How we develop our lessons

Learn a pattern. Use it in a new situation.

Our Course teaches how Spanish works; Themes give you places to use it. We aim to explain what a pattern lets you do, how to choose and build it, where it needs care, and how to apply it to a new sentence. Examples, practice, self-checks, and optional Grammar View help connect the explanation to real use.

This is an ongoing editorial standard. Lessons vary in depth, and we continue improving their explanations and practice. Puerto Rican expressions and pronunciation sit alongside broadly understood Spanish, with context about when each is useful.

Communication goals and Spanish curriculum

• Council of Europe: CEFR describes language learning through communication and practical tasks. We consult it for learning goals and progression. Its Companion Volume provides further descriptors.
• ACTFL resources describe language ability and learning in the United States. The NCSSFL–ACTFL Can-Do Statements help us frame goals around what a learner can accomplish. ACTFL and CEFR levels are different systems; we do not assume a direct equivalence.
• Instituto Cervantes: Plan curricular provides Spanish-specific objectives and inventories of grammar, functions, vocabulary, and cultural content. It is a reference for curriculum decisions rather than a script for our lessons.

Grammar, usage, and regional context

• Real Academia Española and ASALE provide dictionaries and references for Spanish grammar, spelling, and usage across the Spanish-speaking world.
• Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española publications help us investigate Puerto Rican vocabulary and regional context. They complement review by Puerto Rican speakers.
• Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española offers references and discussion about Spanish in the United States.

For readers interested in school language learning

WIDA’s Marco DALE addresses Spanish language development in bilingual education. The Puerto Rico Department of Education’s 2016 Spanish curriculum framework provides historical school curriculum context. These school references serve a different purpose from an adult second-language proficiency scale; we do not claim alignment with current school standards.