A1 overview

Level A1 consists of courses A1.1, A1.2, lasting 30 hours each: 60 hours in total.

To complete level A1, you must pass all its constituent courses. The placement test guides entry into the appropriate course. Weekly enrolment does not in itself amount to passing a course or the entire level.

Course certificates are issued by Hablo itself. The progress tests and assessments required to obtain them are internal and created by the teaching team; they are not official DELE or SIELE certification exams.

General objectives and content for the level

General objectives:

At this level, you will be able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions, as well as simple phrases to help you meet immediate needs. You will be able to introduce yourself and others, and ask for and provide basic information about where you live, your possessions and people you know. You will also be able to communicate simply using clear, straightforward structures.

As a social agent, the student can conduct basic exchanges relating to immediate needs. They can participate and interact in everyday situations, following simple instructions or going to the right places with help from the person they are speaking to. They can also handle spoken and written texts with a clear, simple structure.

As an intercultural speaker, they begin to become aware of how cultural diversity and their own identity influence the interpretation of new realities. They become familiar with some of Spain's best-known and most widely recognised cultural references, and can recognise and manage basic intercultural situations and understand everyday aspects of social life in the country.

As an autonomous learner, they identify their own learning needs and relate them to the course objectives, content, methodology and assessment. They also know how to make use of the centre's resources to advance their learning and begin to develop strategies, taking into account the emotional factors that influence this process, in order to consolidate their knowledge and contribute to a positive classroom atmosphere.

Specific objectives:

Reading comprehension

Listening comprehension
  1. Understand simple messages in cards and emails.
  2. Recognise simple words and phrases on signs, posters and advertisements in everyday life.
  3. Understand brief, simple instructions.
  1. Understand speech delivered slowly and with pauses to allow full comprehension.
  2. Understand instructions and be able to follow simple, brief directions.

Speaking

Writing
  1. Use simple, isolated phrases to talk about people and places.
  2. Talk about yourself: introduce yourself, describe yourself and others, and talk about your work, city and home.
  3. Read short texts aloud, such as an introduction or a short speech.
  1. Write simple phrases and sentences.
  2. Write simple sentences about yourself, your work and where you live.

Content: what will you learn?

Functional content

Grammar content

Vocabulary content

Cultural content

- Greet people and respond to formal and informal greetings.

- Ask how to say something in another language.

- Ask for and give information about your country, work and profession.

- Ask for and give information about location.

- Talk about the existence of something or someone.

- Describe people's appearance and character.

- Ask and say how much something costs.

- Ask for and give information about location.

- Talk about plans and time.

- Describe habitual actions and activities.

- Ask and tell the time and talk about schedules.

- Express likes, preferences, pain and discomfort.

- Talk about the weather.

- Describe places geographically.

- Express obligation.

- Express past actions connected to the present.

- Personal pronouns.

- The verbs ser, estar, hay and tener.

- Regular presente de indicativo.

- Numbers.

- The verb estar and prepositions of place.

- Possessive adjectives.

- The verb costar.

- The verb ir.

- Reflexive verbs.

- Expressions of frequency.

- The verbs gustar and encantar.

- A mí también / a mí tampoco.

- The verb doler.

- Estar + gerundio.

- Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns.

- Verbal periphrases of obligation: tener que, hay que, deber.

- Pretérito perfecto.

- Adjectives with opposite meanings.

- Nationalities and countries.

- Classroom vocabulary.

- Colours.

- Professions and workplaces.

- Home and city vocabulary.

- Family vocabulary.

- Clothing vocabulary.

- Comparative adjectives.

- Transport vocabulary.

- Leisure vocabulary.

- Telling the time.

- Food vocabulary.

- Body and illness vocabulary.

- Weather vocabulary.

- Household chores vocabulary.

- Travel vocabulary.

- Spanish surnames.

- Spain's Autonomous Communities.

- Typical Spanish family celebrations.

- Festivities and special clothing.

- Typical dishes in Spain.

- Spanish daily schedules.

- Typical Spanish sweets and traditions.

- Weather in different areas.

- Manners and politeness.

- Tourist areas in Spain.
Course A1.1 · 30 hours

1. General objectives

1.1 As a social agent

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Greet people, introduce themselves, say goodbye and provide basic personal information (origin, profession, contact details and family).
  • Describe people, homes, neighbourhoods and cities in simple terms.
  • Express daily routines, likes and preferences.
  • Handle simple transactions (shopping, telling the time, basic orders).

1.2 As an intercultural speaker

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Apply common conventions of politeness and greetings in the Spanish-speaking world.
  • Identify Spanish customs and daily schedules in comparison with their own.
  • Show respect and curiosity towards cultural differences.

1.3 As an autonomous learner

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Recognise their initial learning needs.
  • Use simple reference tools (infographics, vocabulary lists and outlines).
  • Apply guided self-assessment and adapt to using digital resources (Drive).

2. Learning outcomes

  • Reading comprehension: Identify specific information in short texts, posters, menus and infographics.
  • Listening comprehension: Pick out key words and basic instructions in slow, clear exchanges.
  • Speaking: Give brief presentations about themselves, their family, home, routine and likes.
  • Spoken interaction: Hold very brief conversations with support from the other person and take part in practical simulations (role plays).
  • Writing and written interaction: Write short descriptions and complete forms with personal information.
  • Mediation: Convey basic personal information and summarise simple facts about places or habits.

3. Content

  • 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Alphabet, letter names, pronunciation rules, basic intonation and punctuation marks (¿ ?, ¡ !).
  • 3.2 Morphology and syntax: Personal pronouns; gender and number; articles; regular and irregular presente (e>ie, o>ue, e>i); the verbs ser, estar, tener, llevar, costar, hay; reflexive verbs; the verbs gustar and encantar; possessives, demonstratives, prepositions of place, interrogatives and adverbs of frequency.
  • 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Greetings; countries and nationalities; the classroom and colours; professions; the home and city; family; clothing; time and daily routines; food and the market.
  • 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Greeting and introducing yourself; asking for/giving personal information; describing people and places; expressing emotions, prices, times, routines and likes (a mí también/tampoco). Simple connectors (y, pero, luego).
  • 3.5 Intercultural competence: Geography of the Spanish-speaking world, customs, daily schedules, conventions of politeness and personal space.
  • 3.6 Strategies: Support from visual infographics, continuous self-assessment and use of clarification phrases (¿Cómo se dice...?)

4. Methodology

  • A communicative, action-oriented approach. Individual, pair and group work is combined through cooperative learning and guided tasks, supported by textbooks (Español en marcha, Prisma) and infographics.

5. Assessment

5.1 Assessment criteria

  • Understanding and interpreting basic spoken and written information.
  • Basic fluency and intelligibility in spoken and written production.
  • Appropriate use of sociocultural conventions and active participation.

5.2 Procedures

  • Continuous, formative assessment based on classroom observation, daily tasks, written/spoken work and participation.

6. Grading

  • Reading comprehension: 20 %
  • Listening comprehension: 20 %
  • Writing and written interaction: 20 %
  • Speaking and spoken interaction: 30 %
  • Intercultural awareness, autonomy and attitude: 10 %
  • Progression: Achieve an overall 'pass' grade after successfully completing the sublevel's tasks and progress tests.

7. Materials and resources

  • Printed: Reference textbooks (Español en marcha, Prisma) and worksheets.
  • Digital: Google Drive folder with grammar/vocabulary infographics and audio recordings.
  • Authentic: Menus, leaflets, role cards and images.

8. Final task

  • Project: 'Introducing myself and my surroundings' (A brief oral presentation with visual support covering personal information, family, home, routines and likes).
Course A1.2 · 30 hours

1. General objectives

1.1 As a social agent

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Express physical pain and handle health-related situations (at the doctor's and pharmacy).
  • Describe actions in progress and talk about the weather.
  • Make plans, specify means of transport and shop with ease.
  • Express obligations, rules of behaviour and future intentions.
  • Describe recent experiences and past events linked to the present using the pretérito perfecto.

1.2 As an intercultural speaker

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Recognise Spanish customs relating to free time, leisure and well-being.
  • Identify behavioural conventions and rules for living together in Spanish communities.
  • Understand usual patterns of interaction in health centres and pharmacies.

1.3 As an autonomous learner

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  • Apply self-correction strategies in written and spoken work.
  • Use visual resources and infographics to consolidate past-tense grammar.
  • Develop independence in writing personal correspondence (emails).

2. Learning outcomes

  • Reading comprehension: Interpret simple medicine leaflets, weather information, rules and personal emails about past experiences.
  • Listening comprehension: Identify ailments, medical instructions, leisure plans and short accounts in the pretérito perfecto.
  • Speaking: Describe present actions, detail health symptoms and present personal experiences or future plans.
  • Spoken interaction: Perform simulations (role plays) at the doctor's, pharmacy or shops, and discuss plans or brief experiences.
  • Writing and written interaction: Write emails to friends describing recent activities and plans.
  • Mediation: Explain basic physical symptoms, simple rules or organised leisure plans.

3. Content

  • 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Stress and intonation in pretérito perfecto forms; consolidation of punctuation in short narrative texts.
  • 3.2 Morphology and syntax: The verb doler; the periphrasis estar + gerundio; periphrases of obligation (tener que, hay que, deber); future periphrases (ir a + infinitivo); structures for giving advice (poder + infinitivo); demonstratives; direct object (OD) pronouns; pretérito perfecto de indicativo (regular and irregular forms and markers: ya, todavía no, alguna vez); contrast between presente and pretérito perfecto.
  • 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Body parts, health, symptoms and pharmacy medicines; weather and climate; means of transport (ir en); free-time and leisure activities; shopping and commercial vocabulary.
  • 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Expressing ailments and giving advice; describing ongoing scenes; suggesting plans and inviting; stating rules; recounting recent experiences and marking past time (hoy, esta semana, últimamente).
  • 3.5 Intercultural competence: Health habits, rules for living together and the use of free time in Spanish society.
  • 3.6 Strategies: Deducing verb rules through infographics, using experience cards and spoken interaction activities (El mentiroso).

4. Methodology

  • A communicative, action-oriented approach through cooperative learning. Theoretical and practical sessions are structured around textbooks (Español en marcha, Prisma), Drive materials (infographics and worksheets), role plays of everyday situations and narrative tasks.

5. Assessment

5.1 Assessment criteria

  • Accuracy in using the pretérito perfecto, gerundio and the periphrases covered.
  • Responsiveness and ease in everyday simulations (doctor's visits, shopping, plans).
  • Coherence and appropriateness in writing informal emails.

5.2 Procedures

  • Continuous assessment based on daily observations, worksheets, written tasks (email) and specific reading, listening and writing tests (session 19).

6. Grading

  • Reading comprehension: 20 %
  • Listening comprehension: 20 %
  • Writing and written interaction: 20 %
  • Speaking and spoken interaction: 30 %
  • Intercultural awareness, autonomy and attitude: 10 %
  • Progression: Achieve an overall 'pass' report after successfully completing the tests and final presentation.

7. Materials and resources

  • Printed: Reference textbooks (Español en marcha, Prisma), teaching units and exercise sheets.
  • Digital: Drive infographics (health, pretérito perfecto, weather, transport) and audio recordings.
  • Authentic: Sample emails, shopping lists, timetables and information leaflets.

8. Final task

  • Project: 'My experiences and my plans' (Writing an email detailing recent activities and experiences during the stay, complemented by a final oral presentation to the class).