SPAN 2010

Overall, the course is essentially busywork. There are a ton of assignments that you have to stay on top of. I will say, however, STAY AWAY FROM RICARDO HUAMAN. This man is one of the worst professors I've had at UVA. He never reminds about the billion assignment due dates, and never helps when a big assignment is coming up. He turns this busywork class into a "gotcha" class because he seemed like he never knew what was going on. I did so well on all assignments where he was given a key for grading, and did poorly on anything he graded at his discretion. Boring class, terrible professor.

Whoever wrote this previous review must be talking about a different Huaman, Huaman is a FANTASTIC professor. He is very effective at teaching Spanish and made the class laugh 5-10 times a class. If you're going to take SPAN 2010 take it with Huaman.

Going into this course, someone in one of my previous courses told me that Ricardo was 'the worst teacher they had ever had' ranging from pre-school to college. They were soooo wrong. He is a funny, nice, knowledgable guy. He is pretty chill in class and is excellent at teaching Spanish. I don't know anyone who didn't enjoy his class and he didn't suck the soul out of me like most Spanish classes seem to do. Highly recommend.

I was also warned that Ricardo was a terrible professor, and I also am very confused as to if we had the same professor. You have to be organized and keep up with all the due dates yourself, but I think that's the case in any intro spanish class. If you do everything on time/according to rubrics, Ricardo is a very very reasonable grader and you will succeed in the class. Just be prepared for pop quizzes, which usually come towards the end of the chapter (you will have one every time, so be prepared). The tests are the same format as 1060, so just study your vocab and grammar from the unit and you'll be fine. Knowing the cortometraje is important and for compositions, try and limit your writing to things you are confident in writing (grammar, vocab, etc). It's better to be sure and have a sound composition than to try new things and be penalized for improper spelling or grammar, so be careful. All in all, if you follow rubrics and the calendar, you'll be fine. Worst part about the class is the grading scale, so you need a 96 to get an A, but that's the same thing across the board. With Ricardo, an A- is definitely an easily attainable grade if you do everything you're supposed to and you are somewhat proficient in spanish.

I don't really get the negative reviews about Professor Huaman. He's a really nice guy and provides a great classroom atmosphere. If you've taken 1060, this class pretty much covers the exact same grammatical material with a more cultural concentration, and the course load is not nearly as heavy as 1060. It's true that the professor doesn't really remind you of deadlines, so I recommend keeping up with the syllabus. As far as him not helping you with big projects or assignments, this is completely false. He gives everyone helpful feedback on their project proposals, and I ended up with a A+ on the first project after following his suggestions. I don't know how other professors compare, but I had a much better experience in 2010 with Huaman compared to 1060.

I loved this class very much! At UVA all of the Spanish classes are pretty much structured the same way. It includes a lot of busy work if you ask me, but it makes your grade better overall. Especially if you do bad on the tests. You have supersite homework almost every night, eportfolio work, tests, quizzes, compositions, and monologues. Everything is self explanatory you just have to make sure you prepare well. But this professor was super funny and chill. He just asked that you get your work in on time, but often made exceptions if you had a good reason or he'd give you a break if you forgot something one time. He definitely understood our struggles but still had expectations of us. Overall it's a good class to take, I made it out with a B+ and honestly barely studied. Just do your work, know the general knowledge, and pay attention to what your professor says! You'll be fine.