This course is an introduction to Spanish phonetics and phonology. The main goal of this class is to help you improve your speaking skills with a focus on pronunciation. You will learn about the sound patterns of Spanish and phonetic transcription and will apply this new knowledge to the improvement of your pronunciation. You will be required to complete oral and written homework and four written exams. The oral component includes both focused pronunciation practice of target sounds, and open-ended speaking/conversational tasks. You will record a sample of your Spanish at the beginning and end of the semester. You and the professor will meet in the early part of the term to go over your recording to determine what areas of your pronunciation need the most attention. You will meet again with the professor at the end of the term to assess how the features of your Spanish pronunciation may have improved after one term of instruction.

This course counts as elective credit toward the Spanish minor.

Class Format:

For Fall 2021: During certain periods of the term, we will engage in large discussions about the course content in an in-person format; during other periods of the term, we will engage in activities where students collaborate in small-group activities via breakout sessions in Zoom.