The course content focuses on the analysis of the basic linguistic characteristics of the Spanish language. It introduces students to the study of the Spanish sound system (phonetics and phonology), formation of words (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), as well as the evolution of the different Spanish varieties (historic, regional, and social). This class will prepare students for higher-level courses in Hispanic linguistics and others in which Spanish is used in formal academic contexts. This course requires students to have completed two years of college-level Spanish.