Special Courses and Thematic Workshops
If you want to delve deeper into a specific aspect of the Spanish language, such as its grammar or spelling, or into a specific communicative activity such as oral interaction, written expression, or reading comprehension, prepare your exams with expert examiners to obtain the DELE diplomas, learn in detail about some aspect of Hispanic culture, such as its cinema, its literature, or its music, we await you at the Instituto Cervantes in Los Angeles.
Format: Online.
Instructor: Gelsys García Lorenzo.
Price: $50; or $180 for all four fall 2025 language workshops for professionals and advanced students.
To register, write to us at cursos.losangeles@cervantes.org
Spanish Language Workshops for Professionals and Advanced Students
Punctuation: Making your Texts Clearer and More Professional
Date: September 13th from 9 am to 11 am.
Description: Do you think a comma marks a pause? Do you only use a semicolon when the sentence is very long? Do you struggle to decide between a colon, comma, or semicolon? If any of these questions sound familiar, this workshop will help clarify them. Topics include: the comma —when to use it and when not to; common mistakes; the semicolon —a sign many avoid but that can improve your writing; and the colon —its use beyond lists and definitions.
Registration deadline: September 10th.
Espanglish and and Loanwords in Spanish
Date: October 9th from 9 am to 11 am.
Description: Have you heard expressions like estar embarazado (to be pregnant, used for "to be embarrassed"), vacunar la carpeta (to vacuum the carpet), llamar para atrás (to call back), jugársela frío (to play it cool), or cortar la yarda (to mow the yard)? What about words like liquear (to leak), troca (truck), or marqueta (market)? In this workshop, we’ll cover types of loanwords: raw, adapted, and necessary; when to use italics and when not to; common mistakes in the use of foreign words and how to avoid them; Spanglish: myths and realities; and what Real Academia Española and Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española say about Spanglish.
Registration deadline: October 8th.
Stress Marks Without Doubts: What You Need to Know
Date: November 8th from 9 am to 11 am.
Description: Is it really wrong to put a tilde on sólo when it means “only”? Can I still write aquélla or ése with a tilde if there’s a risk of ambiguity? What does it mean that there are now accepted double accentuations I can choose from? How do I know if a monosyllable should have an accent (or not)? Is it aspérger or ásperger? Mitin or mitín? Rádar or radar? Licua or licúa?
This workshop will explain the new double accentuations (2014–2024); controversial cases: solo, demonstratives, etc.; correct uses of the tilde; and common accentuation mistakes and how to avoid them.
Registration deadline: November 5th.
Social Media and the Real Academia del Español: Writing in the Digital World
Date: December 13th from 9 am to 11 am.
Description: Should the emoticon be written before or after the period? How many emojis can be used at the same time? What are the rules for writing tags or hashtags correctly?
We’ll review practical rules from theReal Academia Española and Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española for writing clearly, precisely, and error-free in the digital world; explain the correct use of punctuation on social media, as well as abbreviations and emojis in digital writing; and see what language scholars say. We’ll also go over the most common mistakes on social media that affect your professional image (and how to avoid them).
Registration deadline: December 10th.
If you have any questions, write to us at cursos.losangeles@cervantes.org