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Intro to Spanish Literature | ||
Tags: Literature | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6800 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 1 of 10 08 August 2007 at 7:19pm | IP Logged |
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I don't know if this qualifies as a milestone or a goal, because just navigating through the City College of San Francisco's on-line interface to register for this class seemed like a milestone to me.
I'd been thinking about doing this since last winter. I've been learning Spanish for about three years now on my own, with one goal being to reach a level of fluency where I could take an "advanced" class at a local school. So, just the other day, I finally bucked up and did it. I'm kind of scared! The description is: Reading of literary and cultural selections; composition; review of selected grammar. Conducted in Spanish. I'm nervous that despite my placement test score, will they really let me in? I feel this way in light of my one botched attempt in first semester Spanish in 1991. I got a C, if that. It was torture for me, and I believed for a number of years that I just couldn't learn languages. At least they didn't ask for transcripts! My private conversation tutor says it might be a little below my ability -- that's awfully nice of her to say! -- but the way I see it, for eighty bucks for twelve weeks of classes, I'm going to get something out of it. My goal is an A in the class. We shall see! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 6958 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 10 08 August 2007 at 7:32pm | IP Logged |
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I'm sure you'll be more than OK, but remember that we're here to help if you need it.
Good luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| egg_uk Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6361 days ago 203 posts - 204 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 10 10 August 2007 at 5:06pm | IP Logged |
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good luck, youll do fine, and hopefully youll learn some interesting things from it
1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6379 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 10 11 August 2007 at 2:24am | IP Logged |
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Wish you all the best!
Learning literature will bring your understanding of Spanish to a whole new level. I wonder if all classes are conducted in Spanish, whether you also need to write your essays in Spanish. If so, your written Spanish will be excellent. Just make sure to get the best out of the course. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6800 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 5 of 10 17 August 2007 at 11:40am | IP Logged |
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Well, our first class was last night. We first had to tell the class what we did during our summer vacation. Ay ay ay. Then, different members of the class had to read different sections of the course syllabus, in English, out loud.
It's been awhile since I've been a student in a community college. Is this practice normal? It reminded me of the 8th grade, and it didn't make sense to me then, either. Then we had to pair up with other students in the class, and ask engaging questions like, Where were you born? Do you live in an apartment, house, or condominium? What do want to be in the future? Then we watched the first half of the film Before Night Falls, which wasn't even in Spanish. I'm very excited about the meat of the class, though, which is reading, composition, and then presenting ideas orally. I've already read our first homework assignment on the bus ride this morning -- which I could do without a dictionary, yee! -- which is Fernando AlegrÃa's "Los inmigrantes," a satire centered around the absurdities of immigration. It's about this guy who gets sent back home because his pet parrot didn't have the proper documents. I freaked out a little bit when our instructor listed on the board what classes we should have taken, as this course is considered "advanced." And I'd taken none of them. Gulp. I snuck through the border! I do have my "entrance exam" score, which they did not ask to see. Let's hope that and some hard work gets me amnesty. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7046 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 10 17 August 2007 at 12:46pm | IP Logged |
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Katie,
I think you'll do fine. If you can manage the first assignment on a bus without a dictionary, I doubt that the fact that you haven't taken a load of other classes where you read the syllabus out loud will matter a great deal. Keep us posted.... Andy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| workerbee Senior Member United States Joined 6794 days ago 173 posts - 178 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish Studies: Russian, German | Message 7 of 10 19 August 2007 at 10:28am | IP Logged |
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Congrats on keeping up with your goals. I found that at the junior/community college level that often I was moving at a faster pace than most of the students. I think this is due to our passion for learning languages--meaning this isn't a prerequisite for us. So don't let the initial, I never took these formal classes thought bog you down.
I know you will do great! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6800 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 8 of 10 24 August 2007 at 12:42pm | IP Logged |
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Well, we talked about "Los inmigrantes" last night. I'm disappointed with the relative low energy of the class, but there were a few who kept the discussion moderately lively.
The most quiet in the group are the kids who look fresh out of high school. They just sit in their comfortable little group and take notes. I guess at that age I was no different. It's a class where we all sit facing forward, waiting silently for our instructor to ask the next question, directly from the book. Our instructor speaks very slowly, and repeats himself as if we don't understand him, and worst of all, and this just kills me, he prefaces sentences with "Sooooo." When he's speaking Spanish! I'm hoping over time things become more animated. I know next time, I'm going to have a better meal before class so I can formulate my thoughts better. I was dizzy from starvation last night. It's hard enough speaking English in that state. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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