CMLL SpanishSpanish Foundations
Spanish Foundations Overview
The Spanish Foundations Program at Texas Tech University provides students with a strong beginning in Spanish while preparing them to communicate across cultures with confidence and purpose. Serving more than 5,000 students each academic year, the program combines research-informed instruction, innovative online learning, and a supportive learning community to help students build meaningful language skills from day one.
Our goal and role extends beyond teaching vocabulary and grammar. We believe learning another language develops the ability to navigate unfamiliar situations, communicate across differences, solve problems collaboratively, and view the world from new perspectives. These are skills that employers consistently value and that enrich students' academic, professional, and personal lives.
Whether students continue into a Spanish minor or major, pursue healthcare, business, engineering, education, law, or simply want to engage more fully with the Spanish-speaking communities of Texas and beyond, Spanish Foundations equips them with practical communication skills while fostering curiosity, confidence, and cultural understanding.
Every aspect of the program, from interactive learning experiences and conversation coaching to reflective practice and consistent instructor support, is intentionally designed to help students grow as language learners and globally minded professionals and citizens.
What You’ll Learn
Our Proficiency Goals
The Spanish Foundations sequence is designed to help students build real-world communication skills while making measurable progress in Spanish proficiency.
Our curriculum aligns with the proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the national standard for language learning in the United States.
By the end of the two-course Foundations sequence (SPAN 1501–1502), students work toward the Novice High level of proficiency. At this level, students can:
- Participate in simple conversations about familiar topics.
- Ask and answer basic questions.
- Describe themselves, their families, interests, and daily activities.
- Navigate everyday situations such as ordering food, asking for directions, making purchases, or discussing schedules.
- Communicate using words, phrases, and simple sentences, even when they occasionally make mistakes.
Students who continue through the four-course introductory sequence (SPAN 2301–2302) work toward Intermediate Low proficiency. At this level, students can:
- Participate in simple conversations on a variety of familiar topics with greater confidence and independence.
- Ask follow-up questions and maintain brief exchanges rather than relying on isolated questions and answers.
- Describe people, places, experiences, routines, and future plans using connected sentences.
- Handle everyday situations such as traveling, shopping, dining, making appointments, giving directions, and solving simple problems.
- Express basic opinions, preferences, and reasons while discussing topics related to school, work, hobbies, and current events.
- Navigate many real-world interactions with Spanish speakers using language that is increasingly flexible, spontaneous, and comprehensible, even when mistakes occur.
Proficiency is not perfect grammar. It's about being able to communicate effectively with real people in real situations. Our courses are designed to help students steadily build that ability while developing the confidence to use Spanish beyond the classroom.
Language Learning That Transfers
The skills students develop in Spanish Foundations extend well beyond the language classroom. As they learn to communicate across linguistic and cultural differences, students also strengthen abilities that transfer to nearly every profession: effective communication, adaptability, collaboration, problem solving, intercultural competence, and reflective self-awareness.
Our curriculum intentionally helps students recognize and articulate these transferable skills so they leave the program with both language proficiency and a deeper understanding of the value they bring to future academic, professional, and personal experiences.
Our Approach
We believe students learn languages best when they are actively using them.
Our courses emphasize meaningful communication from the very beginning through interactive class activities, guided conversation practice, cultural exploration, and opportunities for reflection. Students receive consistent feedback from instructors who are committed to helping them make steady progress while building confidence as communicators.
Learning Spanish is learning to connect with people, navigate unfamiliar situations, and see the world through new perspectives.
- Communication from day one
- Small class sizes
- Interactive learning
- Meaningful conversation practice
- Cultural exploration
- Reflection that helps students recognize and articulate what they're learning
- Faculty who are invested in student success
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Address
CMLL Building, 2906 18th St, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.3145 -
Email
webmaster@ttu.edu