If you’re thinking of taking Spanish 101 next semester then you are probably wondering how difficult it will be.
This post will show you how hard college Spanish is and things that you can do to make it easier.
So, how hard is college Spanish? It is not generally considered a very difficult class. However, it tends to go at a fast pace and you will need to put a lot of effort into learning the grammar and memorizing vocabulary.
There are actually a lot of things that will impact how difficult the class will be for you and there are a number of things that you can do to make it easier.
How hard college Spanish is
It depends on what you already know
How difficult the class will be for you will largely depend on how much you already know.
If you took Spanish in high school and you did well in it then you will likely also do well in college Spanish. However, you will likely find that it will go at a faster pace than in high school.
If you don’t know any Spanish then the class will be more difficult for you. However, Spanish 101 will not assume that you have any prior knowledge so it will start from the very beginning. You’ll just have to put in a bit more work than some of the other students.
It depends on the professor
A big factor that can impact the difficulty of the class is the professor teaching it. The professor will dictate the pace of the class, what goes on exams, whether the exams are oral or written and how much homework is set. Some professors will give you a study guide for exams and allow you to bring in notes and others will tell you to know everything from the textbook.
Before selecting the class it would be worthwhile to look at ratemyprofessors.com to see what other people have said about the professors in the past.
It depends on your level of interest in learning Spanish
Another thing to consider is your level of interest in Spanish.
If you are interested in learning Spanish then the class will likely be a lot easier for you since you’ll concentrate better in class and be more willing to study outside of class.
Whereas, if you’re not so interested in the class and you’re just taking it because you have to then you will likely have a harder time. This is because it won’t be as easy to put a lot of focus into the class and it will be harder to memorize the vocabulary.
You’ll need to put a lot of effort into the class
Spanish at the college level can go at quite a fast pace. You can expect to have to put about 15 hours of effort per week into the class. This is because you will need to learn Spanish grammar and there will be a lot of words that you will have to learn as well.
Things you can do to make the class easier
There are a number of things that you can do to make Spanish 101 go more smoothly.
Plan the semester out early on
At the start of the semester, it would be worthwhile to plan out the due dates for all of your classes. By doing so you will be able to spot potentially difficult weeks before they come, avoid missing homework or exams and know when you need to start preparing for exams.
Make sure to do well on any homework
The homework can often make up a large portion of the grade in elementary Spanish. Many students don’t take it seriously. However, doing well on the homework will help you to do better on the exams and make up for any bad exam results.
You can ensure that you do well on the homework by reading the book before starting it, avoiding waiting until the day before it is due and using resources such as Google and Youtube to study parts that you get stuck on.
Read the chapter from the book before jumping to any problems
Often, students will try to solve their homework problems based on what the teacher taught in-class without reading the book.
The problem with this is that some the teacher might skip over parts of the chapter from the book, the questions will be based on the material in the book and you won’t understand the material as well as you could.
Rather than jumping straight to the homework problems it would be more effective for you to read the relevant chapter first and then to try to solve the questions from the book after.
Prepare for the class before taking it
One option you have that will make the class much easier would be to prepare for the class before you take it. By doing so it will be easier for you to follow along in the lectures and you will know more vocabulary which will help a lot on the homework and exams.
You can prepare for the class by working through Duolingo, adding words to the flashcard app Ankii and I would highly recommend that you listen to this Youtube playlist.
