Letter to the editor


Spanish department should help students fulfill requirements

Most students at USC are familiar with the language requirement. It’s often stressful to figure out how to fit all our major requirements around three semesters of our chosen language — usually Spanish, since it’s crucial for many professions.

One would expect that the Spanish department would ensure each student could be accommodated.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In the first week of classes, the first and third levels of Spanish had openings. Spanish II did not.

My expected graduation date is Spring 2012. Due to a packed course load, I understood that I would need to complete Spanish III this coming summer after my graduation ceremony.

What I did not expect was a complete inability to get into Spanish II.

More than that, I did not expect nine other students from the first class I crashed, and eight other students from the second, to have the same issues I was having.

All nine of us, from the second class, visited the director of the Spanish department. We presented our concerns: Some of us would be unable to start graduate school, others would be unable to graduate at all and still others would be unable to continue their study of Spanish until the following fall semester, losing skills in the meantime.

The director was sympathetic; however, we left unsure that anything would be changed.

But a bigger issue looms. In the first class I crashed, the professor explained that classes are capped at 19 students to maintain the “prestige” of the program. Community colleges have larger classes, she explained, and are therefore less prestigious.

Instead of adding more classes, the Spanish department is leaving students stranded.

If languages, such as Spanish, are requirements for graduation, shouldn’t USC have a responsibility to ensure that students can enroll without issue? We certainly pay enough.

 

Rachel Forbat

Senior, health promotion and disease prevention studies


4 replies
  1. George
    George says:

    “still others would be unable to continue their study of Spanish until the following fall semester, losing skills in the meantime”

    THIS is the problem with the majority of people who take language classes. You think it ends when class does. People wonder why America can’t speak other languages. One would only “lose skills” if he/she neglected to do anything at all. Do these “others” watch Spanish-language TV? There is plenty in LA. What about read Spanish books? Join SUSA to participate in conversation tables or movie-watching events? Check out books to get you to write/read better?

    This is why I can’t sympathize (other than what the other two posts have said): you, or whoever these “others” are, make no effort to do anything with Spanish that isn’t required (to be honest, the department doesn’t make it very demanding, anyway). I’ve skipped a semester between Spanish classes TWICE in my undergraduate career, due to scheduling or lack of upper division classes – it is what it is. I practice on my own to maintain it and come back to class later right where I left off. In fact, I came back both times far better than before. And with a summer in between, don’t even try to tell me there is no time. The only time you, or these “others,” can speak of is time wasted, neglecting something that should be of interest with a degree like yours.

    • George
      George says:

      Essentially, it is your kind of attitude that holds students who actually care to learn another language a disadvantage in the classroom: every semester, weeks have to be taken going over the simple concepts that should already be known. The fact that people still can’t do “por” vs. “para” in even upper division classes is pathetic. Some may be the instruction, but by and far the fault belongs to people like you.

  2. Daniel
    Daniel says:

    This is your fault. As an alumnus who completed the foreign language requirement, I know what you mean, but lack any sympathy for you. If you started at USC as a freshman, you would have had 8 semesters (and 3 or 4 summer sessions) to complete the language requirement. You chose to wait until the last 2 semesters. You even planned to take classes after your graduation. This shows a complete lack of planning on your part.

    I agree that the requirement is annoying and the paucity of classes makes registering difficult. But your inability to
    “crash” a class is completely of your own doing. Instead of writing about how the Spanish department should “accommodate” you, you should have planned better, met with your adviser to discuss your current and future schedule, and taken the initiative during your registration dates. You didn’t.

    It’s clear you have a sense of entitlement and believe you should be able to take any classes you want whenever you want. However, this shows a complete lack of respect towards the students that meticulously plan their schedules in advance so that they can graduate on time. Furthermore, you assume that the Spanish department can afford the increased budget of adding another class, or that they have classroom space to add another class.

    If you really wanted to graduate on time, start graduate school, or retain your Spanish skills, you would have been better at planning your courses to achieve these goals. You didn’t and now you are out of luck.

    Fight On.

  3. Just Disappointed
    Just Disappointed says:

    You saved your Spanish requirements for the 2nd semester of your senior year? Do you want a cookie, or what?

    Hey guess what, as of noon on 1/23 (the time of this post), there are two seats open in Spanish II classes:

    http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/20121/span

    I can’t believe anyone would sign their name to a letter that does little more than announce to the world how bad they are at managing their schedule.

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