I decided to take summer classes for the first time and it has been heck. I have to have six credits to keep an academic service scholarship I received before summer classes began. If I drop below that, I’ll end up owing money back to the school. So, this summer I started out in two classes (six credits), but I was desperate to drop one for certain reasons. In my panic I found an elementary Spanish II class that I was eligible to take that started in July. Because of the small variety of classes available during the summer, I dropped my other class and picked that one up.
Spanish has been absolutely awful. I’m stressed twenty-four seven now because I cannot understand the language at all. It is an intensive course, but I thought since it was an elementary class that it may be a bit easier than most language classes… my mistake. I cannot tell you how much I have beaten myself up over this.
I’ve failed two out of four of the exams so far. I cannot complete most of the homework we are supposed to be doing, and I just got a fat F on a midterm synthesis I submitted feeling good about at the time. I know I am going to fail without a doubt. I’m a sophomore and I have never received anything below a B, so this is really torturing me. I don’t know if I should keep trying on everything or just give up. I could still take one more exam at home and submit things here and there, but I know I have failed. I am working on accepting that… I was very ignorant and stupid about how difficult it actually is to learn a language. The only Spanish I have ever taken was years ago in high school. Thankfully, the class is over with on August 1st.
What do you guys think I should do? The class does not count towards my degree. I have an A+ in my second course, which is Psych. The only thing I am really worried about is how failing this class will effect my overall GPA, which is currently a 3.56. I feel so awful, so please no lectures. I just need advice.
Can you drop it and take a W on your transcript? The only other option that I can think of is to find a tutor and spend pretty much every waking hour for the rest of this month trying to speak Spanish.
Then you had better work VERY hard for the next two weeks to pass it, because failing it will probably not be good for your scholarship either. I am sorry that I can’t post this response in Spanish to let you practice (I don’t speak Spanish).
Realistically, there should be Spanish tutoring on line that you can immerse yourself in.
Just realized that I’m not allowed to post in languages other than English on this forum. Sorry mods!
In case it gets deleted, I wrote: I’m sorry about your problems :(. The people speak the truth, you need to pass the Spanish class. (Haha my Spanish is really bad because I haven’t taken Spanish in a year) Good luck!!
Everyone fails. You have to accept it and move on. Retake the course and do better. Or you can keep working hard and try to get a C. I remember telling my mom I was going to drop my chemistry class because I thought I was failing and behind in lab. She said to continue and do my best. I ended up getting a C. I know you never failed a coruse, but it’s not the end of the world. Yet, I’ve failed many times and this coming fall I will be transferring to University at Albany.
Just work hard and study. If you withdraw or drop the course, then you’re going to have a lot of trouble in the future.
I’d suggest you keep trying, because although you possibly will fail, you just might not, if you keep trying; so it’s worth it.
What I’d suggest you do, though, is what I call “emergency foreign language”, which is what I did at the beginning of my Spanish 2 class, when I realized I’d forgotten Spanish 1. Get the “Cliff Notes Spanish 1 Quick Review”, and the “Cliff Notes Spanish 2 Quick Review” off Amazon, and use those to help you get your work done. They cover everything that’s in Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 in college, but at a high level, so that you can look stuff up quickly and use it.
I’d suggest you quickly review the Spanish 1, with a focus on verbs and the key grammar items (but mainly verbs), then do the same with the Spanish 2 book. Then use those books for your assignments. Rush the shipping if you’re not Amazon Prime, but get those books as quickly as you can. They’re super helpful in situations such as yours, because they are short, but they hit exactly what you need to know. Not the vocabulary - that, you’d still need to memorize if you have time. But the real stuff - verb tenses and the key components of grammar. I used these two books. I used the Spanish 1 to review for Spanish 2, after I’d had a break. I used both of them for my assignments.
It may also help you to get the "Spanish Verbs (Quickstudy: Academic) summary card. I used that, plus the Spanish Grammar version of that same card, for my Spanish 101, 102, 103, and 104 classes. All of these are available on Amazon. I’ve also seen the cards in Barnes & Noble.
Then go speak to the professor. Find out if you can perhaps submit some of the homework that you’d missed. The answer may be no, but it’s worth the question.
Agree with post above about your urgent need to go back and review Spanish 1. In the future, please discuss course choices with an advisor. Helping you make good decisions is their job.
Spanish 2 is not elementary…Spanish 1 is elementary. Have you ever taken Spanish before? Did you take it in college?
Taking a compressed language course you have never taken before seems like a disaster waiting to happen.