other accommodations need to be made this pace will be maintained. Since we only have around two hours a week of in-class time there will be a strong focus on the production of the language, so be prepared to participate!
Instructor Bio: My name is Will Touhey, I’m an undergrad student at Portland State University majoring in Spanish and Applied Linguistics. I’ve been involved with this program for around a year and a half now and I am super stoked on helping people learn this beautiful and increasingly important language. I have been studying Spanish for around five years now and have lived and studied spanish abroad in Mérida, Venezuela.
Pronunciation: TBD
Description: The class will focus on building up pronunciation skills, bettering the ability to communicate more fluently, and provide a base for everyday interactions. The class is indented to be as dynamic as possible, where the teacher same as the students play an active role in the discussions, and different activities involving the class.
Teaching Style: The class should be a two way street where the teacher and the students should work together to ensure the success of the class. Classes are to be dynamic and interactive where the students as well as the teacher are expected to be active members during all class activities.
Level: medium (intermediate) to high (advance).
Content: The class objective is to help students better their ability to speak Spanish by providing them with skills to improve their pronunciation, and ability to speak comfortably.
Skills Focus: Mixture. There will be reading, writing, and comprehension; as well as, listening, discussion, and conversation.
Open classes: Students can come and go as they want, and any new students are welcomed as long as the class limit hasn’t been reached.
Restrictions\Requirements: The class limit is eight (8) people. This in an intermediate/advance course, so students must be able to form well-structure sentences, and be able to express them with a certain level of comfort. To assure a high level of success for the class students must be willing to participate as much as possible. Respect between one and another is required.
Materials: A variety of materials are to be use in class. Some of the class’s material will be given to students. Ex: Songs, Poems.
Instructor Bio: My name is Daniel and I am from Caracas, Venezuela. I started teaching around a year ago; teaching is something that has always been interesting to me, and I also enjoy doing it. My main interest is to create a two way street relationship with students, so the learning and the effort to make this class work at is best comes from for both parties. That way we can make this class to be as helpful and as successful as possible for the students and the teacher as well.
Spanish-English Dual Immersion: Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm
Description: This is an all-level class with both English and Spanish speakers, facilitated by two bilingual coordinators. Both languages are used throughout the class, generally switching back and forth between English and Spanish. You have to experience it. Think of a dance class, where you switch partners and practice your moves. Why learn from a book, when you could be talking to people!
Teaching Style: Facilitators give tasks to the group for interacting with each other. The class has highly structured activities in order to ensure that both languages are used about equally, that everyone participates and has fun, and that all levels can participate.
Content: The content will be determined during the class by asking the participants, and often determined by the facilitators
Skills Focus: Listening is HIGHLY emphasized. Even at advanced levels, understanding the natural rate of speech is difficult and requires lots of practice. This course gives you access to native speaker’s speech. For more advanced participants, you will be focusing on your technical accuracy in writing, pronunciation, and spoken grammar. This is *not* a conversation class – though you will have lots of opportunities to practice skills which will facilitate your conversation abilities!
Open or Closed classes: Classes are open to all levels, all participants, but drop in is discouraged. Stability is a key factor, so please contact the instructor beforehand at hearusnow@gmail.com
Restrictions\Requirements: This class is free, since we are working with other programs. You will be asked to commit to a four-week block in order to keep the number of participants equal.
Materials: Bring writing materials, the rest will be provided by the instructor
Instructor Bio: Patrik Kilpatrick is a teacher of English for Non-Native Learners. He is coordinating a new project called Bridge of Language (find us on facebook!). He believes that people learn languages best when they have ample access to friendly native speakers. There are lots of Spanish speakers wanting to learn English, and lots of English speakers wanting to learn Spanish – why don’t we bring them together?
