Spanish
Speaking Spanish can open a door to a whole new world! Spanish is one of the Modern Languages offered at AESG; it is a wonderful language to learn and is always a very popular choice with our students. Pupils will not only become confident in their ability to communicate in Spanish, but will also learn about the vibrant culture of Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. There are some great opportunities to take part in educational trips – in recent years we have visited Madrid and Barcelona to experience the culture, food, art and of course the sunshine of these fabulous Spanish cities.
We are very pleased with our excellent examination results in recent years:
97% of girls have achieved grades A* - C for their GCSE in Spanish and 49% achieved grades A* or A.
At A level all our students have achieved grades A* - C and 64% achieved grade A.
The IGCSE course builds on and develops the skills already learnt and pupils will study topic areas such as food, health and fitness; the environment; careers and employment and tourism at home and abroad. The IGCSE examination tests all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Girls have the opportunity to speak regularly with our Spanish speaking assistant and greatly enjoy and benefit from speaking with a ‘real’ native speaker, gaining insights into the culture of the Spanish speaking world as well as improving their accent and pronunciation. Pupils use ICT increasingly to improve their language skills and can work independently on these resources as well as during lessons in the languages ICT suite.
Fascinating FactsFascinating Facts
- Spanish is one of the world’s major languages with as many first language speakers as English.
- By 2050 the number of Spanish speakers world wide is expected to increase to 530 million, with the Spanish speaking population of the USA alone currently increasing at more than 1 million a year.
- Fútbol is the most popular spectator sport in Spain. Fans often crowd homes and local bars to watch important matches.
- In Spain, people eat lunch at around 2 pm, and dinner at 9-10 pm.
- Spanish is by no means the only language spoken in Spain. Some other languages are Catalan, Valencian, Galician, and the Basque language.
- Spain has one of the most diverse landscapes and climates in Europe. The region of AlmerÃa in the South East resembles a desert in places, while the North West in winter can expect rain around 20 days out of every month.
- Bullfighting is considered an art as well as a sport and popular attraction. It is also the biggest and most controversial sport in Spain and is an integral part of Spanish history, art and culture with bull rings in many major cities.
- There are no tooth fairies in Spain. Instead, there is a tooth mouse named Ratoncito Pérez.
- The popular Spanish drink sangrÃa is named because of its blood-red colour. The word in Spanish for blood is sangre.