Spanish 1201

Adam is amazing.

I've hated Spanish for as long as I can remember but I learned SO much in his class in one semester and now speak with confidence. He's really a great guy, easy to work with, fun classes, and he's really cute too so he's easy to pay attention to.

He makes you appreciate the language and the culture and doesn't let you accept minimal effort. I would recommend him to anyone.

Camila, I feel, is smart, and one of the better spanish teachers I've had at Columbia. She can be a little spacey at times, but she makes excellent use of the class time and frequently brings in outside sources of exercises to do, as the book is horrible. She is willing to discuss problems and does a good job

Overall I think Mario is a pretty good professor. He genuinely cares about his class and he is always really excited to be in class. He actually made class go by reasonably quickly (which is saying something). He jumps around and cracks jokes and does his best to keep everybody interested. On the other hand he assigned tons and tons of busy work. It was about ten times as much as my teachers from the other Spanish classes. Also if you’re serious about learning Spanish Mario might not be the best professor because I did not really learn too much. He is a very fair grader. His tests are not too hard or too easy.

If you have a strong background in Spanish or are good at independent studying (you can't rely on her to make concepts clear), then this class will be very easy. If not, then Camila's class could be hard.
One time in class, people said that they didn't understand a confusing concept, and they asked if she could clarify it. She just said, "yes, it is very confusing" and moved on. Her class could be confusing; she frequently contradicted herself and the book. Sometimes, she took off points on tests for things we weren't being tested on and hadn't learned yet.
Despite all this, I found the class easy with barely any effort necessary to pass. If you do need help, I think she has office hours available to talk and review concepts.
Overall: going to class is pointless but mandatory to pass. and expect lots of independent studying if you want to understand anything. tests are relatively easy and mostly grammar driven.

Monica is a great teacher. She is always energetic and willing to help with any questions you have. I definitely reccomend taking a class with her.

Pepe is great and certainly not a jerk. He may assign one or two more assignments than other teachers, but it's well worth it for the substance of the class. In my opinion, languages (especially at this level) are pretty mindless; since the department has a set curriculum, there is little room for the professors to stray from the text book. However, Pepe makes class incredibly interesting. Yes, he makes fun of people, but it's all in good fun and his favoritism does not play into grading. He also has an interesting life to tell of, filled with impressive credentials and hysterical accents and anecdotes. Just a genuinely nice and interesting guy.

This guy is great. If you like a teacher whose a real human being a makes no attempt to hide it, this guys for you. If you're uptight, picky or afraid to try to speak this guy is not for you. I think some people in my class didn't like him, so you may not. My philophy on language classes are - you have to do the work yourself, no one can teach you to speak. Pepe just makes it a little more fun. As far as one reviewer's claim that he 'belittles' students, well, I can tell you straight up that I was his favorite to pick on, and I loved every minute of his rapier wit. If you don't have a sense of humor, don't take this class. This is coming from one of the biggest slackers at Columbia and he found a way to teach me.

Probably the best professor I've ever had. Incredibly enthusiastic, dedicated to her students, and very knowledgable about Latin American culture and, most importantly, the Spanish language. She always seemed excited to teach class and made me happy to be there. Do not miss having her as your professor.

Pepe, as he likes to be called, is a jerk. He claims that he wants you to learn real, conversational Spanish, but instead you just go through the book, exercise by exercise. Very boring. However, each student gives an oral presentation before class on a theme like abortion, marijuana, prostitution, whatever you want, and that's useful and fun. Still, he's a jerk and his class is a waste of time.

Patricia is great. She knows how to teach and encourage students who are having trouble without letting her high standards slip. She has mood swings that can be surprising but is a very nice person. She loves goofing around with a class if she feels they're working hard and can trust them. Very open to extra credit. She comes accross as a nazi on the first day to scare people. She's really very nice and fair

If you are already in her class, don't switch out, take it as a challenge. If not, try to avoid her unless you really want to learn the Spanish language well. For those of us who just want to slide through the language requirement, she is a fiery angel of death. You will learn Spanish in her class or die trying. She has no compunction about destroying your GPA, and frankly she has every right to. Aside from all that, she is a wonderful person, a fantastic singer, and a woman of many interests. I think I’d really like her if I didn't still have bad dreams about her exams.

Prof. Aguilar provided a very interesting spanish experience. Generally, i would say that if you knew spanish already, she loved you, but if you had trouble and did not show that you were working hard to improve, she hated you and would make your life hell. However, she made class a joy by occasionally singing for us - which was wonderful. And she always showed a deep love for the language and latin american culture.

Patricia is wonderful, I highly recommend you take her class. She is nice and fun, and very, very fair. She has thrown out tests that we did overly poor on, plus she drops your lowest quiz grade at the end of the semester. Her teaching is clear, and her tests not hard at all. She has on occaision brought in food, and is generally friendly to all. She does have her grumpy days, so just be sure not to be late to class all the time or miss before midterms or exams, and you'll be fine with her. Taking your course with Patricia is a good idea