1-on-1 Mastery-Based IB Spanish · Taipei

IB Spanish, from grammar to fluency.

IB Spanish B rewards genuine fluency across all four language skills, not grammar recall alone. Lessons build from the Spanish grammar and vocabulary students bring toward the productive writing, receptive comprehension, and Individual Oral the IB Paper questions, and university coursework, will demand.

Audience
IB Spanish HL and SL content, international school students
Format
1-on-1, 1 to 1.5 hours per lesson
Duration
Typically across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence
Begin
Complimentary consultation & assessment class

What Students Learn

Mastery-based IB Spanish at the level your child's school actually requires.

IB Spanish B is for students working through the IB Diploma Programme who want to move past grammar recall toward the genuine Spanish fluency, productive writing, receptive comprehension, and Individual Oral the IB assessment tests. The program covers the full IB Spanish B Subject Guide for HL and SL. Engaging with the five prescribed themes the IB Subject Guide organizes around: Identities (covering personal and cultural identity, beliefs, values, and lifestyle), Experiences (covering leisure, holidays, life stories, and rites of passage), Human ingenuity (covering art, technology, communication, and innovation), Social organization (covering social relationships, community, education, and work), and Sharing the planet (covering environment, urban and rural settings, global issues, and ethics). Building productive writing across genres the IB Paper 1 distinctively tests, including emails, articles, blogs, speeches, and reports calibrated to register, audience, and purpose. Developing receptive listening through authentic audio scenarios and recordings the IB Paper 2 listening component examines. Strengthening receptive reading through authentic Spanish-language texts the IB Paper 2 reading component examines. Reasoning across cultural knowledge of Spanish-speaking communities the IB assessment threads through all themes. Engaging with two literary works in Spanish at HL, providing the sustained reading the HL papers assume. Designing and delivering the Individual Oral the IB assessment requires. These are the skills the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, and Individual Oral test, and the foundation any university Spanish, Hispanic studies, Latin American studies, international relations, business, journalism, or translation course will assume.

IB Spanish B is not advanced grammar recall. The shift is from grammar to fluency. Students move from naming verb conjugations and vocabulary lists to communicating in Spanish across all four language skills with the spontaneity, accuracy, and register-control genuine fluency requires. A student who can conjugate Spanish verbs is doing the grammar work. A student who can read a Spanish news article and discuss its argument, write a response calibrated to register and audience, listen to a Spanish-language interview and identify its key claims, and speak about a visual stimulus extemporaneously is doing the fluency the IB assessment rewards across themes and skill areas. The program closes the gap between the two.

Lessons follow Harland's IB Spanish B curriculum, built to bring students to mastery of IB Spanish B content as defined by the IB Diploma Programme Subject Guide. The program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with each unit closing in an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats and includes the analytical work the Individual Oral requires. SL students complete the SL core covering the five prescribed themes through authentic texts and productive practice. HL students complete the SL core plus engagement with two literary works in Spanish, which inform discussion in the Individual Oral and extend the linguistic complexity expected on both papers. Lessons calibrate to your child's individual gaps and the topics their school program covers. If a student is working through the theme of Human ingenuity at school, the teacher works through it with the student, applying the unit's analytical structure to the questions their Paper 1 will eventually ask.

Progress shows up in places parents can see. Where your child once memorized verb conjugations, they now write Spanish that reads as Spanish, with attention to register, idiom, and rhetorical purpose. Where your child once treated Spanish listening as a decoding exercise, they now follow native-speed audio and identify what speakers are arguing for. Where the Individual Oral once felt like an open-ended task, it now feels like a structured fluency demonstration your child can plan, practice, and deliver against the IB rubric.

How We Teach It

IB Spanish taught for understanding, with the score arriving as a consequence.

Harland's pedagogy is content-based learning. Productive writing, receptive comprehension, and the genuine fluency the IB Paper 1 and Paper 2 questions reward develop through the themes, authentic texts, and past papers your child is already working with. Assessments check whether the thinking holds up when the student moves to new material alone.

A student working through the theme of Identities works on it with their teacher, building the reasoning that connects vocabulary, register, and cultural context to the productive writing Paper 1 requires. A student moving into receptive listening works on it with their teacher, applying the unit's analytical structure to authentic audio scenarios, native-speed dialogue, and the comprehension questions Paper 2 distinctively tests. A student working through receptive reading works on it with their teacher, building the scaffolding that lets them follow Spanish journalism, advertising, fiction excerpts, and other authentic texts the IB assessment uses.

IB Spanish B students arrive with two layers under the surface. The score pressure is real. The May or November exam matters for university plans, particularly for students aiming at Spanish, Hispanic studies, Latin American studies, international relations, business with Spanish-speaking markets, or any field where Spanish fluency is an advantage, and most students know it. But beneath the score pressure is a specific cognitive challenge that defines the IB Spanish B assessment. Grammar recall is not the hard part. The hard part is reading and producing Spanish across all four skills with the spontaneity, accuracy, and register-control the IB rubric expects. The 1-on-1 format gives teachers room to slow down where the fluency ground is unfamiliar, and to keep the work rigorous without losing the student's engagement with Spanish itself. Skill and fluency develop together. Neither moves far in isolation.

The format also lets teachers calibrate within the program's structure. A student fluent with Spanish grammar drills but uncomfortable with IB productive-writing tasks gets pushed toward the Paper 1-style scenarios the assessment will ask. What genre does this prompt require, and what register fits the audience. How does the rhetorical purpose shape word choice, sentence structure, and tone. How does Spanish handle this particular communicative move differently from English. A student strong on writing but weak on the receptive Paper 2 requires gets work calibrated to the rubric's expectations. That means refining listening at native speed, working through authentic Spanish texts with attention to inference and discourse, organizing comprehension around what the question asks, and practicing under the time constraints the IB assessment uses.

Spanish B also has an oral dimension. The IB Spanish B Diploma Programme requires every student to complete the Individual Oral as Internal Assessment, worth around 25 percent of the final grade at both SL and HL. The Individual Oral is a recorded oral assessment of around fifteen minutes. SL students present extemporaneously on a visual stimulus they select from two options the teacher provides, engage in follow-up discussion, and continue into a general conversation drawing on the themes the course covers. HL students present on an extract from one of the two literary works studied at HL, drawing connections to course themes and broader cultural context, then engage in the same follow-up discussion and general conversation structure. Harland's 1-on-1 IB Spanish B program supports the Individual Oral through every stage. Teachers help students develop the Spanish fluency the oral requires, build the vocabulary and structures specific to thematic discussion, practice extemporaneous description and analysis, and rehearse the conversation flow the IB rubric expects. The recording itself happens at school under supervisor oversight, and the fluency development, theme preparation, and conversational rehearsal happen at Harland.

Curriculum and Alignment

A structured curriculum keyed to the IB Spanish B Subject Guide.

IB Spanish at Harland follows a structured curriculum keyed to the IB Spanish B Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. A student who completes the program has demonstrated mastery of IB Spanish content as the IB Subject Guide defines it.

Harland's IB Spanish B runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with Individual Oral preparation integrated rather than appended. Most school IB Spanish B courses spread the same content across more class time, with Individual Oral work happening alongside or after class. 1-on-1 lessons don't lose time to group pacing or mixed-ability instruction, so the same core content fits in more substantive units. The time saved goes into the fluency the IB Diploma assessment rewards.

Standards
IB Spanish B Diploma Programme Subject Guide (HL and SL), with the Individual Oral rubric as the cross-cutting skill framework
Materials
Harland curriculum materials, authentic Spanish-language texts across the five prescribed themes your child's school program covers, two literary works at HL, and past IB papers integrated as ongoing input
Assessment
End-of-unit assessments aligned with IB Paper 1 (productive writing), Paper 2 (listening and reading comprehension), and the Individual Oral rubric
Reporting
Skill-level tracking against Harland's internal rubrics, mapped to IB assessment criteria

Prerequisites and What Comes Next

Where IB Spanish fits in your child's learning.

Before starting

IB Spanish B is designed for students learning Spanish as an additional language at SL or HL. The course assumes prior coursework in Spanish, typically built through pre-IB or MYP Spanish, with grammar and vocabulary foundations sufficient to engage with authentic Spanish texts. SL students typically arrive with 2-3 years of prior Spanish study; HL students with more substantial prior study. Students with native or heritage Spanish fluency are better placed in IB Spanish A: Language and Literature (a separate Group 2 subject). Students with no prior Spanish study may be better placed in IB Spanish ab initio. Students arriving from a different curriculum or with uneven foundations work through gaps in foundational analytical reading before or alongside IB Spanish B proper.

One thing to know about scope. The IB Spanish B Internal Assessment, the Individual Oral, is a recorded oral assessment worth around 25 percent of the final grade at both SL and HL. IB schools provide the recording infrastructure and supervisor oversight per IB requirements. Harland's 1-on-1 tutoring focuses on the Spanish fluency development, theme preparation, vocabulary and structure work, and conversational rehearsal the IB assessment tests directly, not on the recording itself. The Individual Oral is recorded at school under supervisor oversight per IB requirements, and Harland's role is the fluency development and theme rehearsal work that turns prior study into a strong oral performance.

The consultation and assessment class establishes whether IB Spanish B is the right starting point and whether parallel work in foundational Spanish or Academic English would help. Some students arrive needing both Spanish-foundation reinforcement and IB-specific support, and the lesson plan covers what's most urgent first.

What comes after

Most students complete IB Spanish B across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, sitting either the May or November exam. Cadence varies by entry point and exam timing, with most students attending one to three sessions per week.

IB Spanish B does not have a direct successor course in the IB sequence. After the exam, the fluency and productive-receptive skills the course develops carry directly into university Spanish, Hispanic studies, Latin American studies, international relations focused on the Spanish-speaking world, business with Spanish-speaking markets, translation and interpretation, journalism, and any field where Spanish fluency is an advantage. Students choosing Spanish B as their Extended Essay subject work with their primary teacher across the research-question, methodology, and writing stages on the Extended Essay program.

The longer-term aim of IB Spanish B is to make itself unnecessary. The program brings students to mastery of IB Spanish B content. Students sit the May or November exam, complete their Individual Oral, and the program's role ends. A parent who's no longer worried about their child's IB Spanish B work is the point of all of it.

Common Questions

Common questions about IB Spanish at Harland.

Who is IB Spanish at Harland for? +
IB Spanish at Harland is for high school students working through the IB Diploma Programme. Most of our students fall into one of two patterns. Some are taking IB Spanish at school and come to us for support alongside the school program, building the productive writing fluency and the receptive comprehension the IB assessment tests differently from typical Spanish coursework. Some are preparing for the May or November exam in an intensive run-up, working through past papers, IA refinement, and targeted weakness review in the weeks or months before the assessment. Students whose situation falls outside these two patterns, including students transitioning curricula mid-DP, students at schools without strong IB programs, or students who need a more flexible curriculum than the standard IB Spanish program provides, work with us through Harland's Academic Coaching framework, where the curriculum is calibrated to the individual situation rather than the IB Subject Guide alone.
My child knows Spanish grammar and vocabulary but struggles with the productive writing and receptive comprehension the IB assessment requires. Can the program help with that kind of thinking? +
This is a familiar situation. The IB Spanish B assessment tests a kind of thinking that the grammar drill doesn't always practice directly. Reading authentic Spanish texts and following the discourse the way a native speaker would. Listening to native-speed audio and tracking what speakers are arguing for. Writing Spanish that reads as Spanish, with attention to register and rhetorical purpose. Speaking extemporaneously about a visual stimulus and sustaining a conversation across the themes the course covers. We work directly on these skills, slowing down on the productive-writing work the Paper 1 questions require, on the receptive comprehension the Paper 2 tests, and on the rubric criteria that distinguish a strong response from a vague one. Most students who come to us strong on Spanish grammar but struggling on the productive and receptive prompts close that gap by working through the rubric explicitly, with sample questions and practice under time constraint.
What does the IB Spanish program cover? +
The program follows the IB Spanish B Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. Content covers the five prescribed themes the IB Subject Guide organizes around: Identities, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Social organization, and Sharing the planet. HL students additionally engage with two literary works in Spanish across the program. The program prepares students for IB Paper 1 (productive writing), Paper 2 (listening and reading comprehension), and the Individual Oral. The Individual Oral, worth around 25 percent of the final grade at both SL and HL, is supported through every stage from theme rehearsal to recording preparation. Harland's program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, calibrated to the framework your child's specific course route requires.
How long is each lesson and how often does my child attend? +
Lessons are 1-on-1 sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours, in person at our head office in Da'an or online. Most students attend one to three lessons per week. Harland's IB Spanish program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. At one or two lessons per week alongside a school IB course, the program runs through the DP cycle and concludes with the May or November exam. At three lessons per week, the program covers the same content at faster pace. For students preparing in an intensive run-up to the exam, the cadence increases as the test approaches, typically two to four months at higher frequency. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the cadence that fits.
How are lessons scheduled, and what if we need to reschedule? +
Lessons happen on a fixed weekly slot reserved with your child's primary teacher. This protects the teacher's time and keeps a consistent rhythm for your child. If you need to reschedule, give us at least 24 hours of notice and we'll find another time when your teacher is available. Many families add classes during summer or winter vacation, either to accelerate progress or to make up for a slower term. Once a unit has started, it should be completed within a defined window. The Student Coordinator walks through the details when you enroll.
Can my child begin IB Spanish over the summer? +
Yes. Summer enrollment is available across Harland's IB Diploma programs, with two patterns. Students preparing for the upcoming May or November exam in an intensive run-up sometimes begin or accelerate in summer at higher cadence (typically two to three sessions per week), particularly when their school IB course pacing has fallen behind, when their Internal Assessment is at draft stage, or when the run-up to the exam needs concentrated time. Students preparing for an exam sitting further out (i.e., entering or partway through the 2-year DP) often use summer for a head-start block, working through current-year content or building the prerequisite foundation before the next school year begins. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the right summer pattern based on which exam sitting your child is preparing for and where their IA work currently stands.
How do you measure progress? +
Progress is measured through unit assessments aligned with the IB Spanish B Subject Guide. Harland's IB Spanish program is organized into ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. Each unit closes with an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats, including the productive writing tasks of Paper 1, the listening and reading comprehension of Paper 2, and the Individual Oral rubric, and measures conceptual understanding, productive accuracy, receptive comprehension, and the fluency that connects Spanish-language skills across speaking, writing, listening, and reading throughout the unit's content. Parents receive updates after every lesson and formal progress reports when each unit ends. Skill-level tracking uses Harland's internal rubrics, which map to IB assessment criteria. Where helpful, the Student Coordinator translates this into the expectations of your child's school.
How do we begin? +
Every Harland relationship begins with a consultation, followed by a 1-on-1 assessment class. The consultation is about your goals and your child's situation. The assessment class is about how your child works in the subject. Together they tell us where to start and what kind of teacher will fit best.

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