In formal class, how much Spanish did your teacher actually use?

Question

In a formal class, how often/how much did your teacher address you in Spanish?

I find, in my class (Spanish 3), the teacher does everything in English. The only time he speaks Spanish is during exercises like, review vocabulary, and then when greeting and beginning the class.

You could request that he speak some more Spanish in class to help the class get used to hearing Spanish... - freeze10108, Sep 21, 2009

corrected spelling - Izanoni1, Sep 21, 2009

And where was my mistake? - Preguntón, Sep 21, 2009

nothing big...just spelled "teacher" as "teahcer" and "exercises" as "excercises" - Izanoni1, Sep 21, 2009

I should pay more attention - Preguntón, Sep 21, 2009

Answer 1

Well, in Spanish 1, my teacher mostly used English. In Spanish 2 (same teacher as 1), she started to get us used to lectures in Spanish (speaking slowly and using simple words). In Spanish 3 (new teacher this time), Spanglish was used the first semester and was nearly all Spanish the second semester. Now, in Spanish 4 (same teacher as 3), it's pretty much all in Spanish unless we get really stumped by a vocabulary word, and even then Spanglish is used. By the way, each level of Spanish I've listed is a one year course.

Answer 2

Well, I am teaching myself. So I wonder what the answer should be!

That said, I purchased the book recommended by Lazarus: Gramática básica del estudiante de español which is entirely in Spanish.

I also listen to dialog without reference to any text at all, -- Spanish or the translation -- until I have what I have heard but not yet understand more or less memorized ..(a bit like memorizing nonsense syllables, by the way. I am not sure I recommend it to the faint of heart.)

And even then I refer only to the Spanish text although I must usually look up the words in my Gran Diccionario Oxford.

Sometimes, at that point, I get lost in the dictionary and just read it for awhile. It's pretty easy reading.....all the words are already looked up; )

Answer 3

I was teaching myself but then hired a private teacher once a week for an hour and a half and he speaks 99% Spanish.

Answer 4

the higher the level of the class, the more spanish the teacher used. By the spanish 4 or 5 in high school, the teacher spoke 90% spanish.

Answer 5

2nd year spanish was all in spanish for me

Answer 6

My teacher tries to speak only in Spanish, but she forgets sometimes and switches to English. She asks us to remind her to speak Spanish, so we do!