1-2 Content Descriptions - Understanding language and culture

becoming familiar with the sounds of the alphabet in Spanish, noticing that there is an additional letter when compared with English, ñ

imitating Spanish sounds such as j in viaje, ñ in niño, ll in calle, and rr in carro

recognising that some sounds in Spanish do not exist in English and vice versa, so they may be challenging to pronounce, for example, La letra erre, la ere

recognising and applying Spanish vowel sounds and vowel consonant combinations

identifying additional consonants and digraphs in Spanish such as ñ, ch, and the pronunciation of double consonants such as ll and rr, and experimenting with the positioning of the tongue when producing these sounds

Iistening to familiar vocabulary and identifying h as a silent letter, for example, hola, hermano, hoy, and comparing words beginning with h in Spanish and English, hola and hello, jirafa and jelly

noticing that statements and questions have different intonation, for example, ¡Fernando no está! ¿Fernando no está?, ¿María tiene cinco años?

developing pronunciation, phrasing and intonation skills by singing, reciting and repeating words and phrases in context, for example, marching to a tune or beat

experimenting with sounds in onomatopoeic words, such as those related to animal sounds, for example,  pío (cheep), quiquiriquí (cock-a-doodle-doo), miau (miaow), guau (woof), and actions, for example, bum, cataplún

using numbers for simple ideas, for example, telling the time to the hour, expressing age and dates, and playing games, Qué hora es? What’s the time, Mr Wolf?

noticing that the personal pronoun can be omitted in Spanish, for example, Me llamo … can be used instead of Yo me llamo …

noticing that adjectives usually follow nouns and are used to describe the colour, size, shape or characteristics of a person, place or object, for example, la casa grande, la pelota gris, la silla amarilla, un auto azul, una mesa cuadrada, una niña alta

noticing endings of simple verbs, for example, comer, bailar, hablar, correr, jugar and caminar, and using them in modelled and formulaic expressions such as Yo hablo español. Yo juego al fútbol.

making connections between articles and the end of words to understand that Spanish nouns have a gender, using a range of props and visual cues such as fruit la manzana or shapes la estrella

observing gender in patterns of naming, for example, Julio/Julia, Patricio/Patricia, and noticing and using singular masculine or feminine forms of nouns and adjectives such as el plátano delicioso, la canción chilena

observing that days of the week and months of the year are written with lower-case letters, except at the start of sentences

learning the structure of simple affirmative statements, for example, Tengo un perro. Me gusta beber jugo de naranja. Gloria come verduras, and expressing simple negation in formulaic expressions, for example, No tengo mascotas. No me gusta el jugo de piña. No es un perro.

identifying basic punctuation marks such as inverted question marks and exclamation marks in modelled expressions

using y to list more than one item, for example, mi gusta el perro y el gato.

recognising and using definite and indefinite articles with nouns, for example, la mesa, una mesa; el niño, un niño

recognising that Spanish sentences have a similar structure to English sentences, for example, Vivo en …, Tengo un perro

recognising the use of tilde in subject pronouns and using some pronouns to identify people, objects or animals, for example, Yo, tú, él, ella

using singular possessive adjectives such as mi casa, mi hermano, tu amiga, to show ownership, for example, este es mi lápiz

observing features of familiar types of texts such as stories, greeting cards and nursery rhymes, for example, the use of the story-starter Érase una vez … and comparing it with English

understanding that most Spanish words ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine and that there is no grammatical gender in English

noticing plural forms that are similar in English, for example, perros, niños, ojos

noticing there are cognates in Spanish and English, but the pronunciation may be different, for example, nación – nation, estación – station, hospital – hospital, animal – animal, cereal – cereal

creating an identity card that contains parallel personal information in Spanish and English, for example, nombre/name, apellidos/last name(s), edad/age, Mis amigos son … /My friends are …, Vivo en … /I live in …, tengo ... /I have …, and noticing similarities and differences in words, order and structure

comparing how Spanish words commonly used in Australian English are pronounced by speakers of Spanish and English, and reasons for variation, for example, poncho, tacos, burrito, chocolate, tapas, paella, chorizo

noticing the differences between punctuation marks in Spanish and English, for example, inverted exclamation and question marks at the beginning of sentences

identifying that the noun comes before the adjective in Spanish as opposed to after the adjective in English, for example, perro grande, ojos bonitos

recognising words in Spanish that are borrowed from other languages, for example, canguro, email, chat, beicon, Panfleto

identifying terms and concepts that can be used to help understand and discuss culture, for example, symbols, national costumes and emblems, family traditions and ways of life

locating Spanish-speaking communities on a world map, with support, and understanding that Spanish is the national language of 21 countries and that culture varies greatly among these places

recognising that Spanish is an important and influential world language, spoken in different forms in many countries of the world including Australia, and that variations of words and expressions exist, for example, la banana or el plátano, marrón or café

exploring symbols and languages used by First Nations Australians and by Spanish-speaking communities in a range of contexts, for example, identifying the colours of flags in Spanish and discussing what the colours represent in English

noticing aspects of the lives of children in Spanish-speaking communities and Australia, as represented in print and digital images, video clips and stories, for example, ways of playing games and socialising, diet/food, routines, ways of interacting with others

comparing their own ways of communicating and making meaning, including using any other language(s) they may speak

identifying formal and informal language use between people in different contexts and situations, for example, pronouns and forms of address such as tú, usted, señor(a)

noticing expressions and terms they may hear or use in Australian English that reflect lifestyles and culture, such as terms associated with greetings, food, the land and sports, for example, ‘g’day’, ‘ta’, ‘barbie’, ‘sausage sizzle, ‘brekkie’, ‘backyard’, ‘billabong’,  ‘footy’

identifying themselves as belonging to different groups such as family, community, class or peer groups, for example, Yo soy Australiana y Chilena, Soy un niño/una niña. Estoy en la clase B, and representing these relationships through drawing pictures, adding captions to photos or digital text creation

discussing how colours or animals can represent different meanings and identity across cultures, for example, blanco in Chile represents the snow of the Andes whereas in Peru it is the colour of ‘peace’; or El Salvador’s iconic animal, the Torogoz