Intermediate Spanish II: Telenovelas and

This is an intermediate II-level that fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. It is a project-based course that integrates the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture through the study and the creation of a serial audiovisual fiction product, such as a soap opera (telenovela) or a series.

The class project consists of filming a three-episode original telenovela in Spanish. Students work in groups to film the episodes as scriptwriters, directors, cinematographers, camerapersons, and actors.

During the course, we will watch different soap operas (telenovelas) and series that will serve as inspiration for the students' creations. The course explores these products as cultural objects and vehicles of history and ideology as well as language samples of different varieties of Spanish, not only in terms of geographical differences but also of social ones. We will watch and analyze classics such as Yo soy Betty, la fea (I am Betty la Fea) to modern ones such as La casa de las flores (The House of Flowers). All genres will be covered: melodramas, action, science fiction, comedies, and parodies, in productions from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. As they are not intended for language learning but for non-learners, students can address the challenge of listening to and understanding authentic cultural products with the help of an instructor and a project.

The course's language content is the same as the intermediate II syllabus of the Spanish Program of the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, with some additions, especially in interaction, cinematography, and audiovisual fiction.

At the end of the semester, and according the expectations of an intermediate level, the students should be able to…

1. Work as a team in Spanish.
2. Understand and discuss the contents and ideologies present in Latin American audiovisual fiction.
3. Create (Write a script, act and film) an audiovisual fiction product in Spanish.
4. Participate in conversations about personal topics, feelings, and emotions.
5. Summarize the main topics of various types of cultural texts for a speaker of my language.
6. Have the resources to express opinions in debates on course topics.
7. Be able to self-assess my own linguistic production and that of my classmates.
8. Understand and produce oral and w