Learn to speak and understand Spanish in a variety of practical situations and explore life in Spanish-speaking countries. This introductory OU level 1 module develops the skills needed to speak and understand simple Spanish in everyday contexts, such as work, family life, sport and travel, while also exploring the geography and history of Spanish-speaking cultures through topics relevant to adult learners. Study resources include books and a dedicated website with a variety of activities that support independent learning. Alongside your tutor and fellow learners, you'll gain language skills and a real feel for Spanish-speaking countries and communities.
What you will study
Throughout this module, you will learn about concepts, skills and strategies required to learn Spanish successfully. After an introduction to learning Spanish, six thematic units will present new language in spoken and written form, invite you to collaborate and communicate in Spanish, and revise and consolidate what you have learned.
In each unit, you will learn new language content covering levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The six units include:
Unit 1: How to meet and greet someone in Spanish, how to talk about yourself, your job, your house and your friends and family members.
Unit 2: Describe your daily activities, including work, travelling and holidays.
Unit 3: How to speak about events in the past, and celebrations like Christmas traditions at various places of the Spanish-speaking world. You will also learn how to speak about health-related issues and accidents in Spanish.
Unit 4: Learning all about shopping and food in Spanish - who wouldn’t like to try a few tapas or have a nice paella?
Unit 5: The geography of the Spanish-speaking world. We will take you virtually to the picturesque mountains and valleys of Chile to discover new topics, including the weather and climate, landmarks and famous tourist destinations.
Unit 6: Learning to talk about famous people and events in the past.
In addition to language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking in Spanish), you will broaden your cultural knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world, you will develop intercultural communication competence, translation skills through various text types. You will also develop your academic skills, critical thinking and digital literacy all of which enhance your employability skills. Up-to-date technology, such as machine translation and online communication tools, is also discussed and critically evaluated.
We appreciate the diversity of learners and acknowledge that not every topic might be of interest to you. From the beginning, you will be encouraged to select appropriate elements of the course and focus on areas you need to develop, including a wide range of skills for communicating in a second language environment.
Entry requirements
This is a key introductory OU level 1 module. OU level 1 modules provide core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning.
No prior knowledge of Spanish is required to study this module. To help decide if this is the module for you, use our self-assessment quiz.
Preparatory work
As part of the module, there will be induction sessions to help you familiarise yourself with the OU materials, websites and terminology.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
marking your assignments and offering detailed feedback to help you improve
providing individual guidance, whether that’s for general study skills or specific module content
guiding you to additional learning resources
facilitating online discussions between your fellow students in the dedicated forums.
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Assessment
Course work includes:
3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs)
3 Interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs)
TMAs test your writing and speaking skills. Your listening and reading skills will be tested by iCMAs. You will be given more detailed information when you begin the module.
What's included
You'll be provided with three module books. You'll also have access to a module website, which includes:
a week-by-week study planner
course-specific module materials
audio and video content
assessment details and submission section
online tutorial access
access to forums where you can communicate with your fellow students.
Computing requirements
Primary device – A desktop or laptop computer with at least 8 GB of RAM and a quad-core processor (2.4 GHz minimum speed). It’s possible to access some materials on a mobile phone, tablet or Chromebook; however, they will not be suitable as your primary device.
Peripheral device – Headphones/earphones with a built-in microphone for online tutorials.
Operating systems – Windows 11 or the latest supported macOS.
Internet access – Broadband or mobile connection.
Browser – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended; Mozilla Firefox and Safari may be suitable.
Our OU Study app operates on supported versions of Android and iOS.
Software – Any additional software will be provided or is generally available for free.
If you have a disability
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying L106 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Future availability
Introduction to Spanish studies (beginners) (L106) starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2027.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2036.