Who here has taken Spanish in college?

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Pyramid_Party

Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
4,916
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Monterey, CA
Hi,

I got to take 2 levels of a foreign language as a requirement to graduate at a UC system school. I have chosen Spanish as the language I am going to do. I understand simple stuff and can say some things but I can't form sentences and have conversations. I have read some reviews from some students and while everyone says the professors are usually nice and fair, they say that if you are not a native speaker you will not get an A no matter how hard you try. I want to know if this is really accurate. How do I know they would try as hard as me? How do I know they are not slower learners compared to me? Anyway, has anyone taken Spanish that was not a native speaker and got an A? Or what was the highest grade you got and could you explain your situation a little? Thanks
 
I majored in Spanish Literature for my bachelor's degree and got mostly A's - I think my cumulative GPA was 3.87. I am not a native speaker but I did go on a foreign exchange to Mexico my junior year of high school, so I am pretty fluent. I suppose it could depend on the class (and the teacher), but for the most part you get graded on the work you do and written tests, so I think anyone that studies and tries hard should be able to get an A.
 
Not sure if things have changed since I graduated from Davis, but I didn't have to take spanish because I satisfied the requirement by having a high enough score on my Spanish SAT II subject exam. I say this because I would think most native speakers (like me) would satisfy the requirement by sitting for a couple hour exam, versus taking two quarters of Spanish classes, so I wouldn't think you would be competing against native speakers (although I very well could be wrong about that...I honestly don't know because I never had to take Spanish in college...hopefully someone who has taken a Spanish course to satisfy a GE requirement can chime in).

I can understand your concern though...I took an intro to Computer Science course (for non-majors) and it was ridiculous...the kids taking the class could have taught the course and were clearly taking it to pad their GPA. I dropped that course with a quickness because these guys were all experienced programmers.

Off topic question: who is the artist in your avatar? I have seen that identical photo with a different subject being drawn/painted..I'm curious, is that a famous artist?
 
If I could take an exam I would. But you'd be surprised how lazy some people are. I was thinking about teaching myself some Spanish and taking maybe an exam to pass the intro level. I feel like I could do well cause I am hard working and usually pick up on new concepts fairly well. I just don't want to go into something where I have too much of a disadvantage. Plus I want to actually become fluent in Spanish.

aldiaz33 - Not sure of the artist but the person drawn is me. It is from a website (photofunia.com) you upload your pic to a certain template and it will put you into the picture.
 
If you really want to become fluent, look into a study-abroad or exchange program. It's the surest way to really learn another language. Ecuador has some great programs, plus some great fish! :headbang2
 
Its not the speaking that will get you its the writin stuff. Theres alot of "shoe" verbs you have to learn. Present tence, past tence, future tence... im doing great in school right now just not in spainish. I know 3 languages (fluently, including english but thats becuase i learned since birth since our whole family speaks the 2 languages) I cannot learn it for MY LIFE. Its just bringing my gpa down...at my school u have to do 2yr of a foreign language its bs but if you are good a languages then go for it

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I took it in Jr.college and got all As, but I also took it for 2 years in HS. You can call it sandbagging (bolsa de arena), or you can call it being resourceful. That being said it is the one thing from my college and HS education that I use almost every day. When I speak spanish to native speakers they think that I am from a spanish speaking country.
 
I'm taking 4 years of spanish in High School so i can avoid it in college, plus its a good language to know as it will become more used in the workplace so having it is just plain helpful. Zfish, are you a sophomore? Spanish 2 is fairly easy for me lol but i have friends that hate it too.
 
I'm married to a spanish teacher. You gotta travel to spanish speaking countries or speak spanish with fluent people to really get it. You can't get dialects from a book. Mis pantalones es en fuego.
 
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