<p>I would love love love to be able to minor in Spanish. The only thing that is holding me back is the credit limit. </p>
<p>At my university, my degree requires 131 credits. There is a 132 credit cap until you are charged a prorated fee (110%). My scholarships and FPP cover 120 credits and my honors college requires 30 or so of my credits to be honors courses. I'm also coming into college with about 33 credits of AP classes. </p>
<p>Without adding in Spanish classes, according to my curriculum plan, I would take 121 credits. No problem with that. I'd pay one credit at the standard cost. But if I wanted to add in a Spanish minor I'd have to add in 18 credits that are required for the minor *along with * Spanish I + L, Spanish II + L, Spanish III, and Spanish IV. These total to a nice number of 34 credits! Which makes me question if it's even worth it! I might as well major in it! </p>
<p>The rigor of my semester makes me hesitant. Without Spanish I'll having about 4-5 classes with an average of 13 credits a semester. With Spanish this number jumps to 17+ credits. </p>
<p>I just want to show prospective employers that I'm fluent in Spanish. I want to become fluent in Spanish. Is it even worth it? Will a minor in Spanish distinguish me from other applicants? Is there a cheaper way that I can become fluent in Spanish?</p>
<p>What about just taking through Spanish 4 in college and then hanging out with native or heritage speakers of Spanish to practice speaking Spanish with them, instead of doing the full minor, if Spanish language ability is your goal?</p>
<p>Or you could take Spanish language courses at community colleges during summers or after graduation.</p>
<p>You don’t need a minor because it doesn’t give you anything. The distinction of having a minor is pretty worthless. Speaking Spanish is what matters.</p>
<p>You can prove you are fluent in Spanish by actually being fluent in Spanish. It’s really easy to test whether or not a person is fluent.</p>
<p>As for cheaper ways to become fluent: one of my favorites for learning a new language is the Pimsleur CDs. They’re not exactly cheap (a few hundred dollars) but they teach you how to speak and how to do so with a proper accent. That’s still cheaper and more effective than classes though. The only downside is that you have to learn the rules of grammar yourself (not that hard, it’s pretty much exactly like English).</p>
<p>Spanish is actually easier to learn than English. You’ll just have to practice it enough to remain fluent. Your real trouble will be practicing consistently, not a lack of college qualifications.</p>
<p>Do a study abroad in a Spanish speaking country. You could even take classes in Spanish if you feel able. That is something you could tell/show employers about you when you look for work.</p>
I’ve had a great time learning Spanish. I’ve taken it since 7th grade, but stopped my senior year of high school. I couldn’t keep up with the vocabulary.</p>
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I will be studying abroad the summer after my freshman year. I will be going to Costa Rica. The next summer I plan on going to Spain. </p>
<p>Thank you, again, for the tips. If the minor wont do anything special for me then no use in stressing over it. I’ll take Spanish classes in the meantime, ucb, and hopefully be able to take some Spanish classes in the study abroad countries like Lakemom suggested. </p>
<p>Do you remember enough that you may be able to place into a higher level college course than the beginner one? If so, that may save some schedule space.</p>
<p>Study abroad can be difficult to fit into an engineering major, due to sequenced prerequisites that the abroad school may not have exact equivalents for (even if it offers engineering majors, the organization of courses may be different).</p>
<p>If you can’t take classes, try possibly going on a trip to Spain or any other Spanish speaking country and immerse yourself in the language for a month or so. It’s not really a lot of time but it would help. If you’re graduating, you could ask your parents this as a graduation gift. </p>
<p>Or you could self study and find friends who are fluent to speak with. It’s cheaper.</p>
<p>Your plan to study abroad during your summers seems like a good plan. You can highlight Spanish proficiency on your resume without needing a minor. Trying to fit too many classes into a rigorous schedule could jeopardize your ability to graduate on time. </p>
<p>BTW, I’ve heard that are are companies that offer cheap one-on-one online foreign language classes with native speakers, who can connect to the Internet from their own homes in any part of the world. That seems to me like a good and cheap option to improve fluency.</p>
<p>Remember, Spanish is not a rare language, so it may not make sense to take up a lot of scarce schedule space at your four year school when you can learn it in many other ways (community college courses, practice with a native or heritage speaker, etc.). It is not like you want to learn Manchurian and the only chance you have is at your four year school because there happens to be someone there who can teach it.</p>
I’m able to speak it, but there are obvious holes in my vocabulary from not using Spanish in a year. At an event, where I was the only person who “knew” Spanish, I was able to follow and “translate” with a family that didn’t speak English. I’ll look into taking a placement exam. </p>
<p>If you already are at that level, you may want to try to improve your skills informally instead of using up schedule space at your four year school. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>Talk in Spanish to any Spanish speakers you encounter (should be plentiful in some parts of Florida).</li>
<li>Read Spanish language newspapers, articles, and books in the university library or on the web (e.g. go to [Google</a> News](<a href=“http://news.google.com%5DGoogle”>http://news.google.com) and change “U.S. edition” to “Estados Unidos”, "Espa</li>
</ul>