Beginning Conversational Spanish I
Catalina Aguilar, Ed.D.
Fee: $199, 10 classes
Wednesdays, 5:15 pm – 7:15 pm
September 16 – November 18
This Beginning Spanish Conversation class in for individuals who have little or no experience with the Spanish language. You will build vocabulary and learn to ask and answer basic questions. Oral communication, understanding and responding, the present tense, preterit, and the imperative will be emphasized in this course within the context of culture. Required textbook is Schaum’s Outline of Spanish Grammar (4th edition). Knowledge of the present tense is a prerequisite to enroll in this class. Catalina Aguilar, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at Fort Lewis College. She is a native speaker of Spanish and has taught Spanish for more than fourteen years.
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Beginning French
Debi Marti
Fee: $199, 12 classes
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
September 29 – November 5
This course will familiarize students with the basics of the French language through fun-filled storytelling. Students will not only learn vocabulary and pronunciation, but will learn to feel at ease with situations such as ordering in restaurants, getting a hotel room and traveling. We will also talk about specific travels throughout French-speaking Europe. If you’ve wanted to learn French and never had the chance, this is the class for you. If you’ve studied French and are rusty, you can learn again in a fun environment with others who love this beautiful language. Debi Marti is a dual citizen of Switzerland and the United States. She lived in French-speaking Switzerland for 24 years and has taught French at San Juan College for 11 years.
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American Sign Language & Deaf Culture - Beginning
Dian Jenkins
Fee: $139, 12 classes
Tuesdays/Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
October 13 – November 19
American Sign Language is a beautiful, conceptual, visual-spatial, kinesthetic language. Students will learn to sign sentences taught without voice. One cannot learn a language without understanding the culture, therefore students will learn the history of Deaf culture, as well. Dian Jenkins has been involved in the world of deafness since 1977. To name a few of her roles, she was as a “Big Sister” for Deaf teens, trained for the “grassroots Deaf leadership” movement, became a supervisor at a residential school for the Deaf, served on the state advisory board for Deaf Rights, taught Deaf infants/toddlers and their families sign language and has been working as a certified, professional sign language interpreter for 25 years.
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Beginning Italian
Paul Boyer
Fee: $199, 15 classes
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
October 20 – December 10 (no class on Thanksgiving)
We will work to establish a good foundation for using the Italian language—reading, speaking, and maybe even listening to grand opera. We will place strong emphasis on pronunciation and (yes, even that!) basic grammar. At the end of the course one should feel confident about getting off a plane in Italy, checking into a hotel, and ordering food on the street or in a restaurant. The course will consist of class recitation through reading and repetition. We will work with, Essential Italian Grammar, by Olga Ragusa, a book of language fundamentals, and Easy Italian Reader, by Riccarda Saggese, a book of readings. This course is designed for beginning students as well as students who would like to refresh their abilities with the language. Paul Boyer is a photographer who leads annual photographic tours to Italy. He enjoys teaching Italian because he believes that language skills open doors that cannot be opened any other way. Plus he thinks that speaking Italian is so darned much fun that anyone should want to do it. He has taught Italian classes at various times from 1974, to the present, and has offered courses through the Continuing Education program for three years.
