Spanish Writing: Brush Up the Basics – Noncredit

UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN-MADISON

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Spanish Writing: Brush Up the Basics

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Upcoming dates (1)

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For registration assistance: 608-262-2451

Schedule

Start anytime, complete within 6 months.

Register through: June 30, 2025

All times shown in central time.

Fee

$209

Instructor

Silvana Benzoni

Cancellation Policy

  • During the first 4 business days of access to course materials: 80% refund minus a $25 administrative fee.
  • No refund after the first 4 business days.

Summary

This practical course has something for everyone. Brush up your Spanish writing by eliminating common errors and growing your command of basic language skills. Perfect the use of written accent marks, articles, gender, word order and tricky verb conjugations. A Spanish writing expert gives you personal feedback on five writing assignments. Prerequisite: Spanish 2 or previous study of present tenses in Spanish.

Students have 6 months from the registration date to complete the course.

Course Outline

Introducción / Introduction

  • Goals
  • Course layout
  • Common activities
  • Get to know your instructor

Lesson 1: Las palabras / Words

  • Capitalization
  • Spelling
  • Written accent marks
  • Quizzes

Lesson 2: El género / Gender

  • Gender of words
  • Singular and plural
  • Articles
  • Other
    • Days of the week
    • Dates
    • Telling time
  • Quizzes
  • Proofreading 1

Lesson 3: Los verbos en el presente 1 / Present tense verbs 1

  • Regular verbs
  • Irregular verbs
    • ir
    • tener que
    • ser
    • estar
  • Quizzes
  • Proofreading 2

Lesson 4: Los verbos en el presente 2 / Present tense verbs 2

  • More irregular verbs
    • Stem changing verbs
    • -go verbs
    • Spelling change verbs
  • Infinitives 1
  • Hay
  • Quizzes
  • Ensayo 1

Lesson 5: Los verbos en el presente 3 / Present tense verbs 3

  • Reflexive verbs
  • Other verbs with se
  • Impersonal expressions
  • Quizzes
  • Proofreading 3

Lesson 6: Las descripciones / Descriptions

  • Adjectives, adverbs and other qualifiers
  • Word order
  • Adverbs of frequency
  • Quizzes
  • Ensayo 2

Lesson 7: Los gustos / Likes and preferences

  • Gustar and similar verbs
  • También / tampoco
  • Demonstratives
  • Quizzes
  • Proofreading 4

Lesson 8: Palabras retadoras / Challenging words

  • Commonly confused words or words with many meanings
    • ser vs. estar
    • conocer vs. saber
    • hay and hay que
    • bien vs. bueno
    • muy vs. mucho
  • Making comparisons
  • Quizzes
  • Ensayo 3

Lesson 9 : Otros tiempos verbales / Other verb tenses

  • Present progressive present perfect tenses
  • Future with ir a
  • Contrast with the preterite
  • Quizzes
  • Ensayo 4

Lesson 10 : Las preposiciones y los conectores / Prepositions and connectors

  • Infinitives 2
  • Proofreading your own work
  • Quizzes
  • Ensayo 5: proyecto final

Earn Continuing Education Hours

By participating in this class you will earn:

Instructional Hours 20
University of Wisconsin Continuing Education Units 2

Explanation of Continuing Education Hours

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Program Questions?

Contact Chris Moore at [email protected] or 608-262-7389

Registration Questions?

Email [email protected] or call 608-262-2451.

Continuing Studies FAQs

Meet your instructor

Silvana Caterina Benzoni

(MA, Loyola University Chicago) has taught Spanish language, culture, and literature courses to traditional and non-traditional adult students for over 15 years. Born in Brazil and raised in Argentina, she enjoys sharing her first language with students and helping them grow their speaking skills with practical and fun learning activities.

What Attendees Are Saying

"I can honestly say that this is the most helpful Spanish class that I have ever taken. I found the content that we covered to be exactly what I needed to work on most in order to improve my understanding of the language."
Mark Difruscio
"I liked the quizzes and flashcards used in this course. It helped me remember the material better. The online material was very well written and provided specific examples of mistakes to avoid and examples of the correct way to write something."
Jeff Graber
"I liked how it was on your own time and you could learn at your own pace. I liked most of the information and how there were videos included in the course — that helped me by hearing others speak Spanish. It was nice to see such a responsive professor for all parts of this class in grading and responding in general."
Kenna Roubal