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Old December 18, 2013, 03:10 PM
zuma022 zuma022 is offline
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Post secondary Spanish classes

I know this might be a stupid question, but I'm curious. At what level is your Spanish (or any foreign language for that matter) after taking classes at college or university level?

I took 4 years of French in high school and I don't think I ever made it above an A2, but this was high school. I know university offer literature classes in Spanish, so the level is obviously much higher. Does anyone know to what levels the classes correspond?
I'm sort of thinking about completing another degree and I'm wondering if I would stand a chance at challenging courses. It's all far off still, but I'm curious, whether I should keep continuing to study as I do now or if I should consider taking university courses.
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Old December 18, 2013, 05:27 PM
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I don't have a reference for this, but I think it should be about C1 - although it will depend on whether the student starts learning Spanish at university or goes in with an existing level of knowledge. I took Spanish to the level below university (A-level in England), and a few years later (when I moved to Spain and signed up for an intensive course to get back in the flow) I was assessed at B2.
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Old December 19, 2013, 12:52 AM
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That's good to know, thanks. I recently passed the DELE B2, I think I'll look into challenging a lower level one and hopefully take some courses at the upper level.
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Old December 25, 2013, 12:40 PM
Mozzo Mozzo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zuma022 View Post
I took 4 years of French in high school and I don't think I ever made it above an A2, but this was high school. I know university offer literature classes in Spanish, so the level is obviously much higher. Does anyone know to what levels the classes correspond?
I also took 4 years of French in high school with the same results. Could read reasonably well, write short paragraphs (with many mistakes). Did not properly learn all the verb tenses and could not speak well, nor hear and comprehend authentic language worth a darn.

At my university I was majoring in something else. I took the basic French class just to get an easy "A" and improve my grade point average. Going in, I'd heard that college moves as 2 or 3 times the speed of high school - but I don't think so. The conclusion of one semester of college French felt about the same as a half-year of high school. It would not surprise me if Bachelor's level college degree holders are not very fluent, and that it takes graduate studies to seriously "get it".

Last edited by Mozzo; December 25, 2013 at 12:44 PM.
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Old December 26, 2013, 12:50 AM
zuma022 zuma022 is offline
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Interesting Mozzo, thanks for sharing. Your French experience sounds about the same as mine. No chance to have a proper conversation or understanding tv, but enough to order a cup of coffee in Paris.
I guess it does depend whether you start from scratch at college level, though i supiste the only way to really know is signing up for the class.
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Old December 26, 2013, 11:49 PM
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I completed courses equivalent to the minor in Spanish Language and Literature at my university during the late 1970's. The minor consisted of the 6 core courses for the major (the other 6 courses for the major were electives chosen from a larger list).

I finished my formal studies long before the Spanish government established the tests for these levels, although I've continued to study at learn on and off since then. I've completed only the on-line advertising version of the tests on the Instituto Cervantes web-site and was rated as C1; the advertising test did not cover level C2.

Based on my experience during my studies and with the types of questions for each section of the test (and knowing that the version I took was NOT the full test), I would argue that in order to earn sufficiently strong grades in the major courses to be awarded the degree one would need to be competent enough in Spanish to pass the C1 exam.

As I recall, at my university one could not register for any of the major courses for Spanish Language and Literature unless one earned a score of 540 or better on the College Board Achievement Test in Spanish (what is now called the Subject Test in Spanish), or a score of 3 or better on the Advanced Placement Test, or completing Intermediate Spanish II (the 4th semester of the 4-semester sequence from Beginning Spanishs 1). I'm not sure what the corresponding rating would be for the DELE; I think at least B1 and perhaps B2.

My university had different sets of required courses for Spanish Language and Literature majors depending on whether Spanish was one's native language or second language. I recently checked the website at my university, and the coursework is substantially the same as when I was studying.

All courses are conducted exclusively in Spanish, and all literature courses mixed native and non-native speakers.

The 6 required courses for non-native speakers were (and are):

1. One course focusing on conversation, plus:
2. One course focusing on composition.

These two courses for non-native speakers covered advanced grammar topics and extensive practice in conversational skills and writing skills. One could take both courses during the same semester if one chose to. Native speakers had a different set of courses to choose from.

3. Introduction to Spanish Literature.

This course was a general introduction to literature studies, to different forms of literature (essay, journalism, short story, novel, drama, poetry, and so on) and to the different ways of analyzing and critiquing them. This course was required of all majors, native spakers and non-native speakers alike.

4. Spanish Phonetics and Phonology.

Courses 1 and 2 were prerequisits for this course. This course was for non-native speakers, and it taught the basics of linguistics, with a focus on the the phonetics and phonology of Spanish in contrast to that of English, coupled with extensive individualized training and practice designed to achieve a more native-like accent. Native speakers took a different course that also taught the basics of linguistics, but covered other areas rather than accent reduction in Spanish.

5. History of Spanish Literature I (years 900-1500), and
6. History of Spanish Literature II (years 1500-1900).

Course 3 was a prerequisite for these two courses; normally one takes course 5 before course 6. These two courses surveyed the most important authors and many major works in Spanish and Spanish-American literature along with the cultural context in which the author lived and the works were written. These courses were required of all majors, native and non-native speakers alike.

Normally one needs to complete all 6 of these courses with minimum satisfactory grades before one could take any of the remaining 6 courses for the major.

The remaining 6 courses are chosen from a set of electives, most of which focus on a specific historical period, a specific region, a specific genre, a specific set of authors, or a specific work such as Cervantes's "Don Quixote". To be awarded the degree one must earn at least a specific minimum grade in each of the 12 courses (probably C or better) and achieve at least a minimum average grade for all 12 courses, in addition to other requirements for types of coursework, minimum grade and minimum average outside of the major.

While the exact details for individual courses differ from school to school, most undergraduate programs in Spanish at US colleges and universities have broadly similar requirements for the range and depth of what one needs to cover in coursework in order to earn the undergraduate degree.

Last edited by wrholt; December 26, 2013 at 11:58 PM.
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Old January 09, 2014, 10:15 PM
zuma022 zuma022 is offline
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wrholt, sorry for the late reply, I was travelling over the holidays. Thanks for taking the time and your detailed response, this is very helpful! Appreciate it
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