How to Prepare for a College Level Spanish Course

If you anticipate taking a Spanish course in college, you're making a smart move. Fluency in Spanish is a must in the business world today, and bilingual speakers are needed in every career path from child care, to nursing, to teaching, to sales. While most high school graduates have taken a course or two in Spanish that gave them a brief overview of the language, college courses will demand a much higher level of sophistication in terms of speaking, reading, and writing skills. Many professors even conduct their entire classes in Spanish from the very first day, which can make it difficult to grasp lessons and ask questions if one is not properly prepared. In other words, you will be expected to have a basic working knowledge of the language before you ever set foot into the classroom! So where do you start? Well, put down that Spanish-English dictionary and print out the following guidelines.

Step #1: Learn Spanish verbs. Many make the mistake of trying to learn entire Spanish phrases first, without truly understanding how the sentences are developed. This will greatly inhibit your ability to compose properly structured sentences later on. Like the English language, the verb in the Spanish sentence dictates the actions of the pronouns and nouns, and gives the reader a vague sense of what is going on in the sentence as a whole. In other words, if you can read the verbs, you will likely be able to piece together what is being said. Buy a large pack of Spanish vocabulary flash cards that also list the part of speech that each word belongs too (several excellent packages can be found at Barnes & Noble).

Step #2: Learn Spanish pronouns. You might be wondering why you shouldn't learn the nouns in the Spanish language first, but those are often taught in Spanish classes as you go along. Pronouns, however, must be learned before a sentence can be interpreted at all (after the verb, that is). Pronouns dictate how verbs will be conjugated, and therefore absolutely must be learned next. Otherwise, all of those verbs you learned first will amount to nothing!

Step #3: Learn how to conjugate "ar," "er," and "ir" verbs. Spanish verbs are defined by their endings, and are referred to as -ar, -er, or -ir verbs (much like how our verbs have the endings -ing and -ed). Unlike in English, however, Spanish verbs change in structure according to the pronoun being used (which is why the pronoun learning step comes first). In other words, to say "I study" and to say "you study" in Spanish you would say "yo estudio" and "tu estudias," respectively. Notice how the end of the verb, which in its original form is "estudiar," changes with the different pronouns. Almost all Spanish verbs will do this, so learn how to conjugate each form.

Step #4: Learn how to conjugate irregular verbs. Of course, not all verbs will be regular verbs. Some must be conjugated differently and will have their own set of rules. Unfortunately, learning how to conjugate these verbs is simply a matter of memorization. For the sake of preparing for a college level Spanish course, learn the irregular verbs first that you feel will be used most often at the beginning of the semester or quarter. Consider those that might be used in everyday language or classroom instructions.

Step #5: Learn how to write the language. Many students are under the impression that they must learn how to simply speak the Spanish language. However, writing it is an essential part of any college course. You may even be expected to write entire essays in Spanish! Start now by learning how to make basic sentences, being sure to pay special attention to punctuation, hyphenation, and capitalization. Spanish punctuation is different from English punctuation, and words that are capitalized in English often are not capitalized in Spanish. Also, neglecting to make the proper hyphenations is a major error and can completely change the meaning of a word. Be sure to have a basic understanding of these aspects of the written language before the first day of class.

Finally, understand that learning Spanish in the classroom is often done in a way that is very difficult for a student with no Spanish background. Many textbooks teach vocabulary words and a few points on the proper way to structure a sentence with each lesson, but most of the basic aspects you are expected to learn on your own. In order to be able to read instructions and understand your professor with ease, and to cut your work time in half with each lesson, start a few months early by getting a good grasp on the basics of the Spanish language before getting started in your college course.