If back in the 19th century anyone had said to Cervantes that his famous Don Quijote was going to be the world’s second most translated book (60 languages) he would have been taken aback and fallen from his chair in a catatonic state.
Nowadays, this is not a surprise for us since about half of the population in the Western Hemisphere speaks Spanish. Besides, in the whole of Europe, Spanish has become the second most studied language (after English) as a second form of speaking.
In order to stay competitive in our economically driven world, it is imperative to know more about other cultures and how they think.
There are advantages that sometimes we do not take into consideration when studying a second language. Moreover, we tend to focus on the most difficult aspects of it leaving aside the more easily acquired ones. Spanish has two very important pillars that make its learning easy: first of all, we cannot forget that Spanish is a romance language, as most European languages, and shares with them many similarities in grammar, structure and vocabulary. In addition to this, phonetically speaking, it is a nearly “perfect” language which makes it easy to learn.
The Spanish Department of St. Anthony’s College is well aware of all this and works conscientiously motivating our students not only to excel in the national exams, but also to be able to use and benefit from this language in everyday life.
ELE - Secondary Department
Throughout KS4 (GCSE) and KS5 (GCE) we work with the examining board Edexcel.
National Curriculum is taught at KS 3 and KS 4, always encouraging our students to achieve high standards of the language in GCSE, obtaining year after year excellent results.
Entry Level Certificate is also offered to students showing a high level of Spanish in Years 6 and 7 and to those who have not reached the required level for GCSE.
In Years 12 and 13 (GCE) our teachers focus on broadening the knowledge acquired in previous years. We understand that learning a language means understanding some fine culturally enriching aspects of society.
Fluent Spanish
St. Anthony’s College Spanish Section gives lessons in Spanish Language and Culture, essential for students, to know the Culture, History and Geography of the country they live in. Moreover, these studies are fundamental in obtaining the validation of British studies by the Spanish Ministry of Education, leading to Graduado en Educación Secundaria (GCSE equivalent) and Título de Bachiller Español (GCE equivalent).
Primary students in the Spanish Section study Lengua Española y Conocimiento del Medio, (Spanish language and social and environment) and in secondary school, Ciencias Sociales y Lengua Española y Literatura (social sciences and Spanish language and literature). These subjects have the same content and contact time as Spanish centres and, are also given by teachers with Spanish degrees under the supervision of the Spanish Education Authorities. As a result of these studies, the students in the Spanish Section obtain double accreditation: British (G.C.S.E. and G.C.E) and Spanish (Graduado en Educación Secundaria and Título de Bachiller).
Head of the Department: Don. Jose Aranda |
