Should I drop Spanish 2?
Hi,
I'm a high school student that's taking a foreign language to pass high school. However, the problem is I don't think I can do Spanish II. My Spanish I teacher only covered 1/4th of the book, but my Spanish II teacher picked up at the end of the first book with the next book. (keep in mind we have four "levels". You should complete Level 1 in Spanish 1, Level 2 in Spanish 2 so on and so forth) My teacher is expecting me to know a lot of things such as reflexive verbs, how to conjugate past tense verbs, stem changers. I'm still learning the basics. I was going to switch to Spanish 1, but they don't have any openings and only have ONE Spanish teacher (so even if I could, it would mess around with my schedule, which I wouldn't want to happen away since I just got used to the current one I have). So my options at this point are: A. Finish the class & most likely fail the class & the exams (which are worth 30% of my final grade) B. Drop the class and get put into study hall C. Drop the class but try to take another language with another teacher (once again, I can't risk my class schedule changing) I can't self teach Spanish because it's way too expensive and I can't handle going back to Spanish basics then going back to Spanish 2 which is intermediate.
I'm just lost. I'm currently a freshman in high school & don't want to jeopardize my GPA my first year of high school. Should what do you think I should do? Thanks for any answers I get on this!
3 Answers
Thank you so much for writing us and asking for our advice. The fact that you even thought to ask shows that you truly care about learning. This can be fixed.
The same thing happened to me when I was in high school. It wasn't my language course that was affected, it was algebra, but the result was the same. The poor teaching that we received in the beginning class poisoned any chance of success that we had when we moved up to the next level.
The first thing that I would do is to see if you can talk to the teacher and explain the problem. Please be clear to him or her that you are truly interested in learning Spanish, but that you have been set up for failure and you want to do what you can to turn it around. There is probably not anything that can be done to totally "fix" the problem this semester, but you can set yourself up for success in the next one.
Here are the steps that I would take:
1) get ahold of the Spanish 1 book
2) show your teacher where you "left off" in that book
3) propose to drop the class, explaining that you do not wish to fail it, but actually want to learn Spanish but lack the foundation for success at that level
4) use the study hall time every day to catch up on the Spanish lessons that you missed. Use your textbook, along with the corresponding SpanishDict lecture (available here for free) to support that learning.
5) ask the Spanish 2 teacher if they would be willing to check your homework as you self-learn the Spanish 1
6) we will be more than happy to answer questions here and check your homework. Remember that you have to attempt to answer it first before posting. This is what we are here for....people like you!
7)If the Spanish 2 teacher can't or won't help you, drop the course anyway and use the study hall time to finish the Spanish 1 course. We will still help you, and you can be ready for Spanish 2 by the start of next semester.
8) there are tons of free internet lessons and explanations for beginner Spanish. Also free quizzes. We have free quizzes here on every topic covered in Spanish 1 and you can check your progress and understand using these quizzes.
9) if you are motivated to see this work (and you seem to be) this can actually come out in your favor. You will learn at an early age to overcome disadvantages, to take your own educational destiny in your own hands, and will gain tons of well-earned self-confidence if you see this through. You will be ready for Spanish 2 by the start of next semester, and you will learn that one bad teacher or one bad course does not have to derail your progress.
I'm sure that other folks here will also have some suggestions. Please let us know what you decide and what we can do to support you. You can do it!
Hi I don't know the American school system. There must be lots of you affected. How can a teacher fail to get to the end of the course. If you catch up by self teaching do you still have to sit an exam?
You will be missing something so enriching if you stop learning Spanish. As you are in the States it should be easy to get an intercambio, a native Spanish speaker who wants to improve their English and helps you with your Spanish.
There are lots of great resources here internal and external. I rate listening to music and signing up with
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Daniela if she is available will help more as she is a teacher and understands the system in your country.
The fact you have asked a question suggests you want to learn Spanish.
Buena suerte.
I don't know if this helps, but there are free lessons on this site, they might help you find a way to do Spanish and pass without a problem
