B1 overview
Level B1 consists of courses B1.1, B1.2, B1.3, B1.4, lasting 30 hours each: 120 hours in total.
To complete level B1, 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 the main points of clear texts in standard language, provided they deal with familiar topics in work, study or leisure contexts. You will handle most situations likely to arise while travelling in areas where the language is spoken with ease. You will also be able to write simple, coherent texts on familiar topics or subjects of personal interest, describing experiences, events, wishes and aspirations, and briefly justifying your opinions or explaining your plans.
As a social agent, the student carries out routine everyday transactions beyond basic needs, in areas such as shopping, hospitality and public services. They participate and interact socially in work, academic and social situations, and exchange opinions on general or personal topics. They handle spoken and written texts relating to their likes and preferences, identifying the main ideas in order to make value judgements.
As an intercultural speaker, they become aware of cultural diversity and engage with the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries to avoid the influence of prejudice, stereotypes or ethnocentric attitudes. They expand their cultural, sociocultural and linguistic knowledge to engage with new realities. They strengthen their motivation and openness towards the cultures of Spain and Spanish America, explore cultural references from different periods and put characteristic social norms and behaviours into practice. They handle intercultural situations of moderate complexity, using techniques that help them do so.
As an autonomous learner, they identify, manage and adapt the factors that shape their learning process, recognising progress and gaps. They actively participate in selecting and planning learning and language-use tasks, as well as in group work. They select appropriate resources to consult, practise or reinforce their knowledge.
Specific objectives:
|
Reading comprehension |
Listening comprehension |
|
|
|
Speaking |
Writing |
|
|
Content: what will you learn?
|
Functional content |
Grammar content |
Text and vocabulary content |
Cultural content |
|
- Express and respond to wishes. - Give advice and recommendations. - Express requests and commands. - Talk about likes and dislikes. - Express positive and negative feelings. - Express complaints. - Express hypotheses and probability. - Express opinions and evaluations. - Express agreement and disagreement. - Give orders and commands. - Give instructions or directions. - Express an action simultaneous with another. - Express an action following another. - Express the endpoint of an action. - Express the beginning of an action. - Express the period of time separating two events. - Express an action preceding another. - Talk about personal experiences in education. - Express purpose. - Express probability in the past, present and future. - Make predictions and conjectures. - Express consequence. - Describe traditions in different countries. - Describe objects, places and people. - Ask whether someone knows something or is familiar with something or someone. - Express changes in physical, emotional and social states. - Express probability in a past time frame connected to the present. |
- Presente de subjuntivo: regular and irregular morphology. - Structures for expressing wishes. - Structures for advice and recommendations. - Verbs of feeling and sensation with infinitivo or subjuntivo. - Structures for hypotheses. - Verbs of opinion. - Affirmative and negative imperativo. - Imperativo with pronouns. - Temporal clauses with indicativo and subjuntivo. - Temporal linking words. - Por and para. - Connectors of purpose. - Futuro perfecto de indicativo. - Contrast between futuro perfecto, futuro imperfecto and condicional simple to express probability. - Expressions to reinforce or reject a hypothesis. - Result clauses with indicativo and subjuntivo. - Connectors of consequence. - Result structures with an intensifying function. - Contrast between causal and result clauses. - Relatives. - Indefinite pronouns. - Verbs of change. - Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo. |
- Social expressions of good wishes. - Vocabulary relating to social behaviour. - Colloquial expressions. - Social media: platforms. - Leisure-related vocabulary. - Vocabulary of feelings. - Vocabulary relating to paranormal phenomena and dreams. - Journalistic texts and opinion articles. - Vocabulary relating to NGOs. - Expressions of politeness and urgency. - Vocabulary of places, directions and everyday actions. - Education-related vocabulary. - Colloquial expressions relating to studies. - Motivation letter. - Colloquial expressions with ser and estar. - Music-related vocabulary. - Literature-related vocabulary. - Narrative texts. - News. - Travel-related vocabulary. - Architecture-related vocabulary. - Vocabulary of physical, emotional and religious states, professions and customs. - Cinema vocabulary. |
- Spanish universities and the education system. - The employment situation of young Spanish people. - Cultural habits relating to social behaviour in Spain. - Social media platforms: society's attitudes and behaviour in response to problems. - The meaning of dreams. - NGOs. - Living in another country: sociological reflections. - Historical places in Spain. - The education system. - University degree programmes. - Cuban music. - Spanish-language literature and cinema. - La Ruta Quetzal. - El Camino de Santiago. - Spanish American architecture. - Film reviews. |
Course B1.1 · 30 hours
1. General objectives
1.1 As a social agent
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Consolidate and apply past tenses in a variety of complex narrative contexts.
- Begin using and develop command of the presente de subjuntivo to express wishes, feelings, emotions and opinions.
- Formulate advice, prohibitions and hypotheses appropriately and with nuance.
- Use relative clauses and incorporate popular colloquial expressions (such as those relating to food) into everyday interaction.
1.2 As an intercultural speaker
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Understand everyday patterns of behaviour, civic responsibility and social norms in Spain (for example, in large cities).
- Identify and appreciate everyday customs and idiomatic expressions associated with Spanish-speaking cultures.
1.3 As an autonomous learner
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Organise and classify the multiple meanings and triggers of the subjuntivo using conceptual outlines and infographics.
- Develop independence in arguing opinions, defending proposals for social improvement and discussing current affairs.
2. Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Reading comprehension: Interpret press articles, opinion texts, behavioural guides and complex infographics.
- Listening comprehension: Identify speakers' positions, emotions, opinions and hypotheses in discussions, advertisements and presentations.
- Speaking: Present value judgements, express wishes, give advice and orally defend a proposal or project for social improvement.
- Spoken interaction: Discuss current affairs, respond emotionally to suggested situations and exchange opinions using colloquial expressions.
- Writing and written interaction: Write argumentative texts, informal emails expressing feelings and short essays with relative clauses.
- Mediation: Explain others' opinions, summarise guidelines for social behaviour and convey other speakers' points of view on everyday topics.
3. Content
- 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Expressive intonation (wishes, emotions and hypotheses); stress and spelling of presente de subjuntivo forms.
- 3.2 Morphology and syntax: Integrated review of past indicative tenses; morphology of the presente de subjuntivo (regular and irregular); functions of the subjuntivo: wishes and social expressions of good wishes, feelings and emotions, advice and prohibitions, hypotheses, opinions and evaluations, and relative clauses with an unknown or unspecified antecedent.
- 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Lifestyles and the environment (Vivir sin petróleo); civic responsibility and urban mobility; life abroad; colloquial idiomatic expressions relating to food.
- 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Expressing wishes, preferences and needs; conveying emotional reactions; giving advice, prohibitions and recommendations; formulating hypotheses; making reasoned evaluations and expressing opinions.
- 3.5 Intercultural competence: Sociocultural norms of politeness and civic responsibility in Spain, analysis of life outside one's home country and food-related idioms.
- 3.6 Strategies: Deducing syntactic rules from Drive infographics, contextualised discussion activities and mind maps to systematise the subjuntivo.
4. Methodology
- A communicative, pragmatic and action-oriented approach through collaborative work. Use of B1-level textbooks (Español en marcha, new and old editions of Prisma), Drive digital resources (infographics and teaching materials), sample advertisements and analysis of current informative texts.
5. Assessment
5.1 Assessment criteria
- Accuracy in the morphology and contextualised use of the presente de subjuntivo in contrast with the indicativo.
- Vocabulary range and appropriate integration of colloquial expressions and opinion markers.
- Fluency, coherence and argumentative ability in oral presentations and discussions.
5.2 Procedures
- Continuous assessment based on written work (session 17), reading and listening tests (session 16), spoken interaction (session 18) and assessment of the final project or debate (session 20).
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 assessments and presentation for sublevel B1.1.
7. Materials and resources
- Printed: Textbooks (Español en marcha B1, new/old editions of Prisma B1) and supplementary worksheets.
- Digital: Resources, advertisements and infographics specifically on the subjuntivo on Google Drive.
- Authentic: Opinion articles on sustainability and large cities, cultural guides to behaviour and sample advertisements.
8. Final task
- Project: 'Proposals and opinions for social improvement' (An oral presentation and defence of a project or participation in a debate based on expressing opinions, wishes, hypotheses and proposals for improving society using the presente de subjuntivo).
Course B1.2 · 30 hours
1. General objectives
1.1 As a social agent
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Contrast and master the use of the indicativo versus the presente de subjuntivo in contexts of opinion, evaluation and certainty.
- Use affirmative and negative imperativo forms, including their precise combination with pronouns.
- Structure discourse through temporal clauses using various linking words and time markers.
- Express purpose, intention and goals using purpose clauses and specific connectors.
- Consolidate and use advanced idiomatic expressions with the verbs ser and estar.
1.2 As an intercultural speaker
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Use formal and informal registers appropriately when giving instructions and orders in the Spanish-speaking world.
- Understand habits and social norms relating to time management and everyday administrative procedures in Spanish-speaking society.
1.3 As an autonomous learner
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Summarise the rules for alternating between indicativo and subjuntivo in temporal and purpose clauses using outlines and Drive resources.
- Develop independence in planning projects, simulating complex everyday situations and handling procedures involving interaction.
2. Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Reading comprehension: Interpret regulations, complex sequences of events, opinion articles and texts with purpose connectors.
- Listening comprehension: Identify orders, instructions with pronouns, sequences of events and intentions in formal and informal exchanges.
- Speaking: Give precise instructions, formulate aims, structure accounts chronologically and present projects or practical simulations.
- Spoken interaction: Discuss opposing views, take part in role-play activities (the customs game) and negotiate future plans.
- Writing and written interaction: Write instruction guides, formal emails expressing goals and narrative texts with temporal clauses.
- Mediation: Explain complex instructions, operating rules and the purposes of plans, and summarise sequences of events.
3. Content
- 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Imperative and exhortative intonation with enclitic pronouns; stress in verbs with pronouns (compra-cómpralo).
- 3.2 Morphology and syntax: Indicativo/subjuntivo contrast (certainty versus subjectivity); affirmative and negative imperativo with direct and indirect object (OD and OI) pronouns; temporal clauses (cuando + indicativo/subjuntivo, después de, antes de, siempre, en cuanto, tan pronto como); purpose clauses (para, para que, por, a fin de que, con la intención de + infinitivo/subjuntivo).
- 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Advanced idiomatic expressions with ser and estar; vocabulary of administrative procedures, customs, events and time management.
- 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Contrasting certainty and doubt; giving direct and indirect instructions, orders and advice; sequencing narratives and processes; expressing purpose and justifying goals.
- 3.5 Intercultural competence: Formal/informal registers when giving commands, conventions in administrative procedures and sociocultural perceptions of time.
- 3.6 Strategies: Review of contexts on Drive, dynamic simulations (the customs game) and systematisation using infographics of linking words.
4. Methodology
- A communicative, action-oriented approach through cooperative learning. Syntactic contrast exercises, practical case-solving, simulations of real situations (administrative procedures, customs), activities using Drive materials and reference textbooks (Español en marcha, old edition of Prisma B1) are combined.
5. Assessment
5.1 Assessment criteria
- Accuracy in the choice of mood (indicativo/subjuntivo) in temporal, purpose and opinion clauses.
- Correct formation and placement of pronouns with affirmative and negative imperatives.
- Coherence, fluency and appropriate register in spoken simulations and final-task interactions.
5.2 Procedures
- Continuous assessment based on written work (sessions 3, 14 and 19), observations during speaking activities (session 19: the customs game) and assessment of the final-task presentation or simulation.
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 sublevel B1.2.
7. Materials and resources
- Printed: Textbooks (Español en marcha B1, old edition of Prisma B1) and exercise sheets.
- Digital: Infographics on ser and estar, outlines of temporal/purpose linking words and interactive materials on Google Drive.
- Authentic: Customs procedure guides, urban regulations, forms and rules.
8. Final task
- Project: 'Practical simulation and planning' (Creating and orally presenting a project or practical simulation using temporal and purpose linking words and fluent command of the imperativo).
Course B1.3 · 30 hours
1. General objectives
1.1 As a social agent
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Express hypotheses and probability in the present and past using the futuro imperfecto, futuro perfecto and condicional simple.
- Express cause and justify arguments using simple and complex causal structures in the indicativo and subjuntivo (no porque..., no es que...).
- Logically connect the consequences of an event using a wide variety of result linking words (por lo tanto, de ahí que, no tan... como para que).
- Consolidate overall B1 proficiency by combining the expression of hypotheses, cause and consequence in discussions and narratives.
1.2 As an intercultural speaker
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the sociocultural perspective in travel accounts and chronicles of the Spanish-speaking world (as in Diario del viajero).
- Exchange impressions about behaviour and customs, explaining causes and analysing social consequences.
1.3 As an autonomous learner
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Logically connect structures of cause and consequence using conceptual outlines and summary materials.
- Develop independent argumentative skills to formulate hypotheses, defend complex positions and correct their own discourse.
2. Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Reading comprehension: Interpret travel diaries, argumentative texts, chronicles and complex press articles with causal and result structures.
- Listening comprehension: Identify hypotheses, causal explanations and consequences in discussions, spoken accounts and presentations.
- Speaking: Formulate hypotheses about present or past events, defend causal arguments and present well-structured conclusions.
- Spoken interaction: Discuss current affairs or personal experiences using game-based activities (the hypotheses game) and syntactic nuances.
- Writing and written interaction: Write diaries, reports, short essays and argumentative texts organised using cause-and-consequence connectors.
- Mediation: Summarise the causes and consequences of a problem or event and convey hypotheses formulated by other speakers.
3. Content
- 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Conjectural intonation (expressing doubt and hypotheses); articulation and stress in complex cause-and-consequence connectors.
- 3.2 Morphology and syntax: Futuro imperfecto (hypotheses about the present); condicional simple (hypotheses or probability); futuro perfecto (hypotheses about the recent past); causal clauses (por, porque, ya que, puesto que, debido a, como; negated cause with subjuntivo: no porque, no es que); result clauses (así que, por eso, por ello, por lo tanto, por consiguiente, de modo que, de ahí que + subjuntivo; intensifying structures: no tan... como para que).
- 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Vocabulary of travel, chronicles, argumentation, sociocultural debates and cause-and-effect relationships.
- 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Expressing hypotheses and probability; explaining causes and rejecting false reasons; expressing consequences and drawing conclusions; structuring complex argumentative discourse.
- 3.5 Intercultural competence: Analysis of travel literature (Diario del viajero) and perceptions of one's surroundings through argumentation in Spanish-speaking cultures.
- 3.6 Strategies: Grammatical deduction supported by Drive infographics, game-based activities (the hypotheses game) and syntactic maps of connectors.
4. Methodology
- A communicative, lexical-syntactic and action-oriented approach through cooperative learning. Discussions, travel diary analysis, role plays for formulating conjectures, review exercises on Drive and connector-integration activities based on reference textbooks (old edition of Prisma B1, Español en marcha) are combined.
5. Assessment
5.1 Assessment criteria
- Accuracy in using future tenses and the condicional to express hypotheses in different time frames.
- Correct choice of mood (indicativo/subjuntivo) with complex causal and result connectors (no es que..., de ahí que...).
- Coherence, cohesion and a wide range of connectors in spoken and written production.
5.2 Procedures
- Continuous assessment through written tasks (session 12 and causal/result compositions), participation in speaking activities (sessions 3 and 12), consolidation tests and the final project presentation.
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: An overall result of 'pass' is awarded after successfully completing sublevel B1.3. Next course: B1.4.
7. Materials and resources
- Printed: Textbooks (old edition of Prisma B1, Español en marcha B1) and supporting syntax worksheets.
- Digital: Hypothesis infographics, outlines of causal/result clauses and the hypotheses game on Google Drive.
- Authentic: Travel chronicles (Diario del viajero), opinion articles and argumentative press texts.
8. Final task
- Project: 'Chronicle, hypotheses and argumentative debate' (Preparing and orally presenting an argumentative chronicle or diary about a trip or event, defending the causes, analysing the consequences and proposing hypotheses about the facts through integrated use of future tenses, the condicional and causal/result connectors).
Course B1.4 · 30 hours
1. General objectives
1.1 As a social agent
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Expand and master the use of defining and non-defining relative clauses using linking words such as que and donde, and indefinite pronouns (alguien, algo).
- Use verbs of change (hacerse, volverse, ponerse, quedarse, convertirse en, llegar a ser) accurately to describe personal, physical, professional or state transformations.
- Begin using and develop command of the pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo, contrasting it with the presente de subjuntivo in contexts of evaluation and subjectivity.
- Use verbal periphrases relating to the beginning, interruption, repetition and continuation of an action.
- Successfully tackle comprehensive skills assessment tests (reading, listening, writing and speaking) corresponding to level B1.
1.2 As an intercultural speaker
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Understand sociolinguistic nuances linked to expressing life changes and personal development in the Spanish-speaking world.
- Apply linguistic and behavioural conventions in everyday social interactions and personal introductions (such as the first-dates game).
1.3 As an autonomous learner
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Summarise the complexity of verbs of change and aspectual periphrases using classification tables and infographics.
- Critically self-assess their communication skills by taking standard B1-level tests.
2. Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- Reading comprehension: Analyse press articles, interviews and complex descriptive texts about biographies, processes of change and evaluations.
- Listening comprehension: Identify opinions, life transformations, nuances of verbal aspect and evaluations of the recent past in audio and video.
- Speaking: Characterise people or objects using relative clauses, describe life developments and argue opinions about past events using the pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo.
- Spoken interaction: Interact fluently in social introduction activities (the first-dates game) and discuss habits and life changes.
- Writing and written interaction: Write well-structured compositions incorporating verbal periphrases, connectors and subjuntivo contrasts.
- Mediation: Explain processes of personal or social development to others and summarise complex opinions about life paths.
3. Content
- 3.1 Phonetics and spelling: Intonation of parenthetical elements in relative clauses; stress and pronunciation of compound subjuntivo forms.
- 3.2 Morphology and syntax: Relative clauses with que, donde, alguien, algo; verbs of change (hacerse, volverse, ponerse, quedarse, llegar a ser, convertirse en); pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo (morphology and uses); presente / pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo contrast; aspectual periphrases with infinitivo (dejar de, ponerse a, volver a), gerundio (estar + gerundio, seguir + gerundio) and negative infinitivo (seguir sin + infinitivo).
- 3.3 Vocabulary and semantics: Vocabulary of physical, emotional and personality transformations; stages of life, personal relationships and social interactions.
- 3.4 Pragmatics and discourse: Defining and characterising entities or objects; expressing transformations and changes of state; evaluating past actions linked to the present; marking temporal aspect and the continuity of actions.
- 3.5 Intercultural competence: Sociolinguistics of life changes in Spanish-speaking cultures and conventions in social and interpersonal interaction.
- 3.6 Strategies: Playful interaction activities (the first-dates game), summary outlines of periphrases and strategic preparation for formal level tests (CL, CA, EE, EO).
4. Methodology
- A communicative approach focused on action and skills consolidation. It combines group and interactive activities, analysis of syntax materials on Drive, intensive work with reference textbooks (Español en marcha, Prisma B1) and mock examinations for language skills accreditation.
5. Assessment
5.1 Assessment criteria
- Grammatical accuracy in using verbs of change, verbal periphrases and the pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo.
- Fluency, coherence and appropriate vocabulary in characterisation through relative clauses.
- Performance and level of achievement in formal B1 skills assessment tests.
5.2 Procedures
- Summative and continuous assessment structured through:
- READING (CL) and LISTENING (CA) tests in session 18.
- WRITING and written interaction (EE) test in session 19.
- SPEAKING and spoken interaction (EO) test in session 20.
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: An overall result of 'pass' is awarded after successfully completing the internal progress tests and sublevel B1.4. Completing level B1 requires successful completion of all its sublevels, including B1.4.
7. Materials and resources
- Printed: Textbooks (Español en marcha B1, Prisma B1) and B1-level sample examinations.
- Digital: Interactive Drive resources (verb-of-change infographics, subjuntivo worksheets and first-dates game materials).
- Authentic: Sample biographies, personal profiles and descriptive texts about life development.
8. Final task
- Project / Tests: Complete the internal level B1 progress tests (CL, CA, EE, EO) created by the school, and present or defend an integrated project combining verbal periphrases, verbs of change and advanced subjunctive structures.