UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN-MADISON

Spanish 5

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Upcoming dates (2)

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For registration assistance: 608-262-2451

Schedule

Course materials available on Sept. 8, 2026
Live sessions on Tuesdays, Sept. 15–Nov. 17, 8:30–9:45 a.m.

Registration through: September 07, 2026

All times shown in central time.

Format

Live online

Fee

$329

Instructor

Rocío Cortés

Cancellation Policy

  • Cancel before the class start date (the day materials are made available): and receive a full refund minus a $50 administrative fee.
  • Cancel after the class start date (the day materials are made available) but before the second virtual conversation session: receive an 80% refund minus a $50 administrative fee.
  • Cancel after the second virtual conversation session: no refund.

Summary

Watch this short video about why our online Language program is one of the best in the country!

Newly revised! This practical high-intermediate course (B1.1) designed for adult language learners, will improve your ability to have sustained conversations about a wide range of topics. Learn the differences between the present subjunctive and indicative and improve your use of complex sentence structures.

You will learn to communicate with more ease and sophistication about everyday topics such as customs, the workplace, and expressing opinions. Learn to summarize the plots of movies or stories, situate events in the future and give advice or make requests with the subjunctive mood. Deepen your understanding of commands and impersonal forms. See the Outline for more details. All materials included.

Prerequisite: Spanish 4.

Find out if this is the right level for you with these placement tests: Spanish 4 self-placement test, Spanish 5 self-placement test.

Course format

You will practice speaking in 10 weekly online sessions of 75 minutes led by an experienced instructor with a maximum of 14 participants, using a mix of small and large group conversation activities.

The live online sessions begin one week after the scheduled course start date to allow time to work through the first unit of learning material in preparation for the live conversation practice.

Online course materials introduce new grammar and vocabulary and teach pronunciation, listening, and reading skills through videos, audio, and interactive exercises. Budget 4-5 hours a week to work through the online asynchronous content.

Course materials become available online on the scheduled course start date and remain accessible for one month after the course ends.

Want to know more about learning a language online? Read Dr. Julie Dahl's blog post about our online course format.

Sections anticipated for Fall 2026 (See Upcoming Dates for open sections and more detail):

Tuesdays, Sept. 8–Nov. 17, 8:30–9:45 a.m. CT

Tuesdays, Sept. 22–Dec. 8, 5:30–6:45 p.m. CT (No virtual conversation on Nov. 24)

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Overview: Extra Information

Please see the textbook link under fee and more information.

Course outline

Course Outline

Below are the main themes for each unit. Each unit contains teaching videos, listening activities, extended readings, practical exercises, and cultural information related to the unit theme.

Unidad 1: Las señales
  • Learn about different signage across Latin America
  • Review informal commands, both positive and negative
  • Use se impersonal to discuss rules
  • Review the imperfect tense
Unidad 2: Las costumbres
  • Learn about customs in Peru, Mexico and Argentina
  • Review common saludos
  • Incoporporate quantifiers into your speech
  • Prepositions of place
Unidad 3: La educación
  • Expand your vocabulary when discussing your educational experiences
  • Use reflexive and non-reflexive verbs accurately
  • Use the expressions darse cuenta de and tender a to talk about ah-ha moments and tendencies when learning
  • Practice using prepositional and possessive pronouns with greater accuracy
Unidad 4: El mundo del trabajo
  • Discuss your career, past and present
  • Discover more work vocabulary to expand your conversational ability
  • Familiarize yourself with different categories of frases verbales
  • Review regular preterite tense verbs
Unidad 5: Repaso
  • Review irregular preterite tense verbs
  • Review when to use the preterite and the imperfect
  • Prepositions of direction
Unidad 6: Las artes
  • Expand your vocabulary of musical instruments and genres
  • Prepositions of time
  • Use connectors to indicate cause, effect, and opposition
  • Explore different forms of art while growing your vocabulary
Unidad 7: Tu vida ahora y en el futuro
  • Future tense — conjugation and uses
  • Make predictions about the future
  • Direct and indirect object pronouns together
Unidad 8: Expresar opiniones
  • Review formal commands
  • Forming the present subjunctive
  • El subjuntivo con expresiones impersonales
  • El subjuntivo con aunque
Unidad 9: Resumir una película o un cuento
  • El subjuntivo con emociones
  • El subjuntivo con dudar que y creer que
  • Read a short story in Spanish or watch a movie and summarize it
Unidad 10: Repaso final
  • Reflect on your learning journey... ¡en español!
  • Comprehensive review of the major grammar topics in the course

Earn Continuing Education Hours

By participating in this class you will earn:

Instructional Hours 48
University of Wisconsin Continuing Education Units 4.8

Explanation of Continuing Education Hours

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Program Questions?

Contact Chris Moore at christopher.moore@wisc.edu or +16082627389

Registration Questions?

Email registration@cerc.wisc.edu or call 608-262-2451.

Continuing Studies FAQs

Meet your instructors

Rocío Cortés

(PhD, UW-Madison) has taught all levels of Spanish for more than three decades. She aims to ignite love, passion, and enthusiasm in her students for her native language.

Maria Pulla-France

(PhD. Candidate, UW-Madison) has taught beginning through advanced Spanish language for more than 15 years. She creates a student-centered learning environment where students feel welcome and respected. She is committed to students’ achievement and her communicative approach has fostered learning and success.

What Attendees Are Saying

"I liked the small size and the individual attention of the instructor."
Patricia Patterson
"The instructor really loves the language and teaching Spanish."
Mary Grace