Our next
"Teaching Occupational Spanish"
seminar(s) will be held on:
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Register now for only $295 per person*!
*Note: Colleges sending teams made up of at least one administrator and one Spanish instructor will receive a special seminar rate of $225 per person!
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What is Occupational Spanish?
Within the field of foreign language instruction, the term ìoccupationalî to describe a type of Spanish or a kind of Spanish language teaching is relatively new. Indeed, occupational Spanish is a fledgling but important and highly relevant field of Spanish instruction. In the 1970s and 1980s, several major textbook companies, realizing the growing need for adult occupational Spanish programs, published various ìSpanish for special purposesî textbooks, but these were based on a traditional, grammar-based, four-skills system that did not serve well the non-traditional students who wanted to learn Spanish for the workplace.
Occupational Spanish has its own set of instructional postulates, axioms, and methods. Unlike traditional academic Spanish classes, occupational Spanish courses are based primarily on psychomotor skills (as opposed to cognitive skills) and memory burns. It is non-grammar based, and its content is highly focused and job-specific. Reading and writing Spanish are eliminated as real-world goals. The amount of material to be mastered in any course is limited, and the amount of time required is of short duration (usually 12-24 hours).
Perhaps the best way to quickly understand the basics of occupational Spanish is to compare it with academic Spanish. The chart below is a summary of the most salient differences.
| Academic Spanish | Occupational Spanish |
|---|---|
| • Diffused | • Focused |
| • Long periods of study | • Short periods of study |
| • Teenage or college-age language | • Adult language |
| • Grammar | • Non-grammar |
| • Exotic topics (taking a trip to Machu Pichu, visiting the Rain Forrest, etc.) | • Familiar topics (cashiers cashing a check, police making a car stop, etc.) |
| • Big "C" Culture (art and architecture, literary works, etc.) | • Little "c" culture (alternative/folk medicine in the Latino community, etc.) |
| • Spanish for living or traveling abroad | • Spanish for the U.S.A. |
| • Spanish for make-believe (unlikely activities such as returning a book to a Spanish university library) | • Real-world Spanish (real life activities such as police learning to arrest people in Spanish) |
| • More is less | • Less is more |
| • Humanities-based curriculum | • Vo-tech skills-based curriculum |
| • Requires lots of motivating | • Requires little motivating |
About the Seminar
| WHO SHOULD ATTEND? | YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT: |
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Full-Time and Part-Time Spanish Instructors, English/Spanish Speakers, and College Administrators from:
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Upon completion, participants will receive certification documents. Participating Spanish faculty members will be nationally certified as Command Spanish® Certified Instructors (CSCIs). Administrators will be given certification for the instructional unit they represent.
HOSTING A TOS SEMINAR
Command Spanish is well aware of the impact that the economy has had on state institutions, as well as private agencies. We also understand out-of-state travel and/or training are usually among the first to be cut from the budget. We have received numerous e-mails with the same basic information -- "We would really like to offer your programs, but I can't travel out of the state right now. When are you going to have a training seminar in (fill in the state) ?" We would like to be able to provide a TOS training session in every state; however, that is not economically feasible for our corporation to do alone. We need your help as a host. A TOS host will assist in marketing in his/her own state, and provide the training facility and AV equipment in exchange for free seats (based on the number of paying participants) in the seminar. Command Spanish®, Inc. will conduct a broader marketing effort and conduct registration. If you would be interested in hosting a TOS seminar at your institution, please contact Edith González for more details.
UPCOMING SEMINAR DATES!
- No additional seminars are scheduled at this time.
To be added to the mailing list so that you automatically receive information about upcoming seminars, click here and submit your e-mail address. If you are a K-12 Spanish teacher and want information about regional seminars for K-12 Spanish teachers only, contact our Registrar with your name and school address.