Prof. Young is such a wonderful professor and person! She has such a genuine passion for teaching Spanish and it really shows in her engagement with her students and the way she conducts her class. I took her class at 8 am; despite the class being very early, I was always welcomed with a joyful envionrment and an engaging lecture. This class does require a considerable amount of outside work (homework assignments, readings, etc.) but Prof. Young is very accomodating and always willing to help if difficulty arrises. She is also very quick to respond to emails and help reschedule quizzes/exams due to extenuating circumstances. I loved being in her class and wish I could take another class under her! One of the most caring professors I have learned under. Highly recommend!!

This class was awesome! I really enjoyed it and felt that I learned a lot and grew in my Spanish abilities. Definitely take if you are looking for a fun class where you will develop a good Spanish foundation in an enjoyable environment.

Professor Young is an amazing professor. She is very engaging in the classroom and is very helpful to her students. She provides you with many resources to succeed and prepares you extremely well for the quizzes and the exams. She is very kind and bubbly during class which really helps the morale of the classroom.

Professor Young is an awesome Spanish professor. Much of the Spanish curriculum is standardized across the department, but she did a great job in laying out expectations and directions for assignments ahead of time in class so that there was no confusion. She always brought great energy and enthusiasm each day. I came into the class slightly worried having not taken Spanish since early in high school, but it is definitely doable (I received an A for the course). She is very approachable if you have questions or are confused about a concept, and there were always extra practice questions posted. We did lots of partner work/discussion activities during class as well, so I felt prepared heading into a quiz or exam.

Definitely go through the exam review documents as these were very helpful in preparing for the content and structure of each exam. For the oral exams, these seemed daunting at first, but plenty of practice opportunities were given during class working in the Language Lab and using the headphones that are used for the oral exam. As a professor, Prof. Young is amazing. I have nothing but great things to say. If you have the opportunity to take a Spanish course with her, I'd highly recommend it.

Professor Young is such an amazing professor who genuinely cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She is very organized and always keeps the class on track, which makes it easy to know exactly what is due and when. She is also an excellent teacher who explains concepts clearly and is always willing to help if you reach out. Beyond being a great professor, she is truly nice and approachable, which made the class feel welcoming and encouraging. I highly recommend taking this course with Professor Young!

Despite being nervous to take my first foreign language course at UVA, Professor Young made this class engaging and enjoyable. She was very organized and clear with what was expected of her students, which eased my anxiety and allowed me to excel. She was always open to questions and responded to emails promptly. I would definitely recommend taking her class.

I took SPAN 2010 with Prof. Young during Fall 2024. She is by far the best Spanish professor at UVA! I took this class at 8 AM, and while everyone was tired, she kept the class engaging. She is also really nice and very responsive to emails!
Going into this class, I was not confident at all, as I did not have a strong Spanish accent or pronunciation. Since participation makes up about 15% of the overall grade, I was a little nervous. However, Prof. Young meets you wherever you are! I ended up raising my hand every class and speaking (even though my pronunciation wasn’t perfect), and she helped me correct my grammar.
Homework was really easy, as it mostly consisted of Connect activities where you had multiple attempts to get all the questions correct. Some assignments were short-answer questions based on an article, video, or podcast. These were graded fairly, and I got 100% on my written homework.
We had a couple of quizzes that covered what we learned in class. I found them straightforward because Prof. Young provides plenty of resources to help understand the concepts. If you use these resources, you will do well. Similarly, for exams, she provides lots of practice materials.
For the oral midterm and final, you record a conversation with another student in the language lab, which she later grades. While this might seem intimidating, it wasn’t. Throughout the semester, we practiced speaking Spanish in the language lab with headsets, which made the exams feel like regular class. In terms of grading, Prof. Young doesn’t expect perfect Spanish; she wants you to have a fluid conversation and attempt the relevant grammar. Even though my grammar and accent were far from perfect, I received a 94 on the midterm and a 96 on the final oral exam.
Overall, I ended the class with an A and really enjoyed it! Prof. Young gave me confidence in speaking Spanish and helped me improve. I even decided to study abroad in Valencia the following semester, where I was able to communicate with my host family in Spanish.
Prof. Young genuinely cares about her students’ learning and makes Spanish fun! I would highly recommend taking this course with her!

The structure of these Spanish classes gives the professor a lot of control over your grade, especially on subjective grading requirements. The structure of the courses is virtually the same regardless of the professor. However, the professor you get could dramatically change your grade. For whatever reason, Prof. Young decided that I would be a B+ student from the first day of class. Despite consistently going to office hours and trying to ask how to improve, I was only met with "this is a difficult class and your grade is good for this class". You may get lucky and be one of her favorites. However, I was not so fortunate and had a bad experience with this class as a result. Her personality is extremely rigid, too, which not only annoyed me but also made her initial views about me set in stone. This is the only class I have received a B in, so this is slightly a rant, but if you don't want to take the gamble, look for another professor.

Professor Young has been one of the most incredible professors I have had the pleasure of taking a course with at UVA. I was not really looking forward to taking this class heading into the semester, but these past few months, I have found myself looking forward to it every week. Prof. Young is a thorough and engaging teacher of Spanish, even for those who might not find the subject enjoyable. The work load is of course a lot (due to dept. requirements, not her), but she is constantly in communication with her students about due dates and expectations. I'm sad I won't have the opportunity to take SPAN 2020 with her. If you have the option to take one of your classes with her, I absolutely recommend it -- you will not regret it.

Professor Young was an incredible teacher, and one I wish I could take SPAN 2020 with! I cannot say enough kind words about her course -- she clearly communicated course expectations, and was always willing to lend a helping hand whenever needed. She made an 8 a.m. Spanish course fun and engaging, even during cold winter mornings. I feel like I grew so much during SPAN 2010 with Professor Young, and would 100% recommend anyone who is taking this course to take it with her.