Warren Hardy

Levels of Progression in Learning Spanish

Most people I teach have no concept of the levels of progression involved when they begin the process of learning Spanish. This is understandable because we come from a culture where people have not had to learn second languages. They say that they are going to take a Spanish course and expect that at the end of a 24 hour course that they are miraculously going to speak Spanish. This is true on one hand but is very unrealistic on another. This depends on your definition of “speaking Spanish.” This is why you need to understand the levels of progression in Spanish learning.

I have been in foreign countries where I did not speak a word of their language. I remember one time in Thailand when we were lost and it was getting dark. We were desperate. I would have paid a thousand dollars for just 20 words! Yes, just a few words of social protocol are worth a lot and can give comfort. In just 24 hours in our Level 1 course you learn a lot more than that.

In Level 1 you develop a vocabulary of about 300 words. You learn the 100 most common verbs and learn to combine them with Power Verbs, time frames, glue words, and miscellaneous nouns to create hundreds of sentences. You will be able to get the things you need and want but you will mess up a lot and will not make pretty sentences. BUT, you can get the things you need and want and that is all that counts. You are able to get by just fine and that is better than nothing (Referring back to our Thailand experience of absolute desperation because we new nothing.) But remember, you are in kindergarten.

In Level 2 you learn the word order of Spanish sentences and how to use pronouns. This is the true beginner class because this is where you learn the core of the Spanish language. You also learn the most important tense in Spanish; the Preterit or Simple Past. In Level 2 people feel a lot of constriction because the Preterit is not a conversational tense. It is a functional tense that allows you to get information about past time. Sentences in this tense are usually short, about five words and you use the pronouns a lot. Typical dialogues are two or three sentences. Some examples are: Did you bring me the key? Me trajiste la llave? Sí, te la traje. Yes, I brought it to you. Did you pay the bill? Pagaste la cuenta? Sí, la pagué. Yes, I paid it. Did you speak to Jose? Le hablaste a José? Sí, le hablé. Yes, I spoke to him.

The difficulty with level two is that the word order in Spanish is backwards and so you have to move into Spanish mind to be able to communicate. This takes a huge amount of repetition and Spanish practice. As a result students feel confused and constricted in this class.

The good news is that after Level 2 you know the structure of a Spanish sentence and never have to learn that again. You can look at any sentence and pick out the parts of speech. You can see the subject, the verb, the object pronouns and the nouns. This is a huge step forward and Spanish from now on will be fun and easy! Also you will begin to hear words separated as people speak.

After Level 2 you are at the high functional level in Spanish. That means that you are able to function in present, past, and future time. You still cannot carry on a conversation but you can get the things you need and want and get information about the past in Spanish. This is a good thing.

In Level 3 your break out! This is where you move into conversational Spanish. In Level 3 you learn the seven indicative tenses. When you can communicate in seven tenses you can begin to transfer your thoughts into Spanish. You have the tools to really converse, that means you can sit down and actually have a conversation with someone. You have the tools to begin to transfer you personality from English to Spanish. This is a big step forward and everything changes after Level 3 because you have moved into the Spanish conversational level.

After Level 4 you have learned all the Spanish tenses and how to use the pronouns. Your Spanish foundation work is completed and you are ready to develop you skills to higher levels by practicing Spanish with native speakers. Here are the levels of progression and their definitions.

1. Low functional Spanish

You know social protocol and are able to get things you need in present time. Most of the time you speak in short incomplete sentences. Your vocabulary is limited to basic objects and you have difficulty formulating questions. You can do this after the Warren Hardy Level 1 course.

2. High functional Spanish

You sometimes appear to be fluent with social protocol and are able to get things you need in present time, past and future time. You also know word order and can read and begin to hear different parts of speech such as nouns, from verbs, from pronouns. You can do this after Warren Hardy Level 2 but are still in the Spanish Beginners level.

3. Low conversational Spanish

You are fluent in social protocol. You can handle predictable situations. You can talk haltingly about yourself and your activities but your language is full of errors and your conversation is reactive. You are able to self correct or understand when others correct you. You are still working on delivering the proper verb forms and begin to enrich vocabulary. This is accomplished after Warren Hardy Level 3 and you are in the Intermediate level.

Practice and reading becomes an essential part of your process so you can see how the Spanish language is used in context. This is the Spanish skill development phase.

4. High conversational Spanish

You are fluid in straight forward social situations. You can discuss personal information, family, relations, home, daily activities, interests, and personal preferences. You are able to link ideas using the nine Spanish tenses while searching for adequate vocabulary and appropriate verb forms. This is accomplished after Warren Hardy Level 4 and you are moving from intermediate to advanced Spanish. Exposure to the Spanish language is essential to continue to develop. Reading, television, radio, continued coursework and practice with Spanish speaking natives are necessary to develop your skill in this level.

5. Fluid Spanish

You are able to converse in Spanish with ease and confidence when dealing with most routine tasks and social situations. You are able to narrate and describe in all Spanish tenses using discourse of paragraph length. You sometimes have hesitation going from tense to tense but most of the time your mind is creating language “in front of the verb form.” You are flowing. Fluidity comes from total Spanish immersion over an extended period of time. This is the highest level of progression in Spanish for most adult learners.

6. Fluent Spanish

You are able to speak fluently without hesitation in Spanish and English in most topics of discussion. To do this you must live in the culture and speak only Spanish for a year or more.

7. Bilingual Spanish and English

You grow up speaking both Spanish and English and assimilating both cultures simultaneously. Vocabulary is equal in both languages.

Well, there you have it. These are the levels of progression in acquiring Spanish as a second language. I hope this helps you to be more clear about your goals for learning Spanish. This process takes a lot of work but at the end of the day this is one of the most exciting and transformation experiences in the human experience. I have done it and have seen hundreds of people do it. I know how to get you there and as a teacher I have your best interests in mind.

As I start this dialogue I should tell you that I have been teaching Spanish to adults since 1970. Yikes, that is 37 years. I guess I have taught over 30,000 people in that period of time. That is amazing to me and what seems more amazing is that I still teach three hours a day six days a week and I still love it. In fact I continue to improve my craft and understand better how the adult mind acquires a second language. From this information you can be certain of two things. One is that I know what I am doing. Second is that I love teaching and have your success in mind.

I have developed a learning system that will provide you with the tools and a path that will make it easy for you to become a Spanish speaker. However, you have to use the tools and travel the path. If we work together, I can help you to fulfill your dream of speaking Spanish. Instead of just teaching you how to speak Spanish…I want to transform you into a Spanish speaker.

The journey to becoming a Spanish speaker began the minute you decided that you wanted to speak Spanish. I don´t know exactly what your goal is but there is something you should realize. By learning to speak Spanish you will actually improve the quality of life on the planet.

At Warren Hardy our mission is to positively change the world by providing the tools and path (the WH system) to those who commit to becoming a Spanish speaker. When this happens it will generate more communication between people and improve the well-being of humankind. I know that this sounds pretty altruistic but it is true. So what we are engaged in is not only important for you personally but for everyone on this planet. It IS important.

So lets talk about you and how you learn best. This Spanish learning system has been used used by thousands of people with great success. Each lesson builds on earlier ones and there is enough repetition to make sure that you retain what you study.

I have learned that people have different learning styles. Generally people are either artists or engineers. The artists among you are right-brain visual learners. You engineers are left-brain logical learners. No matter what your learning style, this system will teach you to read, write, and speak Spanish.

I encourage you to visit my website: www.warrenhardy.com online games for a free introductory lesson to deepen you understanding of what is being taught and how the system works.